Real G: That looks real good! Love the PE panels- they look waaaay better than the plastic mesh material. 

AA & Robert: Sorry to hear about your woes. Seems sometimes the small simple looking projects turn out to be the biggest pains in the tush... 

Here I'm STILL applying Silly Putty to mask off the earth brown splotches on the Leopard 2. 

Well, after finally getting the tracks finished, I've been able to make a good pace with the rest of the model, to the point it's almost done.

She looks good AA, just needs a little weathering and mud!

Nice work AA, likeing that.

It's an interesting subject, looking good.

I thought I'd releive this thing of it's position in my garage, and build it. I should comfortably get it done by the end of the year.

Cheers

Tony

Tony: That's cool! What year is it? I don't think I've ever seen the Esci logo in that format.

Okay, final reveal, she's DONE!  Whoever's running this GB now, please use the first picture here as the picture on the front page completion gallery.  Thanks.

Hey AA she looks good!!! Nice work! 

Very nicely finished AA.

Sailing_Dutchman

Don't stress about making the finish line. With all that is going on for me I just started last week. If there is still interest I will extend it 6 months or so.

 

Oh yes, there is interest!  Between work, other GBs, and upcoming holiday travel, I'll be very hard pressed to complete the Neubaufahrzeug by end of year.  I did make some progress on it, but the suspension assembly is a PITA and I think I lost a roadwheel to boot! .  Still going to plug away at it no matter what.

Finally got time to post an update. The last of these pics were taken at the start of the week, but been so busy trying to get it done that i haven't had chance to post them, so here goes.

Got the final bits fitted and had her ready for primer and paint.

The decals were then added followed by a couple of coats of Alclad Aqua gloss and the first bit of weathering. This was an overall oil wash of raw umber a yellow orche mix. I forgot to take pics of the turret before the wash, but you can see the hull before and after.

I also made a start on the 4 figures, getting them together and ready for painting.

And made a start on the base.

After staining and varnishing the surround i added the Celluclay. The base has been left in the shed all week where it is cold. This slws down drying so i can add the vehicle into the base.

The Tiger has come on quite a bit, i have spent the last couple of days weathering. It should be done by tomorrow or Monday and will get some pics up before adding it to the base and finishing the figures. I would like to wrap this up before the end of this coming week.

That looks really good Bish! The wash works great on bringing out the detail on the zimmerit.

Sorry again not much done here, Christmas stuff keeps getting in the way.

A quick final update before i wrap up the Tiger. After some washes and streaking i added everything bar the wheels and track. The front mudguard had come off so i deciuded to leave that until the end.

Then the weathering was finished off with some AK effects liquids and some pigments. After that the wheels and tracks were added and the tank is now done. I also placed the side skirts onto the rear deck.

I just have to add it to the base and let that set while i finish off the figures. Should be wrapping this up by the weekend.

Bish: The overall wash really brought everything together. She looks the part of a worn seasoned veteran warrior. 

That Tiger looks like a real beast there, well done so far!

I applied some work on the Wiesel again, by gluing the hull together, applying the PE exaust covers, and started adding the "fiddly bits" to the exterior. My goal is to have it wrapped up by Saturday or Sunday.  Not going for perfection, but rather just done.

A rather humorous story about the gluing of the hull.  I added the cement and clamped the halves together and put it off to the side to set up, and then treated myself to a couple well deserved fingers of bourbon after a hard day of work.  As the bourbon started to take effect, I only then realized that I neglected to install the viewing periscopes beforehand.  Rather than go through the trouble of pulling it apart and regluing in a partially inebriated state, I decided the next day to just use the old sprue snippers to snip the upper exterior half and glue it in the hole...problem solved.  

Thanks G, really pleased with how its come out.

Robert: That looks cool! 

You probably took the best course, I'm had bad luck trying to pull hulls back apart. If you can cut the part and drop it in you took the wisest approach. 

Time to wrap up the Tiger. The finishing touches were to add it to the base and add the 4 figures, from Miniart and Master Box. The one thing that i can't get over with this secen, despite all the advances in military tech over the decades, one thing has not changed. Modern tanks look very much the same as they did in WW2, but we now have thermal imaging, stabilised guns and all the advances in armour, tank tracks today are exactly the same. The method for fitting the track in this scene is exactly the same one that we used on our Warriors, other than we used a fabric rope rather than a metal one. The perfect example of if somthing works, leave it.

Thanks for following along. i am really pleased with how this has turned out. I have had this dio in mind for years and its come out exactly as i pictured it.

Please feel free to use which ever pic you choose for the front page.

That’s a great looking dio of the most dreaded task of a tanker!  A friend who served on M60s and commanded an M1 told me breaking track in Germany in the winter time in the mud was the worst thing that could happen to a crew.

I wonder how much a single Tiger track link weighed?

Thanks Real. Ye, in those conditions, track bashing was not pleasent. But the task of fitting or taking off a track itself i never found to bad, especially in the garage. The worst jobs are building up a new track and changing the rubber pads. We always tried to get our REME to right the track off rather than do a pad change.

I did once throw a track in the middle of a huge burning refuse dump just outside Basra. Now that was awkward.

Funnily enough, i onced checked that. I can't remember the exact weight, but its just over 3 tons. A warrior track is just under 3, so there is not that much differance.

Oh wow I love that Bish, what a pain to replace the tracks on a 56 ton steel beast!!!

And I loved people ing World of Tanks about the time it takes for a track to auto-repair itself!!!

Great job as usual on the tank, figures, groundwork etc. Great job all around!!!

Love that dio!  I may keep this idea in mind for a future project myself...if you don't mind of course.

Cheers guys.

G, that sort of things always made me laugh on WoT, as if it was that quick and easy.

Glamdring, feel free. I am surprised i have not seen it done before given the figure sets out there. The set i used also comes with a figure useing the crow bar to bring the 2 ends of track together. So i think that will be one for the future.

Praise the Almighty, I finished my project on 1/1/20!  

I'll upload the completed pictures tomorrow, Google Photo for some reason doesn't feel like exporting them yet for some reason.

It's a clean build, I went minimalist on the weathering.  I'm rationalizing it by thinking the UN Wiesels didn't leave the base much.  The real reason is that the way the build went, if I handle it anymore everything will fall off like the car at the end of The Blues Brothers!

Sounds cool Glamdring, looking forward to the photos. 

I crashed and burned on all my GBs, but am still detemined to finish them.  I was able to get some work done on the SdKfz 7/1 Flakvierling over the holidays.

Most of the PE that I am plannng on using are glued on.  The beautiful metal aftermarket gun barrels have also been added.  There are only some small bits to stick on, then it's time for a washdown and some primer.

Looking good. Which brand of barrels are those?

Bish,

They are from Master:

They are ultra-gorgeous, and make me feel unworthy.

That looks great G. Love the gun barrels and the PE side panels.

Finally got the pictures to upload.  At least I learned something new today...

This thing doesn't hold a candle to any of the excellent projects already completed, but here is the finished Wiesel:

Someday I will acquire a peacekeeper figure to stand in the open hatch, that's why I left it open.  I probably have a suitable figure in the stash, I think really I just need a 90s era soldier and can paint the helmet blue.