1,000 Roadwheels - 2009

Nice work on the dio and figs so far Mobious.

Looks good Bushi can't wait for another update!

 Thanks for the comments guys, they are greatly appreciated.

 psstoff, I wanted to try a tip I seen in the Forums of using pastels for the 5-O'clock shadow. I never get it right with paints. I'll try it and if they need toned down still, just remove the pastels and add just a bit more shadow and reapply. At least in theory.

 Dupes and Thunderbolt, you guys really should give figures a go.  I've seen the stuff both of you have built/building and know if you can turn out great looking builds like that, you both could paint a few figures that would look great too.

 Dupes, I'm not to sure about 1/72 figures, 1/48 is the smallest I've tackled and still could see without having my eyes cross. 

 Thunderbolt,  IMO it would make sense that both the III and IV would most probably have a similar bulkhead layout as you've stated. I"ve always liked the Stug's for the way crews made makeshift pill boxes out of the loaders MG position. A few grenades, sandbags, MG ammo drums, maybe even a MP40 w/mags for the REALLY upclose and personal defence and a pin up fraulein(NOT MADONNA!) on the shield. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is "plunk a hun in da hole!"

 Bushi, Glad to help if I can. The steel sanding block I use is 1"x1 1/2"x1/2". It gives me three choices for size. I use it almost as much as my flush cuts, almost.

 Thanks again for the comments and suggestions.  

Mobious wrote:

psstoff, I wanted to try a tip I seen in the Forums of using pastels for the 5-O'clock shadow. I never get it right with paints. I'll try it and if they need toned down still, just remove the pastels and add just a bit more shadow and reapply. At least in theory.

Sounds do-able, I figured you were on it as the figures were still WIPs, just making sure. Looking forward to seeing how your attempt comes out!

 Hey Stick Man, The positive comments are greatly appreciated and thanks for checking in.

 psstoff, I did have to tone down the chin of the guy holding the panzerfaust. Nice call and thanks. I added the pastels to the faces and a bit to the uniforms. I'll have to go back over the uniforms to get it right yet, but IMO the pastels helped blend the facial colors together and darken them a bit. And I noticed a nasty mold line on the glove, oops.

 Dupes, here's a photo of one of my first attempts, about 20 figures ago.

 I'll let the Fly tell ya the story. Hehehe

Mobious -- thanks for the vote of confidence! Well, your figure work has certainly inspired me and I've trimmed the figure from the sprue to check the platform height, and tidied up some mold lines so far. The scultping is very pleasing, so if I can control the paint just right I think I have a good shot with this figure.

How does this sound -- AB'd acrylic basecoat for the skintones, overlaid with oils? Uniform in enamels, brushed.

Now, gotta check the correct uniform for assualt gun troops c. 1943 or later, I've seen a field-gray uniform in some artwork, then a camo jacket elsewhere...

By the by, I won Dragon's Panzer IV Ausf. E 3-in-1 on eBay the other night -- not sure if it'll be part of this build, it's miles complex, but it's there for the future. I'm leaning toward the early Tamiya IV K/J and their old Brummbar next.

Cheers,

Mike

SITREP on my Wirbelwind...

That's the story so far.. I've started the diorama as well...

The US Army Duece is a stand-in for an Opel Blitz that's still in the box...

 thunderbolt and dupes, I'll be looking forward to seeing the figures.

 Thunderbolt, The Tamiya Brummbar, has to be one of my all time favorites. I've built that model twice as a kid (when it was first released) and once again since returning to the hobby.

 Dupes if you go painting a 1/35 figure, that means you'll have to build a 1/35 PzIV to set him in, he may be a little big for a 1/72 tank.

 Hans, I like the scratched interior. You may want to consider, instead of the entire downed aircraft, just a suggestion of a downed aircraft. Like a broken off wing, landing gear and/or other aircraft debris. I really like the concept. Lot's of potential.

psstoff995 wrote:

Looking nice Hans, like the camo- you got a shot from the top down into that interior? Nice scratch work btw

Ask  and ye shall receive..

Here's a shot of one of the seats before I glued on the cushions and then into the front compartment...I made the springs with the little curlies that come from drilling into a chunk of styrene...

Driver's hatch

Front:

Hans, I like the scratched interior. You may want to consider, instead of the entire downed aircraft, just a suggestion of a downed aircraft. Like a broken off wing, landing gear and/or other aircraft debris. I really like the concept. Lot's of potential.

Although the aircraft will be broken-up a bit more, it's got to be more or less intact for my story to work, as the plane was hit at low altitude by a surprise snap-shot from the track and the pilot made a survivable belly-landing... Also, the main point of this diorama is to combine four modeling genres, aircraft, armor, (loosely)automotive, and railroading... 

Overall, I think the turret interior is too bare, so I'm making a couple of aircraft ID charts for the walls, plus going boxes, spent brass, and incidentals like suspender/pitol belt, canteens & gas masks, etc.. Need to hide the locator pins with the stuff..

Hans von Hammer wrote:

psstoff995 wrote: Looking nice Hans, like the camo- you got a shot from the top down into that interior? Nice scratch work btw Ask  and ye shall receive.. Here's a shot of one of the seats before I glued on the cushions and then into the front compartment...I made the springs with the little curlies that come from drilling into a chunk of styrene...

Now that is a BRILLIANT idea - you going to send that into the mag, Hans.  Those should work for any number of spring-like fittings...

Great job on the Whirblewind!  I've never really known what to think about those, they look kinda... funky to me, but your build is making it look pretty darn nice!

bbrowniii wrote:

Great job on the Whirblewind!  I've never really known what to think about those, they look kinda... funky to me, but your build is making it look pretty darn nice!

Mobious -- I'm really looking forward to the Brummbar arriving, it already 'feels' like a really enjoyable build!

Update on the StuG: preparations for a visible interior are underway, I've created a blanking plate to give some depth to the rear cabin wall, at least inasmuch as it will be visible around the figure. Here it is faired in with putty:

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Also visible is the plate which will box in the sponson to avoid the see-through look, and the plate on which the figure stands. The stub to which the plate mounted interfered with the new backwall of the fighting compartment so it was cut away and the platform 'mast' was built up to an equivalent height with some thick Plastruct stock. This will glue directly to the underside of the engine deck before the hull is closed.

I'll mix a pale buff for the interior based on photos in the StuG III Walkaround book. I'll put some dark yellow around the hatch, mask the edges, then spray the interior, the sponson plate separately, then install the plate and the other internal fittings, including the main armament, and close her up. I'll not bother with internal detailing, I'm not up to that yet, the idea is just to make what may be visible around the figure look like it belongs there.

Cheers,

Mike

 Hey Thunderbolt, The Tamiya Brummbar is a straight forward build with lot's of potential for detailing. That's one thing I really like about the Tamiya kits is they are pretty much a trouble free assembly. The one downside are the tracks though, I've never cared for the RB's that are included. 

 Hey Dupes, can I sign up for a PzJgIV L48 Early too. I planned on the DML kit #9021 and a LR PE set. I'd like to have a go at zimming again, since I missed out with the Late Brummbar.

 Hey Thunderbolt, didn't get much done today. Helping my son pull the head off a pony. His Blue Oval Mustang. I looked under the hood and everything is backwards? Anyhow, I did get a couple photo's

 A close up of Brunno the Brummbaer Commander.

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 And one photo I was playing with Backdrops.

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 And a photo of the overall layout,

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 I still haven't tied the cargo down, fixed the command aerial, fixed the commanders hatch,fixed attachment bolts for the skirts and the list keeps going and going.

Hans  Nice work on the wirbelwind.

Mobious  Love the figure work.  It really makes your brummbar stand out.  Your weathering on both the figures and brummabar is making it look awsome.

Update on my H.  Sorry no pictures yet.  Got the road wheels painted and the dunkelgab painted on the rest as well.  Also pre-shading was done.  Wow, what a lot of parts and almost forgot to paint he idler and drive sprockets.  

Also I have decided to add a little charcter as well with tow figures.  Working on a driver and a commander.  I have the Dragon tank crew set from 39-43 and some heads. Man and I thought building the vehicles took time.  I keep finding more work to do on the figures.

Till next time.

Kim

Nice work on the dio Mobious! your figures look realy good.

Hans you build is great I realy like the scrach build stuff!

Here is another update.  I have the dark green and red brown laid down.  I know it is a bit shinny.  The dull coat will take care of that and blend the colors a bit.

Here she is:

I tried to get the colors of the plates like the echelon decals.  Well, no more work till that dries and then of to the final assembly.  Crap still have to assemble the tracks and paint them as well.  Then Weathering.

Till next time.

Kim

Hans Can not wait to see the Dio, the whirlbelwind looks fantastic!!

Mobious the Brummbar Dio looks just great. You almost had me fooled with the b&w photo. I had to look twice.

Thunderbolt, Moose the builds looking good. look foward for more.

Well guys I am taking a break on m,y Pz IV F-1 DAK. It is driving me nuts with the fit issues, but I will finish it and you all  will see it. So until I figure how to tackle my problem I have started on a Tamiya PZ IV Ausf D. I will be doing it as an early model and maybe a white wash.

Any and all comments welcomed.

Bushi

 heyall, Thanks for the positive comments. I was more than a bit concerned with the backdrop color and how bright of blue it is. I toned it down a bit and decided to edit my earlier posting.

 Moose, the PzIV is looking great. Very nice paint/camo. The skirt armor and fenders really add to the level of the build. Hat's off to Fab Master Moose! Very nice work. will be looking forward to the tracks and weathering.

 Hans, that dio looks very ambitious. I was looking at the plans and wondered if the tracks should intersect the roadway, instead of running parallel. Maybe have the plane nose down the embankment on the other side with the tail in the air. Place the AA tank @ the intersection with the Opel turning off the roadway towards the plane. It might reduce the footprint of the dio by as much as a third if not more. Just my 2 cents. I really like the idea you've worked out so far, and will be looking for updates.

 Bushi, Sorry to read about the troubles with the PzIV F1. The PzIV D is a really nice kit and a fun build. The Ausf D served in N.Africa as well. Looks like you are making good progress on it. Will be looking forward to updates on both the D and the F1.

 Hey Dupes, Thank you for adding the DML JgdPzIV to the roster. I'm going to call the Brummbar done, if I don't I'll end up braking something I cannot fix. I did fix the broken rear mudguard, got the vehicle stowage tied down, fixed the rear mudguard, fitted/painted the commanders hatch and the Tasca command aerial, fixed the rear mudguard,  got the bolts for the skirts added, fixed the rear mudguard, painted a more appropriate uniform for Brunno, and fixed the rear mudguard for the last freaky deaking time!

 Here are the finished pics of "Infantry Support?"

 The rear view of the dio really has little interest, I may in the future add a collapsed 2nd floor, but as for Ol'Stump, auf Wiedersehen.

 Thanks for all the patience everyone, I'll try not to post as many photo's on the next.