BIG CATS GROUP BUILD 2008

Upper hull and side skirts primered.

OK, this is what I've switched too...just barely started tonight.  Tomorrow I'll try to post some WIP photos. 

If its not too difficult I'll also try to build this....another large kitty, albeit in a tiny package!!

bufflehead: I'll go change your build(s) on the participant list

glamdring: switch to 1/72 if you want..just give me the kit mfr and kitty you will be building please.

Certainly, 1/72 Dragon Panther G.

Tanks a million! 

Thouse 1/72 thing are crazy small I could never do them!

I just popped the 1/72 JT box open.... that stuff has PE!

I have to think about this,dont want to rush it and dont want to fall behind on the 2009 GBs like RedS, 1KW and 251. I will be building my Panther A for the End Game GB.

Life seemed to have swiped many of us this past year, lets hope 2009 is better!

Sheesh!  Just got home from work...what a day!  I HATE audits! 

dupes, you might build a 1/72 Jagdkitty??  Yeah, that would be way cool!

Glamdring, SWEET! Another 1/72!!  Now I don't feel so lonely with my little Panther!  Is yours the Dragon with the molded on zim?

JMart, c'mon you CAN DO IT!!  4 weeks is plenty of time to bang out a tiny Panzer!  Well, I hope it is...otherwise I'm in trouble!!

SMJ, thanks again for allowing the switch!

OK...time to work on the Jagdpanther!

OK, 2 1/2 hrs of work has resulted in this:

The kit has a part that lies under the engine grills to represent the engine and fan assemblies.  I painted the whole thing flat black and drybrushed with steel, but they probably won't even be seen after painting!!  We'll see how she looks tomorrow evening.

Looking good, Ernest!

I know I'm going to get myself into trouble, but yeah, I'll crack open that Jagdtiger to give you some 1/72 scale support! Man, it was bad enough adding the 1/48 stuff to the 1/35 stuff...going to need a bigger closet.

Going to give the 48-hour GB a shot from tonight to Friday night, then I'm on it.

dupes,  I'm confused.   Is this 48 hr GB the same as the Weekend Madness GB?  If so, I thought that GB was over?  BTW, I did peek into that GB over the weekend!  That was some serious madness!!  Great work though!  I was tempted to join, but too many other GBs and I'm never sure if I'm free to build on the weekends.  Looking forward to seeing your JT!  OH, and I have the same problem with my ever growing stash.....gotta make room for 1/72 also!

bufflehead wrote:

Glamdring, SWEET! Another 1/72!!  Now I don't feel so lonely with my little Panther!  Is yours the Dragon with the molded on zim?

It sure is!  Really is a honey of a kit, makes me want to pick up a few more 1/72 armor kits.  I'll post my pics from this Thanksgiving week project a little later later.

I'm getting hung up on the rubber rimmed roadwheels, I thought they were bad at 1/35.....

Like the Jagdtiger too!  Those little engine plates are pretty cool.  The Panther had one too, but  can't see a thing through the grates and PE screens.  I'm quite glad I just brushed it black.  Those would be a nice feature for Dragon to include in their 1/35 kits, those would be a little more visible as you can see through the engine openings on some kits.

Update with the construction pics:

 Here's a close up of the engine compartment:

The Zim on the turret:

The engine deck:

Zim on the front plate:

The completed body of the Panther:

Right now it is sitting with a coat of German Dark Yellow, but I don't have pictures yet.  I will finish it off with an interesting whitewash camo that the "Herman Goering" Division apparently used in East Prussia, circa 1945.

Glamdring, your Panther is looking good! Those Dragon Armor Pro series of kits are quite nice!  You're a brave soul doing it in a winter whitewash!!  BTW, if you're Glamdring...where's Orcrist?!?

My work on the Jagdpanther is coming along slowly.  I decided to carve away the molded on handles in the rear and replace with wire...had a hard time finding some appropriately sized wire in my supplies.  Used .16 dia brass for the engine hatch, but finally found some .10 dia for the rear crew hatch.  The storage boxes in the rear are molded in some type of rubber/soft plastic.  Not sure why Dragon did it this way...the rubber isn't very sandable, but I managaed to get them to fit OK.

bufflehead wrote:

Wow Scott, I thought you had finished your build for this GB long ago??  Now I don't feel so bad .  After this I have to finish up the KT for your Panzer Aces GB, and start on the JS-2 for your Red Storm on the Reich GB and also start the Sd.Kfz 251 Uhu for dupe's 251 Halftrack GB.  At least I won't be bored for the next few months!

You and I are pretty much in the same boat my friend.  My JagdTiger for the Panzer Aces GB is half done, the Panther for this GB is about half done, my JS-2 for Red Storm on the Reich is half done and I have yet to start my halftrack! 

Well here's some more of my progress that I was able to achieve in less than a week. She's definitely going to get some paint either tonight or tomorrow.The hull is not glued together yet, so I can add the periscopes when the painting is done. Looks like I might be able to pull this one off.

Looking great!  How is it going together?  I'm interested because I just snagged one for $32 last night. 

 Don

More progress. The kit came with PE zimmerit. If I had it to do over, I would have left it off.

Any and all comments are welcome. Thanks for looking.

Regards,

Jeff

Not that anyone here can be bothered to comment. This is what I have so far. Treads are attached. I will be shooting the camo and attaching various parts on this thing in the next few days. After that, I will call it done. Whatever, I'll still claim the badge. It will look like crap but, what the hell.

Thanks for the Zero feedback. Good thing the search function works. I may as well have done this in a vacuum. Apparently you need to be an established "Tread Head" for any helpful suggestions/anyone taking the time to say anything around here...

Jeff

firesmacker wrote:

Not that anyone here can be bothered to comment. This is what I have so far. Treads are attached. I will be shooting the camo and attaching various parts on this thing in the next few days. After that, I will call it done. Whatever, I'll still claim the badge. It will look like crap but, what the hell.

Firesmacker,

   Wouldn't be upset, it looks like it was a slow weekend all around for the forums.  Lots of people probably out doing holiday shopping or other things.  This is the Tamiya G?  I didn't know it came with PE zim.  What didn't you like about it?

Put some camo on it, add the tools (dos it have PE grills for the vents?), a little weathering and it'll be really sharp.

 Don

firesmacker wrote:

Not that anyone here can be bothered to comment. This is what I have so far. Treads are attached. I will be shooting the camo and attaching various parts on this thing in the next few days. After that, I will call it done. Whatever, I'll still claim the badge. It will look like crap but, what the hell. Thanks for the Zero feedback. Good thing the search function works. I may as well have done this in a vacuum. Apparently you need to be an established "Tread Head" for any helpful suggestions/anyone taking the time to say anything around here... Jeff

Dude, it had only been about 48 hours since you made the original post on Friday night.  Think about it, it's the holidays and everybody and their best friend has a half a dozen Christmas parties, office parties to go to, charity work to do, volunteer work, Christmas shopping, hanging lights up on the house etc. etc.  The forums are usually slow in December because of that.... it is to be expected this time of year.  Lashing out like a spoiled child is kind of silly, just be patient.  These are forums.  Not everyone is feverishly posting on here 24/7.

Anyway, nice work on the panther.  I'm not a big fan of PE zimmerit because of the uniformity and minimal relief, but it looks like you did a great job with it! 

Despite the rant, your build is looking good. Keep in mind that not everyone has high speed internet right next to their bench. I used that Eduard PE zim on my DML Panther for Winter Warriors last year, looks like you did a better job than I blending the edges into the plastic.

What sort of scheme are you going with on this guy?