Panzer Aces GB January 2007 to May 31, 2008

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the p.m. and the chance continue.

Have had a deep think for the last two days over which one to do, as initially had three options; the tiger mid, late and the Pz III. Due to the time implications will settle for the Pz. III for Herr Whittmann with the turret number #4L1. As this will reduce the time required to achieve the zimm.... coating. May complete the Pz.III in the panzergrau for late 1942, or with winter cammo applied as of Feb. 1943.

Sorry to hear about your troubles with the Tiger Bob.  I appreciate your participation in this GB and the moral support you've given to all of us.  Thanks buddy. 

Dupes, your King Tiger is gorgeous.  A little weathering, like what Hermisminiatures suggested, will really make it exceptional!  

Hermisminatures, thanks buddy for sharing those weathering tips.  I'm going to have to give them a try! 

Hermes - this is exactly what I needed to get me out of my weathering funk - will be executing all of these, we'll see how she looks afterwards.

Bob - sad to hear about your Tiger and that you won't be able to finish anything for this build.

dupes - here are a few weathering suggestions...this is what I would do, and don't feel you have to do any or all of these things...I've been doing this for a little longer

First, throw some washes on those tow cables, and paint the cable brackets the same color as the surrounding hull. Also paint the barrel cleaning rods (mounted between the looped cables) a wood color.

You've got a pretty bright finish there, and while that's accurate for Fall-Winter '44 Tiger II's, some pigment dusting would bring it together really nicely, especially the tracks and running gear. I don't know if you're opposed to a heavier mud effect, but that can be done easily by applying turpentine to the intended area, then applying pigments over the wet coat. This makes really good mud and you can control the thickness by varying the amounts of turpentine and pigments. Be careful to use a color that's not too bright - MIG pigments almost always are if you use just one color. I usually mix Rubbel Dust, Industrial City Dirt, and Russian Earth to get a nice grayish-tan, blah sort of color
An overall light dusting of pigments will help, too.

The above is what I did on my last Tiger II...

Obviously my camo colors were more muted to begin with (yours are fine for the time period, this is a later vehicle) but some pigments would still improve yours a good deal, I think.

Dupes-as always, nice work.  You continue to impress & amaze me with the quality & rate of your builds.

Scott-I'm throwing in the towel on the 1/48th Tiger-fought with it a bit today working on the treads.  I made the mistake of putting the PE fenders on first.....those came off.  And it went downhill from there. I'm cutting my losses, putting everything back in the box for a later day...

Thanks to both you & Hermes for organizing & running this GB.  I did enjoy doing the research during the build.  Hopefully this topic will cycle back around and I can try it again. 

Alright fellas, here's what it looks like right now.

Tell me where you would go weathering-wise with this one!

Keep in mind that so far there's no pastels anywhere, especially lacking in the track area right now. Also need to dull down some of the tools, a bit too shiny.

Maybe you're right SMJ...I was thinking about it a bit last night, I think maybe I'm going through "resource overload" - too many techniques I'm thinking about, can't figure out which ones to use!!!

I probably should just hit it with some oils, a pin wash, some Migs, and call it good. 

I apologize guys for not getting this darn King Tiger wrapped up...but I am in a serious weathering FUNK!

I'm drawing just about a complete blank with what to do with this thing. I know that the vehicle is at it's best 3-4 weeks old...but don't really want to do a "factory" finish on it. Gaah! I'm not 100% certain what my issue is right now. Meh.

Any advice to help my very ambiguous issues?

Coming along nicely, Scott! I have 2 suggestions, since I'm building the same kit. The welds on the joint between the front and sides of the fighting compartment armor need to be fixed with some putty and a scriber, and the skirt mounting brackets should have the lower edge trimmed square, rather than the slanted-off representation on this kit. It's looking great so far!

Here are some update pics of the JagdTiger.  I temporarily removed the rear doors to make it easier to handle while I build and will re-attach them later.  Also, the upper hull is not glued to the lower hull yet.

Thanks SgtBrown.  Grill screens make such a dramatic improvement to the engine deck.  I wish all manufacturers would include them in the kit.

There are a few more small details that need to be added to the upper hull, which I hope to finish up this evening in between weathering washes on my Das Reich StuG for the Hunters GB.  If all goes well I might be able to start on the gun assembly tonight also.

Hmmm... I just remembered that I'm using a set of Friulmodel tracks for this puppy.  Time to get out the mobile modeling station and slog away at those in front of the TV while spending "quality" time with the Mrs. (quality time being all relative of course.... )

I spent some time on the JagdTiger this weekend.  The track hooks were monotonous and tedious, especially the cleanup as there was some flash that needed to be trimmed and sprue detachment points to be sanded..... especially as these hands begin to age.    Hogan's Heroes in HD greatly improved the experience. 

Most of the external bits are attached, still need to do the gun assembly.  The grill screens are gorgeous (aren't they all?  )!  I can't wait to get this one to the painting stage. 

I spent some time on the JagdTiger this weekend.  The track hooks were monotonous and tedious, especially the cleanup as there was some flash that needed to be trimmed and sprue detachment points to be sanded..... especially as these hands begin to age.    Hogan's Heroes in HD greatly improved the experience. 

Most of the external bits are attached, still need to do the gun assembly.  The grill screens are gorgeous (aren't they all?  )!  I can't wait to get this one to the painting stage. 

Hermes & Dupes-nice work guys.  Always good to see your projects.

SgtBrown-Congrats on the marriage.  Best wishes.  Nothing wrong with putting life first.  This is a hobby afterall and there will be time (and more GB's) later for modeling. 

I failed this GB miserably.  Life intruded into my hobby hard.  Got re-married in January (was widowed in 2003), so I have spent lots of time on my house and gardens.  I'm just now going to start building again. 

Loved looking at the armor so far, you guys rock! 

Nice interior Hermisminiatures! 

Looks good Dupes, looking forward to seeing that bad boy after weathering! 

My wife will be in Sacramento Friday and Saturday, so there is going to be a modeling frenzy like you wouldn't believe!  muwahahahahaaaaaa  I should be able to get most of the rest of the assembly complete and hopefully have it ready for painting by Sunday or Monday. 

Single-pic update today - actually from a couple of days ago. Have since begun the weathering process, which hopefully will be complete by the end of the long weekend!

Thanks guys.

Here are some additional shots:

The Jaguar interior I'm using is much better than the Verlinden offering, but still is only adequate for what you can see through the hatches - and since I plan on leaving the roof off, I'll be scratchbuilding the ammo racks and adding some wiring. The engine is Verlinden and looks passable with the access door open, although it will benefit from some wiring as well. I've been toying with the idea of adding torsion bars and making the suspension workable, but that might be more trouble than it's worth

Well, I'm slowly plodding away on my Jagdtiger...full engine and interior doesn't make it go together any faster though

This is certainly my most involved build yet, so we'll see how long it takes to finish...

bufflehead wrote:

Scott, I'll admit I knew NOTHING about any German Panzer Ace before the start of this GB!  Now I've read both Panzer Aces 1 & 2 and a couple of other books and am humbled by the actions of these tremendous warriors.....

You and me both my friend!  I love reading their stories, especially the first person accounts, gripping stuff! 

Sorry to hear about your troubles Bob, I learn a few lessons the hard way with each build as well. 

It just amazes me how huge this JagdTiger is next to all my other builds! 

Scott, I'll admit I knew NOTHING about any German Panzer Ace before the start of this GB!  Now I've read both Panzer Aces 1 & 2 and a couple of other books and am humbled by the actions of these tremendous warriors.....    

It's funny, I think we're all in the same GBs so we're all feeling the same pressure. 

I need to have my StuG for the Hunters GB finished by the end of the month so let's plan on having the Panzer Aces GB wrapped up some time in June.  That should give us all a little bit of breathing room as this hobby is supposed to be fun and not stressful. 

The purpose of the GB was to encourage research and sharing of information on the individuals, in addition to building some great armor models.