Panzerjager GB (March 1st - June 30th, 2011)

Sorry that I haven't been on in a week or so...my laptop died and just got back from Best Buy..

.Bought a new HP Touchsmart PC. Just got it up and running.

Hi guys,

It's been a bit quiet on here lately chaps? Nothing much going on I assume.

To be honest I took yesterday off work as I have accrued a lot of time off that is sat doing nothing so I thought I'd make a long weekend and really get stuck into my Marder but ALL of yesterday and a bulk of this afternoon was spent decorating the new loft extension so my much hoped-for build time has been reduced to literally a couple of hours this evening and a few hours tomorrow afternoon (I'm working in the morning from 7am - 2pm).

Anyway, I've got the part that I was expecting to cause me the most trouble painted, wired up and detailed with some headphones so I'm happy. I couldn't find a picture of this radio wired up as it should be so I've used some artistic licence and have just used my pictures of standard radios and have tried to work out how this should look. I'm not too worried about the wiring accuracy as when this is complete it won't be very visable.

Everything else is ready to go so tomorrow I can start on getting the basecoat down on everything else and I can start detailing the Fighting Compartment, finish the build and get the decals & cammo down.

Here we are so far with todays work:

Thanks for loking guys - WIP update tomorrow!

ATVB

Ben

Looks good Ben. At least someone is still a building. LOL

Yeah, I powered down the the past week and I have a full week of yard work ahead, weather permitting.

Nice job on the radios Ben.

Nate

Nachtflieger

Nice job on the radios Ben.

Nate

Thanks Nate,

It was my first attempt at anything like this so I'm fairly pleased with the outcome.

The very close up shots that I've taken show up every nook, carnny and little detail and they appear to make the radio look a little 'untidy' but in the flesh it looks just fine.

For the wiring I used the finest wire I could lay my hands on in my spares tub and I drilled little holes in the radio facsias and the headphones and simply pushed the wires into the holes with a dab of CA gel on the end.

There is a part on a sprue that is shown as a 'part not used' in blue - it can only be described as a little speaker and think it would have had a place in this command vehicle? I'll look into that as I might fit it yet.

Tomorrow I'm planning on getting the pre shade black laid down followed by my basecoat DY. When that's dry I'll fit the two gas mask holders that go on each side of the fighting compartment and the fire extinguisher. Ther's also a little storage box and a drawer thingy to go on.

If I get them parts all fitted and the paint applied by the end of tomorrow I'll be very happy. Next week I'll start some detailing of the fighting compartment and get the tailgate fitted. Then onto the drive gear and weathering.

Still nowhere near finished - I'd say it's 60% complete!

Cheers buddy,

Ben   

Nice Panzer Jager there Nate, Looks great.

Thanks eveerybody for the kind words,  Bob the  Pz  Jg is comming along grand. Marc  looks like your going to get to the finish ahead of me.  Ben  great work so far on the interior of the fighting compartment.

Terry.

Ben-very nice work on the interior.....your Marder is going to be very impressive when complete.

Both yesterday evening & today were planned for working on the Jagdpanzer, but things change.  However, I do feel a sick day coming on for Monday......cough...cough....

Love this!!!    Bet it was fun, huh? 

Hey Andy,

Thanks for the compliment budy. It was fun as it goes!

I've chopped the headphone leads off and have replaced them with some far smaller wire that I found.

I had to pinch a headphone set from my StuG III B as the other one snapped so after I've painted this new headphone and the leads up I think it will look a lot better.

I'm about to start some air brushing now. WIP update later!

ATVB

Ben

Dang fine work going on here! I've been a lazy sluggard in getting started on mine. Hopefully, I'll get a good start today and be able to post up some pics later in the week.

Hi guys,

A quick update:

Okay, I've tidied up the radio painting and have changed the headphone leads to a much finer wire and it's looking a lot neater and generally better.

The build is basically in 5 separate sub assemblies i.e. the main structure, the PaK 40, the radio side of the fighting compartment, the cast barrel hood and the rear tailgate (not forgetting the Friuls too).

I've put down the basecoat down on everything else which will get the week to fully cure now seeing as I'm back to work tomorrow

I've been trying some dry fitting and I think I'm going to have to do some detail painting of these sub parts whilst they are off the vehicle.The cast hood is a VERY tight fit and according to the instructions it should drop straight between the compartment walls but it's waaaay too tight! I think I'm going to have to detail paint the PaK along with the fitted fighting compartment wall and the floor and interior. The cast hood needs to be fitted and slid into place from a funny angle - I'll then have to fit the radio wall to lock it all in place followed by the tailgate - simple!

I'm looking forward to weathering and detailing the rest of the build with all them rivets and such - they should look nice and really pop.

Anyway, so far so good - a tricky build but I'm sticking with it. I hope you like her so far:

Next weekend I need to finish off the rest of the fighting compartment interior (gas mask holders and fire extinguishers) then I can do the basic painting of the seats etc and get the cammo scheme on followed by the decals and start the detailing.

Many thanks for looking,

ATVB

Ben  

Fine looking radio Ben.

Terry, yup I think so.  It's a lazy Sunday and I am home sick to boot so no household duties.  Just sweet bench time.  Should wrap it up today.

Which brings me to a question for the exalted Lord High Master and Grand Pooba of the GB.  What is the official word on a badge sir?

Ben your really moving along at a good rate now.

Marc, get well and enjoy your lazy bench day........ hope your gonna post a finished stug....

I got some progress myself mostly washes and some tools painted.

The gun cleaning rods, need to do the metal parts and give a gloss cote to break up the finishes.

I tried some wood grain on the tools, its hard to see but it is 48th.

Went slightly retro with the heavy drybrush and heavy wash, might be outdate but it helps show the work that Tamiya putt into this little gem.

I have a ton of painting to finish, I broke the top armour on the hull but it will easily pop back into place once I have the sides atached permanently. The gun is only sitting there to give an idea of thte overall appearance. I did get the shields attached to the gun, very fiddly.

Neither the basket nor the exhaust are attached permanently or finished.

The interior, have to paint the ammo and add the seats before calling that much done.

Now for the really serious question..... I was consideringg putting a very faded whitewash over the cammo in parts?

Honestly ......any opinions welcome. ......

I will not be online for a couple of days but I can be contacted at the following.

terry35@gmail.com

regards,

Terry.

The wood on that axe is excellent Terry. I'm also digging that rear deck. 

I'm not sure about the whitewash, but why not?

Ben, looking good there bud.  Just take your time and she'll be worht it in the end.

Sadly, all I got done was a lot of yard work. I had to take advantage of the little bit of good weather that we get this time of year. I'm off all week, so I hope to get the tracks done and maybe a base coat.

Terry-the rear deck looks great-and a real nice job on the axe.

Ben-the level of detail in your Marder is amazing.  I'll be bookmarking it for future reference.

Eric-Hope you enjoy your week off.

wing_nut

Fine looking radio Ben.

 

Terry, yup I think so.  It's a lazy Sunday and I am home sick to boot so no household duties.  Just sweet bench time.  Should wrap it up today.

Which brings me to a question for the exalted Lord High Master and Grand Pooba of the GB.  What is the official word on a badge sir?

We haven't really had any votes, so we'll go with your first rendition which seems to capture the theme of the build.

OK... I know this is not a race... BUT I WIN!  LOL

Proud to be the 1st to claim a badge.   Here is my Cyber Hobby Stug III G with deep wading muffler.  100% OOB.  Great fit... even for Dragon/CH.  But the instruction sheet...  OMG   Tamiya paint with oils washes and MIG pigments.

Kudos to the beautiful StuG Marc. Another well done build.

I added Marc's badge to the first page, so when you complete your build and post it, feel free to accept it.

Bravo Marc!

A beautiful build and the weathering isn't overdone.

Congrats on being the 1st too

Wonder if i could finish by the end of June ? 

Nice weathering on the build and i like the badge Marc.

Great job Marc! Time to start concentrating on WWI?

Nate

Very nicely done Marc-I especially like the weathering.

Eric , how about this one ? Its got wheels !

Italeri's old 1/35th kit of the Panzerjaeger , Sdk.fz 234/4  with a 75 mm .

None of that fancy smancy P.E. inside of this box , just green plastic and a small sheet of decals. AHHHH  , no tracks to mess with ! Might as well be building an airplane ................

Absolutely Carl! Gotta love them Italeri kits. Can go together in no time. 

Welcome to the build.

Ok Then Eric ! I did some work on it last night . Like you said it should go together in no time . It was enjoyable not having a bunch of tiney parts to haggle with foe a change .

Shellback

Ok Then Eric ! I did some work on it last night . Like you said it should go together in no time . It was enjoyable not having a bunch of tiney parts to haggle with foe a change .

No tracks either. That would save me a boatload of time.

Finally...and I mean FINALLY, My Badger Anthem arrived via FedEx, today at work.

Hobbytown was out of stock and I ordered this one from California. I was tracking this package, for a week.

I can now begin to throw some color!!

Was it that less expensive to order there or at a Michaels with the 40% off coupon. You may have already answered this. Sorry.

tigerman

Shellback:

Ok Then Eric ! I did some work on it last night . Like you said it should go together in no time . It was enjoyable not having a bunch of tiney parts to haggle with foe a change .

 

No tracks either. That would save me a boatload of time.

True ! When i was digging around thru my stash i looked at a couple of DML kits with all of their indi-tracks ................ then i found this one ! 

I'll bet the Dragon version of your kit has over 500-600 pieces! I built the Italeri Marder III H and for some silly reason, purchased the Dragon kit. Not sure why, because I look at my Italeri build, I know it could be better, but it's still pleasing to the eye. Italeri makes some nice simple kits.