Steel Cats (Sept. 2012-Aug. 2013)

SMJmodeler

Steve, wow is the word ... par excellance.  I love how the white scheme and mud effects is offset by the splashes of colour from the turret numbers, fuel drums and mufflers.  

Just one small item, the muzzle cover looks pretty tightly fastened, but no sign of a cord/rope holding it in place - maybe they were elasticized?  Whichever it may be, take a bow sir, my hat is off to you. 

regards,

Jack

Carl, your explanation of the crew re-priming battle damage makes perfect sense - I don't think I would ever of thought of that one.

regards,

Jack

Shellback

Bish , i let the Future set about a day now , its been humid here , especially in my basement . To be on the safe side i put it aside and work on something like you said you do .Thanks !

Thanks, i will give it a try. I only have a couple of decals on the Panther, but as i will use oil wash over enamels, i have to give it a coat of future anyway, and i can get on with the base. The result is definitely worth it.

Bish , just make sure you have the Future build up enough . I didnt have enough on the gun mantlet and the enamel under it came off .

Jack, i figured why not try something a little different .

This is a stunning model. I can learn a lot just from looking at these pictures.

Regards

Tony

Great work SMJ!

Perfect weathering - a great Tiger I!

I'll be very happy if mine approaches that sort of quality

Ben

Shellback

Steve , man what a beaut !!! Absolutely great weathering . Everything looks spot on ! I wish you would have taken more step by step pics and walked us thru them . You techniques have worked out very well .

I was thinkng about this picture for the completed g.b. models . Ok ?

SMJ- Holy cow!!!  Absolutely agree with everybody's comment about your Tiger.  Just stunning work.  Man, I hope mine comes out as good as yours.  My process has been very slow... dealing with PE stuff and long hours at work & increased traveling has taken its toll on my bench time.  

Hope to have you around to watch our builds.  

Carl- I always learn great tips from you my friend.  Thanks for sharing how to deal with thick decals!  Owe you another beer... LOL  Great work on the camo too!

Guys- Little update on my Tiger.  Busy week at work... in middle of annual audit and its no fun but we are doing just fine.  It is just P-I-A trying to find some missing information or numbers.  

Steel cables... kit cable was not that great so I replaced 'em with Voyager set. 

Improved the look of head lamps... 

I need to correct the placement of wiring into the base of lamp as it was brought up at other forum. 

My wife has left for New Orleans today for few days.  Don't count on her coming home with beads even tho I encourage her to. LOL  Hoping I will find more bench time over the weekend!  Thanks for looking... 

Thanks Jack - Now I have to think about which one to model on - likely the 732 version ... hey took some outdoor photos of my last finished model (Pz III Ausf J Vorpanzer) from the last GB (Pz III) ... Armor86 

Andy , cables look good man .Wife dumped you at home huh ? LOL ! We are going to have to meet some time so that you can pay me all of those beers you owe me ............

Armor , Pz . III  is a well done and good looking build .

Hi guys,

Just dropping in before work!

Armour86 - I love that V/Pz. III - perfectly weathered and a lovely shade of colour for the basecoat!

Deafpanzer - Top notch PE work as per usual my friend! I love the additions to the headlights!

As for my Tiger I I'm making good progress now. Tomorrow I'm working from home from 2pm-10pm but it's usually VERY quiet on a Saturday - said whilst touching wood!

I've got to complete assembling the pre-blackened Friuls and then onto final weathering! I've got a great piece of Wood for the base. I need to stain it the build up a rubble roadway. No figures as I'm rubbish at them and need a lot more practice.

Another 3 - 4 weekends approching Christmas should see her complete. I'm in NO rush whatsoever but I want to finish it this side of Christmas so I'm ready to start my Elefant or PZ. IV in the New Year.

Update tomorrow fellas!

Ben

Steve and Shell,Great work and great contributions

Andy-continuing to be a great work....I'm enjoying seeing all the PE-I don't have the patience...(ok..skill)..to use the amount of PE that you do-and it makes a big difference.

Armor-nice Pz III-very nice finish.

Carl-you never fail to amaze me-the techniques that you are utilizing should be documented and published.

Ben-your build is continuing to come along nicely-can't wait to see the finished product.

Sorry Ben-I misspelled your name-and I don't know how to edit a post on the new format...grrrr..

Edit-Thanks to Tony, I was able to edit the original post....and they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks...

Hi Bob,

I hope I can be helpful. There is a thingy that looks like a pencil on the left hand side below your post, but level with the reply button. Click it and you're into the edit.

Cheers

Tony

Thanks Tony.....you da'Man!

Guys:  A collective thank you to everyone for all of your kind words.  It's nice to complete a build and then get some kudos to boot!  Your comments noted many of the things I spent a lot of time on to get right...thank you for taking notice.  To those that had some specific comments/ questions:

Tigerman: On the sign-up page I have already committed to building a 1/35 Tiger E Late too.  In the spirit of this GB I am considering a 1/35 Panther A instead.  I won't be starting either of them until February so I'll get back to you when I decide for sure.

jgeratic: I actually did consider some sort of rope to cinch-up the muzzle cover.  The photos didn't show any ties while some covers were tight and others were loose.  I'm not sure which is more "right".  Thanks for your close observation and suggestion

Shellback: I did want to take more progress pictures but I was  already running  past my Novemebr 1st completion goal.  I have some model railroad weathering work to get done for a show in January (and it pays for this hobby) so I needed to get her buttoned up.  I'll be sure to document things a bit more on my second build for this GB.  I'm debating between these two pic's as my entry:

Sweet Steve. I look forward to both.

BTW, both you and Wingnut haven't taken your badges yet. Please refer to page 1. You can get both badges for multiple builds.

I've saved a copy of it.  Now all I need is the time to weave it into the animated GIF.

OK... I am woven.  How do you add something to the signature area?

You have to go to community settings to alter your profile. But i have found its been a bit funny on the size of images.

Marc , i watched your G.B. Badges wring themselves out ........now i have a headache and i'm dizzy .............

Steve , i didnt know you were into Model R R . My Dad used to be into H.O. ...years ago . Let us know when you decide which pic you want . Their both great !

Tojo and Bob thanks !

Bob , maybe i will someday ................maybe .

Thanks Bish.  I got them in there but they used to be side by side and damned if I can get them to do that again.

I know what you mean. I changed my sig last week to show the poppy. But it won't let me change it back to how it was.

No post for over 11 hrs. !?!?

Well i cant let that go on ......... i've been doing some weathering on the K.T. , no pics yet .

Carl: pics...or it didn't happen!

Still catching up after the 3!tch Sandy screwed everything up.  Finally not too pooped to sit at the bench.  It's not much but at least now I can start brush painting... if i get the nerve.  This was actually harder than one would have thought.  Drawing the lines following a color plate then all of a sudden they don't line up so to speak and the logic of the pattern is gone and it confusing as heel to get it back on track.  I decided part way throught that it was easier to make X's and O's instead of R's and G's.   Yeah... that made it easy

wing_nut/Bish:  Sorry to hear about your badge issues...but it's good to know I'm not the only one having problems!!!  I had a heck of a time getting the thing resized in photobucket (and I'm still not sure it is right)  THEN I spent a GOOD HOUR trying to add it to the tag line!  As of this moment it STILL isn't there because I'm having trouble getting BACK into photobucket.  ArrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRGH!!!

Shellback:  I forgot to mention...those pic's of the turret with the first wash look great.  That decal work is SUPERB!...I'm going to have to remember that one!  Glad to see your stickin' to your guns on the exposed primer look too.

YEP, I'm into Model Railroading too.  I'm an N-gauge guy but  the work I do for my clients is HO, it is by far the most popular gauge.  It's good for me to stay active building the AFV's though...besides the fact that I enjoy so much it keeps me fresh and in-tune with the lastest techniques and mediums.   I already have added a few new things (from the Tiger Mid) to the arsenal that I will implement on some structures this weekend!

Hi guys,

I'm loving that fantastic Tiger I Mid, SMJ! The guys have summed it up a treat in all of their replies/. She is a stunner! The groundwork is amazing and I love that muzzle cover! Is the cover a resin piece, PVA'd tissue paper or ?

Wingnut - I cannot believe I missed that final posting of your 1/48 Panther! SHAME ON ME!

That build has to rate as one of the best 1/48 pieces I've EVER seen! You know you have done good when working quarter scale when people are thinking it's a 1/35!

Great big  and  to you both! Brilliant stuff!

Ben

Marc, pooped Is that the new word of the week. Looking forward to seeing how that comes out.