Did someone say Santa's coming

GREG - Interior does look nice.  See a few of you using Krylon products.  The primer you used and it produced is a really good one.  For the price, size of can, and nice finish, think I may have to try some out.  Do you spray straight from the can?

WBILL - Nothing like when the UPS man shows up!  Looks like you already answered my first question: was wondering about the feel of the all metal brush.  Interested to see if there are any big differences in performance.  More so, going to be nice to see some color go on the IV.

Andy,,    just for the work on the house, you should be in "first class" with Santa!    

Just started Dragons 1/6 PzKw IIb and am in the process of scratch building alot of Field modifications, still not sure what era to finish it in(DAK,France1940 or Eastern Front 1942) any and all suggestions Greatly Appreiciated. Am looking to put a Turret Stowage box and need someone with experience scaling up from 1/35 to 1/6 scale to scan a set of 1/35 Panzer II stowage box to 1/6 scale.... Again Thanks in Advance.....Joedoc973

Bill- Wood case?  My set didn't even come in one!  Enjoy your early Christmas present.  Hope Santa will be nice to me because I have been a very good boy this year I swear...

wBill,,,  very nice    !!

Bill and Eric,

I've been an Aztek fan for the last decade...love them and they are the only AB I use...some have a love/hate relationship with the Aztek but I've always found them to be versatile and easy to maintain. This is now my third one but the first one I've owned that had the all-metal body. I gave it a short test drive yesterday just to make sure it worked and the heavier weight of the body vs the plastic type was the biggest difference that I will have to get used to. It's brand new (the 3 year warranty had expired on the one that died) and not a warranty replacement.

Greg, great start so far. 

Wbill, nice set.I had the older plastic brush, but similar set. Hope it lasts you longer then me. I'm now a converted Badger brusher myself. LOL

                                    Tread,the primer you seek is Krylon indoor/outdoor primer,Ruddy Brown. Hope that helps.Its like 2.99 or 3.99. Never really paid attention,I just like the tone I guess. Thanks for the comps fellas. Oh yea,Available at your local Wal-mart.

                                                    Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley

tread @ Wbill...... NOICE...... (Australian accent...

wBill,,,    thanks for the comp and yes, please feel free..... 

Oh,  and ooooooooo,,,,  nice new airbrush!         I like it....  Is it a new new one or a new replacement?    I haven't purchased a new brush in more that 20 years.            Would like to hear your assessment [on it ]

Bill, nice save on the hull join. The headlight idea is one I will have to file away for future use as well.

Greg, your Pz II is shaping up nicely, look forward to seeing more progress!

I am also extremely happy to report that the UPS delivery truck dropped off a very nice bundle for me today. Wasn't expecting this until later in the week so there's now a very good chance that some paint work will get done on the Pz IV before the weekend.

Hi Greg : )

looking real good my friend

the oxide red primer color looks perfect..., may I ask what you used? was it vallejo calvary brown ?...

in any case, it looks great !

tread

Greg , I'm likin that interior detail .

                                      Greetings all. To start I will say that there are some great builds going here,as well as some wonderful looking finished builds,especially some of those rather odd looking French designs. Great stuff.

                                      My build for this group has progressed very well with only a minor gliche and that was the rear idler wheel does not fit the spindle,at least not the idler Dragons instructions call for. So if any of you are planning to build one of these watch out for this. The pics I took are in natural light,but even so with all the ruddy brown primer they are a bit dark,but here goes.

                                      As always any comments or questions are welcome. Have a great day.

                                                          Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley

Tread, Rob, Carl,,,, thanks, much obliged. The glitches were quite a surprise, considering the manufacturer,,,,, but, you live and learn.

Tread, thanks for the additional tip,, nice fodder for future builds.

Rob, be my guest, any tip I can offer that others use is favor offered,,, the way this hobby should be          Yes, I did work on some more weld beads...   there were a few seams that needed some help.

Carl,  not sure if Dragon followed Italeri,,,,   I have to remember to double and triple check some of the allignments.    I should blame myself but I will dump it back on the manufacturer,, ha!

Bill , your over came those couple of hitches really well . As i remeber i had almost that same problem when i glued the rear hull piece on . Did Dragon copy Italeri ? Cool touch on the lights . I use the silver like you but i hadnt thought of the use of the white behind it . Now thats just cool looking .

BILL212 - Man that was a nice save on the rear plates   I remember when building the Pzjager I not long ago it was a little tricky on the back area.  Did not even think to mention this   Once again though great job!

Hear you about the jack....nothing like a bunch of mini victories

I love the look of the lights and will be borrowing your tips for future builds if you don't mind   Thanks for posting that info.

Looks like you have been adding / improving some weld beads throughout the vehicle   Looking really nice overall and look forward to the next post.

hi Bill  :  ) 

The command Pz I is lookin great ! and you handled Murphy's law really well

nice touch with the drops of white in the headlights.... I open miniature bearings from my R/C car days ,

and glue the chrome ball from the race in place of a light bulb... that also looks trick : )..

looks like you are nearing the finish line with excellent results!

tread

Rob,,   again,    the carrier is awesome

Making some progress with the command pz I

A few warped parts and some mis-fitting,,,   very unusual for Dragon. BUT, nothing devastating... as of yet anyway.

The rear mud flaps had some goofy little tabs which didn't line up well at all. I cut them off and fashioned some tabs out of white glue and super glue.

Worked on the rear plate, muffler, guard, etc....   no real problems here. Things went together pretty well.

I slathered some rust onto the muffler as after painting the overall color, it would be hard to get any paint on it at all.    Sort of an undercoat.

Here is where a problem arose. According to instructions I glued the back plate on and then attached the rear deck. The rear was set in its proper position,    The back deck, also in its proper position,,,  but, a nice big gap showed up. The original dry fit didn't illustrate this mismatch.

Sonofabeeetch!

Ok, so, I was able to snap the rear plate off and cleaned up the glue points.

Some more dry fitting and I was able to match up the rear and back deck pretty well. There was a small gap underneath the rear plate and lower hull. I filled this with some thin plastic strip.

After some refitting, filling and sanding, the problem was remedied.      

I then moved forward and began working on a bit of a fit issue on the bow.

A little fill and sanding and it should be fine.    Again, I don't know that I have had these issues with Dragon in the past.     I might have just gotten a Friday or Monday kit, perhaps.

I then moved to a quick sub assembly with the lights.     After cleaning them up, I like to paint the interior with chrome enamel. I let that dry and then add a couple of little spots of enamel gloss white. These few small spots reflect with the chrome and give the lights a nice effect.

I had previously mentioned that some of these kits are a tad over-engineered. Not that I don't like detail, it is just crazy on some of the assemblies...      This jack and cutter had 9 pieces alone,,   and some tiny azz pieces at that.      I think when you finish one of these little subassemblies it is like a mini victory,,,  didn't lose any parts, didn't break any, and it went together with very few hitches.

Even with some flaws, it is still a fun build.            

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

Bill

Whats the matter with these guys ? No one had a gun ? 

I was LOLing out loud

Rob the wheels look great.

Tread, yes please to the pre-paint pics.

Bill, that guy Murphy really has a way fo screwin' with us doesn't he!

Now about that couch.  Since about 6 PM on Thanksgiving day my couch has given up trying to float away.  And on top of that it seems my butt is actually starting to fuse with the cushion fabric.

Rob,

I am getting another Aztek but this time around it's the one with the all-metal body. Hasn't arrived yet but should get it this week if UPS is to be believed. The maddening thing of course about when my AB chose to break down is that it coincided with a period in my classes where I have time free from papers and such! Murphy's Law at its finest.

CARL - Thanks man.

Now that you mention it, that picture makes you wonder who the turkey really was?

WBILL - Should not be much longer before your new brush arrives I would think.  Are you getting the same kind or something different?  Agree, when I'm at a standstill for whatever reason it may be, there's always some small detail that can be done and it helps out in the long run on the build.  At least this gives you time to get some of your paper's and research done with the MBA.

ERIC - Thanks buddy, glad you like her so far.

TREAD - The solid green and Pz gray are my favorite colors to work with.  Trying to achieve proper color shift is fun and it's good to hear that you think it's on it's way to that goal.

Harley....HMMM....maybe chrome the wheels and clean up those springs

I am glad you too understand the importance of keeping that couch under control

TERRY - Thanks for that nice complement.

GAMERA - Nice to get a little vacation, hope it was a good one.  Look forward to your pic's.

PANZERWAFFE

Whats the matter with these guys ? No one had a gun ? 

Great work all around guys, just got back from vacation a few days ago and trying to catch up on everything.

Hopefully I'll get some photos posted soonish.

Rob that is amazing work on the universal carrier looks real.

Terry.

I second Eric'.s remark.... Rob, just beautiful man...every color is perfect with the next and now I hate to say it, but I am getting more attached to this guy than your Somua, perfect as it is....

on the shot of the wheels, the one looking straight down reminds me of the wide glide front end on my Harley....

great stuff my friend !

tread

I will try and have my 'last before paint' post up during the week.....I too am guilty of holding down the couch

Wow Rob, that is beautiful man.

Sweet work on the details Rob, very nice indeed...really making that little carrier's interior shine!

I'm still patiently waiting for my airbrush to arrive...I may have to steal a page from you and work on some of the detail stuff as a way to fill the gap until it gets here.

Hey Rob that is precise detail weathering .............looks fantastic .

Everybody still sleeping after their   Hope all had a great Thanksgiving

BOYD - Sometimes a diet is just what one needs but nice to see ya back.  Sounds like you did quite a bit to the 222.  Cant wait to see it.  Sorry to hear of the camera but now that its fixed it should work better than before, right

Small update

Lot of dry brushing, some pastel, and washes.  Did not quite catch all of that in these pic's but looks pretty good here.

The front is dry fit.  Just a few more small things to fix up but should be able to get the wheels and front end on real soon.