plastickjunkie

Snake.... I will be taking a break from my other GB and start on my project soon which is the Eduard 1/35 Hetzer with complete interior. Have you figured out the camo scheme for yours?

I've been trying to figure that one out. Was thinking about an ambush pattern, but those are done to death. Right now I've narrowed it down to two possible schemes.

Thanks to ahtungpanzer for the photo

Or

Cool pics snake. Even though I haven't started mine yet, but  I'm  kind of leaning towards this one: chriswauchop.com/.../tamiya-135-hetzer-photos-by-brett-green

I've heard that probably the most challenging scheme would be  solid German yellow because of the monochromatic look which color modulation and filtering will add interest and depth to the paint.

David: Looks like a good start there!

PJ: It's great to hear about that! I'll shoot you a PM when I start fixing all the mistakes I made on my Hetzer if you're ok with that...

SchattenSpartan

PJ: It's great to hear about that! I'll shoot you a PM when I start fixing all the mistakes I made on my Hetzer if you're ok with that...

plastickjunkie

Cool pics snake. Even though I haven't started mine yet, but  I'm  kind of leaning towards this one: chriswauchop.com/.../tamiya-135-hetzer-photos-by-brett-green

I've heard that probably the most challenging cheme would be a solid German yellow scheme because of the monochromatic look which color modulation and filtering will add interest and depth to the paint.

That's a cool camo scheme!

I thought about painting mine in dunkelgelb, but like you said the solid dark yellow would be a challenge. Know I could probably pull it off in 1/35 its really not that hard. But 1/72 is still new to me so I'm going easy!

David

Hi SchattenSpartan -- I just noticed this GB and I have some subjects that would fit the bill -- Marder II, Jagdpanther (both Tamiya) and the Italeri Jagdpanzer IV that I started for a GB some years ago but got bogged down with -- the intention was zimmerit, etch, AM barrel and tracks, all of which are still with the kit. I'm not sure how far along I got, but I'm sure it was less than 50%. In a year-long build I'm sure I could fit in one or more of these!

Cheers, Mike/Thunderbolt379

So a quick update: I was looking over my Marder II and I just wasn't happy how the suspension arms looked.  They are three pieces--the main leaf spring and roller, the swing arm, and a small square piece that is glued on the end of the leaf spring stack to simulate the end of the leaves.  No matter how hard I tried, they wouldn't go together well and they ended up looking awful.  I did some digging and found an aftermarket set of resin suspension arms so I'm a happy camper.

So much nicer.  I picked up an Eduard PE kit for the Marder II as well.  I just need to wait for them to cross the pond.

Mike: It's nice to have you in here! Which kit do you want me to add to the build roster?

ddanne: Those suspension arms look really nice! It looks like I didn't get you listed on the front page... Would you mind telling me again what Marder kit you are building?

Thanks. I got you on the list now!

Hi Shcatten -- here's the beast I'll be starting with:

I'll be cutting sprue momentarily! We're in the grips of a severe heatwave in Australia and painting is not advisable just yet, the AB doesn't behave very predictably, so I'll build instead, fleshing out my long line of projects awaiting the paint shop! Hopefully I'll come back for the Marder II as well!

Cheers, thanks for having me aboard,

Mike/TB379

That's a nice kitten! Got ya added!

Hey guys. Been a bit busier recently so work has slowed down. Really slowed to be precise but here is what it is currently up to. I've sprayed the interior of the vehicle in black, although putting that machine gun in after I did that is starting to bug me. 

The main gun has been particularly sweet though. Only very minimal sanding needed for the seam. 

Thanks, Schatten -- it should be a straight forward build, but that's what you'd expect from Tamiya, regardless of the era (this one is copyright 1993.) Here's today's output, 54 parts used so far:

Target for tomorrow: exhausts and jack, upper hull detail parts and main gun.

Cheers, M/TB379

Blitz, Mike: some nice progress going on there, guys!

Nice, you guys are moving right along!

Hot night here in Aus, can't sleep yet, so have the main gun mostly together... Will check seams in the morning, fill and smooth as needed, then add the saukopf and mount the barrel to the inner section/trunions/breach unit.

M/TB379

So much for thinking this build would be easy

And that's after sanding everything down. Oh well I think the front will be pretty easy to fill in. The engine deck might be a little trickier. Also realized that I'm missing one of the return rollers, its a good thing the kit comes with side skirts

But at least its starting to look like a Jagdpanzer 38t

David

Hi guys, I'm considering having a go at the figure with the Jagdpanther kit. The moulding is superb, with separate arms, head and cap, and I got a set of oils for Christmas which set me thinking I could take a shot at the features in that medium, while airbrushing the uniform and cap. I did some research and found a thread at Armorarma on Jagdpanther crew uniforms, which can be found here:

www.armorama.com/modules.php

I've not tried a figure in twenty years as I was never able to get my head around painting skintones, but maybe it's time to take a shot.

I've pressed on with construction, there's little else I can do in such a heatwave, and there'll be another photo after today's stint is definitely done.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

David: That is a very tiny tank, and at that size you would definitely hope the parts count would be low. I can just see tiny plastic parts just whizzing through the air if I tried something that sized. I didn't see them on your picture of the kit but are the tracks vinyl or are they individual link?

Mike, Go ahead and give it a shot painting the figures. Even if they don't turn out perfect the first time it will give you some experience.

Blitzwing, The parts count is really low. However, there's a lot of cleanup on the tiny parts not much fun. The kit comes with vinyl tracks and are kind of junk. But I'm going to grin and bear it and use them. Individual tracks would drive me crazy!

David

Thanks, David, I will -- certainly if I'm going to do the Marder II, the open fighting compartment is accented by two figures so it would be even more important, and the current build is a great place to get some practice.

Today's targets were all accomplished, 56 more parts used, total now 110. here she is:

Target for tomorrow: complete upper hull fittings, including rear hatch and top hatches, bearer frames for tools, bow MG and headlight, plus mount the gun. Then possibly close the hull up.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Hey David, that is some sloppy fit! Looks good from the top though!

Mike: Nice work on the Jadgkitty. And give the figure a whirl- if you don't like it, strip the paint and paint him again!

I think you should try to paint the figure as well, Mike! I still have to find a kit with a half-decent figure I can practice on... You are really digging into that kitty!

David: That gap looks bad, but the rest of that little bugger looks excellent so far. My 1/35 Hetzer is a tiny model already, so I'm truly impressed with you building the even smaller one...

David, nice little gap in the front of that, but its looking nice.

Mike, nice start. I have been trying to do figures for armour builds for over 20 years and still don't have the hang of it, but they just don't seem right without. Go for it.

Hi guys, here's the progress after the third build day, 37 more parts used (total 147):

That's about it, she's up against the paint barrier, so she joins the lineup waiting for colour. I've no idea when this heatwave will be over, so it could be a while before there's an update. Probably the first job will be to paint the exhausts/mufflers for six tank models in one go, and move them all along.

I might pull the Italeri Jagdpanzer IV/L-70 with AM and review where I was on that one, it might be a productive one to fiddle with in the meantime -- I'll keep you posted.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

PS: remaining top hatches will go on after painting, and I'll be getting an etch set for the grills. The only modification I've made is the driver's visor, which was simply a hole -- I studied photos and other builds and it seems there was something there, it's hard to tell what but I made the decision to blank it off with what would be either an armoured visor or a transparency, it can be finished as either.

Good progress Mike. I have 3 queueing up for some cooler weather myself.

Cheers

Tony

TB: your JP's coming along nicely.

Hello gang just wanted to jump in and you know I'm still here and should be jumping into my academy stg-4 within the next few day. Ill be posting the unboxing and cleaning things up and maybe some trial fitting.  Ill have some ketching up to do a few you took off with a bang. And some nice work it is. :D

Mike: Your Jagdkitty looks really nice! I know what you mean with heat waves. We had a horribly hot summer this year (37-38° Celsius in Vienna for days)...