Red Storm on the Reich GB - Sept. 8, 2008 - May 9, 2009

  Mobious the figs are coming out great I swear those guys look like there posing for that pic lol.

   Moose the kitty is looking great also. Are the tracks you're getting the Model Kasten? 

   Heres my update

   I had to shave down the underside of the fenders to give the tracks a little more clearance. How DML messed up the fit between the upper and lower hull is a mystery to me.

   Using polly putty I replaced the casting texture on the turret that had been lost during sanding.

   And the weld seams with testors white putty.

    The louverd engine cover had sink marks on the bolt detail so I had to shave them off and replace them with some resin one's from the parts box

   Oh yeah I also got all those tracks cleaned up. Took me all of Kellys Heros and some of A Bridge To Far but gotem done and they dont look to bad. 

Moose - likey likey! You battered her up pretty well - it's coming together VERY nicely!

You may want to rub some graphite or a bit of steel-colored drybrush on that rear idler to simulate the paint being rubbed off where it meets the tracks.

Here is the pictures that I promised.  I finished up the washes and put on the pigments.  What is left is the tracks, which I am waiting for.  That and glue a couple of parts that I managed to knock off. 

Once again any and all coments are welcome.

 Hello,

 JMart, thanks for the positive comments.

 Giest, All work and no play make... well you know how it goes. Glad to hear you did manage some free time. Looking forward to update pics on the SPG.

 Moose, thank you for the comments. I would have liked to have gotten the 5th guy in the back seat but I don't know how. Those Ruskies must have been contortionist.

 Looking forward to the pics of the B-Berg Tiger with washes applied. Sorry to hear about the AFV Tracks. I've never used them. MK makes a decent sent for the Tiger I. Curious about the resin ones. Nerver used resin tracks. Keep posting updates on progress. Maybe throw in a comparison shot of the tracks when they arrive. Thanks upfront.

 Mobious

Mobious  your Ivan's are looking sweet.  Wish I could get the results that you have going.

panzerguy  I feel your pain on the track pin marks.  I just junked out the set of AFV tracks that I was going to put on my Tiger. 

As it turned out the tracks have alot of flash.  Also there are 3 pin marks per track link.  Just to add further insult to assemble the tracks, AFV made a piece that connected the two links.  This connection piece has the guide horn on it.  And, Yes this piece had plenty of flash.  Just to make the decission final, the guide horn piece would leave a nasty gap that would have to be filled.  All that combined has put my build a little behind. 

Well I will get a couple of pictures on tomrrow.  I have got all the washes done and plan on doing the pigments in the morning.  Will have to wait for the Master Club resin tracks to be shipped to me.  They look alot better.

Till tommrow, keep up the great work everyone.

Mobious - really nice job on the figures...

panzerguy - JS2s are brutes... Great info scott, as usual!  Those pin marks..ugh.....

 Hello,

 Hove most of the figures painted. Bump. Picked up an oval base while out this morning. Bump. Post a few pics. Bump,dity,bump,bump,bump,teesh...

 Still more paint to throw at the figures. A quickie base. Some blending and touch ups. Personal gear,etc...

 If everything goes accordingly, should have this one wrapped up this weekend.

 Best Regards,

 M

dupes wrote:

Wow, you aren't kidding about pin marks. I'm guessing by the color of the plastic that this is the old DML kit, not the new Tamiya offering?

   Hey Dupes, Ya thats the old DML one. Probably gonna take me as long to clean them up as it is to build the the kit.  I swear this is a rebox of an Alan kit  

Wow, you aren't kidding about pin marks.

I'm guessing by the color of the plastic that this is the old DML kit, not the new Tamiya offering?

   Heres were I'm at.

      Most of the running gear is all set. Left off the idlers till after I get the tracks done. The road wheels are pretty thin around the edges so you gotta be careful when cutting them off the sprue or you run a risk of them cracking, happened twice to me.

   I'm not backing down from doing this OOB but this is why I love MK tracks..

    NO PIN MARKS !

panzerguy wrote:

Scott thanks for the info.  After seeing that pic I thought about replaceing the kit muzzel with a Tiger one to give it a little bit of a differant look. Then I relized that even though they look the same the russian version is larger.

The A19 and D-25T 122mm guns used on the JS-2 packed one hell of a whallup!  There are cases of a JS-2 causing horrendous damage to Tigers and Panthers with their massive two part HE  shell.  The shell would explode with such force upon impact that turrets could be blown clean off, armor plates cracked, weld seams completely broken apart.  Pretty scarey to be on the receiving end of that! 

Hello,

 Thanks panzerguy for the encouraging comments.

 The muzzle break does look a lot like that found on a Tiger I, except the bore is bigger! The turret texture looks very nice on the DML kit. Sorry to hear about the fit problems. Looking forward to seeing progress pics and the Soviet 3-color camo.

 Thanks espins1 for the anserw as to why the muzzle break resembles the German design. Very interesting stuff.

 Best Regards,

 Mobious

  Scott thanks for the info.  After seeing that pic I thought about replaceing the kit muzzel with a Tiger one to give it a little bit of a differant look. Then I relized that even though they look the same the russian version is larger.

panzerguy wrote:

And does anyone notice anything strange about this JS2?            I swear that's a tiger muzzle break

That muzzle brake was based on a German design and was used temporarily after an experimental T shaped muzzle brake exploded during testing and almost killed Voroshilov, a high ranking official.  It was installed on a small number of JS-2's with the earlier A-19 122mm gun and was eventually replaced with the introduction of the D-25T 122mm gun which had a slightly higher rate of fire and featured the double baffle muzzle brake that we see on most JS-2s.

   Mobious I like were your going with the figs and that maxim gun is sweet.

   The JS has some decent texturing molded into the turret the problem is that after the filling and sanding I'm gonna have to redo it around the cupola and mantlet

   Some pics of what I accomplished today

   And does anyone notice anything strange about this JS2?

     I swear that's a tiger muzzle break

 Hello,

 panzerguy, Thank you for the comments. This really has been a fun project for me. Are you planning on texture for the JS 2 turret?

 Changed the load out of the GPA a bit.

 Comments & Suggestions welcome, thanks for viewing

 BstRgds,

 Mobious

   Mobious the Ford GPA looks great glad you did'nt give up on the driver

   Well I started on the JS2 this afternoon and even though theres not a boat load of parts like most Dragon kits it still is turning into a challange fit wise I should be done with the turret tonite so I'll try to have some pics up later.

 Hello,

 Thanks for the comments espins1. this has been a fun build. Was really looking forward to starting this GB. Still considering shoving a couple of Ivans in the back seat. Most of the referrence pics I have don't really show much gear stowed, in fact most of the pics show GPAs overloaded with soldiers!

 panzerguy, the silly putty thing works great. used it on a WW1 Biplane. First time I tried it and had excellent results. Lots of fun. It's an excuse to play with the silly putty!  Looking forward to progress pics on the JS2.

 Best Regards,

 Mobious

  Some great work going on here

   Cracked open the JS2 and since I'm doing it oob the build should go pretty quick. Now the paint job I have planned thats gonna be the fun part. Will be my first time trying the silly putty method and I'm looking foward to giving it a go. Heres what I have planned

Finally finished the Gaz, just need to add some stowage.

The Italeri JS-2 is 80% complete constructionwise now. Dragon kits are so much sweeter to build!

Pics soon.

Cheers

Mike Johnson

 Hello,

 moose, It's either the MkI Eyeball is getting weaker with age or the camera are gettin better. I like to think the newer camera's are getting better.

 Looking forward to pics of the B-Berg Kitty!

 Best Regards,

 Mobious

Thanks for all the complements guys.  dupes, yes it is free hand over a couple of hours.  I did manage to get the numbers on her and give her a dull coat.  The shinyness is gone.  Looking much better.  Will try to give it a wash or two yet tonight.

Mobious,  I feel your pain on spotting thing a miss after painting.  I noticed last night that I was missing the spare track holders.  Luckily I noticed before I sprayed the dull coat.  Out came the plastic card.  Score one for lessons learned.  Mine was to mix up enough of the colors to have some extra just in case.  Also nice save on the eye brows.

Amazing what the camera picks up that the eye doesn't.

 Hello,

 Dupes, Thanks for the comments. Your right about the "B-Berg Tiger" the camo looks great. Looks like a great starting point for weathering.

 smjmodeler, thank you for the comments. The gear in the back is shiny. I hadn't drybrushed them yet. I did later but they still have a gloss to them. I'll try a little dullcoat to tone'em down after MASKING THE WINDSHIELD!  The hand on the standing guy had a nasty seam line I had missed. I have touch up to do on that too. Should look the pics over a bit more before I post, see if I can catch'em before you call'em I do appreciate and respect your honest and fair critisism. Thanks!

 Still need to paint the figures 3B's (Belts,Boots,and Buckles), maybe see if it would be possible to fit another 4 Russians in as a crew.

 Thanks again for the comments, suggestions, and for viewing.

 Best Regards,

 Mobious

Mobious and Moose - great stuff!

Really digging that camo scheme Moose - I'm sure it'll blend right in once you start weathering. Did you freehand that? 

Mobious wrote:

...Trimmed the eyebrows a bit...

MUCH BETTER eyebrows!

In this picture, I notice a bit of gloss finish too...might want to flatten the hands and stowage a bit...don't you just HATE it when we notice stuff this late in the game..sorry about that.

 Hello,

 JMart, Thank you for the gracious comments, Don't sell yourself short though. I'm far from being good at painting figures. It was an area of the hobby that I wanted to focus on and improve what abilities I have. Most of the credit is to FSM Forums and the people here who have helped me improve. The MG barrel is "bored", but the pics don't show it well.

 Thanks again for your comments, suggestions, and viewing.

 Best Regards,

 Mobious

Mobious - very nice job with the figures, much better than anything I could have done! I cant tell, but is the MG business end bored? as in "hole" not like my students are in my classes lol

moose421 -camo looks sweet, probably will blend in nicely after a wash