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

Dupes, I believe we might have met in passing. Were you with Boyd? If not then next time. If you can, check out the airbrush and painting seminar at HQ Hobbies. AK interactive is doing it. There will be lots of prizes and plenty of food and drink. Shoot me a PM if you want. You too Boyd and anyone else.

Anyway, here are the decals from the Matilda. I will have to pick up some Archer decals at HQ. The Matilda was at Dunkirk just prior to the evacuation. She was mainly in the North Africa campaign. Sorry for the quality.

This is a rather old Tamiya kit, 1973! Still, I like the detail and the challenge. With all your help...hopefilly all of you guys.

Thanks Rob,,  good pic.                And, yes, will be doing a little scene work on the micro pz but mostly will be working on this GB.

Loads of good stuff going on in here        

Hope to get some updated pics up soon.........

Bill

Chazzer - I had questions about that Matilda myself...what markings come in the kit? Are they all African campaign? I know we were both at AMPS East, but don't think we had the pleasure of meeting.

Bill - I'm interested to hear at the completion of your build whether or not I should put all of my "super kits" into the trade pile. Heh.

Tread,

Very true...I remember when I built the Pz IV-E it was such a slog dealing with all the parts in that first step that it was very discouraging...so much so (that build was done in 2006), that it's taken me this long to actually WANT to build another Super Kit! I also have the D Super Kit in the stash, who knows how long it will be before it gets a turn on the bench! Building the C is a good experience though, it's erasing some of the negative memory of the E build that had hung around so long in my psyche.

As far as how I choose my builds...I have a stash of ~70 kits or so and the better answer is how do I choose a kit for the stash. It has to be a subject that interests me to begin with and then not something I've already built (sometimes exceptions are made to this rule but not often). I only build one project at a time, so as the current project nears its completion, I will start looking into the stash for inspiration on what to tackle next. I have a good mix of stuff so it's not hard to rotate around between early war/later, open-top/closed, tanks/HTs, etc.

Can't argue with your assessment of the "doozy" nature of this particular kit for sure. I had several candidates that fit the bill for the BITW theme. The IV-C won out because a) I needed the motivation of the GB to overcome the previous E-scar build experience, b) I've got more build time on my hands for the short term as I just quit my job in preparation for entering an MBA program (doesn't start until end of Oct), and c) someone else had already chosen to do the III-E which was the other main contender and I was trying to avoid overlap in the choice of build variety for the GB.

As soon as I wrap up on the Panzer III and variants GB I'll start the Matilda. I believe it qualifies. If not I've got a British Universal carrier. Or maybe something else as there are alot of "carriers" and their variants. The work in here is superb. Panzerwaffe, I follow all of your builds and I have to say that they are incredible! Such detail and attention to the smallest details. I AM learning alot from you!

Bill, you are another Master who I learn from.

Carl, WOW!!

Gamera, your another one!

Eric, AWE"SOMUA"!!

Modeler, Stik,WBILL and Bondoman, I haven't seen alot of your works, however I am here to learn and look forward to your works.

Tread, You ARE another master. I love your tutorials! I learn alot from you! I've seen your other works.

If I left any one out I apologize. There is so much to go through! I try to get a bit of knowledge from each of you and apply it to my builds. Both here and other Threads.

Boyd, did I buy this Matilda from you? I know I bought a few kits from you. By the way, thanks for the good deals. I love your "bench". It's in our man caves that we find peace and serenity. Did I just say that? It was good to meet you.

For all of you that live in this area (CT) there is an airbrush, color modulation, and painting seminar on Oct. 9th at HQ Hobbies. The seminar is being done by AK Interactive. They were at APMS EAST and boy they are eager to teach!

See ya...Chaz(Scott)

CARL - FANTASTIC job on your Pz I!  Very convincing.  Glad you like the Tamiya turret.

BILL212 - Thanks and good to hear you too like the turret.  With your micro-panzer completed does that mean you will be going full time on your command Pz I?  Meant to post this pic earlier when the discussion was on camouflage, better late than never.

Thought it was a good view of the two tone.

ERNEST - Great buy!  Ebay is the best place to get these Heller kits.  Had bought my Somua on Ebay for $10.00.  Look forward to your A13.

GAMERA - Nice looking B1!  Pre-shade and paint is very well done.  What did you use for texture on the turret.  Don't remember if you had already said?

ERIC - You can use the card suits on the camouflage.  Have seen this before in authentic pictures.  The suits were used by the French to designate company and platoon.  The color of the suit designated the company.

1st company - Blue, 2nd company - White, 3rd company - Red.

The suit designated the platoon.

Spades - 1st, Hearts - 2nd, Diamonds - 3rd, Clubs - 4th.

This system could be found on all there armor with all different camouflage schemes.

It's good to hear you got your hooks on   The construction of those tracks, had used both liquid Testor's cement, for the long or straight runs, and Zap CA glue for the bent areas.  They went together alright but they took a lot of time.  Areas like the sprocket and such I put a blob of Zap CA glue on a piece of paper and used a toothpick to apply the glue on the contact points one track link at a time.

WBILL - Nice progress.  Cool that the suspension parts are workable, could pay off when placing into a display.  I too would like to use your build for a walk through.

TREAD  Have to agree with you, the Somua does have very nice lines.  If I understand correctly you usually build for the Eastern front.  Why not build a captured Somua and place it on the Eastern front?  Something thats not really seen much and will open other possibilities for the Russian armor that you like.

MODLER#1 - Have never used liquid mask.  Does it work well, easy, remove easy, etc.  Nice progress on your Renault.

BONDOMAN - How are you going to paint, which markings?

These are cool aircraft.

STIK - Nice

Made a little progress on the Somua will try to get some pics up tonight or maybe tomorrow?

Just a quick update.

I got the fuselage and top wing put together and a base coat of earth brown on while I was teaching the grandson how to use and airbrush for our dinosaur diorama.

I'll try to post some pics tomorrow.

I've looked for private sales, but never find anything. I did get about $200 worth of kits for $20, but about half were started and many of them I wasn't  interested in. I gave away a few and sold most of the rest.

tread @ wbill

Hi Bill  ,  Ya know, by part count,even though you are still on the hull, you are way ahead of everybody.. LOL

Just looking at the incredible detail of the final drive ....

Do you pick your builds partially for the level of complexity ?  ,,,cause this one is a doozy

tread

Alright guys,

Just a quick update...

With the bench cleaned, I got a start on the 222 earlier this week. First couple of steps are all suspension and the 'underneath' stuff. Typical Tamiya - it went together like a dream. Only big downside were the large seams that needed to be cleaned up.

I ordered a replacement (Voyager) barrel for the 2 cm Kwk 38, which has not arrived yet. I'm also hemming and hawing between just building this thing 'straight' or putting adding a VERY basic interior. I've got a couple of figs to go with it, so something on the inside might be needed.... hmm, we'll have to see how that goes.

Sorry for the lack of pics - I'll try to get some up ASAP.

Hey, we decide on a badge yet?

tread @ stickpusher

man you are really cruising on the UE... painted and working on the figures... you are gonna have to do another kit to stay busy !

tread 

tread @ Terry

Hey bro ! Glad yer getting a start at the kit... get some pics up soon man,I am dying to see where you are at..

I have slowed even slower than my normal snails pace ... concentrating on good details ... even though the kit falls together, the few places that need putty are really crowded with rivets and/or are very hard to get to neatly.

talk to ya soon

tread

WBill you do a splendid presentation !

Stik the tools look good on the litle fellow .

Me ? I havent made it to the bench yet today ..................

Hi, guys well I've been reading back a bit and it's easier just to say to all who have started everything seems to be coming along well. 

Bill, that Mk.IV brings back memories for me but I done the 3-1 E.

Gamer your Char B has come out great the paint job is outstanding.

Well I got a start on my own Char, have to admit the kit is literally falling together. Hope to post pic's soon.

Terry.

panzerbob01

My sincere apologies for being so late on this: I'm afraid your tank commander is star-gazing!

 

No wonder they didn't fit right...

dang refrence material! couldn't tell which way to put them..

tigerman

 

 

 

Are you kidding? All that for $10? That's why I start my auctions at a price i'm usually willing to accept. That guy got hosed. LOL

I did see a DML kit go for around 30-$40 just last week. did you check spruebrothers?

Oh, that wasn't an auction - modeling show vendors are my friend! So that's 10 dollars SHIPPED. I've got a few others I should tell you about some time...

I'm at the point now that my stash is so big I won't spend more than $20 on a DML kit - if I wait long enough, I KNOW it'll eventually come around either via an auction, show vendor, private sale, or Dragon USA Online.

Modeler;

Hi! Your R35 is coming right along! I have one of these resting in a shoe-box almost completed... so seeing another of these old Heller monsters get done is always a cool thing, to me!

My sincere apologies for being so late on this: I'm afraid your tank commander is star-gazing! The turret side-binocs are upside-down! I tried this look on mine, too! These fixed-mount binocs should look out to the side. But you CAN fix this pretty easily:  push them in, flip them over and cement back into their holes. Fix with a little putty if needed, and voila! No more looking up!

Guess I need a "wet blanket alert" sign!

Bob

Nice work on the Mk IV hull wbill.

Here is the UE carrier with the tools, tow cable and exhaust painted. A splash of color to break up the green.

and the crew busts so far...

Work continued on the Step 4 elements with the installation of the suspension to the lower hull. I had deliberately left off parts A25/26 from the Step 1 assembly and it's a good thing...they are a very tight fit into their positions on the lower hull, virtually a snap fit, and that would've been much harder to get right if they were already glued to the suspension parts vs. being installed separately. I also had to shave down the front suspension bump (you can see in the pic below the difference between it and the rear one) in order for the first suspension element to sit correctly and not have the 2nd road wheel "float". The rear bump was fine as-is, no corrections required.

The rest of Step 4 deals with installing the armored extensions for the suspension on the hull bottom. 5 pieces per side and you have to be careful to get their alignment just right but otherwise no problems.

Then I cycled back to the rear hull details that had been called out in Step 1. I added those along with the rear hull-side tow hooks. There are two small locater holes that aren't used on this particular model that were filled with putty. The instructions never provide any indication this is needed but careful study of the later assembly steps shows nothing installs in those locations. I left off the kit-supplied PE chains for the engine crank cap and the tow pintle bar and will install those later as they are somewhat delicate and I don't want them getting lost or damaged at this stage.

Next up will begin working on the upper hull stuff.

dupes

"Hint, hint"???? What are you saying, T-man?

I figured it would take a bit more work than the DML kit...but a) I haven't been able to find one at any sort of affordable price (70 bucks? what?) and b) I found the Alan box with Eduard PE, Jordi Rubio barrel, and some replacement resin wheels for 10 dollars. So sue me, I had to buy it!

Are you kidding? All that for $10? That's why I start my auctions at a price i'm usually willing to accept. That guy got hosed. LOL

I did see a DML kit go for around 30-$40 just last week. did you check spruebrothers?

I've been working around the house most of the day. Finally will be able to get to the bench for a bit....

Eric,,    glad you succeeded with the hooks

Modeler#1,,   nice start on the paint... I've got a long way to go before I get to that stage

Bondo,,   something exciting in the decal sheets?

Stik,,   Thanks,, will be watching and looking for your opinion on the new technique(s)

Bob,,   always liked the E versions. I have heard some good things about the Airfix kit too,,, nice choice

Dupes,,  nice selection (choices are always good),,, and good to see you too.

"Hint, hint"???? What are you saying, T-man?

I figured it would take a bit more work than the DML kit...but a) I haven't been able to find one at any sort of affordable price (70 bucks? what?) and b) I found the Alan box with Eduard PE, Jordi Rubio barrel, and some replacement resin wheels for 10 dollars. So sue me, I had to buy it!

The Alan kit requires a lot of work...it was one of those cases for me where I did an "all-out" build of it with AM and upgrades and then a month after it was done DML announced an all-new-tooled release of it as a Smart Kit.

The questionable ones would have came after the Fall of France. So no go. The Kubelwagen should be okay. I don't have the Matilda, so i don't know what the decals are for. 

Personally I'd like to see someone building that Bison. Hint hint.

Just doing a quick stash-dive to see what would qualify...here's what I know:

Bronco Hotchkiss
Tamiya Char Bis
Tamiya Universal Carrier
Alan Pz I Sig 33 Bison
DML Pz I Ausf. A
CH Pz II Ausf. C
Tamiya Pz II Ausf. A/B/C
DML/Tristar Pz.IV Ausf. B-D galore
Bronco Sd.Kfz.221
Zvezda Sd.Kfz.251/1, 3, 10 Ausf. B
Tamiya Kubelwagen

And questionable ones:

wrong timeframe (too late)?
Bronco Geschutzwagen 39
Bronco Befehlspanzer 39
Trumpeter Hotchkiss 38H(f)

wrong markings (all DAK/North Africa)?
Tamiya Matilda
Tamiya Kubelwagen
Tasca Kubelwagen

Leaning toward the Bronco 221 just because it looks like most of my other stuff is already being built (several Char Bis' included!). Of course, I could jump in with some aircraft, too. Hmmm.

dupes

Correct me if I'm wrong...did I see WBill in a GB? And Treadwell, even????

Yeah, isn't that something? Tread and i go back to the Kursk GB, but I've never seen Wbill in one before. I'm honored.

Modeler, what's the name of the mask you're using? Do you have have to use anything to wipe any residue?

Hey fellas...sticking my nose in so I don't forget about this GB. Once I'm done with the "other" fall show (Granitecon in a couple of weeks), I enter the blissful 6-month-long Winter Build Phase (WBP). I'm quite sure I can find something to crank out that fits the bill!

That, and I want to see how Bob's new Airfix 109 goes together. Heh.

Correct me if I'm wrong...did I see WBill in a GB? And Treadwell, even????

Panzerbob .......Bob , glad you approve . I'm not sure about the number/pattern of bolts on the bottom run but the top looked like 5 .

Treadplate .........,good that you approve .

Yes Modeler what are you using?

No problem Bob, pop in when you can.

Tread-yes that is a liquid mask I am using It would have been a nightmare to try to us tape to mask.

I just put on the second mask so I will be able to do the green soon.