BIG CATS GROUP BUILD 2008

I was planning on posting some pics of my Tiger I this weekend, but like an idiot i left the camera lead in camp and now i am not home for 2 weeks. So, as i haven't written anything on my build yet, i will just give a quick update without pics.

My Tiger is just about ready for paintinbg, but that will have to wait till i get home as i am not able to spray in my room in the block. Its been awkward as in my room in camp i onlt have a bed, so i been building on that while kneeling on the floor, not good for the joints.

The Verlinden engine compartment is all fitted. It was a bit of a nightmare as alot of the pipework doesn't fit properly with the engine in. But you can't notice this once the engine decks that are closed are fited.

Also had a few dramas with the Zim. This is my first time doing it and i started off useing an old packet of Milliput grey, but the results were awful. Then after reading a post of here i switched to a new pack of white. After stripping the old stuff old it went alot better. Its not perfect but i have learnt a few lessons that i can put into effect next time.

I have just recieved my Tank Workshop Muzzle brake with cover which i need to fit. The Jordio barrle is on as is most of the PE, mainly Eduard with a bit of Verlinden.

Apart from fitting the last bits of PE, theres not mutch more i can do for a couple of weeks when it will get its first coat of paint.

If i remeber the camera lead i will get some pics posted. Its not perfect, and deffo not as good as what i have seen posted on here, but thats mainly down to the Zim. But hopefully once painted and weathered that will cover any defects.

Wait, shoot, did I say that? I meant some "pretty heavy" weathering - that's what I said, right? Right?

Dang, now I need to figure out something to really coat in mud and grease and oil and...

dupes wrote:

I promise, I WILL try to absolutely skunk up something in the future!

It's in writing now, I HAVE PROOF!!!

dupes wrote:

I think next time I'll have to make an actual depression in the base (not a lot, maybe a millimeter or two) and set the vehicle down in that, and do the groundwork around it.

Here's a good way to do that.  Set the tank on the base, BEFORE you start ANY groundwork.  Make 4 pencil dots at the corners where each track would hit the ground.  Then use masking tape and cover that area.  Do all your groundwork, making sure that there is enough build-up around the tracks.  When your done, pull-up the tape, use paint/pastels that match the ground and add some color, then finally, glue the tank on, wa-lah!

SMJmodeler wrote:

Meeting you personally, I know how bad you want to try to do some more heavy weathering and I kinda' think you're holding back...

I promise, I WILL try to absolutely skunk up something in the future!

SMJmodeler wrote:

On the flip-side, I DID notice the wear on the turret, fenders, hatches, etc...so you are pushing it some!!!  Did you use the oils method like we tested on your old Panther?

A bit, although not nearly to the extent we were lathering it on the Panther.

SMJmodeler wrote:

The setting/base helps a lot, I suggest, for next time, making sure the tracks are depressed in the soil...these bad boys were HEAVY and unless the ground is ROCK hard, they would sink...and leave track impressions behind them.  The impressions you made look like burnt grass, if you can, take a piece of spare track, glue it to a toothpick, and 'stamp' some track marks!

Believe me, I did my best getting this guy to sit down - I actually drilled a hole in the diecast chassis (imagine metal shavings everywhere!!!) in order to screw it down to the base to simulate the proper weight - it still didn't quite convey that look. I think next time I'll have to make an actual depression in the base (not a lot, maybe a millimeter or two) and set the vehicle down in that, and do the groundwork around it. As I was telling AJLafleche over in the armor forum, what I was going for behind the Tiger was more crushed grass, with a bit of "material transfer" from the tracks - hence the same color airbrushed onto the grass. I agree that it didn't quite have the effect I was looking for. Hey, if you make it to Granitecon in October, I promise I'll bring this guy with me.

Thanks man! I'm glad you like it!

here some of the pic of my half built jagdpather

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d78/chewybr/PICT0012-1.jpg

dupes:  Really nice first effort with the 1:48 thing!  I will say it again, I think your building skills are some of the finest here on the forum.  That, in conjuction with your painting and detailing, you create really "beautiful" models, and this one is no exception!  Meeting you personally, I know how bad you want to try to do some more heavy weathering and I kinda' think you're holding back...please don't mis-understand, I would be proud to have that Tiger on my shelf, I'm just trying to motivate you to push the envelope more ...you definately have the talent dupes! 

On the flip-side, I DID notice the wear on the turret, fenders, hatches, etc...so you are pushing it some!!!  Did you use the oils method like we tested on your old Panther?

The setting/base helps a lot, I suggest, for next time, making sure the tracks are depressed in the soil...these bad boys were HEAVY and unless the ground is ROCK hard, they would sink...and leave track impressions behind them.  The impressions you made look like burnt grass, if you can, take a piece of spare track, glue it to a toothpick, and 'stamp' some track marks!

Another fine build dupes...hope these comments are helpful. 

Oh, no no, not at all! I really am colorblind (see attached military medical file ) and have learned to willingly take other people's word when it comes to variations in colors. This is why you seem me soooo often asking for color advice - or, better yet mixing ratios - from all the other fine forum members.

Thanks guys for the comments!

dupes wrote:

...where this green is coming from. To be honest, I don't see it...

 Dupes,

   I hope that I did not come across as being negative in my initial post.  To the contrary, I think that you did a fine job.  I found that I liked it more and more as the build progressed.  The green thing I'm pretty sure is a white balance issue, but so many things can affect how digital images come across to viewers.  Mixing light sources like it sounds that you did can sometimes cause problems.  Whether that's the case here or not is hard to say, so it's not worth losing sleep over.  Bottom line, it's a fine effort and I certainly hope that my comments didn't come across the wrong way.

Don

I don't see eny green exept for a tiny littel bit in the 4th pic but I don't find it noticable realy.

Other than that it's one Great build! and for it's scale WOW!

Man I have got to pay attention a little bit better.  Some beautiful builds are done.

pordoi  I love your early panther G.  I have been looking at buying that kit and the look that you achived has made up my mind.  It is now on the buy list.

dupes  Man what you were able to do with a tiny tiger is WOW   I tried to build something small and hated it. (see cold war GB)  My hats off to you beautiful as always.

Mokie  Sorry if I got that wrong, but I love yoour tiger.  Your tutorial on the build was excellent as well.  Keep up the great work.

A very high grade of builds are in this group build and I am proud to show my KT with them.

Hmmm. After SMJ and now you, I'm trying to figure out where this green is coming from. To be honest, I don't see it, but that means nothing since I'm colorblind. The only variables I can think of are the one desk lamp that I took the original photo with that prompted SMJ to comment on the green, which so happens to be one of the two lamps I used taking the final photos. The other light is a "natural daylight" bulb or something. Variable two is the indoor/outdoor setting on my camera which affects the white balance - my pictures certainly do look very different from one to the other. I took a slew of pics outside to try to get the Tiger in it's "natural environment" but they came out too bright to use - however, they were MUCH more bluish than these ones. So it certainly has to be something in the photography. Meh. I'll try swapping out my other desk lamp's bulb to a similar "daylight"-style bulb and see if it makes a difference.

Holy diatribe! Despite that, thanks for the comments on the build. I guess I just have a hard time really messing up a completed model - partially because it looks very different to me sitting in front of me than what the pics portray. That 4th image (the more top-down one) is probably the closest to what it looks like here - you can see a lot more of the wear/dust/dirt than in the other photos.

Thanks pordoi.

Alright Dupes, let me chime in first.  Following this build, I was thinking that your Tiger was too clean and that you should of weathered more.  You got that suggestion from one or two others along the way as well, if I remember correctly.  But the more I look at the finished model, the more I like it.  Weathering is subtle but effective.  Good job.  I also keep forgeting that this is a 1/48 build; nice details, so it's hard to tell from the photographs that this is not a 1/35 build. 

You've had prior comments about a green color cast with the painting.  I think that may arise in the photography; it looks especially vivid in the foilage in these shots.  Compare the color of your groundwork when lit under natural lighting with the color in the photos.  Does it match well?

 Don

Alright, stick a fork in me, this medium-sized cat is done!

I was going to go with a bit of heavier weathering, but I didn't want to make it exceed what would be realistic based on the grass base (could always say it just rolled of of a muddy road or whatever, but wanted to try to be consistent).

So here she is - any and all comments highly welcomed!

and a sepia-toned one, just for some "historical photo" - type perspective:

SMJ... sign me up! This one is going to be fun!

stick man wrote:

Would a Tiger 1 fit in? I just got the Dragon 3 in 1 (Tiger 1 late, Tiger 1 late command and Tiger 1 final).

Absolutely!  Please confirm that you want to join and I'll add you to the list.  Great to have some young guys participating!

stick man wrote:

Hi I'd like to join this GB if I could I don't know what kit yet but I will know by tomarow because I'm going to the hobby shop and was eyther going to get a Jagdpanther, Panther or a tiger. there are some realy nice builds in this GB hope I can be one of them!

Would a Tiger 1 fit in? I just got the Dragon 3 in 1 (Tiger 1 late, Tiger 1 late command and Tiger 1 final).

Hahahhaaa....thanks for the link.

I can't let myself start getting into accessories for these 1/48 scale kits - I've already got more 1/35 than I know what to do with!

I also can't believe what Tamiya charges for stuff these days. Wow. $14 for some figs with guns (in 1/48!). 

dupes wrote:

Now I wish I had some 1/48 helmets to dangle off of the smoke grenade launchers!

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXLKR5&P=FR 

Wow, they've got her stuck pretty deep! I have some other photos, I think that are probably of this same incident. Let's assume I'm modeling about 5 minutes prior to whatever happened here...

Now I wish I had some 1/48 helmets to dangle off of the smoke grenade launchers!

Oh, as for the "number of pics in a post" thing, there's really no limit - and luckily for me, you're good about reducing the size. Some people aren't so good about compressing them, which means those people saddled with dialup (read:ME) are essentially cut out of a thread until the next page rolls around. I think if you stick to <10 you're probably fine. Just my opinion, of course!

dupes wrote:

Comments? Suggestions? Shoot!

What about including the battle damage shown in this photo of 332

"Well, I had just opened the hatch and ducked down to grab a smoke when... BLAM!!  Anyone got an aspirin?"

Don

dupes wrote:

...Maaaay still add a bit more dust and mud, but not sure yet. Then she's getting attached to the base.

I think that would be great.  This is really coming out nice, dupes!  I keep reminding myself that this is 1:48...all the more impressive...  You may want to add a bit more wear along the long edge on the top of the turret where it bends down slightly towards the barrel.  Also some more pin washes would define the details a bit...

Hi I'd like to join this GB if I could I don't know what kit yet but I will know by tomarow because I'm going to the hobby shop and was eyther going to get a Jagdpanther, Panther or a tiger. there are some realy nice builds in this GB hope I can be one of them!

dupes wrote:

Thank GOD you saved them as low-quality JPEGS...or I would NEVER have gotten them all to load! Soooooo many pics!

    Was this a bit too many photos for a single post?  I'm still figuring out the posting etiquette.

dupes wrote:

Interested to see how you feel about doing the concurrent builds? Was it better from a construction/painting/weathering standpoint to try them both at the same time? Or would you have benefitted from doing them separately?

    I actually enjoyed building concurrently; it really allowed me to see all of the differences among the A and G.  It was also useful at times to have the newer line item instructions that  came with the Panther G to help decipher those funky photo based instructions of the Panther A.  That said, I painted the two models separately.  I wanted to concentrate on each since their finish was planned to be so different, different weathering technisues were used for each and the thought of painting all those road wheels times 2 was too much.   So I liked building them together but preferrred to do the detail work individually.

   Like the way your Tiger 332 is coming out.  Looks much better dirtied up a bit. 

Don

Almost forgot - little update. She's getting a bit skankier, some highly diluted enamels for continued dusting, along with some chipping, mud, etc. All that's left is to paint the aerial and spray a bit of flat black acrylic around the exhausts for soot. Maaaay still add a bit more dust and mud, but not sure yet. Then she's getting attached to the base.

Comments? Suggestions? Shoot! 

Thank GOD you saved them as low-quality JPEGS...or I would NEVER have gotten them all to load! Soooooo many pics!

Luckily for me, it was worth it, because those are a couple of killer builds. Haven't seen many Panthers with the add-on armor before, looks very cool. Your PE work is pretty fab, certainly don't see any issues on my end.

Interested to see how you feel about doing the concurrent builds? Was it better from a construction/painting/weathering standpoint to try them both at the same time? Or would you have benefitted from doing them separately?

Good stuff!

pordoi: Nice duo' builds!!!  The contrast of the newer and more worn builds is great...it shows some real modeling versatility on your part.  You built those pretty darn quick too.  Grab your badge (sorry, the help on the "how to" should be left to others), definately well deserved, I'm glad you could participate and hope you'll join some more GB's.

chewybr: You're in!!!

mokei: Not quite sure what you meant, but if you're referring to my post to dupes, I just wanted him to follow your process...I thought it would help him.

Pordoi, good work on your Panther. The tank looks good and the pics are excellent. If this one was your first GB I hope to see you in some other soon.  

SMJ, thanks mate. Yes, I am proud to have my badge and glad to participate here. Just one more thing please to not talk of Lu´s techniques and better talk of techniques themselves only. I do not believe so much in the property of modelling methods and I think the important thing here is the technique itself and not who uses it.   

Dupes, the grey cat is going well. I am with you totally and think little more dust is all your tank needs to have more visual impact. Bear in mind most of other weathering effects will darken the base color and in my humble opinion that is not what you need now. Fear not to add more light dust in a few areas only to enhance shapes and volumes and some more dirt on running gear also will fit well. That is all, I think.  

As for your questions regarding my model  

1> Display base: the ground was made quickly over that wooden base. I raised one perimeter step with evergreen strip that I filled with a thin layer of cork. Then I added plaster and fine sand and tiny stones. Foliage is made with sintetic grass and foamy bushes. The whole thing was painted once done. No secrets.  

2> The tittle plaque: I designed it in the computer (any software works well for that) and printed it on (label) sticker paper. Then I cut it with a sharp modeling knife and put it on a small piece of offset cardboard which is thin but strong. I cut the plate and painted borders black with thick marker. Very easy, quick and effective, I think.  

Hope this helps.

Lu

Great pather pordoi

I'd like to join the group build. I'll be building a Jagdpather from DML #6032 1/35

    The second of my two Panthers for the group build is pretty much complete, unless you see some things in the photos which can be corrected or improved upon.  This is Dragon's early G with supplemental turret armor, from Pz.Rgt 26 in Italy.  Some details about the assembly was included in this thread:

/forums/951805/ShowPost.aspx 

There were a few challenges late in the construction.  One fit issue was with the armor plates that cover the schurzen hangers; probably might fault but I've gone over the instructions and assembly and can't see exactly where I went wrong.  In the end, I just left them off.  The second issue was with the tri-color camo scheme.  My first attempt was deemed not fit for human consumption, so into the Simple Green it went. Amazing stuff; in 30 minutes it was back to bare plastic.  My second painting attempt came out better. 

 Here's a walk around.

Painting was done with Tamiya acrylics over Tamiya fine white primer.  Base coat was dark yellow (XF-60); camo was done with olive green (XF-58) and a 3:1 mix of hull red (XF-9) and flat earth (XF-52).

Next, a couple of washes with dilued burnt umber oil followed by a wash of very dilute black oil, then a pin wash to highlight detail, also with diluted black oils.

The intent was to make this a cleaner build, depicting a tank that was more recently delivered to Pz.Rgt 26.  So weathering was kept to a moderate amount; just some dusting and a little dirt by over spraying with Tamiya Buff (XF-57).  A little chipping and some scratches on the schurzen.

Some interesting field modifications were made to some of the Panthers of Pz.Rgt26, including the turret armor, supplied in this kit as a pair of hefty PE plates.  But two of the tanks depicted in the instructions also had add-on armor plating on the rear deck and over the crew compartment heater, as well as schurzen.  None of this was provided in the kit, but was added using the very comprehensive Gryphon models PE set. 

My skills with PE still needs some work, but I think that these came out OK.  Next, a few close up photos.

Photos were taken on my work bench with a Nikon D70 using either a Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 or an old Nikkor 55mm Macro lens, with white paper as background.  All shots at F32 to maintain depth of field.  Lighting was with my modeling work lights; two 150W incandescents in shop light sockets with 12" reflectors.  Images were tweeked in PhotoShop, adjusting Levels and adding a bit of contrast and sharpening.  I think that quality suffered a bit by saving as low resolution .jpg files.  The originals look much better.

And to finish, a side by side of two Italian Panthers, one (late Panther A with zim in basic ochre) a grizzled verteran of many rear guard actions as the Allies pushed the Germans up the boot of Italy.  It's bleached by the sun, the schurzen long gone but still fighting on.  The second, a more recently delivered Panther G in tri-color camo that is still decked out with a full complement of supplemental armor.

Can I get the badge now ?  If so, it's been so long that I've forgotten where and how , so a little guidance would be appreciated.  This Group build, my first, has been a blast and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished builds from the other participants.

Don