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

Great progress made Rob. I love that camo on the turret.

Glad again to hear everyone is okay.

Rob I've never tried the Silly Putty masking method . I'll hold back my final judgement until you get yours further along .

Like Eric i'm glad to hear you all are ok .

Hey guys!  I just stopped in to say what fantastic work you're doing!

Gamera, tread -  both of your Char B1s look great!  I have to get me one of those Tamiya Char kits one day!  Do you think they'll do a Somua or other French armor?

Bill - Man, that Dragon Pz. IV Ausf.C looks tough!  I have that kit, it definitely has a crazy amount of parts...too bad I scavenged quite a few parts for another project I was working on.  But I do have the Ausf. E also so I'm going to be following your build pretty closely!

Shellback - Wow, you're tackling that venerable Italier Pz I kit?  You're a brave man...I've had my fill of Italeri kits that have mediocre detail, ill fitting parts, tons of mold seams and lousy tracks (compared to more modern kits).  Looks like you're whipping that bad boy into shape though!

modeler#1 - the participant list says your kit is a Heller Char Leger...is this the same as the Renault R35?  Nice work you're doing!  I've got to say, I never knew the French had such varied armor in 1940!

stikpusher - Wow, are you going to be the first one complete with your UE?  That little guy is looking mighty fine...can't wait to see some paint on it!

Chazzer - I was wondering if anyone was going to build a Matilda as they definitely were on field for this battle.  Wish I could help you with some info on decals/markings but my knowledge of that tank is minimal at best! 

AndyT - Nice looking Gladiator and good to see some AC being built up! Camo looks good!   Hmmmm....maybe you'll be the first to complete one for the GB!

PANZERWAFFE - First I'm glad you and your family are OK.  Dirve bys are scary and shells all over your front yard is just a disturbing scenario.  Hopefully thats the last and only time that will ever happen.  The Somua is looking fantastic!  I love all the detailing you're putting into this old kit.  Replacing the turret with a Tamiya B1 is pretty cool, but I missed somewhere why you did that?  Is the kit turret that bad?  Also I noticed that you've added a lot of missing nuts/bolts but was surprised that you didn't replace the hull assembly bolts...the ones that bolt down the upper hull to the lower.  Seems like the kit bolts are just small, nondescript rods instead of the conical bolts actually used:  http://svsm.org/gallery/s35/IMG_3845  I'm not knocking your great work, just thought maybe you missed that?

Eric - Whoa, I had to go back 10 pages to see that you've nearly completed the Bronco H39!!  Maybe you'll be the first one done!?

I'm just dying here watching all this great modelling and not being able to work on my A13.  I wish I could say I'll be working on it soon, but it will be later than sooner!  Keep up the great modelling fellas!

bufflehead

Shellback - Wow, you're tackling that venerable Italier Pz I kit?  You're a brave man...I've had my fill of Italeri kits that have mediocre detail, ill fitting parts, tons of mold seams and lousy tracks (compared to more modern kits).  Looks like you're whipping that bad boy into shape though!

Everything you say is true but i have a lot of these old Italeri kits in the stash and lately it seems like the subject of the G.B 's has involved using them . Its not been bad . Dealing with the short comming has increased my scratch building abilities .

Here's a little work i did on the antenna .There was no stub for mounting the antenna to the hull so i drilled and inserted copper wire . now the antenna will be positionable up or down . Rather than use stretched sprue i used a strand  from a paint brush . It is more durable and wont break when bent over . Then wound some fine copperwire around for the antenna spring .

Hello ,

@ Tread :   GO DOLPHINS , GO 49 ers . I know there are not the highlights teams of the 80's . Marino , Montana , Jerry rice ................

@ Rob  :  Man , very happy you and family are safe .

                   You're Somua s35 is a old kit , but you made a really nice model. love the making of the turret.

@ for all of you :  Nice builds .

Jc

SILLY PUTTY REPORT!

I am real happy with the way the silly putty worked as a mask for the camo. I needed to tap the edges down with a toothpic more to prevent the bleeding. But the ease of application and removal is just great. I still have the upper wing to do and will post the pics when I get it done.

My thinks to PANZERWAFFE for the tips.

I doubt it Ernest. I've slowed down now since I got to the tracks. Painting should be quick. This thing is teeny. I would love to get this whole ting finished before my birthday, which is before the month is out. Might be too ambitious.

Carl,

The detail work you did on the spring is pretty sharp...but I hate to be the bearer of news (you decide if it's bad or not! ) on that front. The Germans didn't use coiled spring bases on their radio antennas. The Pz I antenna was a rigid hollow rod mast design that was raised and lowered via a small lever inside the hull by the radio operator. When the antenna wasn't in use, it rested in a wooden trough mounted on the fender. Similar designs are seen on the Pz II, III, and IV although later they shifted to a rubber base mount that was fixed in position as a production simplification exercise. Coiled spring bases are something you typically see on US vehicles in WW2 but not on German gear.

Rob Panzerwaffe, sharp work so far on dressing up your Somua. Looking forward to the paint scheme coming to life! Sorry to hear about the drive-by but glad no one in your family was hurt.

wbill76

Carl,

The detail work you did on the spring is pretty sharp...but I hate to be the bearer of news (you decide if it's bad or not! ) on that front. The Germans didn't use coiled spring bases on their radio antennas. The Pz I antenna was a rigid hollow rod mast design that was raised and lowered via a small lever inside the hull by the radio operator. When the antenna wasn't in use, it rested in a wooden trough mounted on the fender. Similar designs are seen on the Pz II, III, and IV although later they shifted to a rubber base mount that was fixed in position as a production simplification exercise. Coiled spring bases are something you typically see on US vehicles in WW2 but not on German gear.

Rob Panzerwaffe, sharp work so far on dressing up your Somua. Looking forward to the paint scheme coming to life! Sorry to hear about the drive-by but glad no one in your family was hurt.

Bill , i had an idea that might be the situation . Its an easy fix to remove the bristle and spring . I'll stay with using the brush bristle , only because it is not stiff and will last longer due to my clumsyness . I did know about the raising and lowering but i had no idea the trough was made of wood . Good idea , wouldnt want to energize the antenna against a steel plate .......................Thanks for the info .

AndyT and Rob,,,,   that silly putty trick looks pretty slick. Both efforts are looking good.   I have some and will have to try that the next time I need a hard edge or tough camo scheme.

Rob,,   glad all are ok as well....  hopefully whomever the 40 cals were intended for are long gone too...  that is some scary crapola.

Carl and wBill,,    good catch on the antenna (it did look good with the "spring" though),,,  nice that wBill made the observation before painting...

tread @ Rob

holy crap man.. glad you and family are safe...a most heinous and rude crime.. I hate that $h1+....hate it hate it hate it!.... makes me glad I live on a dead end street !

Your Somua ( spelled it correctly this time) is an absolute treat for for my eye and it looks like the paint job is gonna be a real tough act to follow

great work, and in all sincerity, glad you are alive to complete it... goddam punk@$$ mofos

tread

tread @ Andy T

First time with silly putty came out pretty darn good man...a tiny bit of cleanup and look Great

Silly Putty may definitely be in my future and I have never tried it either....gonna look sharp with the top wing on !

tread

This one slipped under the radar so thanks Eric for pointing it out to me.  I read page 1 and then the last 10 pages since "building" began.   To quote the nose of a famous P-51... "CRIPES AMIGHTY!!!!!"   WOW nice stuff guys. and like the other Marc siad... Bill and Tread in a GB.  May not be a 1st but it is the 1st I've ever heard.  So count me in.  I will check the stash to see if I got anything that fits.  I won a Hotchkiss at AMPS East in the raffle, just dunno which one.  

Hi Shell : )

the Germans didn't design it that way, but the should have!.... no worries ... you'll spring back

tread

Hi Marc : )

Glad you're in man !.... can't wait to know what you are gonna build ...this GB just keeps getting better!

tread

wing_nut

This one slipped under the radar so thanks Eric for pointing it out to me.  I read page 1 and then the last 10 pages since "building" began.   To quote the nose of a famous P-51... "CRIPES AMIGHTY!!!!!"   WOW nice stuff guys. and like the other Marc siad... Bill and Tread in a GB.  May not be a 1st but it is the 1st I've ever heard.  So count me in.  I will check the stash to see if I got anything that fits.  I won a Hotchkiss at AMPS East in the raffle, just dunno which one.  

Marc, glad to have you. i'm surprised you missed it since you've been in and out of the GB forum. LOL

Crud, you got the Hotchkiss? I'm going to have to bag mine now. No competition. J/K. Feel free to submit it.

Thanks for the warm welcome.  Every kit I have in the stash is too late of a versionThe Pz II is an F, the Pz III is a J.  I have the Trumpeter Hotchkiss 38H(f) so no good.  I have 2 differnet 38 (t)'s and both NG.    

I'll get something.  May go over the list and try to get something not being done... we'll see.

treadwell

Hi Shell : )

the Germans didn't design it that way, but the should have!.... no worries ... you'll spring back

tread

HA HA ha hhhhh , Tread man it has been corrected .I used stretched sprue this time .

Welcome Marc !!!

Ok , heres a mess that turned out ok .

I was going to drill out the spot light to make it concave so i could insert some kind of lense . So i chucked a bit in my Dremel instead of what i usually use , my hand bit vice . I started drilling and boink ! The bit went all the way thru the light ! Looks like it heated up the plastic and melted all the way thru . So now i had a big hole in the spot light . Hmmmmmm , what to do ? I rounded out the hole with my round file to the size of some clear sprue .

I polished the tip of the clear sprue and inserted it .

I brushed some accelerator on the clear spue and applied C.A. to the back of the light . The accelerator kept the C.A. from flowing to the front of the light . I sanded the clear sprue at the back of the light to the appropriate shape and painted it chrome silver .

When that dried i painted over the chrome with panzer gray .

tread@ Shell : )

MAN.... I can't even think of a joke.... that is friggin innovative,excellently executed and worthy of being THE system for making headlights !  really .Shell .... I have never seen this one before..... dude got skills... !

Humbly, 

tread

I empressed the great Tread plate ! ....................

Carl;

Hi!  First, I gotta say your stabsantenna looks pretty nice..  and boy am I glad some others caught up with the spring fox-paws before I shot my face on it!!  I'm beginning to get concerned about being some sort of wet-blanket around here!

As folks have pointed out, these earlier-war panzers sported an antenna made using a copper tube- pretty rigid and actually uniform in diameter top-to-bottom. (so those who use a piece of wire are actually getting pretty close to the real thing!). And that trough was indeed a carved piece of wood attached with bits of sheet-metal to the fender! (When I first heard about this, I right away started to imagine some sort of rural cottage industry "doing their duty and playing their part in the valiant efforts of the Fatherland" carving antenna troughs for Herr Hitler's panzers!  Yikes! It's the stuff of propaganda posters!) 

Now that you are in the groove, so to speak (rather, out of that groove and upright....), you might want to detail that base a little- if you visit "worldwar2aces.com" or some other sites with pics of museum Pz 1 types, you'll see some antenna... the base of the rod has a nice clamp you can easily add, and some, but not all, seem to have 2 metal plates curving around the base fore and aft (viewed from the side looking a little like a cup around the base? maybe for protecting same?).  Just an idea if you want to tweak it a little (and maybe feel down about having to cut loose that nice spring you made)

It does look good the way it is!

Bob

Bob , whats up with all of this "wet blanket " stuff man ? Its getting soggy in here ......................Just kidding you Bob . I really appreciate the info that you , WBill and Tread ? .............are giving me . Thanks for sharing . I learned a lot already .

Keep throwing the wet blankets at me , maybe the knowledge will soak in .

Tell ya what Shell... yer headlight fix will impress everyone.... it's like a modeling epiphany .( 5 dollar word)...thats how they should make them in a kit..... and when you add the scribes for the 'crosshatch ' look that you are already thinking about  it will be even more sensational

tread

Ok this time I pressed the silly putty down with a toothpic. Seems better to me.

 and finally the spars and braces to put on the top wing and a few other parts:

Looking good Andy T.... I was wondering in you are using enamel or acrylic...my only fear is pulling part of the masked color off with the silly putty ?

tread

treadwell

Tell ya what Shell... yer headlight fix will impress everyone.... it's like a modeling epiphany .( 5 dollar word)...thats how they should make them in a kit..... and when you add the scribes for the 'crosshatch ' look that you are already thinking about  it will be even more sensational

tread

" A day in epiphaney " ?

Tread i had thought about those "crosshatch" also , but it was after i put the lense in . Thanks .

Carl, ridiculously smart innovation there mate. My build seems so lame OOB. (chuckle)

Andy, are you going off a reference? That second one seemed to work well.

tigerman

Andy, are you going off a reference? That second one seemed to work well.

I found a document on the marking for the 615th squadron for the gladiators I am using as a guide.

Eric , havent seen anything of your build lately . Or did i miss an update ?