ARMOR - Panther (PzKpfw V) Group Build (any scale)

Sorry about the compressor problem, Larry. Sounds creepy indeed. I mean how is it possible to lose such a big item in a place that probably only you and your wife knows. Well, things like that do happen. I mean, sometimes I wish I can paint my sprue cutter in reflectorized red or tie it to a foot of the table so that I can easily find it. LOL. Or my brushes.

Anyway, I hope that you can get through all of these problems.

Nah, Dwight. What we need are miniature, multichannel beepers! Put one on each item that's prone to "loss", then push a button and it beeps. A higher tech version of this would be to have it hooked up with a gps that would transmit to a monitor with a map on it. Hey, maybe they could make them small enough for all those tweezerpult prone parts!! LOL (Is it April 1st, yet!!)

Totally, totally, disgusted with myself. Awhile back Ed was disappointed with his cammo job and was thinking of redoing his. Now after applying leaves to mine, I hate it! The leaves were too big and it looked wrong. I tried respraying and repainting the leaves and they just look ugly. I really liked my cammo configuration too and debated whether or not to put on leaves, so I took the plunge. So now I will be put back at least until the end of the week. I had high hopes on finishing, but I just didn't like the look of it. Better to have it done the way you want it then to sit and ponder otherwise. At least the wheels weren't affected, so they're painted and awaiting a wash. Hope everyone is having better success.

I won't make the finish date.

Too much going on and I started too late.

I'll still post pictures when the Bergpanther is finished.

Sorry Everyone.

wipw: Good idea. LOL.

Tigerman: Sorry to hear that but how big were the leaves? Are they that obvious?

Latch: Well, take your time and know your priorities. Remember this is just a hobby. We will just penalize you $100 for being late. LOL. Just kidding.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Dwight Ta-ala Latch: Well, take your time and know your priorities. Remember this is just a hobby. We will just penalize you $100 for being late. LOL. Just kidding.

LOL!!!

Dwight, You know you can't get blood out of a turnip!

Wild storm, no power, no modelling, no FSM forum..........withdrawal symptoms now fading. ahhhh.

QUOTE: Originally posted by wildwilliam [Peter - amazing stuff! sorry i forgot to wish you a happy Australia Day. saw it on my calendar yesterday at work.

Thanks WW. Only prob with a National holiday is that the wife is home, and friends drop round----no modelling time.

Spector. Interior is all scratch built using sheet and strip styrene, copper wire, brass shim paper and milliput.

Larry sorry to hear about the gremlins and the compressor. If she was a noisy beast, then check out the neighbours yard or bin!!!! In respect to your etch, I presume the L-shaped bracket was running lengthwise on the cleaning rod tube. This was an arrangement fitted to some late Ausf A's and the Ausf G models (it was also on plans for the proposed Ausf F). The spare track hangers were fitted to the turrets of some later A's, but the majority of the A's didn't have them unless modified by the unit in the field. If you are doing an Early A then yes leave them off.

Progress today: Base red brown primer sprayed on the interior and buff misted over the side and upper hull inside for forward compartment. Radiator assembly and transmission sprayed green grey over the primer colour. Washes and dry brushing on the agenda. DML Indy tracks nearly all drilled out , filled in and sanded.

Dwight, I'd say they were about twice as big or more. I also agree they would look better airbrushed, but I tried Eric's spotter brush method. I think if I used a higher number brush it might have looked better. Like you, I had some buildup even though it wasn't apparent. I noticed when I first airbrushed. So sanded as best I could and resprayed a basecoat. Tomorrow, cammo #1. Oh well, life does go on, doesn't it?

Eric,
sorry to hear you did not like the way it was coming out.
i know how you feel.
and just when mine was starting to grow on me,
Dwight posted pics of a ambush scheme he re-did on a model.
now i don't like mine as much any more!

i think my leaves might be too big, but the 'official' explanantion
(to go w/ my fictious tank)
is that the crew painted them over-sized on purpose to confuse enemy gunners
(it makes the tank seem closer than it is!)
:-)

Latch,
what CAN we get from a turnip?
:-)
you will not be alone. w/ Holidays & vacation to ski, i have lost almost 3 weeks
of modeling time in the 2 months of the build.
and it is starting to look like i will be writing this weekend off as well.

ed.

Peter thanks for the explanation on that L bar that runs along the cleaning rod tube. Interesting thing is that Eduard specifically provides this etch set for the Early A. We modelers rely on them to do their research, and it's a shame that we spend a lot of money and a lot of time on this stuff only to make out models wrong.

I only happened to notice this because I have lots of photos of the Panthers from Wiking in early 44.

Tigerman, I'm real sorry to hear that. But, hey look at the bright side modelers only get better with practice. Your original job from what I saw before was very good, the next go around should be awsome...

Larry, Bizzar! I have an old 1970s craftsman comressor under my kitchen counter. Its great, I had to patch holes in the tanks and all kinds of stuff but when the time comes it won't quit. I have run it for over an hour strait on many many occasions without a bit of trouble.

Petbat, Man I am chomping at the bit to see your interior painted...

Latch66, No sweat .... Looking forward to seeing it...

Ya'll you can tell Kenneth's house is feeling the deadline. My modeling has spread to every room. My kitchen is strewn with paint and diorama supplies. I try to keep this out of my work shop because of the mess. Being single has its advantages.... my house is my shop.... I will do a whirling dervish clean-up on it Sat and start banging away at my neglected Sherman project.

Peace, ya'll

Eric,

Sorry to hear you've decided to start the paint over. I was really looking forward to seeing it. I had even been contemplating heading over to Michaels to see if I could find one of the spotters you were talking about (not for my Panther project, since it's an A), but now I've got second thoughts. I'm sure it will turn out great this time!

Good luck;

Bill

hi guys,
just proudly told the sherman group build about how i successfully got the decals to lay nicely on the back of my panther turret...humiliation!!
feel a bit silly with my 3 gold stars now!!
regards,
nick

Nick, how could you !?!?
:-0

well, i started my tracks yesterday.
cleaned up the first 100, and then laid out a strip of masking tape on my
glass square. sticky side up.
put a plastic straight edge over the edge of the tape and started laying out links.
used the tank wheels as a measuring stick for the straight runs.
went w/ a drop of thin cement on the hing points of each link
and then laid an exacto handle across the horns to keep it flat while it dried.
did 3 of the 4 long straight runs, and a turn around one drive sprocket.
cleaned up some more links along the way.

so far so good, but we will see how it goes w/ the other parts that go
around the sprocket & idlers.
and of course, the sections to join the straights to the ends.

ed.

Great to hear some progress on a very intimidating part of the build... Keep it up...

Ed, you'd think they would look more realistic bigger, but it just looked kind of funny. I'm thinking of spraying sans the leaves this time.

Kenneth, thanks, but I think you may have confused my work with someone elses. I haven't posted pics yet.

Bill, don't give up on the spotter brush, I think it makes sense. I should have got a larger numbered brush. The one I bought looked right. It was a #5. Part of my problem was that first I tried to make them leaf shaped. Most of my references were small spots. They just looked too big and I made too many. Still I could see the possibilites.

I'm thinking of going with Archer dry transfers. I know nothing about them. Do they go on easy and without any silvering?

Tigerman. Archer are dry transfer decals, so have no carrier film to silver. Archer have a 'How to do' spot on their web site
http://www.archertransfers.com/Instruct.html
Check it out.

WW. Didn't change your mind about drilling out the guidehorns like I am? Glad to see it seems to be going well.

Nick, you aren't the first guy to post something in the wrong thread. Gee, some guys have even posted stuff in the wrong forum (anyone remember the guy that posted about his Zero wingy thingy in this forum?). Congrats on achieving 500 too Nick, but they are not gold but green......hmmm looks like Shermie was right about OD stars (I read the Sherman thread too).

Power went out here last night, for the second day in a row. Queensland Summer storms can be a bit savage, but we don't usually loose power that often.....and never twice in a row. S again no progress at all on the kit. It is pretty humid here at the moment so painting details with sweaty hands is not a good idea. Hopefully tonight.

Ed: I am sorry to hear that. But i think your camo was great besides mine was a King Tiger and it is bigger than the Panther so the leaves looks smaller. Look at this picture, the leaves looks bigger than what I had on my King Tiger.



While the leaves/spots in the KT as shown in this link is much smaller:
http://www.activevr.com/afv/camouflage/tgr503.html

And for the Hetzer:


So I think the sizes of the leaves/spots are not really uniform. So cheer up.

Tigerman: I used a very small brush (can't remember the size) but because I have already the German figures, I was able to determine roughly how big the brush size should be judging from the size of the hands of the figures. I think it is more or less a good indicator of the size of the brush t be used in painting the spots or leaves.

Thanks Peter for the link to the Archer transfers.

Dwight, I have noticed on Hetzer ambush schemes (your pic here is a good example) that the leaves are different than tanks. I might try it again, we'll see.

QUOTE: Originally posted by petbat Tigerman. Archer are dry transfer decals, so have no carrier film to silver. Archer have a 'How to do' spot on their web site http://www.archertransfers.com/Instruct.html Check it out. WW. Didn't change your mind about drilling out the guidehorns like I am? Glad to see it seems to be going well. Nick, you aren't the first guy to post something in the wrong thread. Gee, some guys have even posted stuff in the wrong forum (anyone remember the guy that posted about his Zero wingy thingy in this forum?). Congrats on achieving 500 too Nick, but they are not gold but green......hmmm looks like Shermie was right about OD stars (I read the Sherman thread too). Power went out here last night, for the second day in a row. Queensland Summer storms can be a bit savage, but we don't usually loose power that often.....and never twice in a row. S again no progress at all on the kit. It is pretty humid here at the moment so painting details with sweaty hands is not a good idea. Hopefully tonight.

oops....i am colour blind though...is that an excuse? no i didn't think so!!
regards,
nick

Peter,
no guide horn drilling for me!
that mod was never under consideration for me.
i WAS the idjit that was going to try to drill out the links for pins,
but i wised up after i tried one! :-)
i think someone did it successfully, but i don't think i could!

Dwight,
not to worry. my main problem w/ mine, is not how it looks, so much
as how it looks compared to how i thought it would look.
if that makes any sense.
using the figures hands for comparison is a great idea!
i will do that next time.

last night i cleaned up more links and looked over the stuff i had done.
the 4 long, straight runs are done.
then i got watching hockey and that was pretty much that.
and then the Isles lose in OT besides.

well, i am taking another weekend off to visit my girlfriend,
so there is now officially NO WAY that i will finish on time.

but next weekend could wrap it up.

thanks again for the support & encouragement.
ed.

Oops... Tigerman....Wildwilliam.... who wouldn't get'em mixed up... Anyway. Good luck to you all ....

I'm still making tracks! Yea, whoopie! I'm gonna get them finished one day soon. just putting the guide horns on the 6th and 7th sections of the 2nd set of 14. Still have sections 8 to 14 to remove from the sprues. I did get the side skirts glued on my 1/72 King tiger, though! Guess that doesn't fit in this build, though.

Hey, how about if we change these things to "Group Starts" instead of "Group Builds"?? I'm real good a starting! I could do that!! lol

Have a good weekend, all.

QUOTE: Hey, how about if we change these things to "Group Starts" instead of "Group Builds"?? I'm real good a starting! I could do that!! lol

.....ha ha haha...No kiddin...

No group starts please ! This is the only thing that motivates me to completion , that would encourage me to not finish anything !

Oh, I forgot. I surged ahead the other night and got the Armor Research PE engine screens glued on. Oh joy!! Such a build speed I can hardly believe!

Bill

I agree with Shawn, please one topic at a time. Otherwise, I'll just have a dozen ongoing kits with no end in sight.

Me too. We should focus first on what's on hand. We can always start another one when we are done. The joys of finishing and seeing a kit done is really great.

So put your backs into it guys. LOL.

........hello...my name is jeffl...i have a panther....1/72....ausf.D/ausf.A @ revell....there are many like it...but this one is mine....cracking the wrapper as we speak / type...here i go.....jeffl

Did anyone here build a Dragon Panther and use Friuli treads? If so, did you have to use the Friuli sprocket too, or was the Dragon sprocket ok to use? I'm doing an early A, and compared the friuli and dragon sprockets and and they really seem identical.