Marc, very stunning build my friend. The camo is superb as is that paper zimmerit. I'll put you down for the Tiger II.

Thanks Carl. I'll let you be the judge of the best picture to post along with all the other finished builds.

Welcome back RBaer. Look forward to your progress.

Marc, stunning looking build. The wire spool is a nice touch and looks a lot better than the kit part.

CARL, i like the look you have on the turret with the primer showing through. German armour camo in this period is very hard to figure out, and i see no reason why your approach would not be realistic. Red primer was used as a part of the camo scheme, but is it easy to seeing the order being read in different ways.

No new update from me at the moment. Still getting the PE on but ist very slow going. But i think i am nearly there and will get some pics up before the paint goes on.

Marc - That right there is one fantastic Panther. Just simply excellent. A stellar example of your skills. Which, by the way, I am really grateful to you and the others here for sharing the wealth of skills and knowledge you all possess. I am certain my Tiger will not turn out quite like your example. Yet, I guarantee it is going to turn out far beyond my expectations simply from what I have learned here. Definitely looking forward to your 1/72 Tiger and to having you stick around.

Steve - Yes, indeed I'll get some pics of the jack with the PE added.

                                        Joe 

Marc: she looks great! Beautiful weathering without being overdone. Hope my Tiger look 10% as good!

Marc, thanks, and sweet Panther. Quarter scale? Wow.

I got through about 30 more pages last night, still need to do some catching up, obviously.

As threatened, pics of what I've got going so far:

Front of hull, with MG blister:

Bits and pieces:

Exhausts. Pipe is aluminum tube. Armored covers have lifting lugs added.

The turret interior, such as it is, has been assembled and basic painting done, can't decide on how much, if any, interior bits to add. I thought about adding enough to be convincing when viewed through an open rear hatch, but that's a lot of bits to add......

Hi guys,

Just checking in - everything looking good!

Marc - that is one seriously special looking quarter scale Panther. I'd love to see that on a base.

I'm tempted to pick that kit up myself now! I've only built one Panther (Dgarons 'G' with Zim) and that was built when I was a real newbie and it isn't great.

One more day of work to go and I'll be able to get some cammo on the Tiggy!

Take care fellas,

Ben

Hi Everyone,

That Panther is outstanding Marc, I love the finished you've achieved on it, and will probably try to get one to look something like that too, if I'm good enough.

I actually finished a 1/48 Panther today, but I didn't enter it in this GB as the construction was already complete at the time the GB kicked off. I thought it might be of some interest to this group.

The link for it is http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/29/p/141708/1612197.aspx#1612197

Cheers

Tony

WTF   I typed out a long post earlier and it's not here.  Musta zigged when I shoulda zagged.

Carl, thanks man.  Nice thing about smaller scales.  Less details go a long way  1st done huh? I was not aware of that

Jack,  The surface is a bit delicate but the places that I soak with thin CA were way stronger.

Eric my man...  Fab GB as usual.  Thanks for gettin' it going.

Bish.  Thank so much my friend.

Joe, Thanks and don;t worry about looking like mine.  make it look like yours and it will be great

Gamera,  Thanks , I hope your Tiger look 10 time better

RBaer,  catching up sucks donsen't it.  And thanks for the comments.

Ben,  thanks.  It's a nice kit.  But it's my 1st tamiya 1/4 scale and I don't really like the metal tub for the chassis.  Lacking in the detail a plastic kits has.  But I left it since those gigundo road wheels cover a lot of it.

Yup , thats has P.E.'d me more than few times Marc ...................

Which picture do you want for the completed model on the front page ?

Carl: not sure how accurate it is but the primer showing through looks really cool to me.

RBaer: super nice work those white metal drive sprockets are really going to look good.

Bish and Steve thanks .

Rbaer , another KT ! Nice start . Looks like you put some texture on the glacis plate .

Now , to get things rolling on my cat ................

Red primer covered lightly with Tamiya XF60 and then a oil wash of burnt umber and a final dry brushing wiyh more XF60 . The "steel" shine is done with a graphite pencil .

Hi Shellback,

What paint do you use for the red primer ? Looks far better than my attempts.

Cheers

Tony

RBaer, nice start on the KT. I like those mufflers.

Tony, lovely Panther.  Camo and weathering are superb.

Thanks Tony... sorry man but we over lapped.  I really like that camo pattern on your Panther.

Jack... I didn't answer all your question... the chips are applied with a brush after paint before weathering.  Vallejo black/grey.  I tried a technique on an AK video but I think I was a little heavy handed.

Carl, Rbaer... gonna be an awesome pair of kitties when you are done.

Carl, don't really care but if i gotta pick I like the bottom one with the turret turned.

deafpanzer: Thanks for the compliment on the whitewash.  You going to go for a worn finish too?

wing_nut: Those pic's just jumped out at me as SPECTACULAR!  The variation of the camo' is perfect.  The close-up pic's of the port side tow cables REALLY kicked my A**!!!  I absolutely love, as Manny would say "and want to marry" the combination of worn finishes and dunkelgelb...you pulled that off masterfully my friend. 

You mentioned the heavy-handed (from the AK video) gray chipping...and IMO it's not too much I just think the color is off a bit and the shapes in several locations are too "blobbish" versus scratched and rubbed...make sense?  I highly recommend trying the van-d y k e oil paint drybrushing method. I'm drawing a blank on his name...but the "Tank Factory Guy" executed this method perfectly.  It's great for worn edges and you can dab it on for chips too.  Fantastic work overall!!!  Oh yeah, love the mini cables too.

I vote for the third overall view as your finished build...that picture is awesome!

RBaer:  Good to see your out-of-the-gates!

Steve, agree with the "blob" if some of them.  I too am not fond of the color and and plan to work on these.  We had a long chat re. paint chips a long time ago when I was completing my Jagdtiger about the little "edge" of color around the chips.  I plan to take a rusty grayish color on work on them a bit.  And thanks for the comments and feedback.  You know how I like that

And now, with Aerosmith in the background... "... and the train kept a rolllin' all night long..." it starts again.

Getting ready to start this little kitty.  Almost looks like a /35 kit spread out.  Time to clean the Opti-Visor lenses.

Marc, you'll be done with this one before I get my Jagdpanther's camo on. LOL

Tony , below is a picture of what i used . I de-can the primer and airbrush it , the little bottle is Model Master clear enamel that i mixed in to cut down the amount of overspray dust . The result is redder than i care for . After i sealed it i applied a heavy wash of burnt umber oil paint thinned with oderless mineral spirits . The burnt umber is what turned the red primer a more brown .

Marc , so be it , the pic with the turret turned .  Ok , i've watched you go from 1/35th to 1/48th , and now 1/72nd ..........1/144th next ?

Ok , i have get to work , big day today ! (helping the wife with house cleaning ........i get to run the vacuum cleaner )

Carl, as a matter fact I have been thinking about doing another addition to the Peanut Butter Panzer series.

So earlier this week while searching for something in my basement I ended up finding my Tamiya 1/48 kit, and so I've decided this is what I'll go with to depict a Tunisian Tiger.  Within the box was a Voyager PE set and an Armorscale metal replacement barrel.

It doesn't end there, from the Track48 webstore I've now ordered a set of Eureka copper/resin tow cables,  RB's machined MG34 for the hull, and a DAK crew.

For paints I do have Model Master's Afrikakorps vehicle enamel set, but I'm sure I read somewhere in the past year that some of the colours are not all that accurate - can anyone confirm this?

regards,

Jack

Marc , you need a new G.B. Badge for these smaller scales ....................

And dont forget the pork n' beans set .............

Jack , looks like a good selection there .

Jack, love that barrel. 

Marc, yes, please add another to the peanut butter series. 

Eric the urge is getting stronger and I don't think I can resist

OK really done this time... I swear

Added the track hangers and extra track tot he turret and cut down an Aber antenna to the appropriate length.

Also new bulbs for the lighting + better camera = better pics.

Carl, before you ask... #3

Marc , check the turret out in your pics , it looks like the turret ring is setting on top of the hull at the front of the end . You might want to retake some pics . Other than that the new pics do look better . Are you using flourescent lighting ? Buy a new camera ?

Have to agree with Carl. It looks like the turret is kind of floating on the hull.

Nonetheless, you've kicked off the completed builds with a doozy. Love it brother.

Hi guys - all work looking spot on!

Marc - loving that Panther  but looks like the turret is sitting up as Shell has just said. Best get the camera set-up out again!

Todays work - apply some colour to the Tiger! I had wanted to replicate the instruction scheme which showed slithers of cammo and left plenty of basecoat visible so I tried applying Blu-Tack on some sections where one colour would go with the idea of applying the second colour later on. Unfortunately the applied paint didn't look right and was waaay too hard-edged for any realistic German scheme that I've ever seen on a Tiger so I decided to hit it with an attempt at free-hand which turned out really well. It didn't exactly match what I was attempting to paint but the scheme looked more realistic and I'd left plenty of basecoat showing so this will weather up very nicely. For the cammo I used Vallejo Model Air Tank Brown and Panzer Olive Green. The Dunky Basecoat is Tamiya Dark Yellow mixed 50/50 with Deck Tan and a drop of Buff then thinned 50/50 with standard Tamiya Thinner.

I'm definately getting the hang of freehand ab'ing now! I've put on a couple of light coats of AK Fiter (Brown for White Yellow and Brown for Tri-Tonal Cammo) which have softened the sheme up nicely. Tomorrow I'm working from home (2pm-10pm) so in the morning I'll put on the Gloss for the decal areas and when my shift starts I'll pup the decals on and then seal them with an all over coat.

Next weekend is my Birthday and I've booked off the Friday and Monday on either side of the weekend so I'm hoping to get a good chunk done next weekend. I've got the Friuls to start and the wheels to finish - not to mention assembling them Lion Roar Tow-Cables, painting the ivory interior of the hatch and painting and fitting the tools.

Two questions before photos:

• Gloss & Satin Varnish - When I've put the Decals on I tend to seal the whole thing with gloss varnish then I finish up with Flat Varnish to tone things down . What would happen if I were to use Satin? I've now got some Vallejo Satin but am still trying to work out where it fits into my modelling? When would I use Satin Varnish?
• Steel-Wheels - The wheels have been painted but what colour should I use for the 'steel' areas. A bare Steel colour painted on or drybrushed on? A stick of Graphite rubbed over the Steel contact surface?

I hope you are liking her so far guys - I'm super chuffed with the cammo!

I'd love to hear any feedback / comments that you have.

Cheers fellas - update tomorrow!

Ben

Ben , i agree , yout camo looks authentic .much as a real camo from the time period would have been applied . Well done !

About the steel rims .........The last thing i do after painting the wheels is apply the "steel". I use a soft graphite pencil to "draw" the graphite unto the rim . Its tediouse . To seal the graphite i spray it with some "Future" . This will keep it from rubbing off or dimming when touched . I spray the "Future" at a right angle to the wheel face so as to keep the clear gloss off of the rest of the matt finished wheel .

Here's an exhausting couple ...............

I used Mig rust and a dash of smoke pigments in combonation with some MM (Model Master) leather with dry brushing of Pactra Mustard thrown in the mess to get the finished look .