Bob: I haven't had much problem with the paint flaking off, just be sure to really wash them well with dishwashing detergent or something like that before painting.

Thanks for the tips guys! I picked up some red-brown and I'm hoping to get some bench time today to spray the tracks

Hey Tojo, looks good! I notice you have the return rollers in place but now you've got about a zillion road wheels to clean up!!!

Gamera

Hey Tojo, looks good! I notice you have the return rollers in place but now you've got about a zillion road wheels to clean up!!!

Oh yeah,I call it "roadwheel madness".at least I don't have to paint the rubber on the steel roadwheels

I managed to get the Marder painted. I couldn't make any sense of the Tamiya guide, it was way to complicated to follow and I wasn't sure how it should be applied. But then I found a image of another vehicle from the same unit at the same period and it made sense. After painting I added the few decals and gave one dry brush with oils.

I have just lef the oils to dry, so tomorrow I will be giving it a coat of future before starting on the weathering. I am going to aim for weathering on the heavy side, but not quite as heavy as the inside. 

Awesome paint job Bish!

Here's where I'm at with the tracks.  I'm not quite sure how they're supposed to look, so any comments/critiques are welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks Bod.

In regards to the tracks, the first thing I will say is avoid rust. I give mine a raw umber oil wash and then add pigments. I basically follow Bills method apart from I do the steel dry brush afer the oil wash instead of before.

It starts on this page and then finish's on page 9.

cs.finescale.com/.../156340.aspx

Thanks for the tip Bish. I used MM red brown for the base coat, but it does look a bit too much like rust. Just to make sure I read it correctly, the base coat should be raw umber? I don't have that color currently, are there any colors I could mix to get something similar?

I just retread Thunderbolt's post, I forgot to add flat black to the red brown. I can picture that looking really close to raw umber so I'll try that and post again.

I mixed red brown and flat black in a 1:1 ratio and resprayed the tracks.  I still need to drybush them and do a wash.  I think it looks much better than the reddish color it was before.

Again, any comments/critiques are welcome.

I only use Raw Umber as a wash, to start with I paint the tracks black. But I think Bill starts with a raw umber colour. Yours are looking good.

Hi Bish,looking real good on this one !!

Thanks Bish. When I looked the link you shared to Bill's Tiger, he did say he started with raw umber. I think for my next armor build I'll paint the tracks black first and see which I end up liking better. I appreciate the comments!

Thanks Tojo.

Glad to be of help Bob. I prefer to start with black as that's how new tracks looked and it also helps for those tracks with rubber pads. Doing only German WW2 armour that's not something I come across often, but when I do its easier than trying to paint the pads after.

I am currently putting my tracks together, as soon as I have them ready i'll post some pics of my process as a comparison. The thing about using other peoples ideas, as I have with Bill tracks, isn't always to simple copy but often to adapt to your own method.

You make good points Bish. Being new to armor I'm eager to absorb as much information and as many techniques as I can to see what works best for me.

That's an excellent approach bob, that's what I have been doing for years. And its not just the techniques but the materials as well. Not everyone will be happy with using oils, but then its just a case of adapting it to work with the materials you are happy with. You will soon work out what works for you.

Looking nice there Tojo. How is it going together.

Dry fit looks good, we will see Bish

Which Dragon kit is this. I still want to add one of these to the collection and that looks like a nice one.

It's #6689 and it loaded, probably overdone, but lots of detail.like that older Vorpanzer IV they made

given this ends the end of the year as does another GB i will change my entry to the dragon 1/72 JAGDTIGER. hopefully i can get it done. i haven't been here for months but that has never kept me from being verbose.

i do more modern stuff and the weathering thought process (pre environmentals, just talking rust, chips, damage) is quite different.  for late ww2 i would do little rust and little chipping. the tracks won't rust or stay rusted unless the vehicle sits for a few days BUT i think dark rust with black wash and some silver highlighting (in 1/35) looks better so my artist overrides "accuracy". misting the base coat over the camo is a great way to tone down the differences in value. with 1/72 i think you can overdo the different color detail for everything until it just looks garish though i am new to the scale. having said that i will cut the side skirts into individual pieces and may l;eave one or two off. i will also replace the axle/attachment rods for the drive sprocket and idler with brass rod to avoid too tight rubber band tracks braking the axle (experience, especially in 1/72)

a quick solution is paint everything under the fenders dirt or mud color. don't even waste paint on base color. some oil washes can add some color modulation.mud splashes, dust, rain streaking of the dust (payne gray oils look good for that) i will probably do some oil filtering on JAGDTIGER.

That's coming along very nicely Tojo, looks very well detailed.

I've been plugging along with my Marder, adding stowage, working on the MG34, etc. though nothing exciting enough to take pictures of.  I found a video on YouTube about making mud out of paint and baking soda which looks easy enough and fits in just fine with my budget.  Is it easier to put mud on before installing the tracks and after the roadwheels are on?  Or should I put the tracks on and do all the mud at once?  Also, I've decided not to use the figures in the kit because the way they are standing doesn't make sense to me.  There is no way to display them in the Marder without having a foot hanging over empty space.  And the way they are standing it looks like they would have their weight on both feet.

Bish, Bob, & Tojo: Very nice work fellows!

Bob: I tend to add the mud behind the wheels and under the fenders before putting the running gear on and then adding a little more once it's in place. It's a bit of a break from my normal 'assemble than paint' but it can be hard to reach some places with the wheels and tracks in place.

I got the first bit of mud on tonight.  I'll do the rest after I get the tracks on and the other two wheels (sorry, I'm not sure of the proper terminology).  I'm not sure why I allowed myself to be so intimidated by putting mud on.  Must be because I'm not used to splattering mud all over the aircraft I usually build.  It was quick, easy, and cheap since I used the baking soda method.  

Bob: Looks good! One thing you might want to watch out for is make sure the model is smooshed down into the 'dirt' on the base instead of just sitting on top of it. Another thing I've been dinged on before.

Thanks Gamera!  I'll try to smooth it down as much as I can, or at least to try to make it look like it, but the base was made by my dad back in the 70s when he was in high school, so I might end up just having to settle.  I might try building up some mud around the tracks to give the illusion that it's sunken down a bit.

Ahhh ok!!! Yeah maybe a little mud under the tracks would work, don't worry too much about it.

I just remember getting made fun of for having a thirty ton tank with no track marks behind it!