Ye, the pics do show it in rather good condition, but the inside, especially the floor, ammo racks, rear of the gun etc would defiantly be worn. The area were people climb up and down from the vehicle would be worn, especially along the edges and yes, around the hatch. I did mention this in another thread, so sorry if you read it before, but I drove the same warrior for 6 years, it was never painted, went to Iraq twice, both times having extra armour fitted then removed and probably spent a year of that 6 on exercises, and it wasn't as chipped on the outside as you see some models. And apart from being hit by enemy fire, there's nothing a vehicle in training would not go through that one in combat would.

They do throw up a lot of mud, so you might get the odd chip where a stone may have kit it, but the track guards are quite thin and flexible and absurd most of that. The main thing our use to get covered with from the wheels is mud, which get every where.

One thing to note on the Marder you are doing. Here's a pic which I am sure you have seen. It looks very clean, almost straight out of the factory. But look at the rings on the barrel.

I have seen that one, it does almost look too clean. But with all those rings it had to have seen some action. I wasn't around any AFVs when I was in Iraq so I don't have any personal experience to go on.  I'll get a gloss coat and decals put on and then start weathering with a pinwash.  What is the right color to paint the tires on the road wheels?

I would have said that photo was taken on a training ground in Germany with the rings painted on for propaganda. But the house seems to suggest otherwise. It does look a bit to clean, and given there are two photo's, in one of which the crew are in heroic pose, does suggest these were staged. And of course it could be that the rings are the crews total and have been carried over from their previous vehicle. But, it does show the condition of the vehicle you are doing if nothing else.

For road wheels I used to use straight black and then weather with grey oil dry brushing, but lately I have started using Tamiya NATO black and Rubber black. For German vehicles I tend to go with the former as Germany had a real issue with rubber supplies and their rubber was not as high a quality as that of other nations.

Thanks Bish.  I'm going to head to the hobby shop this weekend to get supplies and I'll get back to work.

I know I said I was going to post an update at the weekend, so sorry again for the delay. I was starting to get a bit frustrated and did think about putting this to one side and getting back to it after a month or so. But I managed to push through and get the fighting compartment done. I have decided just to finish the model a finish the dio along with my next build, a 251.

The dimensions of the kit seem to be a bit off, slightly on the small side. The kit supplied ammo doesn't fit into the kit supplied ammo racks. So the kit shells and the AFV ones I used had to be cut short and filed down at the ends. And things are a bit crammed when comparing it to the pics of the real thing, this is quite obvious on the right side where the radio equipment is.

As you can se, the weathering is on the heavy side, I used AFV wash and streaking grime and then chipped with oils. After all that the right side was fitted. All that's left is the two seats.

I have also added a few bit to the outside, but of course this will now be my main focus.

Thanks for looking, all comments welcome as always. 

That's fantastic Bish, great job on the used worn look!

Looks great Bish, looks like it's been around a bit.  Work's been keeping me pretty busy, but I managed to get a glosscoat on and I'm hoping to get decals put on tomorrow.

Sorry to hear about that blackdog, hopefully things are able to calm down for you.

I got the decals put on tonight, but my phone is charging so I'll have to take some pictures tomorrow.  I also gt the radio in the rack. Am I right in thinking I should attach all the stowage to the vehicle before I do the washes? And speaking of stowage, the saw that is shown on the side of the kohlenklau in the photos is missing, but I think I can scratch something together.

OK, here are the pics of the decals and the radio.  

That's looking good there Bob.

Thanks Bish, I'm still a little anxious about it since I have so little experience with armor, but so far it's not as intimidating as I thought

If your concerned about the weathering, I would suggest going minimal. Personally, I think less weathering looks better than over doing it, and you can always work up from there with later builds. But as it stands right now, it looks really good.

Thanks Bish. At least with this scheme and markings there's photographic proof that it wasn't too dirty

Yes, so its defiantly a good choice. Did you say this is your first armour kit or have you built a few before.

I built a Panzer IV about 8 years ago. It was a cheap Italeri kit I picked up at a show for $5 to practice on. The results were...less than impressive. I don't have it anymore as my wife accidentally destroyed it. This is my second armor kit, but my first serious attempt at making it look good.

Are you sure it was an accident . She will certainly have no reason to do harm to this one.

That's more than just a nice job on that radio. I have a hard time with painting things like that beck I have a hard time with 1/48 aircraft dashes which are bigger.

I have bin trying out rolled epoxy for cables and wirers it's working out ok I used it for headlight cables on my stug4 turned out ok.

Thanks blackdog.  Bish, based on the look on her face I don't think she planned it.  Especially when she agreed that I would be able to replace all the other unrepairable kits without her complaining.  

Still working on the roadwheels.  When I get the black painted I'm going to give them a glosscoat and a wash.  I chipped the paint in the interior and gave it a wash.  There's also a pic of the stowage box I'm going to put on the back and my progress on it so far.  Any comments or criticisms are welcome.

Hey Bob, pretty darn cool!

Thanks Gamera!

I will be starting this week.This kit looks like a real handful,but hopefully I can see it thru.

I like it Tojo, she's got the Magic Tracks TM and everything so she ought to be a pretty simple build.

Bish: The weathering and painting you pulled off on the interior look amazing! Great work all around, buddy!

Bob: I really like the subtle weathering on your Marder!

Tojo: That one's gonna be very interesting to watch!

Thanks buddy.

I have the exterior done now, all of the pre painting bits added. Nothing much really to report. The kits itself has gone together really well, the only challenge was the metal work.

I took these last night and straight after I got the primer on. So the DY should be going on tonight. 

Thanks Clemens, I'm trying to go light on it because in all the pictures I've seen of it, the Kohlenklau looks pretty clean.  Looking good Bish!

Bish: Looks very good, looking forward to seeing her painted up.

I think I'm ready to paint the tracks for my Marder.  Does anyone have any tips for painting Tamiya's rubber tracks?  I seem to remember having a heck of a time getting the paint to stay on the rubber tracks for the Italeri Panzer I built years ago.  I feel like I'm getting into the homestretch on this build and I don't want to mess it up too badly.

Hi bob -- I use the viny tracks always, by preference, and my experience is that Tamiya vinyl accepts paint very well indeed. My technique is as follows: spray the base colour (camo red-brown acrylic darkened with flat black brings up a decent approximation of German high manganese-content steel), followed by a wash of dark umber oil paint to settle into recesses, a wash of orange in selected places for fresh rust, then drybrush exterior cleats, picot bolt heads and internal guidehorns in bright metallic. Finish with MiG pigments for dust or dried mud as desired -- wallah! Done!

M/TB379]

PS: I did a little on my Pz. IV a few days ago, I got the rubber rims sprayed on all roadwheels, using a disc-sticker masking method for the mating surfaces.