bbrowniii,     thanks,, another good method for sure

Just flying thru your build Bob. You can do it then get into the Amore GB.

Satch

I think your panzer looks fine. Like wBill said, the only thing that jumped out at me was the white on the open hatches. I think you can easily tone down the pigments a little and it'll look great.

Bobbailly,

Really nice work on the FW. I was wondering if we would see any planes get built for the GB. Really makes a nice addition to the mix.

Guys,

If you are serious about blowing pigments, try loading a brush with them (wet) and then hitting the brush with your airbrush. It'll splatter the pigments in a convincing way, and you won't have to worry about a clogged AB.

I hear ya Carl,,,,   agree indeed

Bob,,   the camo is there,,      very nice!

Satch- I don't see anything wrong with your Panzer?  I think it look real good... just so dirty that it is overdue for a wash! 

Bob- Nice work on the camo! 

Yup , i may do that ...............outside ........this summer .............not inside..................the mess...................not outside ................brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Camo is on....only a few places to touch up due to some tape lifting...hopefully get a coat of Future on tomorrow evening and decals before weeks end.  Might even get this one finished before the deadline.....

What the heck,, give it a try on something old...    ground up and thinned it may work.

Bill . i have an air brush set up for sand blasting , to etch glass , i wonder if that would work for spraying dirt ...............probably not since the dirt would be mixed with liquid . It might etch it right into the plastic though .........................

Bob,,    much obliged, thanks

wBill,,  thank you too...  never thought of it in the Private Ryan way, but, very true!

Gamera,,  appreciate the comments!     And thank you for the offer. I may take you up on that...  I don't believe I have any from that region.

satch,,,  sorry pal, I came up empty in my first scouting venture. I am going to check another bin and see if I get lucky.

Bill: Beautiful job! Looks like you got the treads just right. Looking forward to seeing the base with groundwork. BTW: If you ever need any good old Southern red clay I got plenty here.

Satch: Very cool! Really like the figures, I think they add a lot to a AFV and really like the candid poses.

BaBill, the "family dirt" sounds like a great tradition...reminds me of the same thing in Saving Private Ryan. Nice job on completing the Befehlspanzer I!

Satch, glad to be of help to a fellow modeler! The Super Kits are complex and require more patience and yours came together beautifully. Hopefully the other Bill can supply you with the missing half of the cupola hatch so you have a complete set there. Aside from Eric's suggestion, the only thing I can add is for future build consideration, the Germans painted exposed interior hatch surfaces like the turret side hatches to match the hull exterior instead of leaving them in the interior color. This was to avoid creating targets for enemy gunners when the hatches were open both on the ground and from the air. Congrats on getting this one across the finish line!

Bill & Satch-nice work gentlemen.....very nice.

RLM 65 & 02 are on the 109.....hope to get the 70 (I think) on today......I'm really thinking that I should have gone the German armor route rather than dealing with the splinter camo scheme....oh well....

Cheers

satch,,   I agree with Eric,,  way too hard on yourself. There are loads of good points on your build...  seriously, overall it looks good.          I am headed to my storage bin (today) to see if I can find you that cupola hatch....   stay tuned, will let you know.

Carl,,  oh boy, the stories I could tell... (family dirt)...  ha.    No doubt someone in the family would turn the tables on me however. So I guess it best to button my lip.           When I tried to airbrush it kept clogging. Even with grinding into a fine powder I guess the pigments are still too much for airbrushing. My Qatar dirt was from another deployment by my USAF nephew. I

Satch, I think your being hard on yourself. i would just even out the weathering on the road wheels and call it good.

Bill your welcome . So ,family dirt from all over the world ..............................sorry ,couldnt pass it up

I should of had my USAF son do that ...maybe some Afghan dirt ? As far as airbrushing it i never thought of that . That'd probably be a mess though woudnt it ?That dirt from the German prison camp ...............whew !

Well boys, I'm taking this one off the bench on on the shelf.  I'm not entirely happy with the finished product.  I tried pigments for the first time and I think I broke my own rule and over applied the weathering.  I lost half the Commander's hatch so don't knick me on that one.  I also used the same figures from my Pz III build. 

Here she is, a Pz IVC of Pz Rgt 1, 1st Pz DIv, France 1940.

The kit is awesome but very complicated and demanding.  Paints were Vallejo German Gris and Tank Brown with Satin Varnish mixed in the paint.  This gave a nice semi sheen to smooth it out and precluded the need for gloss coat prior to decals.  The decals layed down very well over the hatch and on the compound curve on the rear of the turret. 

Along with the Vallejo pigments I used a oil dot filter.  Once again I think I kinda over did it.  It does look better on the shelf that it does in the photos.  Besides, I'm the only one that has to look at it!

Thanks for hosting the GB and a big thanks to Bill for his build log of this kit.  I don't know if I could have done it without you, Bill.

Satch

Thanks Andy,,    With me,, there are always some issues here and there. I totally expect them with any of my builds.

I would have to say this will be my first 2012 completion........   I did put a number of final touches on today (1/1/2012).

Bill- Beautiful work!   The tracks look alot better now after two links removed.  Sorry to hear about the issues but I hope you agree that they look perfect now. 

Will you threat it as 2011 last or 2012 first completed build?

Carl,,    thanks my friend. I used real ground up dirt for the tracks .        I have family members located all over the globe who send me little packages of native dirt.      One sample of particular interest is from a nephew (in the US Air Force) who gathered some dirt from a WWII concentration camp site while he was stationed in Germany.     So, I have a bunch of little screw top plastic paint type jars area labeled with ground dirt from all over the place..........    Pennsylvania, Texas, Kansas, Hawaii, West VA,  California,  South Carolina, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Qatar, Greece,  etc. etc.         (pays to have family all over the place sometimes...  ha)   

This ground up "dirt" application could not be more realistic (in my opinion that is).     It is simple, easy to apply and has many varied applications.        I did try to airbrush once, but met with less than favorable results. I pretty much stick to brush application dry or wet or a combination of both.

Ahhh yes Bill yor efforts have accomplished a beautiful finished model The views of the interior details add interest . I like the dented muffler guard . Tracks are really dirty . What did you use on them ?  I'm looking forward to some more pictures . Tools are looking good , track sag is good also . Interesting how many of us built the smaller vehicles for this G.B.

Eric,,   thanks muchly...  appreciate it. Once on its permanent base the tracks will be toned down just a bit, which will allow more of the "metal" track-to-ground to be viewed. I use real dirt which I grind with a mortar and pestle. Afterwards I mix it up with plain water and apply. You can make it real sloppy or thin, depending on your taste. When secured [to base] I can touch up, add or delete, again with a little water.

Rob,,  thank you too... the camo brown was a mix I made up using a pantone match with a color reference of the disruptive scheme brown. At first I was not too keen on it, but the weathering helped it along. The relaxed MG was a fluke as I built the interior I didn't take into account the angle of the butt end of the MG on the inside of the tank (angled in a relaxed position). I redrilled the exterior ball mount hole which gave it the subdued look. I agree that it does look a bit different from most that I have seen.

Once I get it to my basement studio I will get some better shots (hopefully) of the interior.

BILL212 - Thats NICE   Have always liked this variant with that substructure and antenna.  You have made a beautiful rendition of it.  Tracks did come out nice and it now shows off the missing front part of the fenders   Did not notice that before.  Like that color of brown in the cammo, what color did you use?  It ties in real well with the weathering.  The other thing I like is the position of the MG, more relaxed and different from all the others that I have seen.  Even from the limited view of these pic's the interior really shows through and greatly adds to the look.

Very well done overall and look forward to seeing it on it's base.

That turned out wonderfully Bill. Tracks looks great as does the weathering.

Happy New Year.

satch,,    I'll take a look and see what I have available......

Well, the Panzerbefehlswagen I is basically complete. I have to get into figure-mode to put it to a base. I still have a couple of ideas floating around in the void I refer to as my head. All the ideas will be focused on a dusty French back road.

Anyhow,,  here are some shop pics. I will get some studio pics together later.

It was a fun build for the most part. I enjoyed adding the interior details. Unfortunately these photos don't really offer much of the interior.      I think the paint and weathering turned out on the plus side.

Once I get it on a permanent base I will alter the track sag to fit. I'll also add a bit more dust / dirt to the lower hull areas.

Hope you like.........

All comments welcome

Bill

My Dragon Pz IV C.  Any early Pz IV or III hatches would work.  They had the same cupola.

satch,,       possibly,    what kit?

Anybody have any spare Pz IV cupola hatches? 

Thanks guys....it's good to be building rather than watching....although watching everyone's builds has been both inspiring and humbling....great work all the way around.

Rob,,  thanks               good hunting with the PE sale