Hey Ben - nice looking vehicle - I didn't mention lack of weather - I was just talking about Photo Etch after market stuff - weathering my favorite stage of scale modelling too! ... enclosed recently complete North Africa German Mark III .... after dusting it up some. Use MIG pigments ... Armor86 

Before ....

Very well done Panzer III Armor !

Armor86- Where have I seen that Pz III before?  LOL  Can't wait to see another great build from your factory.

Carl- Steel cables look SPOT ON!  You used Vietnam Soil?  Never thought about that as I have it too!  I usually use both MIG Light and Dark Rust.  

Old Ben- Sorry I have to call you that for a while since you turned 33 years old.   Very nice work on the tools!!!  Can't wait to see them weathered next... 

Andy , those mig light / dark rust are some good rust colors but i didnt want this rope to be that rusty looking ....................

Shellback

Marc , you talkin to me ???????????

Ahhhh... Taxi Driver.

Of course I am.  It's that new grammatical algebra.  (X/NxY)/P = Z.  Where X=Andy, N= Bish, Y=Me (the undefined variable) and P=Tony.  I was solving for Carl but used the wrong coefficient and got the wrong answer and solved for Ben.

..........OR.................

I just wasn't paying attention. 

A86... 'tis a thing of beauty.

I knew that I was going to feel that I was lazy about leaving the 2 molded on tools on the front deck.  Made a new axe and sledge hammer.  And i added the little resin bolts to the fenders.

Gotta go down and mix my dark yellow.  Hmmm?  Not what was that recipe...?  1 part dark yellow, 1 part buff, eye of newt and a purple flirp?  I'll start there.

........Marc , the scratch made tools look really sharp .

Great work Marc and armor86. That Pz III rocks.

I need a macro where I can hit a button and automatically post:

'Great work guys!!!'

Marc-  Again, great work on your little KT but I don't see a penny anywhere.   I don't blame ya for feeling that way... I think I need a break from PE soon but you have dealt with so much PE for last two months or so.

Carl- I agree about being careful not to apply too much rust on the steel cables.  The tank crew would not have allowed that to happen at first place.  Sometimes harsh weather gets best of the steel.  Just little rust like I did on my StuG earlier.  I also used ol'faithful #2 pencil on the cable.

Guys- Little update... guards attached.  Thank you for the tip I learned earlier.  Using eraser to bend down the guards without harm.  But I poked few holes as I am still going for weary looking Tiger.

Added PE to the latch locks... 

Used spare Friul tracks and Voyager PE for the racks... need to fill those drilled holes as I had incorrect measurement.  I am so bad at that! 

Bet you I will find some bench time tonight because I am so tired of watching those political ads and news.  

Hi fellas,

Armour86 - I LOVE that Pz III dude! Didn't you build that during Andy's epic Pz III GB? It looks excellent! Re my build I'm not much of a PE guy yet but I'm improving and have some bits to be fitted still. I'm just looking forward to getting some dirt on the Tiger and making her look worthy of a spot on the table at our next show! I might be tempted to enter it into the competition if she turns out well enough!

Andy - that PE is looking great! I love the spare track holders on the chin! 

>Okay, I have a couple of questions. One regarding the colour and painting of my tool clamps and one regarding the best way to aproach the final stages. It might seem like newbie questions but I'm always playing around with the final few stages during a build and never give much thought to 'clamp colour'!

• Re. the tool clamps:

I'm sure the tank would have left the factory without tools fitted (not sure)? It it had they'd have been the same colour as the tank, if not they'd have been fitted afterwards and I suppose the crew would have oversprayed the tools when they added the cammo BUT I like to use any opportunity to add splashes of different colour so it's 'artistic license' on my part! I suppose that the clamps would have been unpainted metal? Perhaps I should have painted them a bare dark metal colour? Does anyone know as it would be a 5 minute job to change the tool clamp colours.

OR - perhaps the tank left the factory with the tools clamps fitted but not the tools - in that case the clamps WOULD be yellow?

• Re. the final stages and 'best practice':

Like I said on the last post I know what I need to do but am trying to figure out the best way to proceed?

I need to paint the Periscope lenses and add a light overall wash then a much darker pinwash around recesses etc, add some light chipping and a couple of non-penetrating shell hits and maybe show some missing Zimmerit by scraping a couple of small areas off and painting the spots with red primer?

I'm thinking that whilst she's all glossy I should: finish off any little painting jobs i.e. the damage, Periscopes and chipping effects. Add a light all-over wash and darker pinwashes Add streaking effects/oil dot weathering.

THEN:

I'm thinking of adding the final flat/dull coat followed by: Pigments. Additional light chipping work. Tracks.

What do you guys think. This seems to be the best way to proceed?

Ben

Outstanding Andy.

So Carl... now that you have embarrassed me for calling you Ben  you didn't answer the question.

We got PAINT!  Base coat has been applied and since I don't see anything that needs to be fixed... but shout out f you do... I cam move onto the camo.

Carl, i will echo what Marc said about the cable. I tried it once with string and it looks awful, its still on the Tiger in fact. It has tiny strands coming out of it. But this stuff looks great.

deafpanzer:  Love that StuG close-up!...Is that a recent build of yours???  I think I recall that one...it was really weathered nicely overall if I recall correctly

You perfected that eraser technique but it feels a bit too perfect IMO.  You pushed every slot down versus a "here-and there" random method.  Just my ...take it for what's it's worth.

Hinksy:  That was me hearing "The Call of the Weathering"...I apologize for not knowing/ remembering how you like to finish your models.   Looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

Concerning your next step(s) questions:  I can't confirm your tool, paint & camo' premise but it sounds logical and/or very plausible. 

Weathering techniques vary a lot but personally I'd get the periscope, chipped zim' & primer, along with any and ALL additional detailing completed THEN add an overall wash (very thin) to pull it all together. Typically I'll add another wash or two using slightly different shades of oils (raw umber, burnt umber and lamp black are my usual favorites)   Those washes tend to gather (or not ) here or there helping the weathering effect.  Then I add the chipping and worn edges in a major drybrushing session or two.  The chipping MUST dry thoroughly before I add the pin washes (raw umber and raw umber w/ lamp black at possible oily build-up locations...maybe even some burnt umber at potential rust areas) to bring out the detail and lines.  When that is close to dry I'll correct anything that might have ran too much, pooled or is just too bold by using straight mineral spirits.  Next up, some local washes to add color and/or additional conrtast...again correcting with straight spirits as needed.

I don't dull coat but I know that's popular...then add pastels. 

Hope that helps/ answers your questions.

Ahhhh...the fall contests are over, time to dive into my winter build schedule. Couple of things to clear off the bench and then I can dive into the Bergetiger! Pics to come soon.

T-man - I'm still listed as a question mark on page one. Copy and paste this:

Dupes - Academy/CMK Bergetiger Kitbash

BTW - some awwwweeesome builds so far. Is there a "finished" gallery anywhere? Or should I find some time and plow through the 90 pages of GB?

Dupes, looking forward to seeing that Bergetiger. I have the same CMK kit and am not sure on colour scheme or markings, as the only photos i can find are not very good. So will be nice to see what you come up with.

Andy your cables look really ................well done , lol my friend ....i do really like them . What are they made from ? About the track rack on the front armor plate ................did you use a pic as a reference ? The top bar would be unbolted to remove the tracks , right ? Those tracks look really cool !

MArc ..............you talkin to me ? Embarassed ? I bet not . I'm sittin here with my late morning cup of joe and i still canr answer your question the way i want to . The string / twine is nylon , at least thats what i call it ..it not cotton . It has no loose threads sticking out . I found it at that sporting goods -toys-model store i have mentioned before . It was in the fishing dept. and the twine was wound on a flourescent orange "H" shaped device made of plastic and capable of floatating . It was made by Stren and as i remember it had some kind of sinker on the end . I've looked all over the Stren web site and cant find it . I picked it up about a decade ago .I'm thinking maybe its something for ice fishing ? I bought it for the the twine on it only .i'm not big at fishing even though so i never needed it for that . So in short look at your local fishing equipment supplier . HTH ............. Cat is looking real good with her coat on , i dont see anything that stands out that i would want to call a problem .

Bish , much appreciated .

Dupes , Eric has / is pretty busy with his delivery job and he asked me to keep track of the finihed builds . As far as i know Marc, Wingnut , is our first and sole completion so far . I cant update the first page but here is a pic of wingnut's build .....more pics on page 81 .

Cheers SMJ,

That's great info re the weathering stages.

Thanks buddy,

Ben :-)

Damn... my internet was down for about a day and a half, and needless to say when I opened my email it was crammed full of updates from our build.  Once again, just fabulous work from everyone.

Special shout out to Ben - Happy Belated Birthday!!!

I finally got in some bench time, so will post a few pics soon.

regards,

Jack

Jack , was wondering what happened to you ................

Yes Carl... I embarrass easily.....

NOT!

If I can't find that stuff with all that info... they don't make it any more

Marc , ok  then , since you don't embarrass easily ........   Hey , The next time i go to that store i'll look see if they still carry it ......i'll use that as an excuse to walk down their model aisle ...................................

Hey guys... don't have enough time to comment on all the specific cool stuff that I've seen from all of you in the past week, so I'll cop out and say "Great work fellas!" 

I've spent the better part of the weekend putting together one side of Friuls and my fingertips are numb and sore. Added some filters and a wash, and have been painting tools. I don't have pictures of most of that, but will soon. You'll have to make due with a few pics of my intended commander in his test position and an overall shot of the stripped down Panther for working purposes.

Dave 

Hasen , your panther looks great and that figure has an interesting pose .

Marc , when you mentioned the lifting lugs on the exhaust covers that got me to looking at my kit and there are not any lugs on the Tamiya kit so like you i scrathed some . Thanks . I used .025 styrene rod and melted the ends with a hot screw driver blade to get the rounded end . Also some texturing was done on the housing to give them the cast look .

wow Carl, no detail is spared -  very nice

So here's my first update on Tamiya's 1/48 Tiger I.   Nothing ground breaking, and I took it easy on the eyes for the most part, by working on the larger pieces.  The barrel is done except for a very small round piece (a bolt head perhaps?), labelled #4 on the instructions. 

The piece below it was not as small, but still had problems gluing it as even in gel form the crazy glue dried too fast, giving zero time to get precise placement.  So I just brushed on some future and worked the piece into position.  When I attempted to place the round piece on top, the bottom one would start moving about, likely a fresh dab of future had 'un-glued" it.  I'll give it another go once some form of primer is on top to anchor it better.

regards,

Jack

Hasenpfeffer, she's looking great. The commander will be a nice touch.

Carl, you are over-the-top my friend.

Should I post completed builds on the first page? Might be pretty cool.

Dave, that's so sweet my teeth hurt.  The commander look great.  Whose makes that figure?

Carl ya big lug!  Look nice.

Jack the barrel look great.  Get some slow setting or gel CA.  Great for having a bit of time to get thin where you want them and then set it with a touch of zip kicker.

dupes:  Great to hear you're wrapping up the fall gig's...looking forward to seing the Bergetiger.  It's great to be working together in a GB too, just like the old days...kinda' brings a tear to my eye...

Isn't the Bergetiger a service & recovery vehicle...if it is I'll expect to see a lot of abuse and grease!

Hinksy: Glad to share!...It was helpful to me too to really sythesize it down to a simple and logical process.

Hasenpfeffer:  Love the pose on that dude!

Shellback: You and wing_nut ought to go into business selling built & detailed kits...SERIOUSLY!!!...I'd be the first to purchase the work...you guys make it look so easy.