Blitz

Tony lee

well hello all.   my schedule got a little busy but I  got around to opening my for first kit for this GB

its the

stug. 4 by academy my second build will be the marder 2 by dragon. as you can see this one is a basic kit. ill start by cleaning things up and improving the kit parts where I can the plan is to build it strait out the box. im having thoughts about the ruber tracks after market ? I will be putting on the side armor so the sag will be hidden. as fare as paint and decals not sure I do have after market decals. . anyone build it befor or thoughts 0n the build feel free to let me know.

im a old school modler who took a 25 yr break. I have bin building my stash since 2010 I did a couple builds I call my warm ups Tamiya and revel kids that I remember from back then. my first more detaild build is a fw-190d that im doing for the 2013 fw-190 GB build here on the forums..

so that's it and im looking forword to getting into this GB with all of you.

BD62 -- yes, I built the Academy StuG IV a couple of years back. It was fun and turned out very well indeed. It's a pure knock-off of the Tamiya kit and does not build as cleanly, but it's close. You'll have filling or shimming to do here and there to compensate for mismatches. There are some features on it at my blog -- address on my signature line.

Mike/TB379

Blitz: I got your Marder posted on the front page.

THUNDER.....funny that you mention that when I open it and got around to getting it ready I was wondering if  it was from a tamiya mold. The only other kit of this that I did was back when monogram had a armor line they was 1/32/34 can't remember that far back. I built everything they had. It was real treat when I could afford tamiya at that age.

I have a week off and will build a kit I bought for $5 last summer. It is the ex-Esci Panzerjager I kit reissued by Italeri. I think I built the kit back in the 80s but it may have been a different variant or this vehicle by a different manufacturer.

Interesting addition Rob.

Nice to see we have our first completed build on the front page.

I'll be most interested to see this one come together, Rob, it's an important early element of the Panzer story, and not often kitted -- I think Dragon did it, but that's the only other injection kit. There may have been a resin many years ago...

Mike/TB379

Rob that's a nice looking panzerjager 1 I imagine it's going to be small. The panzerjagers from the early to mid war are my favorites. Even In 1/35 there small. Can't wait to see it done.

Dragon has 2 versions of that kit in 1/35  the dif. Is the upper fighting compartment on 1  has 1 extra panel on each side. I would like to have it for my stash. Some day :)

Quick update, I've been stalled on the Jagdpanther while looking for a grill set, I've been unable to source Tamiya's own for any price I was willing to pay, but today found an Aber set at an outlet here in Aus and ordered them up. Hopefully they'll be here by the end of the week, and I can get back to this project. I also got the field grey for the figure's uniform, so there's another dimension to the project: the Archer decals for the uniform markings have also come in.

M/TB379

Yep I agree with the figures add that extra that gives it a story. I'll try the commander that is in my academy kit but I'm not expecting much there. Little nervous about figures.

Thunderbolt379

I'll be most interested to see this one come together, Rob, it's an important early element of the Panzer story, and not often kitted -- I think Dragon did it, but that's the only other injection kit. There may have been a resin many years ago...

Mike/TB379

Jagdpanther G2 is back but with color this time.  I put this off as long as I could being unsure of the outcome and it was now or never.

I used Blu-Tac ropes to lay out the pattern then sprayed the LifeColor Olivgrun first followed by Tamiya Nato Brown for the stripes.

I let the paint dry for 30 minutes before exposing the Dark Yellow pre-coat. Here's the results of seven hours of nail biting believe me.

First time to try this scheme and I learned a lot.

That's a cool looing camo  job pvt mutt. I especially like that  you post the pic from looking down on the top made think how hard it must have bin to spot from aircraft.

Thank you sir

I had no idea what it was going to look like until I got the Blu-Tac off.

Tony lee

I'm digging that camo pattern, Tony! Very well executed!

Rob: I put you on the list. Welcome aboard!

Thank you sir

Tony lee

Tony: I've had some bad experiences with blu tac leaving oily stains on my models but it looks like you didn't have any problems with that at all. That looks great.

Wow Tony, she looks great! I've used the Blu-Tac and Silly Putty a few times and had good luck with it though I've never tried anything as elaborate as you did here. That's just gorgeous!

BTW: I did get a little more done. I tossed in a few empty packing cases and spent shells. The crew would probably have thrown them out ASAP instead of leaving them rolling around inside the vehicle but hey I'm claiming artistic license since I think they look cooler lying on the deck there...

I have read where others have had the oily stain before???? I used it one other time and it worked fine.

I think I bought it at Wal-Mart and the wrapper is long gone so I don't know the brand name.

Ciff: Nice work! I love that almost paintless floor!

Tony: Now that's a nice Hummel you got there! Is it the Dragon kit?

Yes sir it's the Dragon Hummel kit

Tony lee

Now that's a nice looking Hummel too Tony I built the kit years ago and well, mine don't look that good!

ok i'm in with the M3 GMC in north africa colors. i will crossover this with halftrack GB and since it has some tires it sorta kinda fits my warwheels genre though most of those are modern.

The instructiions don't  call out all the colors but it looks like  the light blue is the dark yellow and the dark blue is early OD.

as for staining i have used silly putty and it doesn't leave a residue but it most be pulled off slowly or it can pull off small pieces and make sure you look for residual boggers of it in creases. DO NOT heat it up. on this JGSDF TYPE 96B i put it under a lamp for 30 minutes and it did leave some staining which i noticed when i retouched. couldn't have been too obvious as it has placed 2nd in the last 2 local contests. i look at it and think "if i had  been doing pin washes back then." OTOH there are 17 PLA and 9 JGSDF vehicles in the stash  so.....

Wayne

I'm also building one of the M3 75mm and while doing research I found that LifeColor has what they call "Khaki North Africa"#LFCUA 413 and it matches what the Marines used in the Pacific for camo.

Not being sure of what Dragon is calling Dark Yellow for the camo I switched to Pacific Marines M3. Tamiya Deck Tan is a very close match so I used it on mine.

Just FYI

hi tony. yes i suspect it;s closer to a tan than to german panzer yellow. as long as i get close by the time i scour it with dust pastels it will be a different shade

Took some in progress shots of the Panzerjager, but since it is so small, I couldn't get any decent focused shots.

Those look great guys!!!

The M10 hull is now together. I've been experimenting with 'stucco' paint to create a rough surface to represent caked-on mud for the lower surfaces:

Tony I can really appreciate the camo job on the Panther. I did a similar pattern a while back and the biggest problem I had, were the nooks and crannies on the uneven parts trying to keep the paint from bleeding and consistent from one elevation to the next. I think you did a real nice job with that.  

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Just getting started on Dragons Marder III. Working on the main body, starting on some smaller sub assemblies and the main gun, I have a lot of work ahead of me. this is one of their Smart Kits and about 700 parts. Because the interior will be covered, I think I'll assemble and save the engine and trans for a Dio I have in mind for another Marder thats been built and waiting for attention.