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

Ernest-Glad to hear that you are doing well, given the fact that you are in the hospital on an unplanned visit.  Looking forward to seeing progress pics.

As far as progress on my King Tiger, there has been none.  Between busy weekend schedules, bronchitis & finding out that I may be losing my job at the end of July, just can't find the motivation to model.  This weekend looks a little better, so hopefully I can make some progress.  Probably won't make the May 31st date, but I plan to keep plugging.

Will post pics when there has been some significant progress.

Bob, Mobious, thanks for the well wishes!!  I really appreciate it!  I'm at home now, recovering and TRYING to find the motivation to sit at the workbench.  I was able to get some work done....here's where the JS-2 is at:

Major assembly done, just need to add all the fiddly bits before painting:

Beat up the fuel drums a little!

Added some casting numbers and weld beads where necessary.

GRRRRR....those annoying pin marks on the lovely link & length tracks!

The Soviet JS-2 was definitely a BEAST!

Hopefully I can get it into the paint booth tomorrow!

bobbaily wrote:

Ernest-Glad to hear that you are doing well, given the fact that you are in the hospital on an unplanned visit.  Looking forward to seeing progress pics. As far as progress on my King Tiger, there has been none.  Between busy weekend schedules, bronchitis & finding out that I may be losing my job at the end of July, just can't find the motivation to model.  This weekend looks a little better, so hopefully I can make some progress.  Probably won't make the May 31st date, but I plan to keep plugging. Will post pics when there has been some significant progress.

Sorry Bob, I didn't read your entire post.  Sorry to hear about your lack of motivation, but its understandable.  Not having enough time AND worrying about losing your job can put a damper on things.  I hope everything works out well for you...take care.

Ernest-your JS-2 is very impressive.  Nice detail work.  Looking forward to seeing the finished product.  And thanks for the kind words.

The King Tiger is still in the same state that it was a couple of weeks ago. I may try to spend some time on it tonight or tomorrow, schedule permitting.

bufflehead wrote:

Added some casting numbers and weld beads where necessary.

bufflehead: She's looking real nice!  I really like those casting numbers!  I saw a Russian tank in a book and the modeler did the same thing by using sprue #'s...is that what you did?...or what?  I'd like to try that on a T34 sometime or a JS-2 (I like the Tamiya offering) so any secrets your willing to share would be much appreciated...

SMJmodeler wrote:

bufflehead wrote: Added some casting numbers and weld beads where necessary. bufflehead: She's looking real nice!  I really like those casting numbers!  I saw a Russian tank in a book and the modeler did the same thing by using sprue #'s...is that what you did?...or what?  I'd like to try that on a T34 sometime or a JS-2 (I like the Tamiya offering) so any secrets your willing to share would be much appreciated...

Yo SMJ, yep I just carefully carved off the numbers from sprues.  Its pretty easy to do and glues on quite nicely with some thin liquid glue.  Doesn't matter if there's a little excess plastic after you carve them off as the glue will just melt the excess!

These ones probably aren't the most accurate as the Soviet casters used fancier numbers with serifs and such, but these are the closest I could find!  Some builders like to apply some Mr. Surfacer to blend them in better, or brush on some more liquid glue and lightly stipple with a stiff, short bristled brush to rough em up a bit.  After spray on the primer I'll add another casting number on the cupola, but I'll use some of Archer's sweeet surface detail numbers as they will be smaller than any numbers I could find on sprues. 

As far as secrets....well, I don't have any!  Everything I do I learned from this forum or reading many AFV modeling mags!  The Tamiya JS-2 builds up nicely.  The only things that bugged me were the many pin marks on the L&L tracks.  That took many hours of filling and sanding to correct!

BTW, I replaced the MG barrel on the turret rear with a stainless steel tube from a glue tip.  I've had problems with such delicate MG barrels breaking off so I decided that this would take much more abuse. 

Hope this helps!

bufflehead wrote:

Doesn't matter if there's a little excess plastic after you carve them off as the glue will just melt the excess!  As far as secrets....well, I don't have any!

bufflehead: Thanks for the info.  I think the secret is the excess plastic.  I tried to do what you described to no avail...I'm sure it's because I was trying to get the numbers only.  I think if I shave a little deeper it will work!  I expect a SUPER sharp fresh blade will help too.  Thanks again.

Thanks for the extension Scott.  Sadly even with it the Panther couldn't join the final battle.  I developed a bad cold around the original deadline.  That cleared up, only to have another health  issue pop up, which left me unable to spend more than 45 minutes on the computer or the hobby bench without a painful trip to the can. 

I'm better now thank God.  It cleared up earlier this week.  I thought I could wrap the Panther up this weekend, but those stupid Magic Tracks kicked my buns.  I hate those things.  We'll see if I can't get the kit finished a little later this week and some pics up.  I've labored too long to quit now.

Robert-sorry to hear about your illness but good to hear that you are feeling better and making progress.  Looking forward to progress pics.

I hate to admit that I haven't touched any plastic for a couple of weeks.  I may try to work on various 'projects in process' this week/weekend, but I haven't decided if I'm going to stop on the King Tiger or attempt to finish it by summer's end.

Ernest - great work so far on the JS-2!  I'll get back on mine here before too long. 

Robert and Bob, I'm going to be late big time on my JS-2 for this build, so don't sweat it.   

Jim & Scott-Yes, "Saving Private Ryan" is now in my top five favorites.  Very intense though.  I think it should be required viewing for all high school history classes.

I had to add to my drill bit collection to 'clean up' the road wheels.  Not sure if the fit was that bad from the factory or if the coat of primer put them over the tolerance. As much as I had to drill, I have to think the fit was that bad to begin with.  Hope to make more progress today/tomorrow and maybe take the kit to the beach for our annual pilgramage week after next.  Might be wise to send some time out of the sun and working on the 'magic tracks'....which really aren't magic..actually, they are better than having to remove them from spruce (been there, done that) but the fit still requires a bit of liquid cement.  At least on this KT.

 Hey bobbaily, If you liked the movie "Saving Private Ryan" you may want to consider watching the HBO mini-series "Band of Brothers".  Very cool and highly recommended.

 Looking forward to seeing progress on the Royal Tiger.

Thanks Mobious.  I've watched most (if not all) of the "Band of Brothers" when it was on the History Channel and I'v also read the Ambrose book.  I would like to see a D-Day themed GB next year....maybe starting with June 6, 1944 and then progressing for the next month or two..

Another great, but lesser known, WW II movie is "Saints and Soliders", based around the Malmady Incident at the Battle of the Bulge.  If you haven't seen it, check it out.  Hmmm...maybe we need a Battle of the Bulge GB this fall...

The KT is being a bit of a royal pain....I had the lower hull and back plate in place (glued...lesson to be learned here...) and then attempted to fit the upper hull.  Not gonna happen-bad mismatch.  After some filing & sanding and trying to understand the Dragon picture instructions, I broke the bonds and pushed the rear panel out a bit and tested.  Seemed to fit much better.  A little glue on the rear panel and all appears to be well....at the moment.  After I get the rear primed and then paint and touchup the lower chasis, then it's onto the Magic Tracks-I need to get them build, painted and installed before moving to the upper.  Will try to get some pics on soon....I'm feeling a bit lazy today.....

Here's a quick update for you all.  JS-2 assembly done! 

First the primer

After a basecoast of Tamiya XF-13 J.A. Green I post-shaded with XF-1 Flat Black, then panel highlighted with a 50/50 mix of XF-13 & XF-4 Yellow Green.  Finally a 85/15 mix of the same sprayed over the entire model blended everything together. 

The filters and washes will darken the paint job that's why its a little bright.  Next up are the markings.  Going to use an Archer set...just to be different!  The 7th Independent Guards Heavy Tank Brigade markings I chose are very similar to the kit decals which means I need to add the white air ID stripes.  I'm not sure how best to do that, never done it before.  I'm debating if I should use the AB or hand paint the stripes.  I'll practice on a spare T-34 turret I have laying around.

Now that I'm at this stage I MAY have to set everything aside to finish the Sd.Kfz. 251/20 for dupes 251 Halftracks GB which I totally forgot ends tomorrow!

Scott, I was hoping to have this done by next weekend....you OK if I postpone this just a little longer?

Bob, sorry to hear about your KT troubles.  I have kit #6232 and also had some fit problems with that rear plate!  There's still a gap there I couldn't fix!!

Ernest-your JS-2 is looking great.  Fantastic job on the pre-shading.  I've got a T34/85 in the stash and I'm going to need to save your steps/mixtures for future reference.

I'm building Dragon kit #6254-probably the same basic kit though.  I'm sure that I'll have to add some putty where I've filed a bit too much off before I realized that the rear panel needed to be angled out a bit more, but I've got almost a full tube!

Hey bob, let me know when you start that T-34/85.  I've got one in the stash that I'd like to build up....we can do a tandem build!  LOL!

Scott, FYI I'm setting aside the JS-2 for two reasons.  First, I've committed to finishing the /20 Uhu for the 251 Halftracks GB so that there are photos for the GB Wrap-Up post.  I've set a date of 6/16 to finish it.  Second, last night I drybrushed the entire JS-2 with oil paints to bring out the highlights even more.  Since oil paints dry so slowly, I can't touch it for at least 3 days and then I need to give it an acrylic flat coat to protect the underpainting from the enamel filters and washes to come.  I hope you don't mind. 

Here's an update on the JS-2.  The filters are done.  Markings applied and tools painted (there's only two! )  Some photos to show you the progress:

Before filters. 

After application of Mig Productions "Brown for Dark Green" using a brush followed by Humbrol Matt Midstone sprayed with an AB.  Darker and grungier looking!  YEAH!

Marked off the ID bands using Tamiya 6mm masking tape and outlining with a white charcoal pencil.  I messed up a few times but the charcoal wipes right off with a wet bush!

Applied the Archer dry transfers and then hand painted the bands with Vallejo Model Color White.  I painted it in thin coats which took several applications for complete coverage.

Hoo boy them are some pretty white bands!!  I toned them down with some XF-13 J.A. Green (basecoat) very heavily thinned and sprayed lightly.

Also the tracks have been basecoated in XF-1 Flat Black.  Tomorrow are the pin washes and maybe some other type of oil wash.  Oil dots??

bufflehead: Nice hand painting!  That was a good way to go...very realistic.  I like the drip near the weld seam.  

You questioned the oil washes.  I have had success with a build up of washes (you asked about my weathering techniques on the 251, remember?).  Raw and Burnt Umber REALLY add a lot of depth and interest to the finish and I recommend going that route.  They should be applied BEFORE the pin washes and should be a thin mixture.  Experiment a bit, and don't worry if the coat is not evenly applied.  Push the wash pools into areas prone to less wear...and when it's close to dry grab a 1/4" flat brush, moisten it slighty, and add some streaks with a downward stroke, especially below grab bars, weld seams etc.

Alternate raw and burnt umber...2-3 each, ending with the burnt umber, it looks great on a green background!  If you have green oil paint and white (if you dare) add those too.  The green will be applied with a tiny brush on the areas prone to sun exposure, specifically the horizontal surfaces and the top leading edge of sloped surfaces.  Just add tiny dots like the dot technique...the difference is these are dlitued mixes, same as the other washes.  Don't spread them too much just dab and let it dry.  Do the same white the white but DO steak it when its near dry.  Don't panic if the green and white seem BOLD at first, they tone down a lot during drying.

After all the washes are done, I suspect the stark white of your markings will be WAY muted, probably too much to your liking.  To bring back the nice white, moisten a q-tip and rub off the washes..but be selective on where and how much you remove...too much removed will look strange.

Give it a try, let me know how it goes!

BTW: Is this the Tamiya kit?  I've always liked this tank.

SMJ, thanks for the great tips!  I think this will give me exactly the look I'm aiming for!  I do need some clarification though:

"Alternate raw and burnt umber...2-3 each, ending with the burnt umber"  I'm not sure what you mean by this..2-3 drops each?

"Do the same white the white but DO steak it when its near dry."  Do you mean put the green and white dots in roughly the same areas?  Or does the white go somewhere else?

Lastly, do you put a gloss coat on before doing the pin washes?

Again, thanks for the great tips!  I'll try them out tonight or tomorrow!