Thanks Eric and Bish -- I'm making a push to get as much done as possible and I should be able to take a pic with everything on that's going to be, minus the flag, pretty soon. The flag is a total experiment so I'm not going to count it as part of the build proper. I'll have the stowage in decent shape shortly -- the oil drybrushing should be dry by now so I can get to the next stage on that.

M/TB379

What are you using for the flag Mike.

Bish -- the plan is to use TG's method. The base is textureless kitchen paper of some sort, thick and absorbent, it gets painted with dilute whiteglue to plasticize it, then the design is sprayed through stencils. The paper is wetted from the back to restore some flexibility and pressed gently into the final shape of drape and wrinkles, and when dry is shadowed with pigments.

M/TB379

Going old school. be interested to see how it comes out.

Today I worked on stowage, still trying to get the crates right, and drybrushed the mines and other items. Canteens and grenades in progress now. I finished the helmets, including the Archer decals, using the "wet method," and sealed them with Micro Flat. The lights are all done now. If I could get a decent run at the remaining stowage items, she'd be finished but for those items I've not yet identified/obtained, and of course that flag...

M/TB379

Mike: Looking forward to photos!

Well I finally got this one completed. It is a conversion of the original issue Tamiya M13/40 Carro Armato into the Carro Comando command tank. I did lots of scratch work including a partial interior.

now to finish up the Miniart crew figures for a display

Looks fantastic, Stick!  The vehicle colour is a lot easier on the eyes now too - lighting change or was it the weathering that reined in the strong mimetico colour?

regards,

Jack

Thanks! It was a combination of all... Wash, flat top coat, pigments, etc.. It all toned down great... Than you can see how the natural light and flash give different looks to the color.

Hi guys -- well, I'm calling her done! The last few items of stowage were a fiddle but I'm delighted with the way the crates came out, they actually look rather like wood!

There are a few differences from the TG original -- he battle-damaged the fenders, which I'm not up to yet, added some hinges/pins to the front fenders which I missed, and of course he got a wider variety of stowage, added the flag and pinned the tracks to create a looping effect. And a bucket hanging on the rack, which I'll add... I'll keep an eye open for stowage items, and take a shot at the flag, just not quite yet.

My sister did the photos using the new HS-50 digital camera she got for Christmas, and a lovely job it does too! I colour-balanced, cropped and sized the shots through Irfanview.

So, without further ado, here's the evidence. Tamiya Pz. IVD, classic kit, with Tamiya acrylics, homebrewed, decals by Archer and Armour Decals, stowage by Italeri, Tamiya and Verlinden, rack scratchbuilt along with the laminate armour, grab handles and extra boltheads.

There we are, then -- the GB has been a lot of fun, I'm glad to have completed three projects for it (my badge is for those, not this one!)

Many thanks for looking, and I hope this project has been worth the wait. It's my twelfth completion for 2014.

Cheers, Mike/Thunderbolt379

Mike - outstanding work, great colour!

regards,

Jack

Mike: Great job, she looks all dusty and weathered without being overdone.

Thanks, Jack and Gamera, it's a kit I've wanted to do for many years and a project that's been on my agenda for years since I got TG's book. I must do another of these in earlier trim for the blitzkrieg period, I've not done a Panzer Grey project yet...

Cheers, M/TB379

Beautiful work! I am the opposite of you with this kit, I built a gray one many years ago, but now after seeing your work here I want to build a DAK one...

Mike & Stik: Both your tanks look magnificent! I think the weathering on each of them is spot on, including the dust (something I always have problems with)

Thanks, Clemens! The dust is suggested by the paint rather than being an application of pigment, and its kinda neat it worked that way!

M/TB379