1/72 German Armor Group Build

That sounds good Grant. I did something similar with my StuG IV. I'll be looking forward to seeing pics.

Speaking of Pics, I should be taking a few more soon. My three models for this Group Build are fully camouflaged and ready for a clearcoat prior to applying decals, wash and drybrushing. I'll see if I can get those pics up along with the JP IV Lang that you wanted Grant.

Come, Frosty...you must not resist the Dark Side. Just one more little bitty build...it's only in 1/72nd scale, and a whole year to build it...



Kent

You know...I've defaulted on 3.5 quick builds (two weekend builds and a full week build...the 4th one was just a really bad kit that was unfinishable).  This full year thing is wonderful.  You can really put forth a fantastic `show quality' kit.

You can handle it Frosty.  I've got 4 other kits started that are on hold for this one.

Progress:  I like to average 8 parts on the kit a day.  I'm up to 16 in two days.  The lower hull of the Stug IV is almost built...loving the kit. 

Grant

Frosty, please! Bring me back to the days when we were in Braille Scale Group Builds together! Let me feel the joy of building another Braille Scale tank at the same time as one of your Braille Scale creations evolves into the incredible representaions you build! I know you can handle it! After all, you are building CARS and everyone knows how difficult they can be with their shiny finishes!



Okay, enough of the Shakespearean begging. Frosty, time to get back to your roots. I would be honored and privilaged to participate once again in a Group Build with you. Even though I am almost done with three subjects for this Group Build, I still have a couple others I can start to build alongside whatever you decide to do.

Speaking of projects almost done, here are pics of my three tanks ready for clearcoat and decals. Afterwards, I'll wash them, dullcoat them and drybrush them. Check them out (click on photos to enlarge):

My 1/72 scale Dragon Jagdpanther with Zimmeritt:



My 1/72 scale Dragon Jadgtiger (Porsche)



My 1/72 scale Hasegawa Panther F. Also my first poor attempt at an Ambush color scheme:



I hope you all enjoy and I hope, Frosty; that this will motivate you to join us all here in this Group Build! I'll post more pics when these are done.

Looks great the only problem I see is the Hasegawa Panthers Turret is too small.

Nice work Duke,

What method of zim did you use on the Jagdpanther?

I've always been a big fan of the Hasegawa Panthers.  I can't wait to see all of these finished.

Grant

Looking good Duke gut they are just begging for a wash and some mud on them.

Sorry haven't contributed yet but I have 3 projects on the bench already and I hope to clear some of them off before I start on my Dragon stug IV late version.

Keep the pictures coming everyone.

Thanks everyone for looking. I appreciate the comments.

willjanuary wrote:

Looks great the only problem I see is the Hasegawa Panthers Turret is too small.

Thank you Will. You're right, the Panther's turret is small. This is the Panther F. It was a little-known variant of the Panther G that was designed to improve the tank's armor as well as manufacturability. Sometimes it is also known as the Panther G "Schmalturm". The smaller turret was designed to help reduce the forward silhouette thus attempting to make the tank a more difficult target. This tank was also the first tank to have installed a primitive stereo range finder. Only one Panther F was built by the end of the war.

315rooster wrote:

Nice work Duke, What method of zim did you use on the Jagdpanther? I've always been a big fan of the Hasegawa Panthers.  I can't wait to see all of these finished. Grant

Thanks Grant. The zimm on the Jagdpanther one was molded on at the Dragon factory. I didn't have to do anything to zimm it, thank goodness!

razordws wrote:

Looking good Duke but they are just begging for a wash and some mud on them. Sorry haven't contributed yet but I have 3 projects on the bench already and I hope to clear some of them off before I start on my Dragon stug IV late version. Keep the pictures coming everyone.

Thanks Razor! They'll have some wash and dusty drybrush applied before long. I'm trying to get a few other projects caught up a bit more before clearcoating these, applying the decals, and finishing them with the wash, dullcoat, and drybrush. I'm looking forward to seeing the ones you get done as well.

Thanks again for the comments and I'll post more when these guys are done.

I love it when Dragon adds things to their kits so that you don't have to.



Grant

DUKE great looking tanks ya got there duke i'm building the same Jagdpanther as well and as for my Maus i should have some pictures of it this tuesday

FROSTYGIRL plz join us the more the merrier

Awesome! Can't wait to see your Maus. I have been considering getting two of them: one to make German of course, and one to make captured Russian.

Ain't that Jagdpanther fun?

Grant, I agree. It is great to see things like Zimm added to these little tanks. It's about time a company woke up and started to do this!

Frosty, despite what my bench shows, I agree with you on the time part! There's never enough of it! And yes, I knew you couldn't resist!

I say go for a Dragon kit! Fit is almost always great, and the detail is incredible. They almost always give you some P/E parts as well. Just watch out for all the itty-bitty pieces! You'll get alot of tweezer time on a Dragon kit, I assure you! Still, I think you'll find that it will be a most enjoyable build!

I'll tellya duke the Maus has A TON OF ROADWHEELS!!!( 48 to be exact LOL ) well it was a 180 ton tank. btw it comes with the russian decals to make the "captured Russian" vehicle,it wasn't really captured by the russians.to keep enemy intelligence from finding out too much the germans painted russian markings on the first prototype,Then said THEY captured it from the russians lol at least that is what my references say.

And Frosty GLAD TO SEE YA it's been a while since i posted on the flying circus thread if ya liked my tripe ARMOR is my forte

I've heard that there are a ton of roadwheels on the Maus. I think maybe that's why I'm putting off buying them. I agree about the Russian markings. I'd heard the same thing. I think I also heard that the Russians kept those markings on it when they captured it and took it back for testing.

Well, progress has been slow for me. I'm trying to get several other projects caught up so I can coat them all at the same time. Once that's done, things will go faster.

Duke,

You've motivated me to build a Hasegawa Panther (I'm now up to 2 kits for this build).  I'm going to build the rare and slightly inaccurate Panther II from Hasegawa...the kit in the pretty black box.

So here is the progress of the Stug IV.  I have to say that I'm loving the kit thus far.  No filler yet...

I'll probably have the parts ready for paint by this weekend.



The Jagdpanzer in the background was one that I referred to in earlier posts.  I just didn't have a good time with the tracks on that one.  I've since changed how I connect them.

Grant

DUKE there may be alot of roadwheels but it only took me about 15 minutes to assemble bolth sides as they go together pretty easily,although you cant see much easily once the vehicle is assembled and tracks applied.the kit impressed me so much I went and ordered the 1/35 scale Maus from DML i wish there were as many Wermacht-46 items as there are Luft-46 ones the only ones I know of are the Maus and the E-100

Awesome work there! That jagdpanzer actually looks great. Did you already change the tracks? Because they look great to me from here. That reminds me, I was going to get a picture of mine for you. I apologize, I usually don't forget things like that. I'll try to post mine soon.

That StuG is looking good too. Nice work! Tell me more of the Panther II, I don't ever recall seeing that kit. I'd love to build that one too someday.

Panzerwulf, that is great. I'm glad Dragon made them easy. Now to wait till payday again to get some. Good luck on the bigger one! As for Wehrmacht-46 porjects, I know of at least four more
'paper projects' that were proposed and drawn up but never built. One was a real monster that made the Maus look small! I used to have a link to the address where I saw them but that got lost when my hard drive crashed.

Frostygirl does that mean you want to join?

Panzerwulff I don't know any other Panzer 46's

Grant what is that Panzer IV in the background of your pic?

 

 

 

Does anyone know of Panzer III Afrika Korps w/ Tank Commander?

Duke:  The tracks are original, but the photo is from afar.  There is just a great deal of slack in the tracks (especially above the idler).  Aside from the tracks, I love the kit.

Attached is a better photo from Syrcon:



The Panther II kit is marked MT104 and was made as a limited edition kit by Hasegawa.  If I get a chance, I'll scan the box.  The kit is the exact same thing as the Panther F kit (including the extra wheels and turret for a G).  The only difference is the gun.  Included is a turned brass gun for the tank.  I believe that the tracks and road wheels may be wrong for the Panther II.  The rear deck may also need some modifications.  It is small scale, and I'm feeling an out-of-box build here.



Will:  The kit in the background is the Hasegawa Panzer IV G.  I love the kit.  The tracks are "forced" to look loose on this one.  I built it 5 years ago, and I believe that the missing fender if from my Springer when he was a pup.  He also ate the turret of a KV-1S.  Grrr.

Hey when do we get stars beside our GB name?

Grant I think I may build that tank!

Duke your lucky the jagdpanther has but on zim! I tried doing it with Squadron White putty....... I not even going to say what happened I'll just say this, it was BAD!!!!!!!!!!! lol

willjanuary wrote:

Hey when do we get stars beside our GB name? Grant I think I may build that tank! Duke your lucky the jagdpanther has but on zim! I tried doing it with Squadron White putty....... I not even going to say what happened I'll just say this, it was BAD!!!!!!!!!!! lol

Lol! Yeah, that's why I never tried it myself. I figured eventually somebody would think to mold it in on the parts! Thank you Dragon!

If you use the squadron putty, mix it with 40-50% plastic cement, and let it dry (solidify) for a while on the plastic.  That is the only way that my zim looked slightly less than BAD!!!!!!!!!!!.



I started the Panther II this morning with continual progress happening on the Stug IV.  As a precaution, I placed 1/2 an ounce of lead shot in the back half of the turret to balance the 2.5" long solid brass barrel.  The photo art on the kit shows that the turret is "cocked".  It was going to do the same for me.

Grant

Good call Grant. Looking forward to seeing pics.

Good advice on the zimm too. I had read about using a jeweler's flat blade screwdriver to groove the putty mix while it was still wet.

Frosty,

I'll be looking forward to seeing the E-100 in progress.  I was thinking of building the resin E-25 that I have, but I need to be in a special mood to start that kind of a painful kit.

Grant

So here are the progress with the Stug IV (early) and the Panther II.  That is a big gun on a small turret.



The circle of panzer IV variants make up my references for the Stug IV.  Does anyone have any suggestions for painting the Stug IV?  I'm thinking that index card masks for a red and green scheme may be difficult with an airbrush.



The Panther II will be a flowing 3 color scheme but not an ambush scheme.

Grant

GRANT I would say go with a handbrushed scheme after basecoating with an airbrush I STRONGLY reccomend using a good set of RED SABLE brushes instead of nylon or taklon the natural bristles tend to lay down a smoother coat than synthetics if you cant find red sable (just about any art supply store or craft store should have them) camel hair brushes ( they're darker brown) should do a well cared for set is worth the extra expense. I myself only use synthetics for drybrushing and some special applications

Grant, those are looking awesome! I'll get a pic of my StuG IV so you can check out the pattern on it when I get my Jagdpanzer pics taken.

PanzerWulff wrote:

I would say go with a handbrushed scheme after basecoating with an airbrush I STRONGLY reccomend using a good set of RED SABLE brushes instead of nylon or taklon the natural bristles tend to lay down a smoother coat than synthetics if you cant find red sable (just about any art supply store or craft store should have them) camel hair brushes ( they're darker brown) should do a well cared for set is worth the extra expense. I myself only use synthetics for drybrushing and some special applications

I've been doing some reading, and I'll probably use acrylic paint with the "red sables" that I'll soon be purchasing.  I'm going to thin the camo colors for multiple coats that hopefully won't be too heavy.

The scheme will be similar to the box art on the Tamiya Steyr 1500A box with the subtle red and green squiggles.  I only plan on putting camo on the vertical surfaces, the gun assembly, and above the transmission.  I plan on many dirt/sand/filter washes to blend in these camo colors.

I'll start the base coat this week.  Thanks for the info and compliments y'all.

Grant