BIG CATS GROUP BUILD 2008

Pordoi - nice! Looking forward to some more pics! Like that scheme.

SMJ - thanks man! I'm definitely not done yet, the abuse is still coming, along with a bit more dust, then I need to tie it all together with the as-of-yet unfinished base. Yeah, I'm digging what Lu did as well - certainly want to use some of those techniques in the future.

Got the tracks glued down (looks much better) and the antenna attached, time to beat her up a bit! More pics to come soon...maybe even finished ones?  

OK, I'm finishing up on the Panther early G and decided to take a few photos this evening.  This one is in tri-color camo to contrast with the Panther A that was previously posted.  Just a teaser tonight; I hope to have a more comprehensive set up on line tomorrow.

Alright, as promised:

Construction is 99%, just need to manufacture an antenna, and glue the top run of tracks down. Already done a bit of weathering, and while to my naked eye it looks pretty dirty, here in the pics is doesn't look like I've done anything! 

Shoot me any opinions/comments/etc.

Ooooh, so many questions!

Yes, I know I'm bad with colors, but I'm pretty sure I didn't mix in green instead of blue. Let me take some pics in the photobooth, I think my desklamp may be throwing things off a bit (yes, it is Tamiya German Gray)!

As far as the 1/48 thing goes, I am liking it...although it's going to throw off my stash and build collection. These things are mighty expensive, however, for small kits! Luckily I scored 6 of them for about $10 apiece, or I probably wouldn't have them.

Lu's roadwheel technique...I'll have to read back a ways and figure out if I'm going to use it. Let me post up some decent pics first, then we can discuss what I need to do!

Lu - even your base is spectacular! I guess you've spent a bit of time "in the background" working on it without telling us... Is that something you made yourself, or pre-made you picked up somewhere? And the little plaque - again, your work? I really want to try your super-thinned acrylic "dirt" washes out - that effect is very convincing. Again, great build!
 

pordoi wrote:

Dupes, is that the Tamiya 1/35 or 1/48 kit that you're working on?  Tool handles are great! Mine always come out looking grungy, which isn't bad I guess, but every now and then I want a cleaner look and I don't seem to do that very well.  What's your method?

Pordoi - that's the 1/48 kit, actually - the same one Lu has just wrapped up. Glad I went with different markings and scheme so as to avoid (hopefully) any direct comparisons! As for my tools,...I don't remember what I used! I pretty much took every brown I had on the shelf and tried to mix and match the handles so that they didn't all come out looking exactly the same. All Tamiya colors, I remember having Nato Brown, Brown, Hull Red, Flat Earth - that might be all of them. Just brush painted on in a single pass to avoid any of the "pulling up" you can get with Tamiyas if you try to go over a part you've already done before it's completely dry. 

Can't wait to see an update on your G!

Speaking of updates, the tracks and roadwheels are all painted and attached, all that's left is tying everything together with some dust and dirt, and some pigments. I should be able to break out the photo booth for a minute tonight to get a decent picture of where she stands right now.

Gents, here you have the cat in the garden finally. As you can see the decorated base is nothing special and very humble actually, but I always consider one decorated base gives sense to our works by making the paintwork more understandable to the observer and it raises the visual impact of a model too. So those two are good reasons for me to save little time and energy for the display base during the making of the model.

Okay, my work is done. Also I must say I have a very good time here and FSM GBs are being a very pleasant experience to me, so I hope to meet you all in another GB soon. Anyways please do not get me wrong because I am keeping an eye here for a while to see how other models are going, needless to say... Are you listening Dupes?.

Lu

PS: I think now I gained my Big Cats GB Badge finally.  

Lu - looks spectacular! And that figure is awesome!

I'm loving the finished product, and have some questions for you...but I need to look at all the pics a few more times first.

Can't wait to see the base!

M O D E L   C O M P L E T E D

Lu

Dupes, hey it seems someone was pushing you a bit lately...  Not to concern about the pic because the image shows everything for the good observer. I see you worked quite a lot and your Cat has some dust as well. Well done, I particularly like the shinny satin finish of the Panzer Grey very much and consider that is one great touch for one heavy metal finish. I am also excited to hear you are making one display base because I also made it for my kitten. Just wait for the final pics and keep up on the good work bro.  

Pordoi, thanks for your words and we all are waiting for your Panther update soon.  

S T E P   8  

At last the running gear was completed by overlapping stains of three different colors (Light Sand, Earth Brown and Flat Black). Dirt was applied with very diluted (almost dirty water in fact) Vallejo Model Color acrylics and the trick was to do it in a random pattern. It is very important to wait for one color to dry completely before further applications to avoid direct mix of paint if possible. After that, track links were highlighted and I also added some metalic shine to some exposed areas on hull and turret with one ordinary pencil carefully. To end up the assembly I glued (1) front MG, (2) track cable on left hull side, and (3) aerial. Although I did not mentioned anything  before I was working on one decorated base and one bust of a tank commander to stay in the opened hatch. The figure comes of a combination of spare parts and he was painted with Vallejo Model Color too and I believe it is the final touch the model needed.  

More pics of the complete thing are comming up now...  

Lu  

Hey fellas,

 Sorry to have been away for so long.  Some very nice builds ongoing.  Lu, I like you weathering techniques; will have to try some of them on my next build.  Interested to see what's in store for the road wheels.  Dupes, is that the Tamiya 1/35 or 1/48 kit that you're working on?  Tool handles are great! Mine always come out looking grungy, which isn't bad I guess, but every now and then I want a cleaner look and I don't seem to do that very well.  What's your method?

 I've run into a few challenges with my panther G build but hope to have it mostly done and some pictures posted by the weekend.

Got a quick pic of the Tiger, sadly I don't have room to leave my photobooth set up like Lu - always a lot easier to judge when it's a decent picture. Anyhoo, here she is, still working on tracks, then I can finally attach the outer road wheels for good. Next up on the hull is going to be a coat of collected dust...going to start working on the base as well to try to get the groundwork to match the weathering a bit - I hope!

S T E P   7  

Little by little dust is painted with very thinned enamels in sucesive applications. To me, one convincing dusting up is a matter of contrast, so I combined light dust with some dark strokes (also enamels) that break up the flat look of dust on plain surfaces and to recover some visual impact. Again, one elaborate dusting up is something that takes time until I get a result up to my taste. Also it is important to keep final effect to scale according to the size of the model and to leave some parts clean to increase contrast between dusted and non dusted areas.  

You know what? This cat will be finished tomorrow.   

Lu  

mokei wrote:

Ernest, regarding the paint scheme, what about 2 colors camo? You can choose between fine or wide stripes style, but I think Dark Yellow/Green would fit very well and Dark Yellow/Red Brown it would be even better because it seems not to be very popular among modellers though it is beautifull too, so one good reason to give it a try, perhaps? Dupes, many things left to do, but my kitten will be completed VERY soon. Push a little your cat mate and do not leave me alone now... Lu

Lu, I've also considered a two-tone camo scheme.  I haven't done any research yet but when I do I'll figure out how to paint this Jagdkitty!

BTW, your Tiger is looking GREAT!  I love the work you're doing on it!

Ernest, regarding the paint scheme, what about 2 colors camo? You can choose between fine or wide stripes style, but I think Dark Yellow/Green would fit very well and Dark Yellow/Red Brown it would be even better because it seems not to be very popular among modellers though it is beautifull too, so one good reason to give it a try, perhaps?

Dupes, many things left to do, but my kitten will be completed VERY soon. Push a little your cat mate and do not leave me alone now...

Lu

Lu - like how it's looking...what's left to do?

I promise I'll throw down some update pics soon.

SMJmodeler wrote:

bufflehead: I've always liked that tank!...will you be painting it like the picture?

Actually SMJ, I'm not sure yet what scheme to go with.  Plain sand/yellow or 3 tone camo....both appeal to me!  Its the zimmerit I'm concerned with!!  That checkerboard pattern might be a nightmare to do by hand

bufflehead: I've always liked that tank!...will you be painting it like the picture?

Dupes, No distractions allowed, take that BIG Jagdpanther off your mind and focuss on your tiny Tiger please.... 

S T E P   6  

The weathering treatment continues with little surface fatigue reproduced by (1) small paint chipping and scratching in the more exposed areas, (2) super tiny dots of dirt spread everywhere and (3) very selective mapping made with slightly lighter/darker base color shade here and there. Those three different effects reproduce different grade of fatigue and/or use and I tried (1) not to abuse of any of them and (2) to paint them small to scale. Although chipped paint is usually painted in one dark shade (dark brown or even black), scratches and dirty micro dots are painted in both dark and light shades (dark brown and light sand).  

Lu  

bufflehead wrote:

dupes wrote: I've heard that's a nice kit... Hmmm.....you'll be finding that out for yourself any day now!!

Yeah, I hope it comes tomorrow!

Lu - that pin wash came out great.

Dupes, fortunatelly all accesories are quite accesible, so I hope to finish them little by little.

Ernest, come on with that JagdCat and do not have us waiting here so long...

S T E P   5

A very selective dark pin wash is given with thinned Tamiya enamels around raised details and inside recesed lines. This also takes time but now the model looks better defined visually and I believe the glossy finish will decrease gradually from now on. Note no pin wash on the running gear because I think it will not be necessary there and it will receive different treatment later.

Lu

dupes wrote:

I've heard that's a nice kit...

Hmmm.....you'll be finding that out for yourself any day now!!

dupes, Lu, great work on those little Tigers!!!  One gray, the other camo....I love it!  Can't wait to see them finished!

I need to get my butt in gear with this GB so heres a reminder of what I'll be doing:

Dragon's new #6458 Jagdpanther Auf.G1 Early Production!! 

Finally picked this kit up last month but haven't started it yet.  I'm trying to decide how to do the zimmerit....hand applied or Atak resin.  I'll practice appling by hand and if it doesn't work out I'll lose some duckets on an Atak set!  The only Jagdpanther I've ever built was the old motorized Tamiya version back in the mid 70's when I was 13yrs old!! 

Amazes me that you can paint all of those individual parts glued in place like that...especially roadwheel rubber. Not much that's more frustrating than trying to paint circles by hand.

Looking good Lu! 

SMJ & Dupes, yes, I agree with you 100%. Regarding running gears I believe there is not one fixed rule and eveyrhting is up to what we want to make and I think the key is to be flexible to give our models what they need at any point because not all models are the same and/or need same treatments. That is reasonable I think. As for me, I am very lazy and I do not have much spare time for model making currently, so I tend to simplify things as much as possible when/if I can.  

S T E P   4  

It is time for decaling and primming accesories in theirs respective shades. See how all former work became darker because the gloosy finish necessary to avoid silvering before applying decals, but I have a confidence the model will recover its condition little by little in the following steps. All details were colored with Vallejo Model Color and that is something I do not make in one step only and it will take longer time to have all accessories painted totally.  

Lu