Wonderful Marder III Nate. Love what you've done with it and the figures add to the scene. Chilllyyyyyy.

Thanks Eric!

Nate

I was going to build this starting tomorrow:

Dragon Models Limited 1/35 Scale ‘39-‘45 Series Kit No. 6465; Sd.Kfz. 184 Elefant w/Zimmerit

So can I jump in this GB with it?

Looking at page one it appears you're good!

How does the molded zim look? I've read mixed reviews...I guess the only drawback is everyone's zim would look the same?

M1 A1 A2 Tanker

I was going to build this starting tomorrow:

 

Dragon Models Limited 1/35 Scale ‘39-‘45 Series Kit No. 6465; Sd.Kfz. 184 Elefant w/Zimmerit

 

So can I jump in this GB with it?

Yes you may. I kept the door opened for late arrivals. LOL

Just be aware that in order to receive the badge, the build must be completed before the end of the GB, which is June 30.

M1 A1 A2 TANKER - That would be nice to see.  Big and aggresive, you have a lot of painting options with it also.  Have this one in the stash and have not seen anyone build it yet so i'm looking forward to it.  I have never done DS tracks before either and looking at them in the box was not to sure about them.  Will definantly be watching how the tracks work out.

How are you other guys making out?

So.....what GB is this??   Is this the "Join a Group Build, But Dont Participate Until Its Nearly Over and Then Rush To Finish Your Build Before the GB Ends"  GB?    If so, I'm in the right place!

Just kidding fellas!  Eric.... I was just kidding!!  I know I'm quite late; been busy with other GBs and also in the process of moving, but I did manage to get started (again) on the Dragon1:35 Hetzer Early.  Here's the kit:

Early on I got the Armorscale Barrel and Mantlet - should be an easy upgrade. (did I post these photos already?)

I started the kit back in Oct but only spend a couple of nights on it before stowing it away.  The lower hull assembled with no problems.

But I did run into problems with the idlers.  Each side (they're all duplicates) had nasty pin marks.

Took some work but I managed to clean them up with some Mr. Dissolved Putty and my trusty electric rotary sander (OK, its really just a modified electric toothbrush).  I even have different sanding heads for it!  (Unlike MY rather large and unchangeable noggin)

All the wheels, sprockets, idlers and leaf springs are cleaned up and ready to mount......ummm, uh oh!

RATS!!  I must have lost it during the packing....grrrrrrr.  I was thinking of scratchbuilding a new one, but I have a better idea.  First, lets clean up one of the leaf springs (they have some noticeable sink marks that I WAS going to ignore) and replace the lost detail.

I'll set this aside for later.  Next I noticed that the backside of all the roadwheels have no detail. 

 A little work with a compass cutter and some salami-sliced .5mm hex styrene rod resulted in this backside insert:

I'll make resin copies of the back insert and leafspring.  I also need to make a resin replacement for the jack block which I stole and used for an Italeri Pz.38(t).  Fortunately that polyurethane mold is already made, I just need to cast the jack block when I do the new parts. 

Sorry this update is so long guys!  I'll try to make it back more often with shorter posts!

BTW, I did see some of the more recent pots and what a great job you guys are doing!  I saw Nacthflieger's whitewashed Marder III and Panzerwaffe's Afrikakorps Panzerjager I!!  Those are some SWEET build ups guys!!  Shellback, your work on the 234/4 is OUTRAGEOUS!!  Eric, your King Tiger is......??    You almost had me there dude!!

PANZERWAFFE

M1 A1 A2 TANKER - That would be nice to see.  Big and aggresive, you have a lot of painting options with it also.  Have this one in the stash and have not seen anyone build it yet so i'm looking forward to it.  I have never done DS tracks before either and looking at them in the box was not to sure about them.  Will definantly be watching how the tracks work out.

How are you other guys making out?

DS tracks saved my life on my Elefant. I had the older kit with the pre-magic tracks. They killed me, but i was able to get my hands on a pair of Ferdy DS tracks. Worked like a gem. I didn't have to reduce them either. Never going to shatter on me like most of my others.

Tonight I shaped the tracks and I think everything went well. These are going to be a bit harder to assemble after painting, because there are outer road wheels. I only did one side tonight, but am very encouraged. I love magic tracks, even If screwed them up. Much better then snipping and sanding them off a sprue.

Ernest, glad to have you back. That's a spendy barrel, but undoubtedly will look much cleaner when installed. You'll probably beat me and finish on time.

I was going to try to wait until the 1st of June to get cracking on mine, but if Ernest is throwing his hat into the ring, I'd best get started!

Actually, going to have to wait a day or two until I get my new card reader in the mail from EBay so I can take pics to show you fellas. Hah!

Oh yeah, I'm building a Trumpeter Sturer Emil, in case you all forgot.

Hey guys i'm still in this but its gotten busy around here since the weather is better and i'm finally getting some outside projects started . Then there is my son and his daughter staying with us so i'm not getting any bench time in lately . I know ,excuses ,excuses ............

I did manage to build this radio last week but im not satisfied with it and i may build another.

Thanks for the kind words Ernest .

Hey Carl, it was nice to see a little sunshine this past week. I spent most of early Saturday in the yard.....until it rained. Got my fertilizer with weed-n-feed down. I must say the grass is really looking nice, full, and green.

Always nice to see them updates.

Tonight, I install the other tracks.

ERNEST - Diving right in now, making new molds.  Intrested in seeing how they come out.  Making resein parts is something have been wanting to try for some time, what all is needed to do this.  Have done foundry work with metals would guess its about the same process?

Anyway, nice to see you get started and look forward to your build

ERIC - Thought you were going to send some of that rain to Texas   Still have not had any, maybe 4 months.  Very hot and dry, need

Wow Nate! That sure is some fine looking work!

Ernest and Carl, you guys are doing great!

Got the suspension parts all on and am putting the superstructure on the hull tonight. The lower hull has one heck of a warp in it so I'm going to try and straighten it out. I'm hoping to maybe sling some paint over the long weekend.

Carl & Ernest-like John said, you guys are doing a great job.  The extra detailing always makes a difference.

I realized that it has been a while since I posted pics-treads are on, decals are on, just waiting to get motivated to do a buff coat and then some weathering....oh, and paint and attach the tools...can't forget that...

Anyway, I was able to take a couple of links out of the treads, so the sag isn't as overstated (in the wrong places).  There appears to be a slight misalignment on the left (I think) front drive wheel & tread, but the schurzen will hide that.  Also, the right rear schurzen panel is a little off (actually, the tread is off, so therefore...)-that will be corrected with a little filing or a few minutes with the wife's hair dryer.

Hopefully I can make some progress during the upcoming weekend-holiday on Monday and a vacation day on Friday....and my son's travel soccer is finished.

PANZERWAFFE

ERNEST - Diving right in now, making new molds.  Intrested in seeing how they come out.  Making resein parts is something have been wanting to try for some time, what all is needed to do this.  Have done foundry work with metals would guess its about the same process?

Anyway, nice to see you get started and look forward to your build

ERIC - Thought you were going to send some of that rain to Texas   Still have not had any, maybe 4 months.  Very hot and dry, need

Bob, the Jagdpanzer is looking great. I think that second camo job was well worth it.

Thanks Ogrejohn!

Bob, your jagdpanzer is really shaping up nice!

Nate

BOB - Looking sweet.  Taking up slack in the tracks was well done.  Do you know why the first two road wheels were steel on the real ones?

tigerman

Hey Carl, it was nice to see a little sunshine this past week. I spent most of early Saturday in the yard.....until it rained. Got my fertilizer with weed-n-feed down. I must say the grass is really looking nice, full, and green.

Always nice to see them updates.

Tonight, I install the other tracks.

Amazing what a little sunshine will produce isnt it Eric ? I even managed to get my bald head sunburned !!!

I will be hoping for the best with your tracks installation .

ogrejohn

Wow Nate! That sure is some fine looking work!

Ernest and Carl, you guys are doing great!

Got the suspension parts all on and am putting the superstructure on the hull tonight. The lower hull has one heck of a warp in it so I'm going to try and straighten it out. I'm hoping to maybe sling some paint over the long weekend.

Sounds good John !

Bob the camo looks great . I've had that problem with the sprocket/tread allignment also ........ frustrating !

Thanks all.  I don't spend a lot of time here on the 'Dark Side'....err..armor so I'm still 'growing'....

Rob-the front two road wheels were steel due to the extra weight of the big gun.  From what I've researched, the Jagdpanzer IV was an inferior tank killer in comparison to the StuG, but somebody in upper management wanted it.....

Hoo hoooo! Card reader showed up in the mail today...now let's hope it works.

bobbaily

Thanks all.  I don't spend a lot of time here on the 'Dark Side'....err..armor so I'm still 'growing'....

Rob-the front two road wheels were steel due to the extra weight of the big gun.  From what I've researched, the Jagdpanzer IV was an inferior tank killer in comparison to the StuG, but somebody in upper management wanted it.....

The Jadgpanzer is also known as Guderian's Duck, because it was nose-heavy and hard to manuever in mud.

I imagine size among other things, made the StuG t more desirable, but the sloped armor was much better on the Jagdpanzer as was the longer 75mm, which was the same L/70 as the Panther's.

I got one set of tracks finished and am now in the process of doing the other side. I did learn a lesson, to keep one track void of glue, so I can slip it off and on easier. 

Only one set of tracks left Eric !!!

Ok , another update !!!

I use the  plastic from  signs as a sorce of scratch building material .................cheap .

My new version of the radio . I junked the first one .

And here it is in position .

Now to attach the upper hull and begin on the exterior , hope to be done by 6-30 ....

That interior is looking great Carl.

Yeah, that June 30th date is starting to rear it's head. I'm going to go all out on this guy after the weekend. I still need to finish the base coat. AB was sputtering when I last used it.

Thanks Eric !

Its supposed to get rainy here sterting tommorow night so i should be able to get more done ....the june 30 th date is upon us !!!!! OHHHH the humanity !!!!

Bob - Quite the lovely camo job on your Jagdpanzer IV!  Its getting close to the finish line and looks to be a winner!

Eric  - The barrel wasn't as spendy as the price tag shows....I think I got on Ebay for less than $10 (shipping probably killed me though!)

Rob - Don't know about foundry work and metals, but resin casting isn't too hard.  I'm just doing basic, one sided casting where the back side has no detail.  Haven't tackled any hard castings yet.  Altogether, its pretty easy with the right materials.  I wasn't planning on doing any WIP posts for the casting, but if you're interested I can document some of it and post it here.

Carl - Nice detai work on that interior!  Luv the use of the "No Trespassing" sign!  I need to get me one of those.....sheet styrene gets kinda pricey at the LHS!

30 days!!!  Whew, I better get crackin'!  

What "gauge" is a No Trespassing sign? Guessing .30" or .40"?

bufflehead

Bob - Quite the lovely camo job on your Jagdpanzer IV!  Its getting close to the finish line and looks to be a winner!

Eric  - The barrel wasn't as spendy as the price tag shows....I think I got on Ebay for less than $10 (shipping probably killed me though!)

Rob - Don't know about foundry work and metals, but resin casting isn't too hard.  I'm just doing basic, one sided casting where the back side has no detail.  Haven't tackled any hard castings yet.  Altogether, its pretty easy with the right materials.  I wasn't planning on doing any WIP posts for the casting, but if you're interested I can document some of it and post it here.

Carl - Nice detai work on that interior!  Luv the use of the "No Trespassing" sign!  I need to get me one of those.....sheet styrene gets kinda pricey at the LHS!

30 days!!!  Whew, I better get crackin'!  

About 36 days, but who's counting?

This is a pic of my tracks. They work for now, but putting them back on after they're painted ought to be interesting. The right side should be easier, because I left one link unglued. It was an interesting experience and seemed to work well. I dig magic-tracks.