Jeeves: Your Tiger's coming along nicely. The detail sure looks crisp on that kit, I built the Tamiya 1/48 Tiger and the detail simply doesn't compare to your AFV kit.

taxtp: That Stug III is lookin' good so far. Sorry to hear about the blistering heat. .....wish we had that heat here in Chicago, it's been below freezing here since last week.

dupes: Lookin' forward to seeing that camo!

Finally, here's my first update/w pics. Started putting the main body together, and filled in some deep ejector pin marks. Other then that, the hull pieces have gone together smoothly. As for the tracks, where to begin. Terrible seam, the roadwheels and tracks are all one piece, no detail on the tracks, and it's gonna be a pain to mask off the roadwheels from the tracks. UGH Hopefully I'll overcome these tracks, if I can do that this build will go together quickly.

Alright fellas - more Hetzer updates. For a full explanation, head to my WIP thread in the armor forum. Pics are here:

Mg, Good luck with the tracks. I know Fighting 48th used to make replacement tracks but I think they are OOP now. But looking good so far.

Dupes, your Hezter's camo paint job is looking really really good. I live the scallop edges and the little rectangles. I'll check out your WIP in the armor forum, maybe more people will join afters seeing your work there.

Thanks Waikong! I'd love to be the reason some people join the GB!

To be quite honest, I think the change of title from "1/48 Armor GB" to "1/48 Non Aircraft GB" may have thrown a few people off.

I skipped masking and painting the tracks, and decided to touch up the already painted parts like the roadwheels. Then I went straight to the main body construction. The parts all fit together flawlessly, so I was able to get alot done, from the seats to the engine. The seats were painted with a mixture of Testor's Enamel Flat Black and Flat Brown. The green on the hull is MM Acrylic Olive Drab. 

Dupes, you're right abou the name, so I've renamed it to now the 1/48 Armor GB (Non Aircraft). Hope that's okay with everyone.

Mg, looks like you made major progress there. The photo has a orange cast to them though and its a bit hard to see your paintwork.

I've made more progress on my little kit, gave the 4x4 an oil wash, light chipping, and some light flat coats to vary the color a bit. The canvas top was painted khakhi and weathered a bit. 

I really like it Waikong. This will be another really nice model for your website.

My Stug has been primed grey now, but I haven't bothered to post a photo this time. That can wait until the real color goes on.

Cheers

Tony

Thanks for looking everyone!

 waikong-- yes- the PE grills came with the kit, as well as a gun sight-- although there is no MG for the tank, so I am nt sure why there is a gunsight??  I'll have to save it for another build methinks.

mg.mikael-- I have the King Tiger from Tamiya on the stash-- I'll have to give it a closer look to see the differences...

Got the primer on last night and the first coat of paint tonight-- haven't decided on my exact scheme yet-- but I have the dark yellow as a base for now... 

waikong wrote:

Thanks for the heads up regarding the Black dog resin accessories. The SAS jeep stowage looks every nice. The Hessian Camo is wild! Would love to see that done up on a Cromwell.

I think it will fit on the anti aircraft kit {the resin includes a new turret} I may just do that :)

Hi Everyone,

Here's a bit more of my Stug, painted with 3 shades of Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow. I've also painted a piece of plastic card with the three shades to use as a test bed for the camo and weathering.

Cheers

Tony

taxtp: Lookin' good, can't wait to see the camo!!

Everyone: 1/48 British Light Utility Car 10HP, looks like this will be the next release in Tamiya's 1/48 scale series. Here's the link: http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/newkitnews/tamiya.htm

Mmmmm....StuG. Cool scheme coming, I hope?

Detail painting is finished, started in on the washes for the Hetzer. Will update tomorrow, hopefully!

I don't remember - was a badge idea ever settled on for this GB?

Finished my Kurogane, will post tomorrow with some pictures.

Taxp, your Stuf is coming together very nicely.

Group Badge, I must admit that's my fault - been too busy to work up up. Anybody want to give it a try? If not, I'll try to get something together tomorrow night. Sorry about the delay everyone.

I finally got around to finishing the tracks(the pics are a time-lapse of about one week). To start I first had to mask off all the roadwheels from the teeth with silly putty. It took about two hours to mask one side of the tracks, so four hours in total. After the masking I was able to start the basecoat on the tracks of Tamiya Acrylic Flat Earth, a day later a wash of burnt umber, then a wash of Testors enamel Flat Black, then a wash of Testors enamel Rust, then another wash of burnt umber, and finally the drybrushing of some blackened Testor's enamel Steel.

I was also able to do work on the exhausts/mufflers. Drilled out the mufflers, and then a mask of silly putty, painted a base coat of Testor's enamel Rust. Had to use a type of paper masking in order to paint the pipes on the bottom of the vehicle, without filling in the slight seperation between the hull and pipes. Then I was able to do a slight wash of hydrated iron powder, yes iron powder, it's a weathering technique I came upon trying to make rust a while back.

Got the lower hull completley weathered and the tracks touched up and finally on the carrier. So I hope to get some more pics up as soon as possible.

A bit of an update:

First pic is after some "Detailer" washes were applied, the second is after the first application of an "oil dot" wash. More to come! 

Dupes, looking really nice. How do you like the detailer wash? Worthwhile over home made wash?

Well, I've finished my Kurogane. I'm will go ahead and mount this on a base I think with a little groundwork. Here's some pics with my attempt with figure painting, I did add a strap and repositioned the Katana on the figure.

Hey

     Waikong

                 Saw your post over on the armor forum and got me interested. I am currently working on finishing the Tamiya Tiger I (early) in 1/48. And I got to tell you I have loved it so far.

I really like Russian armor though, could I possibly sign up for this build with the Tamiya 1/48 SU-122? I don't have the kit yet but I think she might be my next build.

Thanks

Scott

P.S. Your car looked really good BTW.

waikong wrote:

Dupes, looking really nice. How do you like the detailer wash? Worthwhile over home made wash?

Absolutely. They're pretty cheap ($2 a bottle, I think?), take no time to prep (just shake!), and are always of the same consistency...which can be a mini-issue if you're in a hurry to mix your own wash. That, and they wipe off VERY easily if you make a mistake.

Nice Kurogane! I'm trying to come up with some sort of badge idea...did you have a base pic in mind that you wanted to use? 

Scott, welcome to the GB. Post some pictures of your Tiger, I'm sure we all will be interested in how it came out.

Dupes, thanks for the info, maybe I'll pick some up. I figure the more tools I get, the better modeler I'll automatically become. It does work that way, right? 

waikong wrote:

Scott, welcome to the GB. Post some pictures of your Tiger, I'm sure we all will be interested in how it came out.

 Hey

     waikong

                I will post some picture of the Tiger here and the armor forum when done. 

However, is it ok if I do the SU-122 for this group build? 

Just got the kit today.

1 1/2 hours of looking at tile for bathroom with wife = one $23.00 model kit!  " border="0" />

Seeya

Scott

Scott, I put your name into the first post with the SU-122.

Dupes, forgot to answer your question about the badge. I really haven't thought about a design yet, so if you have ideas, feel free to share them.

waikong wrote:

Scott, I put your name into the first post with the SU-122.

Thanks waikong. I forgot to check there first. I'm priming the Tiger now. I'll post some more pics when I get the primer done. 

Cannot wait to build the SU-122.

Hmmmm. I've tried to think of something to indicate the smallness relative to the "usual" armor scale...but haven't come up with any good ideas. Somebody must have a design in mind!

TD4438 wrote:

I just ordered that U.S. Staff Car from GM.Thanks for the heads-up dostacos.

I will build the 250/10 half track using Tamiya's Greif and Gas.oline's cannon kit might also add some PE now if I can just channel the doog for finishing

Dan, I've updated your build.

Well, I did decide to build a little vingette for my Kurogane, so I put him on a small base with with a sign indicating mt. Suribachi. Now I'm really finished. 

dupes wrote:

Hmmmm. I've tried to think of something to indicate the smallness relative to the "usual" armor scale...but haven't come up with any good ideas. Somebody must have a design in mind!

or a tank divided int 4ths?