Just checking in,some nice work going on here,would really like get started asap,but still have a lot going on.But I am still up for this and my Jagdpanzer will be done by the deadline.Keep up the great work guys.

Heres my first update for the Marder. Firstly, the obligatory box shot.

I am adding 2 Aber PE sets and an Aber barrel as well as Fruil tracks. As you can see, I am getting the right side done first and then will work on the left. A lot of the small items are being left out to be fitted after painting. 

That's all for now, all comments welcome as always. 

Looks good, Bish.  I built that kit, minus pe, about ten years ago - it was a fun build.

Nice to see someone else jumping in- looks good Bish- I love those brass fenders.

Looking great, buddy! I completely agree with Cliff on those fenders, they look superb!

Thanks guys.

Greg, it is going together really nicely. I know that even with the PE it is a nice build, but you know me, I am just addicted. Until I did the Pz III last month, I had forgotten how nice Tamiya kits are.

The fenders are a separate PE set all on their own, all the rest of the PE is from a second set, still lots more of it to add.

Nice start Bish,and some nice metal working

Great start Bish to what looks to be a superb build. That pe work makes details stand right out.

Another update: Started on the small pe parts, carefully removing them from the fret and bending where required.

Rings attached

Jack mounts are bent to shape

and attached with thick CA along with the sledge hammer mount which takes another small part that will be attached after painting.

The grill and rear spare track mounts were also attached with thick CA. The track mounts have two additional parts that will be added along with the spare tracks after painting.

The tracks were separated because these have to be assembled link by link so I want no paint on these for now, not till I have the correct shape around the sprockets

These sections had Silly Putty strips at each end to keep the paint off and received a light coat of Krylon black primer to begin the rusting and weathering process.

All the hatches received their handles and any additional pe parts.

Thanks guys, the PE certainly does add to what is a nice little kit.

PJ, are those rings for attaching foliage to. I think I have read about these when reading about the in production modifications on a few German AFV's, but i have never seen them. They look rather neat. And whats with parts 21 and 22. They look like a Knights Cross and ID disc's.

Yes Bish, those rings are for attaching foliage. There are still a bunch of smaller ones to go on. The other parts are uniform pe parts for the crew's uniforms. This kit includes figures for a complete crew.

Actually, I have just checked one of my panzer tract books one of those on the panther. There are some pics and line drawings showing this but I had not noticed them before. Guess I just hadn't paid close enough attention. I can think of a few builds where they would be a nice addition and they look easy enough to scratch if they are not in a PE set.

I thought they were for the figures, I have not seen PE ID disc's before, they look rather nice.

They used thin wire to hold the foliage on the vehicles and these rings offered the anchoring points.

Eduard includes shoulder boards, medals, ranks, buckles, etc. for the figures which are not as good as the current Dragon or Tri Star ones but I may add a couple just for the scale effect.

O right, well that seems easy enough to replicate.

I have not seen any of those on Dragon sets either, i'll have to have a look around.

Bish,

What I meant about the Dragon figures is that they have sharper and finer molded details but not all bring pe details. I think the only one I have from Dragon with a pe fret is the Germania set.

PJ: Excellent progress! And I like the idea of using Silly Putty to mask areas that need to be cemented.

Right, got you. Sorry, misunderstood there. I guess Eduard are not that used to making figures. Dragon should been able to produce decent ones by now. I have seen a couple of PE frets with Dragon figures, but I think they are all AFV crew and the PE is throat mikes, head sets etc.

Last night I picked up the Hetzer to attach the Notek light wire when it slipped out of my hand and fell about 3 ft. on to the hard ceramic tile floor!!!!!!  . I expected total disaster but to my surprise, the hatches that were temporarily secured for painting with a dab of white glue came loose and nothing broke, not even the tiny pe pieces!! I was very relieved but then I felt a rattle in the fighting compartment, the drivers seat came loose as the transmission and front gears. The driver seat was an easy fix but I could not reach the front where the other loose parts were. The only solution was to carefully remove the bottom front plate by scribing with a #11 blade so I could get to the damage. I carefully followed the side edges and within a few minutes had cut thru the sides. I then put a small piece of dymo tape along the bottom of the hull to use it as a guide to scribe the bottom cut. The top seam of the plate was carefully scored a few times and the plate came right off. Now I had access to the front damage.

This morning I glued the transmission and gears back in and will let them cure before adding back the front plate.

I was going to start painting this morning but I can't complaint as the damage was very small.

Here I removed the front bottom armor plate giving me access to the loose parts.

The parts were glued with Tenax to make sure they stay on this time.

I will let the glue do its thing and later on will re attach the armor plate and take care of any seams or gaps.

Great save, PJ! I can imagine the thrill of horror as it slipped form your hand...

M/TB379

Yeah, awesome save indeed!

Nice job on the repairs, its a horrible feeling watching these things fall as if slow-motion. We've all done it, good save.  

Thanks guys. It was a very upsetting moment when I saw all that work tumble away into what I expected to be total disaster but thank God things turned out ok.

Using Tenax and a Flow N Touch applicator the front plate was secured and all gaps received stretched sprue as filler. The Tenax melts the sprue and fills the gaps.

The flow N Touch applicator is a life saver!

I did some preliminary sanding and it looks good as new. A little more finer sanding and she will be ready for paint.

PJ: nice save!

Nice work PJ, and nice recovery.

Yes great save there PJ, had the same thing happen to my Jadgpanzer IV a few years back though the damage thankfully wasn't anywhere near as severe.

PJ that should paint up nicely. Good technique on the seam.

Thanks again for the nice comments. I forgot about what started the damage when I went to pick up the Hetzer to drill and install the light wire so here it is.

I also noticed that the molded antenna was a bit thick (bottom piece)  so I stretched some sprue and replaced it with my thinner tapered one and glued it into a drilled hole in the antenna base.

Now she is completed and ready for paint. All the hatches are back on with dabs of thick Aleene's to be removed after painting. Still deciding on which scheme to use and will experiment with a couple of techniques that I read about.

Excellent progress there PJ, love the cast texture you put on the mantlet- I need to remember that the next time I build a Hetzer.

Very nicely done, PJ! I have to get some of those Fw 190s off my bench but as soon as they are done, I'll start on my Hetzer...

PJ that looks like Mr Surfacer 500 on the mantlet, looks real nice. I usually wait on the antennas, I have a terrible habit of breaking them off. Terry