BaBill, not sure what you mean by cross-reference? If you mean by references for why I chose the Schokoladenbraun, I can provide that. The ordered German 2-tone Nov '38 to July '40 scheme called for 2/3 No.46 Dunkelgrau and 1/3 No.45 Dunkelbraun and Panzer Tracts 1-2 has color chips that recreate it. See below...the two colors are very similar to each other so the contrast is hard to distinguish depending on monitor settings. The Dunkelbraun is a very dark brown and the Schokoladenbraun is the closest thing I've found to it in Testors MM line. HTH!

Rob,,    what big eyes you have!     The lights look great,,, 

Eric,,   I like the look of the camo,, once weathered it will blend in nicely. I also agree, the better pics are better  !

Gamera,,    (in his underwear,,   HA)

wBill,,    gotta luv that grey,   nice highlight / lowlighting. Do you have a cross reference for the pz schokoladenbraun ?          I am toying with using that camo style on the pz I,,,  not sure yet though.

tigerman

Some better pics.

There were some issues with the decals and I messed up the left heart, because I had to trim around it. I should have painted the tools on and the wood turned out darker then I wanted. I ran out of the red paint which was a hull red, because the red-brown looked more like rust. i probably won't go back and fix the brackets, because unless I spray them, they will look bad.

are ya kiddin' me Eric?    with a touch of weathering this little bad boy gonna look EXCELLENT.... great job buddy

Another good day of progress in the paint department. I used a lightened shade of the base coat (added about 20% Light Gray) to add some color variation and shading to the panzer gray finish. I did this before the camo so that I could view the gray as a whole rather than dance around a camo pattern and create artificial boundaries in the process.

Next came the camo pattern. I used MM enamel Panzer Schokoladenbraun for the 1/3 dark brown disruptive pattern and applied it freehand with the airbrush.

Once that had dried, I removed the protective masking tape from the turret and commander's cupola and installed the road wheels and return rollers.

Next up will be spending time with the devil in the details department.

Some better pics.

There were some issues with the decals and I messed up the left heart, because I had to trim around it. I should have painted the tools on and the wood turned out darker then I wanted. I ran out of the red paint which was a hull red, because the red-brown looked more like rust. i probably won't go back and fix the brackets, because unless I spray them, they will look bad.

Rob, nice work on the details, really making the front area "shine"!

Eric, we are often our own worst critics but the camo pattern you've applied looks good from here! As for having it continue down to the lower hull, I doubt much of it would have been visible through the weathering regardless so you shouldn't count that as a negative IMHO.

Bill and Rob: Really sharp work there guys!

Theuns: Always nice to see more a/c. Are those green and orange insignia on the decal sheet for Ireland?

Eric: Hey, I like the camo, looks good to me.

Painted the pants on the French tank commander last night and put down the base coat for his leather helmet, jacket, and boots. Then fitted him to the turret and you can't even see his pants! Might as well just left them in the base colour, he could be sitting there in his underwear for all you can see.

Okay, a couple of poor photos to get an idea on the camo. 

I've still got the tools, decals, muffler to install. Then weathering.

The directions are some of the worst I've encountered. I know this is Bronco's first kit and they're probably better by now. Decal locations are a joke.

Yes, I've always been cristical of my camo jobs. Had I not weathered the lower half (sort of) I would've carried the camo down there as well. So just the upper part of it liek that picture you sent me Rob.

BTW, those lights are super cool.

Thats sharp looking Rob . Are the lights after market ?

The small update pics

Thanks guys, appreciate the comments. I've got a little window/break tomorrow before my next class begins so the plan is to add some highlights/fading to the grey tomorrow along with the brown camo. That "should" allow for work to continue as the painting is always a major hurdle to clear to keep a build going.

Looking great Bill !

Eric ... anxious to see the camo!

TREAD - Looks great, all of those extras really enhance the overall look   Going to be great to see the color coats go on.

WBILL - Nice work on breaking your new brush in.  The base color looks a perfect pallet for the brown pattern to come.

ERIC - Good to hear you have the camo on.  You always say your not happy with it but I remember you saying that about your KT and that one was done beautifully.  I bet this one is looking the same.  One is there own hardest critic.

Has been very busy here and not much bench time has been put in.  Did manage to get the glacis and front vertical plate on.  Many bad gaps were present after part placement and required filling and sanding.  There were also some items that had to be removed and had to add some new headlights.  Finishing the wiring up now and then hope to get a picture up.

Hey Bill , looks like the new A.B. is working just fine for you .

Nice grey Bill. 

Thanks for joing Theuns.

Got my camo on today. As usual, not very happy with it, but I'm not redoing it. It's the red-striped pattern. I hope to gloss today, maybe tomorrow, apply decals, and weather this thing up. I want to be done by next week. I have a lot to do.

More paint progress to report. I applied the base coat of MM enamel Panzer Schwarzgrau over the primer and will be adding the 1/3 camo disruptive pattern of dark brown to complete the two-tone scheme for France 1940.

I also took care of the road wheels and return rollers. The rubber portions were airbrushed with MM enamel Gunmetal while in position on the wheels to avoid getting paint on their inner surfaces. This is due to the extremely tight fit tolerance between the rubber parts and the wheels I have to emphasize the need to avoid getting paint on either the hub or the rubber rim contact surfaces or problems will ensue! Once the paint dried, the  rubber rims were carefully removed and a circle template used to spray the inner hub with the same Schwarzgrau used on the vehicle. Rims were added back once the hubs were dry and voilà! The return rollers had their hubs painted with a circle template as well to round things out.

Next up is the camo pattern and detail paint work on the vehicle itself.

Cool thanx.

Here it is. A dissapointing little kit (for me) , as I almost hoped it would be as well detailed and nice as the new tool Airfix BF 110 1/72.

It looks like an old kit with raised detail and very littl to no detail in the cockpit and wheelwells :-(

I sanded the left wing's detail off and re-scribed the pannellines. It looks a little better although the pencil in the lines now makes them appear to be overdone., but the paint will sort that out.

Re-scribed (although a bit inacurately!) pannellines

Theuns

Theuns

Hi guys, since planes are also allowed, can I join in with a little 1/72 airfix Huricane mk1 (France 1940 colours) and possibly a 1/72 Airfix new tool BF 110 (France 1940 IIRC aswell) ?

 

Theuns 

Yes, please do! The flyguys are horribly outnumbered.

Hi guys, since planes are also allowed, can I join in with a little 1/72 airfix Huricane mk1 (France 1940 colours) and possibly a 1/72 Airfix new tool BF 110 (France 1940 IIRC aswell) ?

Theuns 

Thanks Bill.  Bonus points go to Gamera!

T-rex,,   are you going to do both (Somua and 38t) ??           if so,,   NICE!

tread,,,,,,,,    rock solid!   looking good              will be watching for the painting applications,,,,   !!

wBill,,,    nice to see the airbrush treating you well..    nice primer coating

I hope to get some priming onto the pz command this week as well.

Hi, guys just popping it to see how everybody is doing, well it's great to see another soma, nice one T-Rex.

Bill great to see a coat of paint on the Mk IV, and Bill delighted to see that your near paint on the Char you have certainly gone to town detailing this one, just brilliant.

Well myself I've just been out back with a rattle an and have my base coat done. Hope to have pics at weekend. 

Terry.

Looking good Tread!

Satch, the simple answer when dealing with Magic tracks (I assume the reason behind your question) is "as many as it takes" in terms of the desired sag and look. You will need somewhere in the neighborhood of a total of 100-103 per track side but definitely recommend you adjust for each side and play with the idler before committing to a final total!  

satch_ip

Oh wise Owls, how many links does it take to track a Pz IV?

Bonus points for whomever gets the alliteration.

 

Lick,

Lick,

CRUNCH!

Three.....

Great work guys! Sorry, a little embaressed here due to my lack of progress, have been trying to finish some other stuff. I did do a little painting on the French tank commander last night, cross your fingers I'll get back in the ring soon.

That looks great Tread. I can't wait to see some paint on it.

oH wise owl .... what varient

Oh wise Owls, how many links does it take to track a Pz IV?

Bonus points for whomever gets the alliteration.

tread@Shell

I am wondering also....yikes... I ALWAYS paint as  disassembled sub assemblies....hmmmm......well on thing we know from your trip to France... it was dry and dusty and the chars were oily and greasy !