Sounds like a good way to do it, think I will give that a try.

Naw, I never cement the wheels in place unless they're totally wimbly-woobly and have to be to keep them straight. I'd been just building the tracks as a top and bottom run and then adding them but I thought I'd try to just put them together and slide the whole thing off. So far seems to working fine.

Right, got you. So they were just fitted until they dried. I have just started my Jagdpanther and it has magic Tracks and its the first time I have used them and I was wondering how to get the correct sag. I take it you didn't secure the wheels in place, or at least the drive sprocket and rear idler.

Thanks Bish, I pulled the tracks off last night and they only broke in one place on each side which is better than I expected.

Jack, nice to see the DY on, looks really  nice.

gamera, good to see that together, but I still don't get how you guys can paint the tracks when they are fitted.

I am now about to star on the Jagdpanther, beginning with the Zimm, should have some pics in a couple of days.

Dan: Looks good, lots of PE there too! I like the sandbags though it might take some serious carving and sanding to get them to fit properly.

Jack: Very cool, I love how the Dunkelgelb came out.

BTW: I've gotten the ersatz M10/Panther together. Now I just have to slide the wheels/tracks off and paint the thing. Oh, the front and back plates are just stuck on there, need to cement them and the hull together too.

Before hitting with primer, did some further work with the zimmerit, including chipping/breaking down the bottom edge along the lower hull.  Also added sections of green putty for the locations of the tactical number and other stencil work.  These details are well photographed from a captured Lehr vehicle.

 Primer followed with some pre-shading in dark blue. 

 For the base colour, I mixed my own Dunkelgelb from Tamiya paints.   It included some of their own dark yellow plus a couple tan browns I had  created many moons ago.  While the airbrush was still out, began some broad colour modulation by lightening the base paint with Xtracrylix German Tank Interior Cream.

 Some further modulation with paint brush.  I used a fairly thin mixture of about 50/50 each of Vallejo Green Ochre and DOA's Dunkelgelb (I find their colour is too green like Tamiya, but it is lighter).  Lightening it further on subsequent layers with the above Xtracrylix paint.

regards,

Jack

Thanks Jgeratic.

Yeah this is a very detailed model from Dragon, having said that the kit is based off of Dragons StuG. III Ausf. G Early Production #6320 from 2007, so you'll think there should not be any gaps or seems.  But maybe the next one(StuG.III Ausf.G #6578) will have the problems fixed.  I plan to gently bend the photo-etch to the right angle, after the CA glue and fully cured.  Then work on the lateral parts.

Thank you Cliff and Dan.

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Dan - it looks you got a good handle on the open seams and whatnot.  Interesting idea with the sandbags, I think the only photo I've seen them employed on Stugs were the trio used in the African desert.  It's going to take some extra work to get them to sit properly and not defy gravity.

regards,

Jack

Thanks Bish, I'll be using Tamiya's Military Miniatures sandbag set.  There's about 48 in the box, each one requiring clean up, mold seems many.  Also started gluing the photo-etch on the back engine deck,  planning to put some storage back there.  I have plenty of jerry cans, with some buckets.

That's coming on nicely Dan. What are you planning on using for the sandbags.

Thanks Gamera: The construction looks pretty simple.

Thanks Jgeratic: nice work on the Jagdpanzer IV, great detail.

Thanks Eagle90: yeah the little Hetzer packs a punch.

Got the ball rolling a little faster now on my Stug III, there are to many gaps and seems.  I plan to use sandbags on the front so the gap where the side pieces meet the main hull's will be covered.  In a week or two should be ready to primer.  Some of the photo-etch had to be bent to fit,  you can see in the third photo.

Ouch somehow I missed you there Jack- very nice work. I love those skirt hangers but dang I can't even put the plastic ones on at this point without knocking half of them off while painting!  

jgeratic

Eagle - looking really smart with the wash.  You certainly do appear to be enjoying these armour builds.

Dan - intersting choice in the Hetzer, I don't have one in the stash either.  That gun looks much better on the Czech chasis than on the panzer IV I'm working on.

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Thanks Bish, Gamera, Eagle90 and Dan.

Bit more progress to report.  All sixteen rails for the skirt armour are now attached.  This involved 12 parts each, plus an additional piece of plastic sheet cut to place behind the brackets for those located on the zimmerit section.  This was done to correct the angle.

The two straps on the muffler were fashioned from plastic strip - much easier for the glue to hold than the one from the PE fret.  Also started applying some putty to fill in the seams left open from not the quite perfect fit of the zimmerit.  Just a few more detail pieces in the rear area and it will ready for primer.

regards,

Jack

Thank you Jack!  I am finding the armor side of modeling to be really fun!

Man, that build of yours has some serious PE!  Looks awesome!  I will have to venture into some PE work at some point! 

Eagle90

DantheMan85

Jgeratic: Excellent work on your Jagdpanzer IV, and nice detail.

Eagle90: Great work on your 234/3.

When I glued the upper and lower half's of my Stug III, there was some nice gaps that needed to be filled.  Should not be to hard to sand them.

And would like to enter in my Academy 1/35 Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer "Early Version", picked it up at my local HobbytownUSA for $29.99 USD.  Think I'll start on it after my Stug III is finished.  I took a look at it, looks to be a basic build.  Only thing I will be replacing is the tow cable string for wire.

Thank you Dan!

Man, that Hetzer looks mean!  And a great price too!

Eagle90

That's looking damn good Jack. I know what you mean about those styrene strips rather than PE. Nice work.

Eagle - looking really smart with the wash.  You certainly do appear to be enjoying these armour builds.

Dan - intersting choice in the Hetzer, I don't have one in the stash either.  That gun looks much better on the Czech chasis than on the panzer IV I'm working on.

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Thanks Bish, Gamera, Eagle90 and Dan.

Bit more progress to report.  All sixteen rails for the skirt armour are now attached.  This involved 12 parts each, plus an additional piece of plastic sheet cut to place behind the brackets for those located on the zimmerit section.  This was done to correct the angle.

The two straps on the muffler were fashioned from plastic strip - much easier for the glue to hold than the one from the PE fret.  Also started applying some putty to fill in the seams left open from not the quite perfect fit of the zimmerit.  Just a few more detail pieces in the rear area and it will ready for primer.

regards,

Jack

I'll be interested to see how it builds up. I don't have a Hetzer yet but could do with adding one to the stock pile.

That looks pretty cool Dan. I built Academy's fairly recent kit of the K1A1 and was really impressed by the quality. Now I'm wondering how that Hetzer shapes up compared to say the Dragon kit.

Ok Dan, got your second build added.

Jgeratic: Excellent work on your Jagdpanzer IV, and nice detail.

Eagle90: Great work on your 234/3.

When I glued the upper and lower half's of my Stug III, there was some nice gaps that needed to be filled.  Should not be to hard to sand them.

And would like to enter in my Academy 1/35 Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer "Early Version", picked it up at my local HobbytownUSA for $29.99 USD.  Think I'll start on it after my Stug III is finished.  I took a look at it, looks to be a basic build.  Only thing I will be replacing is the tow cable string for wire.

Gamera

Yes she looks fine Eagle. As Bish said I wouldn't use a straight black on anything but a dark grey vehicle. A brownish wash looks much better on German mustard yellow or US, UK, USSR dark green as well.

Thank you Gamera!  It looks like my "mistake" actually turned out alright!  Hey, I'm teachable!    I sure do appreciate all the help from you guys when it comes to the armor stuff.  I'm really getting used to doing armor and find it very cool to build...and I'm learning along the way!  Thanks again everyone!

Eagle90

Bish

Looks good eagle. For armour washes, you don't really want black. Raw Umber is a good colour, Burnt Umber does have more of a reddish rusty look to it. You might want a slightly thicker wash mix and do a pin wash into the recesses.

Thank you Bish!  Raw Umber!  That was what I was trying to remember last night!    Guess  I need to make a run to Wally World and see if they have any of that. 

Eagle90

Yes she looks fine Eagle. As Bish said I wouldn't use a straight black on anything but a dark grey vehicle. A brownish wash looks much better on German mustard yellow or US, UK, USSR dark green as well.

Looks good eagle. For armour washes, you don't really want black. Raw Umber is a good colour, Burnt Umber does have more of a reddish rusty look to it. You might want a slightly thicker wash mix and do a pin wash into the recesses.

Awesome work everyone!  Some really great builds!

Not much longer and the 234/3 will be finished!  Working the wheels now.  Finally got her painted and actually tried a wash for the first time!  Not sure how well I executed the wash process, but it sure does enhance all the details on the model!  I didn't have any black oils (If I remember correctly if you paint the model with acrylics, you use oil based washes and vise versa), so I used a burnt umber I had.  Actually makes it look like a little rust color!  So here are some progress pics.  Should be finished with her soon!  Thanks for looking!

Eagle90

Nice job on the interior detail Jack!

O believe me jack, I know that all to well. My 251 collection is on the large size and I am not even half way in the number of versions that were produced. I was actually having a re read on PMMS, the set I was planning on getting is a different one to the one you posted. I think the ejector marks won't be to much of an issue as the wheels will cover a lot of it. Defiantly worth a shot.

Very nice work on the scratchbuilding. I think that's something I am going to have to try for having open hatches.

Bish - I'd agree about the 251 tracks, give them a try as I'd be interested on how they work out for you.  With the amount of planned vehicles of this type, you could try all the brands and still have plenty kits left over.

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Took a few extra days than intended to scratch build some interior details.  I just eyeballed dimensions based on some interior photos, only relying on the ruler to make straights cuts and such.

 At first was just going to add a rear wall, cover up the floor (there are troughs along the hull sides where it meets the floor due to the way the plastic was cast).  An off centered drive line cover - left in primer red, but other modelers have it finished in interior white/buff.

 After another look through hatch opening with the above in place, I decided to add a bit more.   A couple seats fashioned with putty (green stuff),   a box to hold four upright shells, and some semblance of the breach basket.

 A shot of the parts painted up and in place :

... and with the roof glued in place:

regards,

Jack

Ye, I had seen that. But after those Fruils, I think it might be worth it. Got to be worth a try at least. Though I might put it off until I have had some more practice with the metal tracks, got another 10 251 sets in my AM stash, so hopefully I can get used to them.