Blitzkrieg in the West (France 1940) Sept. 18 2011 - March 1 2012

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:55[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]0:0][View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0][View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0][View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0][View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]alrighty gents...  after much delay on my part, i'm ready to post a couple more pics before i button the petite panzer on up.  i decided to just go oob on the interior.  there's a few mistakes that i just didn't want to tackle at this time, little to do with budget, and alot to do with what i just don't see through the hatches.  the interior matches up o.k. with what little ref. i have, but it is missing the gauge cluster, and most of its treadplate on the floor, plus a few odds and ends here and there, otherwise it looks pretty cool, i really wanted to focus on the painting, which i'm thinking i already screwed up cause i see people paint them white, but my ref. pic shows the cream color?  mu[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]seum repaint?  so for the most part the kit has been super easy and hopr to have more pics after i button the thing up...[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

Greg, glad to have you in. I would have picked that kit up as well, but I had the Cyber Hobby F.

                              Alot of great builds going on here now.Just wondering if this little gem qualifies.

                             Digging through my refs I spotted a few of these up-armored II's in France ,summer of 1940. If it will go count me in. I'll update on the unit and such after I hear from the big cheese.

                                             Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley

treadwell

tigerman:

Tread, forgot to mention how well your Char b is coming along. Stellar work as I've come to expect form you.

 

 

Hi Eric  :  )    ...... thanks man...you da best.... so have you figured the camo scheme for the H 39 ?....did ya get the tracks painted yet ?      Painting an already totally assembled model scares me !......remember Biffa.. I know you do..he was a master at painting a completely assembled model... all done with oils and washes.... hint hint  

tread

 

Stuggling with the weathering on the lower half. I need to get that done, before I weather the tracks or so that's my thinking.

Tread, thanks for the good luck wishes...so far so good with the program, but it does take a good chunk of time commitment both in terms of reading and also in research and paper writing...so I've had to work in chunks of bench time here and there when I can. That's fine when things are in the building phase but much harder when its time to paint!

Terry,,    thanks and no worries on being busy,,,,,,  totally understood

terry35

And Bill Carl's I got your FB message this morning as I was leaving for work but only got a chance to pop in now, well mate you have left me standing in your shadow on this one so I'm gonna relax in the shade and let you continue to amaze me.

 

Regards to you all on this great GB.

Terry.

Terry my Bro'.... the fiddly bits are demanding, but mostly , thank you so much... it means a lot from some one I hold in such high regard.

your long time pal,

tread

tigerman

Tread, forgot to mention how well your Char b is coming along. Stellar work as I've come to expect form you.

Hi Eric  :  )    ...... thanks man...you da best.... so have you figured the camo scheme for the H 39 ?....did ya get the tracks painted yet ?      Painting an already totally assembled model scares me !......remember Biffa.. I know you do..he was a master at painting a completely assembled model... all done with oils and washes.... hint hint  

tread

tread @ wbill  :  )

hey Bill thanks and as I tell the kids where I work " be cool .. go back to school"  good luck on the MBA.....nothing is more important than a good education and when possible, continuing that education. I admire you... good job on improving your life

tread

Well congrats to the two Bills , first Bill great work on the mg mount, gonna track back a page or two. Ext time I get online. 

And Bill Carl's I got your FB message this morning as I was leaving for work but only got a chance to pop in now, well mate you have left me standing in your shadow on this one so I'm gonna relax in the shade and let you continue to amaze me.

Sorry this reply is short but I'm on my phone and while it's great to have this technology I also have big hands and fat fingers , hope you all can read it and if you can't the. I personally claim to have invented the enigma app for iPhone.

Regards to you all on this great GB.

Terry.

deafpanzer

Tread- Man, I can't wait to build my Char.  Of course it won't be as nice as yours and Marc's!!!  I have been taking notes.  I am planning to order PE upgrade set from Royal Model for my Char... I think it was asking for $35 or $40.

BaBill12- Great work on the interior!!!  You have been on a roll... that micro Pz III for my GB and now this! 

Hi Andy, I am trying hard to put alot into this model because, although I didn't know it before I started it,the B1 bis was the pinnacle of French tracked achievement in WWII and really made an historic mark.. Therefore it deserves the best I can offer as a modeller and as an homage to the 6 week war that cost France so much. 

peace out

tread

Andy,,    I hear ya pal,,,    but, I am not stressing, so it's all good. Given the timeframes these GB's are quite relaxed           I like that!

Rob,,   much thanks....   I wish all my fubar's would turn out as well.

TREAD - That is some beautiful work and well worth the wait

BILL212 - Nice save on the MG ball.  And yes , I often make the mistake of doing something only to find out later of the new problems created from my alterations.  In your case believe it worked out best this way.  The MG will look good in the relaxed position.

Tread- Man, I can't wait to build my Char.  Of course it won't be as nice as yours and Marc's!!!  I have been taking notes.  I am planning to order PE upgrade set from Royal Model for my Char... I think it was asking for $35 or $40.

BaBill12- Great work on the interior!!!  You have been on a roll... that micro Pz III for my GB and now this! 

Eric,,    no worries.       The references I have on Pz green (camo) are both Polly S, one is called armor dark green # 508704,      the other is panzer olive green # 505113      hope this helps.

wBill,,    thanks.        Keep plugging with the MBA effort. The hobby will always be waiting (best of luck).

The devil's always in the details and it looks like Rob, Tread, and Bill are keeping nice and worm with their respective efforts!

I've been plodding along with my tracks...the work load with my MBA program has been keeping me away from the bench except for 30 minutes here and there that I've been able to steal to work on stuff. Fingers crossed that I can get to some solid painting time between now and Thursday but no promises.

Sorry Bill, I guess I used field drab for the base, not khaki. I was wondering what the spots would be painted for the camo? Looks almost darkish green in some drawings. The rings would be black I suppose.

Marc,,    much obliged!

Eric,,    cheers     !     Not sure about the khaki color you are referring to however.

Tread,,   thanks muchly...  and agreed - if you can stay in the box and hit the curve balls you'll be ok. 

Tread, forgot to mention how well your Char b is coming along. Stellar work as I've come to expect form you.

ttread @ BaBill   solid work on the interior, just like Eric said!....every body needs a curveball thrown at them once in a while.... nice recovery

she is gonna be real sweet

tread

Solid work on the interior Bill.

I'm afraid I have nothing to trumpet about. I'm slowly making my way thru this. Stuggling with some of the weathering. I kind of got the tools done, but I'm not happy with how they turned out. Some of the tools are fairly poorly molded, like the pick.

What are the typical camo colors again? I know reddish brown is one option, but what is the lighter color on the khaki-drab base? I'm thinking I have to try it.

Solid work on the interior Bill.

I'm afraid I have nothing to trumpet about. I'm slowly making my way thru this. Stuggling with some of the weathering. I kind of got the tools done, but I'm not happy with how they turned out. Some of the tools are fairly poorly molded, like the pick.

What are the typical camo colors again? I know reddish brown is one option, but what is the lighter color on the khaki-drab base? I'm thinking I have to try it.

Hi Marc... about the Tamiya webite on Char francais... if you look for alternate translations , the way it looks to me is the handles were ADDED after 1940....after you took yours off, I did A LOT of digging and decided to leave them on....here is the link to the 1/9th B1 ... not the HOME link, but you can get to it from there.http://charb1bis.blogspot.com/2011/07/tool-hooks.html   ..glad ya like the tool holders they were a PITA .. each one is 6 pieces !) the freekin gussets were just small and hard to place with out ruining anything else!... hopefully I am home free now... just 16 small additions I want to make  :  )

tread

Rob... dude... nice detailing.

Terry... Thanks my friend

Bill.  The MG looks great.

Tread.  The tool holders looks sweet.  Do you have a link to the 1/9 scale build finished?  It was pointed out to me in another forum that the 2 hatches with the handles replaced with wire should not have the handle at all.  A couple of photos in the section about the Tamiya kit improvements in that French Char website bears that out.

Hi Guys......

Tread,,,,  the tool racks look great,,,, I think ,   very nice

Well, in finishing up the pz I interior, I put together the MG 13 which consists of just 2 parts (mg handle / breach and interior housing).            

Y'know how sometimes you get jacked to work on a portion and you find that you didn't think far enough ahead and you have to scramble to make something right?     I do that more than I like,,,   explanation upcoming...

Anyhow         cleaned and primed the mg and the housing and glued together  (sorry for the crappy pics)

A bit of handling removed some of the mg primer,,, but, no prob as there will be multiple coats of paint a-comin'

First a coat of gunmetal....

Then a flat black wash....   and some highlights coming

Then a bit of a mix / wood for the grips.....

Then a bit of wash and drybrushing,,,, 

Now,,,  reverting to my lack of foresight,,,,   when I position this effort into the hull, I notice the mg angle is at a very "rested" position....       I did not take the mg angle into mind, other than it being straight against the mount,,,  duh 

Now,,    the kit exterior ball mount mg position is pretty much "straight-on".       Hm,,, now what?  ,,   no worries,   drill out a new position and fill in the original mg barrell "hole"....

Zap CA, let it dry,,  sand it,, buff it, resand, rebuff,,,,,

And end up with a pretty decent re-positioning of the mg     at rest.....

No wonder it takes me ages to complete a build.........       But,    this little curve ball suited the build well. My intent is to have the pz in a restful position all round. So the oversight turned out to be a plus.

Hope you like,,,, 

Bill

BaBill212

Rob,,,   awesome bit of metal / brass work there,,    quite inventive!

Agree.

hi guys : )

well, ... correcting the tool holding racks from scratch took more time than I care to admit to you guys, and little things like the gussets on the rail behind the turret could have been moulded in ... they took hours to cut and place correctly.... I  re-sized all the slotted screws in the turret, some by .005 and some by .010 by filling with sprue and re drilling... you may not notice from these pics, but to me it is very obvious..

Getting back to the tool rack, I used the pics included from Stephen Tegners 1/9 Char B1 bis and did the best I could to emulate what he built from aluminum billet... they aren't glued on yet .. I am still un decided ...as I said in an earlier post this is one time I wish I would have gone with aber for some parts.  let me know what ya think....

tread

Rob,,,   awesome bit of metal / brass work there,,    quite inventive!

super nice,Rob..... I enjoy scratch building also .... it is the very tiny parts that are my bane

tread

CARL, TERRY - Thanks guys.  Don't hold your breath though.  Since I have stripped almost all of the details off that means I have to scratch all of the ones to be put back on.  May have gotten in over my head but we will find out soon enough.

BILL212 - Sure would like to see your little Carriers.  These are pretty cool little vehicles, they are just so odd and not really fitting in any real classification category.  I too will have to get another one in the future so that I can build the MK II version.

ERIC, STIK - Yeah, this thing was loaded with pin marks and they were all in places that make them an absolute pain to fill or sand.

Well not a lot of progress was accomplished, had to work all weekend.  So have started on making the details on the rear of the Carrier.  Spent most of the day making this stowage box from scratch.  All of the MK I's seem to of had them so it is a must have.

I first made a template on paper and folded to see if the shape was proper.  Then transfered the template to a brass sheet and cut out with scissors.

Then heated on an open flame and bent to shape.

Box was made from styrene sheet and strips.  Wire handle was added and some brass hinges.  Finally the brass stowage rack was added. 

There still some final sanding and shaping left to do to it.  There will also be one more plate to be put on the rear of it, still have to make that part.  After that last part goes on might give it a quick shot of paint to see if there are any flaws with it before attaching to the Carrier.  Progress on this build may be slower then originally planed so updates could also be slow.