ARMOR - Towed Gun Group Build (ends 7/1/04)

I am finally getting the chance to spend some time modelling. The last few weeks have been hectic and I have not had a chance to check in, but reading everyones accounts and seeing pictures has definately fired me up to start. I'm a little late getting going, but the kits I am using are not extremely difficult so I should be able to get them done in good order.

I still intend to build the British Universal Weapons Carrier towing a captured German AA gun. Hope to have some pictures soon.

Great stuff Andy. Hehe, I like the top-down shot with the 'setting sun' in the back as well

I finished all the subassemblies for the flak 43. I won't be painting anything yet, as I want to start on the demag as well tonight, hopefully. I'm still very confused over the whole paint issue, but I've decided I'll be using Model Master Panzer Gray to paint the vehicles, which still leaves me with one question...what do I use to paint the crew uniforms???

Nice build Andy. I opted to get the Tamiya Pak 40, but my LHS was out of them. I was going to wait for AFV's, but it still hasn't come out and thought i would save $25. Needless to say, I'm late for the party. The deadline still gives me hope. What's the badge going tto look like? I voe for an 88 or Pak 40.

Looks great Andy. I also like the atmospheric setting.

Not a bad webpage jratz, looking forward to updates.

Zokissima: standard field grey would work.

Thanks claymore. I'll check out some Tamiya paints this weekend.

Tigerman, my vote for the badge would go to the 88

Andytee

Nice job on that pak, and great job with those original figures.

Bagde? What badge? He-he-he.

So vote now...

88 or Pak 40

so far.. 88 - 2 votes / Pak 40 - 0

QUOTE: Originally posted by Dwight Ta-ala Bagde? What badge? He-he-he. So vote now... 88 or Pak 40 so far.. 88 - 2 votes / Pak 40 - 0

Nope, so far its 88 - 2 votes / Pak 40 - 1 vote

QUOTE: Originally posted by Andytee QUOTE: Originally posted by Dwight Ta-ala Bagde? What badge? He-he-he. So vote now... 88 or Pak 40 so far.. 88 - 2 votes / Pak 40 - 0 Nope, so far its 88 - 2 votes / Pak 40 - 1 vote

WRONG!!!!!!!!

Its 88 - 2 votes / Pak 40 - 2 votes.

OK, OK

88 - 2 / Pak 40 - 2

(but that's not counting my vote yet and what's mine?...you make a guess)

Hi everyone!

First off, I vote for the Pak40. 88's get way too much publicity.

Secondly, I just wanted to share some pics and a description of my progress. I am building Alan's SiG 33 gun in 1/35. The kit has been a bit of a trial for me so far. I am used to building Tamiya kits, as when I was originally into scale modelling that was most commonly available. This kit, although it has nice detail in places, has needed a lot of cleanup and putty, sometimes even surgery to make parts fit, and very ambiguous instructions.

I tried to detail and improve many kit parts, with varying degrees of suceess. I am proud of what I did with the sighting device, for example, but there is some bits on the carriage that are now hard to see, and other parts that look different, rather than improved.

The barrel was flat and distorted so a new Jordi Rubio barrel was ordered. The barrel itself was exceptional, with built in rifling, but I must admit this is my first AM barrel! It also came with some bits and pieces (breech etc.). Some were nice, but some where inferior to the kits. Choosing to combine the parts, instead of substituting them, made still more filling and sanding issues, and was quite frustrating. I actually came pretty close to making a terminal mistake a couple of times.

I finished up construction more or less last night, then base coated it tonight, only to find more filling/sanding. Again I came close to really stuffing it up. I then had my first go at painting camoflauge freehand with an airbrush, (I am a bit of a novice with airbrushes). Needless to say, I learnt a lot from the experience!

So here is my progress for the last couple of days.




Next up is clear coating, decals and then weathering, but I may well leave it for a week or so. I overestimated my abilities for this one, so I might have to re-evaluate what my plans are.

All advice welcome, of course, but there will be better pics to critique later!

Cheers,

Matt

Looks very very good Matt. The AM barell looks spectacular.

I finished all the subassemblies for the flak 43, and started some of the assembly for the Demag, but I've hit a snag, as I don't want to paint anything yet. I have no good references for the demag.
Someone help!

QUOTE: Originally posted by phroosh Hi everyone! Next up is clear coating, decals and then weathering, but I may well leave it for a week or so. I overestimated my abilities for this one, so I might have to re-evaluate what my plans are. All advice welcome, of course, but there will be better pics to critique later! Cheers, Matt

Hey matt

I always reckon that my models look their worst and inspire me the least when the basic painting is finished, but the weathering hasn't started. That's why I never build cars - too 'clean' a finish. For me it's the weathering that makes a model come to life. Once you get a dark wash over that gun, you won't recognise it - the detail will just jump out at you!

As for over-estimating your abilities, it looks fine to me, and constantly 'raising the bar' is the only way to improve.

Are you going to put it in a dio, or the classic 'gun on wooden plinth' approach?

Cheers, Andy!

QUOTE: Originally posted by phroosh The kit has been a bit of a trial for me so far. I am used to building Tamiya kits, as when I was originally into scale modelling that was most commonly available. This kit, although it has nice detail in places, has needed a lot of cleanup and putty, sometimes even surgery to make parts fit, and very ambiguous instructions.

These Russian kits are really vague on the instructions. They do require a lot of work. The benefit is that they do subjects that you don't often see, and so with some struggle and frustration, the results are frequently ...



... fantastic! Looks great already. Will look even better with a bit of weathering. Congrats on a great build-up.

Hey Matt, don't know where you over estimated but that gun looks great!

What's the snag Zokissima?

I'm moving, as usual, slowly but surely on my 8" howitzer. The barrel is done, as is the recoil slide. This is two kit numbers (1 and 2, naturally) in two days. If I can keep that up, I oughta be done with the model in around 8-10 days. It's really hard for me to find time to build during the weeknights.

I am really amazed and impressed with the sheer size of this momma! I can see now why Jerry feared American artillery so much -- it was accurate, and it was heavy! This baby threw a 200 pound HE round 18,000 yards. Ouch. And unlike the Russian artilelry, ours was responsive and deadly accurate.

I'll try to take a pic on the barrel and slide next to my in-progress Panther tank just to give you guys an impression of the sheer immensitude of this giant gun. Size does matter!

claymore68:

I can't get a good reference anywhere as to the interior colours of the vehicle. The way I build, I tend to paint certain subassemblies first, then put them all together. RIght now, I'm going to get as far as basecoating, and that's it. I have no idea what the dash was constructed out of, colouring, or anything else for the interior. The kit instructions only specify the colours of the knobs on the levers, but that's it

QUOTE: Originally posted by zokissima I can't get a good reference anywhere as to the interior colours of the vehicle. The way I build, I tend to paint certain subassemblies first, then put them all together. RIght now, I'm going to get as far as basecoating, and that's it. I have no idea what the dash was constructed out of, colouring, or anything else for the interior. The kit instructions only specify the colours of the knobs on the levers, but that's it

Check this out my friend:

http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/sdkfz10ph_1.htm

hey zokissima

(Edit: Larry's is better - he chases bookmarks quicker'n I do LOL)

there is a really good photo of a jerry can here: http://www.olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_sdkfz10.php3 but behind the can, there is about 30% of the dash visible. It's a reco, not an original - but it might help

You might not want to go here - about 50 pics of a Revell model with what looks like a months salary in detail bits http://www.militarymodelling.com/features/feature20/index.html

Good luck andy!

Larry has a good one there. There's a couple things to point out.
1) Camo didn't continue into the interior, just on the exterior of the vehicle.
2) Seating surfaces and other pads: Black leather leather at the begining of the war, Brown leather late in the war. I don't know exactly when this changed but I would guess late fall early winter of '44. By this time the German war maching was showing the effects of strategic bombing.

Matt,

Thats awsome... GREAT JOB! I have another alan kit that I am looking forward to building. This has perked my interest...

The use of AM is excellent. You have kept it to a necessity only level... kudos to you! lovely paint work too. I can't wait to see it weathered..

man, you guys are GREAT!!!
Thanks a bunch, everyone. This'll definitely clear up some issues

Hey, Matt...it looks great.

Oops I lost count of the votes for the 88 and the Pak 40.

88 was 3 and pak 40 was 12,346,789,567

QUOTE: Originally posted by claymore68 88 was 3 and pak 40 was 12,346,789,567

Somebody's bound to demand a recount on that...

QUOTE: Originally posted by Dwight Ta-ala QUOTE: Originally posted by claymore68 88 was 3 and pak 40 was 12,346,789,567 Somebody's bound to demand a recount on that...

Except Florida democrats, they'll want 4 or 5!

Actually it was 2 and 2 (not counting Dwight's)

QUOTE: Originally posted by claymore68 88 was 3 and pak 40 was 12,346,789,567

Laugh-out-loud-funny doesn't happen often enough. Masterful!

QUOTE: Originally posted by Dwight Ta-ala Hey, Matt...it looks great. Oops I lost count of the votes for the 88 and the Pak 40.

if i had to pick i would choose the pak40, but my first vote would be a russian 76mm gun (that's what i'm building anyway) :P

OK, let's see how it goes at this time...

88 - 2 votes / Pak 40 - 2 votes / Rus 75 - 1 vote

Hey Dwight, don't forget my vote for the Pak 40, it was buried in my long-winde SiG 33 report.

Thanks for all your compliments, everyone. I sounded a bit surly about it when I posted last night, but after taking another look in the morning, i am a lot happier. I do try and push my abilities quite hard, which is fine, but I think I was just a bit frustrated by the build. Andy and larry are right about the weathering though, it will make the kit and added detail come to life. Hopefully.

Andy, I am a bit unsure about towing vehicles and/or dios at the moment. I was going to do a Sdkfz 11 from AFV club for it, but I'm not sure I can justify the expense at the moment, so I may get a truck kit (Opel,Mercedes etc.) or just display with a crew and accesories. I have plenty of figures to butcher, er..... modify.

Great to read everyone else's dilemmas/progress. I am looking forward to seeing the results. Must admit, I am real keen on seeing Larry's monsters!

Matt