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

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.

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

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

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

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

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!

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.

                              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

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

[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]

Malone,,,   another pz I interior,,, luv it!     Cream,   white,,,  I've seen some shots where they look either actually. Not sure if it is the lighting or what.       I think yours looks fine!           Now, let me ask you (and the group),,,  in your first pic - -   what are those half cylindar / tubes on the starboard hull sides?   I opted for a set from an Eduard detail pack. The Verlinden version would have taken a long time to replicate.

Standard color for panzer interiors until late '44 was a color called Elfenbein (in late '44 for a period of about 3 months they left the interiors in red oxide primer then switched back to Elfenbein because of crew complaints about poor lighting). It's the ivory/cream color you have. White was never used...when you see it, it's usually due to a museum restoration and not an accurate representation. White was used on Allied vehicle interiors however and since the Allies won, they tended to paint the captured pieces in what they knew.

Bill, those tubes on the hull side are holders for the signal flags used by the vehicle commander to communicate with other vehicles vs. radio. Common thing in pre-war and early war panzers before radios became standard on all vehicles. HTH!

Malone , look at this fsm post .....                     /forums/p/79450/778777.aspx

wBill,,,     thanks, even in a command tank, w/multiple radios, that would make sense.

BA , Bill the interior is looking sharp. The radio and M.G came out looking great .

Treadplate ............when is the paint going on dude ?

Carl,,,,                                    thanks pal

Shellback

Treadplate ............when is the paint going on dude ?

Hiya Shell.... I have just 16 more fiddly little  parts to make... gonna try to get at it this weekend and make the exhaust covers from brass, and make the leather tool hold down straps and buckles , make brackets and leather straps for the jacks and there are also some tiny brackets to make that go on the front of the fenders and maybe I will make stencils for the decal hearts that go on the side of the turret because the decals have to go over the turret lifting hooks and thats an impossibility or maybe I can successfully cut them off, apply the decal and re glue them.. if I don't mess them up taking them off.... don't worry... I'll make the deadline.... LOL....I am not to worried about the paint part...got that in my head already

I never said I was fast

tread

wbill76

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!

Come on Bill, take a break from studying and get back to the bench!  We(me) are counting on you.  I've caught up with your build log and can't go on til you do.

Treadplate , man a big list of "to do's" ......almost as big as my wifes "honey do " list on a summer weekend ................oh ya i'm retired so that happens any day of the week .............................

Hi guys,,,   a quick update           nothing super exciting however

I started putting the hatches together....   as much as I like Dragon kits, sometimes they go overboard on the engineering of their kits.      They molded all (but one) of the hull hatches in clear plastic. The only piece actually required to be clear would have been the insert. And seeing that the hatch "slits" are so tiny, who would notice anyway?

But, I went ahead with them and built per instructions.     These lil buggers had 4 pieces per hatch. And the attachment / sprue points were 3 and 4 for the most part.     The "holder" is a toothpick...  sort of gives a perspective of the size.

Clear and Tiny,,,,,,,,,,    luckily I didn't lose any to the rug monster.       I did drop one piece but saw it land was able to snag it.

This pile of scrap is the residue of removing the pieces from the sprue....

Five hatches, 20 pieces,,,,,      I am hoping I don't snap any of these little bastaads off when painting and detailing.   

Now onto painting the insides of these hatches........     And moving on to the outer portion of the little pz I.     

And talk about location points,,,    sheesh

Hope you like............

Bill

Bill , i agree with those hatches being done in clear is a bit over board . When viewed from the outside i dont recall seeing any pictures with an idicating reflection of the glass .Maybe they did that for details on the inside ?

They probably put all of those tabs in to prevent sink holes imo .

Kit looks like its coming together well .

Probably true Carl.......     on both counts

And,,,  thanks!

Nice work Bill on the open ports...I've always been a little bewildered by DML's decision to create the entire assemblies out of clear sprue when only one of them (the actual glass portion) needs to be clear. The Germans used 90mm armored glass blocks for the ports and they are prominent features, but the only reason I can see for DML to do what they do is because they get some kind of economy of scale on cost out of the clear molds or something similar...there's no build/practical explanation for why they do what they do.

Satch, if you've got up to me on your build progress then you should be free to move on as there's nothing left to do build-wise accept the final assembly. Don't let me hold you back!

Hard to believe it's been 3 weeks since I was able to post an update but that's what a full-time MBA program has done to my available bench time!

I was all set today to get started on the paint work and had everything prepped and ready to go...

...and my airbrush died before I could even spray a drop! I have a replacement on order and should get it in about a week, so maybe I will be able to paint over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and get this one back on track then.

Speaking of tracks...I have been making progress on the MK workable replacement tracks. This set is taking longer to assemble than normal due to the fact that there's more flash than usual with MK links present, so clean-up of the links is prolonging the assembly time.

I have one full track of 98 links done (will add the 2-3 more that I will need for the full run once I can test fit on the suspension after painting) and have started on the second one. Any progress is good progress at this point and the build is still very much alive, just not having good luck on the timing for the short term.

wBill,,,   Thanks and I agree,, not sure what their thinking is, but that would make sense somewhat.      Shame about the airbrush.          Those MK tracks sure look like a handful.

Bill #1- Great process on your little Panzer!  I don't understand why DML had to go clear on those.  I just painted them all over on my 234/1 a while ago. 

Bill #2- I think it is great that you are studying for MBA.  Looking forward to see paint on your Panzer when you get your replacement.  It happened to me so I had to grab cheap one from Freight Harbor store and it wasn't too bad.  Now I have a back up!  I hope having MBA degree will help you build those Modelkasten tracks in minutes instead of hours.

Don't feel alone Bill (wbill), I'm right there with you. 

Nothing to report.....again. I've kind of hit the wall. I have the time, but am mentally challenged. I was all gung-ho to get to the bench today, and instead was watching my Star Trek DVD's that I won off of ebay. Man they are awesome on Blu-Ray. My favorite series of all-time.

I hope to get back tomorrow (gets dark so early here anymore). My goal is to still finish before Christmas. I should be able to, but have to step it up.

WBill , nothing ever breaks down until you need it , right ! ?

Eric , go ahead and kick back , you deserve it . By the way , 4 inches of snow today over here .....................