Winter Warriors GB 2008

Awww man, what a nightmare. I use xtracrylics from hannants. They dry in a semigloss finish which is great for decals after. Too late now though bud. As for a local Hannants, i have to mail order the stuff as its a bit far to travel. Its still no probs though.

...Guy

Got an order yet? Shoot, I haven't done much other than work on this Stuka!

I've been perusing Hannants and places like that (do you have a "local" Hannants?) to see what brands you can get a hold of over there that I can't here. But I'm going to have to wait until after this beast is done to get you any sort of an actual order. Heh.

After spraying the underside last night, came home to do the top when I realized I had to do the yellow wing-ends. So, hit them with some Tamiya tape and fired away...all was good until I pulled the tape back - along with a largish swath of RLM65! I swear it's these MM paints I'm using (just because they have "exact" RLM colors). Never seem to have problems masking Tamiya paint with Tamiya tape. Ugh. SO, in addition to spraying the topside tonight, I have a bit of touchup underneath.

Great work Bob and Scott.

Bob that Rusky hulk just looks the biz fella. Mud came out sweet too. Was that from my recipe? Still dont understand that camo scheme. It looks great but id like to know why the Ruskys did it.

Scott, that is soo sweet. Its tiny as well isnt it? Do you have something to compare the size against? That would be cool. Maybe when shes done.

Dupes, you Lycra wearing Bumpkin those lens's that i used come on a silver sticky back. I superglued the bak to the headlight and it came out nice. Have you sorted out an order yet?

...Guy

dupes wrote:

Whoah! I'm with you on the gray scheme...especially with those yellow numbers! They seem to have gone down just fine w/out the future from my end. You'll have to let me know when you get around to doing your second one - we can do some sort of tag-team build. I've got the Maquette version waiting to be panzer-grayed and thrown down in Hungarian markings to start my big "Hungarian Armor" project...hope it builds up as good as this one!

You bet!  I'm either going to get another Tristar kit of a different version, or pick up the Dragon Ausf. G with the interior.  I love all the bolt detail which looks way cool with the gray scheme.   

Whoah! I'm with you on the gray scheme...especially with those yellow numbers! They seem to have gone down just fine w/out the future from my end.

You'll have to let me know when you get around to doing your second one - we can do some sort of tag-team build. I've got the Maquette version waiting to be panzer-grayed and thrown down in Hungarian markings to start my big "Hungarian Armor" project...hope it builds up as good as this one!

I put the decals on last night.  After having a "discussion" about the use of Future on armor models in another thread a few weeks ago, I decided to try not using Future at all on this build.  The decals seemed to go on just fine.  I'm still trying to get the big yellow numbers on the rear of the turret to hunker down over the rivets.... just about there.  I applied some more Micro-set on the way out the door this morning and hope it will be ready to rock when I get home this evening.  I'm going to have to build another one of these, I love the gray scheme on the Pz. Kpfw. 38(t)! 

your t-34 looks rockin'. its exactly what i would expect after the spring thaws! For the head lights i would use Tamiya silver paint pen or Floquil old silver. either has fine pigments and good brightness.

dupes wrote:

arki30 wrote: You know dupes, you could try something I thought about when building the 109 but didn't try.  Shoot a pre-shade (post-shade?) on top of the standard camo colors for the winter whitewash.  The Stuka looks darn good.  For a G-2 built several years ago I didn't use the canopy express masks.  Trust me, you made the right choice. Heh. Believe me, it took long enough to do the pre-cut masks...I can't even imagine trying to make my own, or use metal foil, or... Hmmm. I think I like this idea of the post-shade. I know pretty much for certain that the pre-shade is going to be obliterated - and it would look nice to keep that "look". Think I'm going to do it.

You'll have to go light on the pre-shade though.  Since the whitewash should be thin-ish to look "correct", any heavy panel lines could stand out too much.  It'll be tricky, but could look pretty cool if you pull it off.  

Good luck, we're pulling for you!

At this point, I'm just happy that the dead brown grass and leafless trees aren't still covered in snow.

Oh yeah, did get the underside sprayed RLM65 a while ago, should be dry soon, heading home to hit the first of the two upper splinter colors.

Side note - I can hear something rattling around in the cockpit and it's driving me bonkers. What could it be? A seatbelt? Gunsight? Radio? Guess I'll find out when I open her back up...assuming whatever it is doesn't fall into the fuselage somewhere.

dupes wrote:

Looking at the background in your pic, Bob, makes me think that I should run Winter Warriors II from December 1st to April 1st next time...that's some pretty leafy green foliage behind that there snow camo.

Just another one of the advantages of being south of the Mason-Dixon Line...

arki30 wrote:

You know dupes, you could try something I thought about when building the 109 but didn't try.  Shoot a pre-shade (post-shade?) on top of the standard camo colors for the winter whitewash.  The Stuka looks darn good.  For a G-2 built several years ago I didn't use the canopy express masks.  Trust me, you made the right choice.

Heh. Believe me, it took long enough to do the pre-cut masks...I can't even imagine trying to make my own, or use metal foil, or...

Hmmm. I think I like this idea of the post-shade. I know pretty much for certain that the pre-shade is going to be obliterated - and it would look nice to keep that "look". Think I'm going to do it.

Hooo! Mud!

You know, I always wondered about actual lens color. Most kits just say to paint the back silver...Lufty - what color lenses did you use on your KV-2?

Looking at the background in your pic, Bob, makes me think that I should run Winter Warriors II from December 1st to April 1st next time...that's some pretty leafy green foliage behind that there snow camo.

Scott & Dupes-two very nice WIPs (Works in Progress)-I'm hoping that the snow has melted on the Eastern Front so my T-34 doesn't stand out like a sore thumb!

Made & added a little mud (Mr. Surfacer 500 & acrylic craft paint). Still need to finish the headlamps, taillamp (anybody got any idea what color(s) the lenses should be?), the machine gun and some chiping & worn spots.  Also, the exhaust pipes need a bit more work.  Anyway, as always, critiques & comments are always welcome. 

You know dupes, you could try something I thought about when building the 109 but didn't try.  Shoot a pre-shade (post-shade?) on top of the standard camo colors for the winter whitewash.  The Stuka looks darn good.  For a G-2 built several years ago I didn't use the canopy express masks.  Trust me, you made the right choice.

Scott, nice progress.

bufflehead wrote:

Scott, your Pz.38 (t) looks great!  I love all the shading and highlighting, but isn't all of that giong to get lost when you apply the white wash or winter coat?

Thanks guys, and yes, a lot of it will disappear with the whitewash.  I figured this would be a good practice session learning how to pre and post-shade German Panzer Gray seeing as how the white wash would be very forgiving.  If I can pull it off right, the treatment I gave the gray will help with giving a bit more variation to the finish so it doesn't seem so uniform.  I just have to be careful and not go too heavy with the whitewash. 

Dupes - Very nice work on the Stuka!  Es ist sehr cool! 

Hey, thanks for looking boys!

Lufty - I don't know what "bodgerizing" is (sounds vaguely dirty, and british) but no, there was no way to cram that IP in there. It's actually as wide as the entire Hasegawa airframe, which leads me to wonder if the Has kit is a bit to thin, or if the Airfix one is way out of scale large? Ended up having to use the kit-supplied decal. Blah. Not nearly as cool as that True Details stuff, but no other option in such a short time. 

As for the standoffs, those were in the kit, courtesy of Hasegawa! Just one of their little add-ons, sort of like the one that comes with the panzerknackers.

Monkeys, huh? Like the beast, or the band?

dupes wrote:

Alrighty, a HEFTY update! Here's what I've got so far. First pic is the "Stabo" bombs that make this kit "special".

From what i see, you have a long life line, with an unusuall likening for Monkeys and elastic? (Im a palmist in training).....oh the kit.. Looking sweet Lycraman. Love the standoff bombs. Waht are the standoffs? Are they homemade?

Is there no way you could bodgerise that dash into the pit? What AM stuff did you use on the cockpit in the end?

...Guy

dupes, that Stuka is looking pretty awesome, especially the cockpit.  That thing's got better seat belts than my car!!  Too bad about that instrument panel though, it looks sweeeet!!  I can't wait for it to be done!  Been too busy to take photos of the Pz IV, maybe tonight? 

Alrighty, a HEFTY update! Here's what I've got so far.

First pic is the "Stabo" bombs that make this kit "special".

In one of my a/c refs, I found something about them...they weren't called "Stabo", though. Anti-infantry, as far as I could tell, made to detonate above ground. PE! PE!

Next up is a poor pic of the finished pit - at least you can see the front seat. Have to work on getting a better shot once I open her back up.

This, sadly, is the IP I couldn't use (AM for wrong brand). Anyone got an Airfix Ju-87b? Whole lotta work for nothing. Meh.

Thank god for Eduard pre-cut masks. Best 4 bucks I ever spent in my life.

And a big jump all the way to THIS,

with canopy installed, and a coat of RLM66 applied so that when you view the canopy from the inside it's the same color as the rest of the pit. Followed by a dense black preshade, in the hopes that maaaaaaybe some of it will make it through all of the subsequent layers.

That's it! Underside blue and probably the first color of the upper half splinter to come tonight! I'm going to make it!!!

Well, depending on how "dense" a whitewash it receives, yes. Kind of a bummer, but it's true! I'm in the same boat right now with the Stuka, did a heavy panel-line preshade in the hopes that some of it will show through the 2 color splinter scheme, a layer of future, a layer of hairspray, a layer of whitewash...you get the picture.

At least you'll be able to see it on the bottom.

Photoshopping pics right now. Post them as soon as the dialup lets me...

Scott, your Pz.38 (t) looks great!  I love all the shading and highlighting, but isn't all of that giong to get lost when you apply the white wash or winter coat? 

Here are some photos from after I sprayed the pre-shade, base coat and post-shade.  I use Tamiya Acrylics exclusively.  The pre-shade was XF-1 Flat Black.  The base coat was a mix of 2.5 parts XF-63 German Grey, 1 part XF-1 Flat Black and 1.5 parts X-20A Thinner.  For the post-shade I just added a bit of white to the mix and sprayed the open areas on the upper panels and turret sides. 

Looking forward to them!

Hmmm...I suppose I should put together some pics myself. Will have something tomorrow morning.

dupes wrote:

Espins - I know you can do it!

It's finally ready for paint! 

The plan for tomorrow:

1. pre-shade (flat black, will spray the separate piece rubber road wheels at the same time)
2. basecoat (Panzer Gray)
3. post-shade (Lightend, misted layers of Panzer Gray on the upper panels)

I should have photos sometime tomorrow afternoon... I hope! 

dupes wrote:

Shove that puppy back into the stash there somewhere so you aren't too tempted.

Dupes, you read my mind, buddy! That's exactly where it sits awaiting the arrival of the next Winter Warriors GB!

Hermes - can't wait to see it!

Espins - I know you can do it! 

hmmm... 13 days.

Will that be enough time to assemble, paint and weather the individual track links and to pre-shade, spray basecoat, post shade, whitewash, decal, chip, streak and weather my Pz.Kpfw. 38(t)? 

I am just about done adding the little PE tidbits.  I had fun attaching the clasp, tiny clasp and padlock last night.  Talk about some tiny parts!  It looks really cool though. 

If all goes according to plan I hope to lay some paint down on it tonight.