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It finally looks like a B1 bis.

A few bit of PE added, made a few things too but nothing outragious going on here.  Tough to see in the pics but the main turret casting texture was done with some straight lacquer thinner for a different look from the bits done with Mr. Surfacer.

When looking at refpics of the 1:1 the round part of the track that sits proud is obviously the part that get the most wear with bare metal show through the dirt and rust.  I painted them with Alclad 1st, the a coat of hairspray before some Tamiya NATO Brown. Then it was wiped with a wet cloth to wear away the paint.  Going for a metal showing through look instead of a metal dry brushed on look.  The brown is just a base color and they will be futrheter weathered.  Last pic is just to see what they look like on the vehicle.  Leaving for JerseyCon tonight so work on the PE fenders will have to wait 'til next week.

Bill & Shellback: Great looking work guys!

Wing_nut: Nice! Love how you did the treads, just painted mine dirt/mud brown and drybrushed them the other day.

Tread, now that I've gotten as far as I have, I remember why the "Super" kits put me off way back in 2006 when I tackled the E. It's definitely not a kit for a beginner and not a "Smart" kit either in terms of build/assembly but with time and patience it builds up well. Just have to do a lot of study with the instructions and plan ahead, including a lot of dry fitting before committing to glue. 

Gamera, thanks for the continued support, it's helping for sure in the motivation department.

Marc, nice work on the Char with the added details. Tracks look sharp as well!

Carl, decals are good...bringing it more to life with each update.

Marc , your hair spray method on the tracks , i hadnt seen that b4 ..............

WBill , thanks , this little fellow is almost done .

Here is my humble Krupp. Fairly clean, a bit of dust...

 I've never had much luck with the rubbers.

ERIC, CARL - Don't be laughing at my misfortunes

M1 - Sweet looking little Renault!  Cool paint scheme.  Did you add the wire on the front?

WBILL - Nice when one of those excellent building sessions come around   The gun and mantle looks exceptional.  Sounds like a build in itself and one that took much attention.  As far as motivation, you are motivating me to tackle my super kit.  Keep up the great work!

CARL - Thanks for the explanation with the tracks, will have to give it a try.  Really like the weathering, Superb!  Those bent fenders really stand out now and they add lots of character.

MARC - She has the trademarks of your high standards, well done Sir!  The track hair spray is a good

CASTELNUOVO - Fine job on your Krupp   Very eye appealing with the crew and the door knocker in tow.  The way they are positioned looks like they are checking out a place to set up. 

Not much time at the bench since my last post but a little was done.

Little bit more painting to do then weathering.  Just received in the mail some MIG pigments.  Have never used MIG pigments and wanting to try different colors for filtering,  thought experimenting before putting anything on the Somua would be the way to go.  In order to do this I pulled this out of a box in the closet

And y'all thought the French had crazy paint schemes   I must have built this when I was somewhere around 10, 30+ years ago.  I pull it out once in a while to try new things out on.  It's nothing pretty but gave it a quick spray with the colors that are on the Somua and will use it as a pallet to experiment on.

Rob , Somoa is looking great , turning out to be a brute . That camo looks sharp on the Priest . I've never tried the Mig pigments yet , just used chalks so far .

Sad to hear about your bad rubber experience ............snap -pop?????

I finished the turret today .The decal "13"for the turret in the kit broke up so I used the the number 19 off of my spare decal sheet for the Italeri M4 "Al Capone " . Just a few tools left to finish up .

I was looking at the pictures on the back of the box cover for this kit and noticed something. I've had this kit box for a long time and looked at the photo's many times but never noticed this mistake in the kit construction b4 . Can you find it ?

malone duke

Hey shellback. Super nice finish. I hope mine turns out that good. But... Are your barrels glued in? The right hand barrel should be offset by a few mm. The left jets out a little further. And honestly those decals look painted on.

Duke , i glued the barrels in with white glue ( must of had an idea this would happen ) so they will be easy to remove . I suppose your talking about a few scale MM's . Must be due to the guns firing and recoiling separately ............? I'll fix it tomorrow ................

Holy moly there is some great work going on. I feel more like a visitor then participator anymore. 

Carl, love the drybrushing, pops the details.

Rob, that Somua is the bomb

Wing-nut, you're rolling along at your break-kneck pace. Cool tracks.

Castelnuovo, congrats on finishing your Krupp and 37mm. Figures too boot! Nicely done in an understated finish.

malone duke

Naw man. Its just under 3 actual mm. I caught it along time ago in a time book. But I guess dragon caught it too cause its set correctly in my kit. And you got me stumped on the pic. This is the earliest tank I've done so I aint got much ref. The only thing I come up with is no smoke rack or the view port on the turret. A novice answer at best.

Ok , that wont be much in 1/35th . Nope, that aint the mistake .

Hey Eric thanks .

Carl,,    your pz I is looking real nice. Glad the decals worked out. Nice shading too.          And yes,  I've seen the construction error...   maybe the crew just wanted to drive in circles...  ha!

wBill,,     great dissection of the build. Always a pleasure to follow.

Castel, congrats on finishing the Protze!

Rob, nice work on the Somua details, really makes it come alive. Love the idea of a test bed...I keep my old models for similar use and also as source of potential parts...never know when something might come in handy!

Carl, beautiful looking turret and markings! The offset of the MGs was due to the fact that they were clip fed MGs and there needed to be room for the spent shell bag in the twin mount. That plus the fact the commander had to do double duty as the loader meant space had to be available to accomodate things, only way to do that was with an offset mount. As far as the construction error...the box top builder didn't install both tracks running in the same direction! The left hand track is running backwards. Definitely recommend giving Mig pigments a try...they are ground very fine and have more versatility than chalks IMHO.

Heya Marc  : )

nice on the B1.... glad she is on the forum... you'll be done before me!... tracks look great

tread

hi Castlenuovo : )

your Krupp came out mighty fine !  the solid gray is not boring at all! nice job man!....

tread

Rob  What can I say?   love the paint work ! .... I showed it to my wife and she said it looked looked a giant melting ice cream cone...I can't wait to see it with sprinkles... I mean weathering  

I love it man !

tread

Hiya Shell :  ) 

hey dude your Pz I has an absolutely beautiful finish to it. it looks just perfect !

the decals look great and as just mentioned 'look like paint' and they do ... you're gonna have to let me in on the secret 'cause all the models I have done so far I have hand painted ( 1/16 scale) and my 1/35 russian were hand painted also.... so never had no use no how for no decals...it will be a first for me on this one...to complex to hand paint.

can't wait to see your build all together !

tread

treadwell

Hiya Shell :  ) 

hey dude your Pz I has an absolutely beautiful finish to it. it looks just perfect !

the decals look great and as just mentioned 'look like paint' and they do ... you're gonna have to let me in on the secret 'cause all the models I have done so far I have hand painted ( 1/16 scale) and my 1/35 russian were hand painted also.... so never had no use no how for no decals...it will be a first for me on this one...to complex to hand paint.

can't wait to see your build all together !

tread

 

Hey Treadplate you dont use decals ? You must have a steady hand to be able to hand paint the marking dude . Bring your model over tonight andi'll show you how to apply decals ..........................

Treadplate dont need no stinking decals !!!!!!

BABill and WBill you got it guys .  I saw a pic of a Pz.. 1 on display that had both the tracks reversed on both sides ....... ???

Thanks BABill and WBill for the comments . WBill the offset due to the clips etc............i forget how tight it must of been inside the turret .

Here it is ..................

Hey Treadplate you dont use decals ? You must have a steady hand to be able to hand paint the marking dude . Bring your model over tonight andi'll show you how to apply decals ..........................

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Shell... I'll be right over.....toss me the keys to the '67..we'll make a beer run and pick up some micro set !

don't worry ..I've never been caught in a high speed chase....hope you got a set of 'Haulin' @ $ $' mud flaps

yer pal 

lead foot tread

Hi guys  :  )

While these pictures look very similar to my last  set,  I have added subtle details often overlooked or only applicable to certain series of  B1 bis. Char francais .com is a treasure trove of information and I have the book 'PANZER IV vs Char B1 BIS' by Steve Zaloga...most of what I have found construction-wise comes from these 2 sources.

in picture #1 we see all the rivets have been added, a side view of the headlight cover operating handle,and the drivers hatch has been drilled and pinned.. also a good left side view of the cast drivers' hood. Speaking of rivets, another thing I want to clear up is the fact that the B1 is not completely riveted together . all the super structure is constructed of nuts and bolts..all the 'rivets 'you see on the outside are actually bolts with a special tamperproof head.

pic #2 shows 4 large slotted screws that hold components on the interior of the turret. Also visible on the bottom rear of the turret is the left side part of the hinge mechanism for the rear hatch.

Pic #3 shows a small inspection hatch found only on B1 bis 201 through 270

pic #4 shows the side door with a much larger opening latch than on the Tamiya version. It measures 4.2mm in 1/35 and all doors up to B1 bis # 315 should be of this large type. The door has primer on it and is not meant to represent a cast piece.

Pic #5 shows right side of rear hatch hinge

P # 6 shows a nice top view of the 4 mud scrapers, headlight cover handle,the twist in the pigtail hook and the 2 counter sunk drivers visor adjustment screws

Pic# 7 and 8 I threw in because I like them !

I still have the tool holding rack to build.... the Tamiya version aint even close 

and little tiny gussets that fit on the rear rail...

tread

p.s. as I was posting and reading I just learned this rivet must be removed ...it was only present on the very last series of B1 bis built

thanks again ,tread