Winter Warriors GB 2008

Oooooh, football. Forgot about that part.

Well, with the wife gone, I suppose I can just spread Panther parts all over the living room couch, coffee table, floor. It WILL be finished!

Unless I'm sorely mistaken, I don't think the Packers will have too much trouble with the Giants...sorry Giants fans. I'm not of the opinion the Eli reaaaaaly has it when it counts. Nor am I giving the banged-up Chargers much credit either, mostly for the same reason. They should have kept Drew Brees, IMHO.

So Winter Warriors, any one else have some good progress to post? Or extensive building plans for the weekend? 

I so desperately want the Chargers to beat NE, but I don't think it's going to happen either.

I'll be spending some time in the office this weekend, but should be able to get the fuselage, cowling and wings all together.  I hope.

mg42gunner wrote:

bbrowniii, I built the tamiya 222 a while ago (my third build) In the whitewash scheme. I used tamiya weathering sets (which are really the same thing as pastels or pigments) to get the right effect. There's more pics in the original thread: /forums/665191/ShowPost.aspx It was an easy, fun kit to build. No fit problems whatsoever. It even comes with PE grenade screens, which really looks great. *I went back and checked the pictures of the 103c tank in winter camo, but Im not sure ill be able to get those hard demarcation lines on the camo with silly putty. Do you think tape will work? It might be a pain to do, but itll give me harder edges.

mg42 - thanks for the pics.  I will definately check out the rest of them in the link you provided.  That is about the exact same look I am going for, so your pics are especially helpful

To all: some really impressive progress is being made since I checked in last.  Sorry for my extended absence, but I hope to be back for awhile now and to get some building in soon!

Looks great so far!

Your only realistic masking option, with all the detail you have to mask over, is silly putty. Just roll it out on a piece of glass and then cut it (to ensure you get not only a hard edge, but a straight edge)

I'm going to have to agree with Hermes here - there's no way you're going to get masking tape to a) cover all of the protruding detail and b) not damage it in the process. Silly Putty IS really easy to work with...you'll need 2-3 eggs worth I would think for something that big.

Build looks real good, btw - looking forward to some "real" pics with that first layer of camo!

mg42gunner,

Scrap the tape idea!!!  Too difficult, too crisp on the edges, use the "silly putty technique".  There's a "how-to" article in FSM, I forget which issue but's a a somewhat recent one.  The putty molds very easy and doesn't stick to the kit AT ALL.

There is some great progress going on here hard to beleive some of you guys are just about done, well i havent had much time on my hands of late but i managed a start, this kit so far as been a breath of fresh air with nothing but beautiful parts that fit without need for any upgrading. I wont be using the lattice decals in the kit it would be almost impossible to weather them properly, anyway here,s what i have so far,,

the spring housing were fitted

suspension arms fitted

wheels and other lower hull details except the hub caps

here i dry fitted the upper hull to check before continuing and it was perfect front and back

next up the tracks hopefully this evening,,

keep up the nice work chaps.

Good progress, guys.  I'm getting the "stranger in a strange land" feeling though with all the tanks underway!  Am I the only aircraft guy in here? 

Got the cowling all sorted out although I have lots of seam work ahead of me.  Wings are assembled and there is more seam work at the wingtips since ICM provides the wingtips seperate.  Not really sure why they do that.

Anyway, was about to shoot the underside intake when I realized I'm completely out of RLM 02.  If it's not one thing, it's six others.....

Is it too late to get into this GB?  I just came across a photo of a P-47D of the 61st Fighter Squadron flown by Maj. Donovan Smith that is in a Winter Camouflage scheme.  I'll try to post the photo on Monday when I can scan it at work.  It's on page 31 of the American Fighters Over Europe (published by Finescale).  I've looked on-line for additional photos but haven't found any yet.  Thanks!

Steve

WIP:  In the homestretch on this one...I need to finish the tools, tracks, add the antenna, snow, and a few other minor items...then the figures...I struggle on those but I gotta' keep trying!!!

SMJmodeler wrote:

WIP:  In the homestretch on this one...I need to finish the tools, tracks, add the antenna, snow, and a few other minor items...then the figures...I struggle on those but I gotta' keep trying!!!

Outstanding work, Steve!  I can't wait to see this 'in the flesh,' so to speak.  It makes me want to start one of my armor kits so I can turn to you for your expertise and advice.

Mark

sanderson_91 - it's never too late to join, as long as you can finish by the first of May! I'm very interested to see that pic, definitely post a scan.

SMJ - looking real good. How much longer do you think you have? And what exactly are you planning on doing with that track overlap?

Arki - I'd offer you some of mine but it's probably quicker to go to the LHS. Sorry. And don't worry, there'll be some more A/C in here at some point.

Biffa - good to see you getting your start. Eagerly awaiting updates!

dupes,

I'd say Ill be done within a week or less.  For that track overlap, I plan to have that hidden by snow.  The tracks are by FAR the worst part of this old kit, actually beside the tracks it's a nice.  You CANNOT believe how much extra time, and grief they have inflicted.  I explained this to another forum members because he plans to build this kit an even the other old Tamiya T34, both of which I just worked on.  Set aside all the fit issues, they don't hold paint well either.  I consider the snow my savior at this point...I plan to add that really thick and wet snow that comes in late-March or early winter (haven't tried this yet).  Ya' know the type that rolls like a carpet and pulls up the dead grass and small mud clods as you roll it.  Perfect for snow forts or snow men, but kinda nasty looking...Coastal Maine...you certainly know the type.

SMJmodeler wrote:

Perfect for snow forts or snow men, but kinda nasty looking...Coastal Maine...you certainly know the type.

Oh, I know it alright...haven't been doing much other than shoveling for the past 6 weeks! We set some sort of snow-record for December - I think the final tally was around 55 inches? I'll have to check. Yikes.

So how are you going to manufacture the dense clumpy snow? 

dupes,

I'll be using Woodland Scenics shaker bottle snow. I'll photo the bottle as part of the tutorial, works like a champ!  It mixes with white glue easily and holds pigments well too; but the best part is that it "behaves" like actual snow, kinda' messy process, but a heck of alotta' fun!!!  I have a section of my toot' just for dirt, mud and snow, I'll explain the techniques in detail...

ahhhhh....grasshoppa', you must be the snow to truuuly understand it...

Here's what I've got done so far.

I've still got to weather the interior some more, than I'll start working on getting the hull halves together.

panzer88,

Looks like that "Sammies" honey porter beer (that's just for scale reference for us...right???)hasn't affected your building skills!  Looks really sweet!!!  I really admire guys like you who have the patience to put so much effort on those interiors, I guess it's critical on your build though , most of that hard work will at least be seen, it's those tank interiors that get covered-up that kills me.

In between some weekend time at the office, football ( Chargers), my other build ( Flanker), etc. etc. I managed to get the 109 to this point.  There isn't a part which didn't fight me.  I had to break out the Dremel to get the wings to fit to the fuselage.  I'm not going to complain too much as I've become spoiled with Tamigawa fit and engineering.  This is a nice challenge.

Next to break out the putty.  By the case load. 

SMJmodeler wrote:

dupes, I'll be using Woodland Scenics shaker bottle snow.

Ahhh, that's what I was hoping you'd say...because that's the same stuff  I've got in the closet right now.

Everybody's stuff is looking good, will post a weekend progress pic in a while after I have time to toss it into Photoshop and reduce it! 

Alright, didn't quite finish the assembly, I blame a bunch of good football games. Still have to throw the cupola together, then a whole pile of PE work on the tools...and that will wrap that part up. Should be able to finish this week, I'm assuming. Will post more pics when the construction is ACTUALLY finished. Heh.

dupes,

Nice and crisp build there!!!  PE work is superb.  The photo is so sharp it almost looks like a re-touch artist had at it before you posted it.  What did you do to the tracks to get them like that?  is that just an airbrush spray of rust color?

I notice that the road wheels are sprayed black too.  Are they glued in place or just a dry fitted?  I see a lot of articles with pictures at this phase (I'm not just referring to the road wheels) and I have always wondered how they "build" the kit to such a level of completion.  Do they dis-assemble it, or do they have two identical kits going, one for photos and then the actual build??? Hmmm....

Hey, thanks SMJ! Lemme see what I can answer...

All my pics get a quick sharpening through photoshop - I always resize them to 800x600 for posting on the forums in there anyway, so I figure I may as well hit them with a filter while they're open.

The PE zim actually has come out better than I thought it might. Pretty tricky working with superglue on some of those larger pieces. While this one does look pretty good, I have a feeling that I'll stick with putty or a soldering iron in the future - spent a LOT of time making adjustment to the kit parts and PE to get it all to fit right, which would not be the case with homemade methods. 

Tracks have had exactly one (1) airbrush shot of Tamiya flat brown mixed with some (20%?) flat flesh just to give them a solid rusty base for a pile of washes, snow, and metallic dry-brushing.

Road wheels are not glued on yet. Rattlecan black in prep for the "template" method of painting, then dry-fit them on to get the right shape for the Magic Tracks. 

Heh, I wish I had another one going right now. Sooooo many cool paintschemes I've seen lately...want to try them all!

It's officially winter for my SU122, got the snow on the tracks!!!  It's a little too white...I'll be adding a few dirt clods and wet dirt to it, but I definately got the heavy, wet snow I was going for: