The OFFICIAL Panzer III and Its Variants GB

Doogs,,  nice rebound on the tracks issue... they look great.

Chazz,,  hope things get better. Glad everyone is ok, albeit your finger.        Looks like you received plenty of info on the PE bending. I use many of the same methods.    A friend of mine, who is a machineist and a modeler, built one for me. The darn thing works great....  and the cost was helping him with some figure painting now and then....  well within my budget!

Going to try to get some updated micro pz pics soon.....

CARL - Thanks for the , thats almost enough for all of us.  for everyone!  I have know idea how to use the photo editing?  It's taken me a long time to put my club down and crawl out of my cave.  Now that I'm standing up straight I'll try to figure out this thing called a computer

BRIAN - Great looking paint job.  Well done with the pre-shading.

JOHN - Thanks!  How you coming along with yours?

BOYD - Get that damn STUG!

ANDY - You got BUGS!  Nice to see the "BUG".  Been wanting one of those for long time.  Did not know it also had a wire bender.  Now I really want one!  Thanks for the link.

DOOGS - The tracks are looking good now   They are going to look great on the III.  Good to know about the Blacken-It.  Had picked up a bottle and was planning on trying it out for the first time on my up coming build.  Sounds as may need a back up plan.

Here is the finish to How I paint Wood.

After the the artist oil Burnt Umber had dried to a matt finish it was time to start stripping some of it off.  Tools needed

Take the stiff bristle brush and let it soak up the Turpenoid and then start scrubbing the oil paint off in the direction of the wood grain.  Using different amounts of pressure in different areas gives interesting effects.  These railroad ties where left with heavy splotches more so then with just straight grain, thought it was more appropriate for them.  This pic is still shinny with the turpenoid.

After the the Turpenoid dries.

After everything is completely dry, ensuring that all the oil is cured, spray a final coat of dull coat.

Thats it, just put the completed pieces in there place.

Weathering is up next for these.  All of you already know that stuff so thanks for watching my wood and hope you liked it.

Been watching the news all night about the fires here.  They have now made to the county line that I live in.  I do not live far from where the fires are at.  Last couple of days been able to smell the fires at my house.  So have been watching to see if there will be a mandatory evacuation for my area.  Should know whats going on with the fires in the next couple of days.

Thanks for all the comments on the tracks, gents. I've read over and over that Blacken-It has issues...something about air bubbles and mold release. Last time around (Pz.IV) I didn't clean the tracks at all before applying. This time I did...thoroughly...and got the exact same result. Much happier with the Vallejo route!

Got a bit more work done tonight...burnt sienna wash on the tracks (gonna follow up with raw umber tomorrow)...some burnt sienna "rust" streaks on the tank itself and a wash on the metal bits (tow cables, jack, etc). At this rate I'm guessing I'll probably be wrapping up this weekend if things go well.

Doogs

Sorry to hear about your Blacken-it troubles, but thank you for warning me off the stuff. I've never used it and, because of your experience, am unlikely to.

Keep up the good work! Seems like you've got this thing about licked!

Rob- Outstanding work on the railroad tracks!   You just make me wish I was a hobo so I can live by your tracks for rest of my life.  Be sure to stay safe and let me know if you need my place to store all of your models. 

Doogs- Please take your time to finish your Panzer III.  You are making me look real bad... I am still working on my Pz IV from Ostfront GB!   Likewise, I hope to finish it this weekend so I can finally start my build here.  I can't remember but are you planning to do second build here too? 

Guys- I just realized that I haven't posted 'COMPLETED' builds on the roster list reserved for this.  This part slipped my mind as GB host... please bear with me as it is my first time hosting one.  I need to read thru many pages to confirm who have completed their builds so far.  Right now I know Ben (Hinksy), Erik (Geist), Satch Ip, and Rob (Panzerwaffe) have finished theirs so far... hope I did not miss somebody? 

Andy - I'll do my best to slow down! Maybe work on the P-51 a bit more as it's in the home stretch, too.

I do have an E/F that I'm very much contemplating for this GB, BUT after back-to-back Pz.IV and Pz.III builds, I think I need a change of scenery for at least a brief while. But that may not last too long. We're going to be moving in something like 6-8 weeks...I don't necessarily want to be caught in the middle of a kit, particularly a more fragile aircraft, so my plan once the Pz.III and P-51 are wrapped is to move on to armor and just crank on the construction phase for as many as I can get through. I figure I can do that with a bare minimum of supplies.

Right now my #1 and #2 are Tasca's M4A3(76)W and Trumpeter's KV-2 in German drag. Pretty sure I'll tear into those well and good, so I should have time for a third before the packup. 

deafpanzer

Rob- Outstanding work on the railroad tracks!   You just make me wish I was a hobo so I can live by your tracks for rest of my life.  Be sure to stay safe and let me know if you need my place to store all of your models. 

Doogs- Please take your time to finish your Panzer III.  You are making me look real bad... I am still working on my Pz IV from Ostfront GB!   Likewise, I hope to finish it this weekend so I can finally start my build here.  I can't remember but are you planning to do second build here too? 

Guys- I just realized that I haven't posted 'COMPLETED' builds on the roster list reserved for this.  This part slipped my mind as GB host... please bear with me as it is my first time hosting one.  I need to read thru many pages to confirm who have completed their builds so far.  Right now I know Ben (Hinksy), Erik (Geist), Satch Ip, and Rob (Panzerwaffe) have finished theirs so far... hope I did not miss somebody? 

I had the same fun in my last GB Andy. I think this time I'm going to record the page and person who finished. Second I'll probably make a folder and make photo copy and put it in there, so I don't have to search through all those pages. Then I'll be able to post a finished thread.

Doogs- No worries!  I don't blame ya for taking a break.  Looking forward to your completed Pz...

Eric- Excellent suggestion about keeping a folder.   I definitely will do the same!  I had to go thru all 45 pages recently to find all completed builds.  But it was fun reading everything again...

Guys- I have uploaded four pictures of completed on the roster.  I look forward to add few more soon...

Rob , beautiful finish on the RR ties ! You cant have too many of these can you ?

I hop i didnt sound geekisk about the photo editing . Its just that i spent many an hr in frustration learning the in and outs of that stuff myself but its a wonderful tool when learned . And i'm stll learnig .

Terrible about the wild fires down there . Take care !

Rob,,    agreed, the ties look great...    Very nice!

Some great craftmanship going on in this build....... 

Now to the other end of the spectrum.... I figured I would post some updates on the micro pz..... 

While there is not an abundance to the build, I decided to go in 4 sub-assemblies (hull, superstructure, turret and tracks - tracks will be coming a bit later)

Tough to see much detail in this first pic... 

First a primer coat...      I used Pactra acrylic flat light gray. They call it acrylic / enamel (not sure why, as it is totally water based)    In any event it primes very well.

I added a bit of preshading using Polly S earth red

And, added the Polly S dark Pz yellow..... 

Highlights, lowlights, pin washing, drybrushing,  tracks, camo, decals,  weathering and assorted fine-tuning will be next......

Hope you like,,,  and ,,, all comments welcome

Bill

Hey guys, I wanted to say thanks for "taking me under your wing"..so to speak. All 6'3" and 245 pounds.LOL  Doogs and Satch are you guys in or near the fires. If so please be careful. Let us know.

I did some building and priming last night and today. I will post them tonight.

Here is a quick picture of 'THE TREE".

Scott

Holy Crap Chazz,,,,  that tree is something..  wow!             Glad you are ok and do hope the cleanup, etc. goes well.   I've got some friends here that took a beating too....    Stay safe.        

Safe thoughts for all our friends down in TX too,,,,  one of my brothers lives there and he said the fires are getting closer.           Hope you all get through it on the plus side.

Bill

Glad there is nothing that big around my house. My neighbor does have a fairly large pine tree that keeps getting bigger all the time. It's East of me, but the worst winds seem to be West.

Bill that looks great . super fine work , if you get my drift .

Chazz ........I feel for you !

Bill- That micro panzer is already looking great!   Can't wait to see what you will do to it next...

Chazzer- Scary... tree is pretty huge!  I had few big trees cut down two months ago because they were too close to the house.  Still plenty of trees here... just come and take one from my yard if you want one.

Bill - my eyes hurt just looking at that wee thing! It's really not ALL that much bigger than Tasca's M2 kit!

Chazzer - yikes! The house we're building is actually going to have trees all around it...in Texas though it's a massive trade-off between shade and the chance of one of them falling over. Most of the monsters are away from the house, though, and the ones that are big and close are on the east side. Since the really nasty winds tend to come out of the north or west (and sometimes south...but that's usually where the lazy humid stuff wanders in from), I'm not too worried. And the fact that Texas now officially recorded the hottest summer of any state in U.S. history, but every time we've been over to the house under construction it's been pretty comfortable, says a ton about the good that morning shade can do!

As for the fires...they're abating around Austin for the most part. Over the weekend I could see four different fires on the horizon from high ground near my house. We had some weird sunsets and on Tuesday the smoke from the Bastrop fire found its way into downtown Austin, so everything smelled like a burning tire factory. I've had several friends have much closer calls, but thankfully most everyone seems to have come through alright.

Carl,,   Thanks...   (super fine)... understood..   good one

Andy,,   Much obliged, I have a camo scheme in mind. I hope it works out.

Matt,,    My eyes are going crazy too,,     some of the detail painting should be adventurous.

Hi guys,

Some great work going on guys, great stuff  

BIG Kudos to BaBill for sticking with that braille scale Panzer. It did look like a dog of a kit OOB (a bit harsh - perhaps we could say VERY unpleasant ) but you've turned it right round and it's looking extremely good now. My friend John the local MAFVA rep only builds braille scale and some of his work is just - WOW! He wins a lot of golds at the shows we go to. I'd struggle replicating the detailing in 1/35 that he creates in 1/72 so I'll look forward to what gem you turn out! So far so extremely impressive!

My first weekend update (8 photos):

I wanted to get the Grey basecoat today so got that out of the way first. I used a Straight Tamiya XF-63 (German Grey) with the slightest dash of Flat White and no pre shading as it will be lost under the heavy weathering to come, maybe some post shading yet, perhaps?

I'm a bit 'cash strapped' this month which is why I'm sort of working 'backwards' and working on the stowage now. I'll be ordering the Winterketten Friuls and a Pz III Quickwheel Mask so I'm planning to get everything else about completed and will perhaps give a final light wash and hit of dullcoat to tie everything together.

Today, apart from the basecoat I wanted to get the racking painted and the stowage/boards sorted that sat around the racks. I tried the woodgrain effect on the board at the back of the rack. I scribed 3 deep lines so it looked like 3 planks and then ran a coping saw blade over both sides to give a graining effect - this was followed by a light priming, spray of Wooden Deck Tan and brushing and scrubbing all over both sides with MIG Shadow Brown Oil - this was then nearly all removed with a stiff brush leaving behind only ingrained oils. I must say this worked VERY well indeed. The sides were made to look like plain wooden boards or rusty metal sheet (I just used the two type of MIG rust pigments with Pigment Fixer), I'm not sure what to say they are but the effect is very good! 

Here you go:

The little wooden crate I made was given a light coat of MIG Dark Wash which made it 'pop' nicely. 4 Jerry Cans were painted with German Grey with a dash of Flat Black added as I didn't want the cans to have the same colour as the Tank basecoat! I painted the other 2 cans with Dunklgelb.

As for the 200 litre drum I painted it with Gunze 'Steel', gave it a hairspray coat and a coat of Olive Green which I left for a couple of hours and roughed it up all over using the hairspray method (a rough brush and warm water scrub of the Green drum paint over the hairspray coat).

I liked the look of the Dunky Yellow Cans so I've made 4 more cans and primed them so tomorrow I'll hairspray them tomorrow and weather them up.

I'll make another crate without a lid tomorrow and I'll put a few bread rolls and potatoes made from Milliput in it which will add some interest. An aerial signal flag is also a maybe.

Tomorrow I'll get the rest of this stowage sortedand start marking out the splinter cammo areas where the Flat White will go.

Here's a few photos - I hope you like them!

These are the other 4 Jerry Cans that I'll be using tomorrow along with another one of the 'plusmodel' Balsa crates which are great Andy - here is the MIG Pigment Fresh Wood I was telling you about it's like a sand colour and I'm yet to use it.

That's it for today guys. I'm not rushing as I really want this one to be super special and I don't want to be unable to do anything because I'm waiting for payday. I'm going for a personal best on this one. I'm really happy with the stowage and the tank itself - so far 

I'd love to hear any comments or critiques btw fellas.

Many thanks,

Ben

Bill- Can't wait to see the camo scheme... am afraid it will make me to drink more .  Well, I won't mind anyway...

Ben- Looking good!   MIG Fresh Wood is probably the only one I don't have in my stash... I have about 20 different bottles.  Looks like it came out good for the wood board.  Don't be shy... add chippings to the jerry cans and the drum too! 

Just an idea... to cover the blob from soldering on the rack in the center, you can always hang a spare backpack.  That would make the whole rack look even better!  What do you think?

Guys- I am about 99% completed with my Panzer IV...

Cheers Andy, I'll see what I have matey

Ben

Hi Ben. Love the wood work sir.

tigerman

Hi Ben. Love the wood work sir.

Cheers TM - much appreciated!

Do you reckon my soldering work is a real mess. It's the first time I've soldered in 15 odd years and this is the baest I can tidy it up. I'll try and cover up the two blobs but I'm worried now

ATVB

Ben

deafpanzer

Just an idea... to cover the blob from soldering on the rack in the center, you can always hang a spare backpack.  That would make the whole rack look even better!  What do you think?

 

Hi Andy,

Good thinking!

I had a couple spare and ready painted so I've hung them from a shovel handle at the rear. It hides them two blobs very nicely

A BIG improvement I reckon!

Update tomorrow,

All the best,

Ben  

WOW!  This is friggin' PERFECT!   I admit that blob has been bugging me... NOT anymore I can say.  Now everything looks great...  

I just like to help especially my British mate... guess it means you owe me another .  Not kidding because we want to visit my family in England again. 

Thanks Andy - I'm glad you mentioned it as I wasn't sure if I needed to sort it out.

I'll definately buy you a few beers if you manage to get your butt across the pond! It would be great to meet you matey!

Take care,

Ben   

Ben,,   thanks for the kudo's!  The micro pz has been a bit of a patience-pusher, but it seems to be coming along. There are a couple of area's that bug the hell outta me...  but I'm trying to focus on the few pluses. I am in hopes it stands somewhere even close to the amazing builds all the participents are producing...   (there is a load of talent in this GB room)

Your planking is excellent!  Seriously, I would have thought it was real wood,,  very nicely done.   And I do like the stowage too,, the drums turned out nice ...            Great save on the solder blob(s) too... good job on the coverup,,  plus it adds a bit more stowage to boot!        I would say a post shade would be just about right (preshading with that dark grey would have almost been a waste,,, agreed)

Andy,,  Maybe just a few libations,,,  (I'll join ya pal!).              Best of luck with finishing the Pz IV,,  can't wait to see the finished results!

BIN - The wood effect you have created is awesome   The drum and stowage looks good too.

BILL - The micro panzer is coming along very nice!  I'm taking a real liking to her.  The color has really started to bring it together.  The camo should be interesting.

Were should I post WIP pics of my train car, in the FIGURES & OTHER section?  Decided to build the German gondola Type Ommr rail car for something fast easy and relaxing but that never seems to work for me.  I'm now involved in scratching the brakes hydraulic motors, linkage and mounting brackets.  Should look pretty cool if your ever looking at the bottom of the car

Ben , i've been eyeing those solder blobs and wondering what you would do about them ..................nicely done ! Andy , good idea.

Ben - that rack looks awesome! And I'm totally stealing that wood technique at some point!

Finished up the P-51 last night, and tonight I pushed the Vorpanzer into the home stretch! Pigments on the lower hull, fenders, tracks and running gear. After really muddying up the Pz.IV, I'm going for more of a dusted look on this one - a bit of Dark Mud pigment, but mostly good ol' Russian Earth (the grayer tone works better with the scheme, IMO). The tracks also got the graphite treatment on the raised areas, but it's dulled down a bit after fixing the pigments with thinner, so I may go back and touch up.

Anyway - here's where it's at now. Tomorrow tracks and front halves of all the wheels go on. Lenses go into the lights. And that should be just about it!

Rob,,   thank you kindly!    Going to try to get cracking on the final painting and finishing phases soon.    As for the train car post,,,  heck, I would say post in Armor (just my opinion)...   To me it seems sort of a heavy metal subject  - - - "Armor" seems appropriate.          And,,, be sure to show some of that undercarriage,,,  from the extra work your putting into it, I would bet it looks great!

Doogs,,  I saw your 51,,,,,    Superb!                         Your Pz looks fine too!!!  Awesome paint / camo....  and will be looking to see those Friuls on that bad boy too.        Are you going to put it into a scene or just stand alone?