Italeri Group Build Sept. 1, 2006-Jan. 15 2007

Beautiful looking Marder.

 I'm still eagerly awaiting that Panther A...

tigerman wrote:

Wake up Scott!!!! Haha. I will most definately not make the deadline on this build. Gee, what a surprise. I will keep at it as hopefully the rest of us in-progress guys.

Don't worry Eric, I'll keep at it     I have to much time invested in this build to let it go like that

That's the spirit guys. I may hit the bench today. Forgot what to do next.

Gun Tech wrote:

tigerman wrote: Wake up Scott!!!! Haha. I will most definately not make the deadline on this build. Gee, what a surprise. I will keep at it as hopefully the rest of us in-progress guys. Don't worry Eric, I'll keep at it     I have to much time invested in this build to let it go like that

Yeah and we're all waiting with bated breat to see the finished model so you've no chance of not finishing it because we'll just bug you till we see it

Comet wrote:

Gun Tech wrote:  tigerman wrote: Wake up Scott!!!! Haha. I will most definately not make the deadline on this build. Gee, what a surprise. I will keep at it as hopefully the rest of us in-progress guys. Don't worry Eric, I'll keep at it     I have to much time invested in this build to let it go like that   Yeah and we're all waiting with bated breat to see the finished model so you've no chance of not finishing it because we'll just bug you till we see it

Just be sure to wear sunglasses, so your not blinded by the factory-like finish. 

Darn! My wife was right! Another failed group build :(

I vow to finish a group build in 2007!

Gratz to those who were able to do it...

Happy New Year! SJD 

sjd0309 wrote:

Darn! My wife was right! Another failed group build :(   I vow to finish a group build in 2007!   Gratz to those who were able to do it...   Happy New Year! SJD

Don't panic SJD, the GB is still active as some of us are not done yet......  i.e.  ......me.    I believe Tigerman said that as long as the tread stay active, it's no big deal. (hope I didn't step over your head Eric ) 

Cheers!

Ok, the gun and the tank itself is painted!     I'm getting better at this, and decided to take my time. It took me about 3 hours for the hull alone!   I went low pressure and close to do all the corners and hard to access areas, then I augmented the pressure and got a bit farther and did the rest. By painting an area at the time, it was easier.     I decided to keep the lower hull for the end, and it was a smart move, as my masking started to go away at this point, leaving the interior unprotected  

Lesson learnt: If possible, do not install the road wheels before the painting session    I almost lost it at that point (2 1/2h in the session). I will dirty up that area later..... 

The shield was found to have more gaps that will be fixed tonight, so that I can finish painting tomorrow.

I'll take a few pics tonight.

I couldn't get closer pictures because of the lightning in my basement.

You can clearly see where the masking came off. Luckily, it was already painted

Gun Tech wrote:

sjd0309 wrote: Darn! My wife was right! Another failed group build :(   I vow to finish a group build in 2007!   Gratz to those who were able to do it...   Happy New Year! SJD  Don't panic SJD, the GB is still active as some of us are not done yet......  i.e.  ......me.    I believe Tigerman said that as long as the tread stay active, it's no big deal. (hope I didn't step over your head Eric )  Cheers!

No harm, no foul. As long as the half dozen of us are still attacking, why not leave it open.

BTW, the paint gives it some kick Jean. I want to do it in Afrika Korps scheme someday if Dragon releases one.

If Dragon release one, I will be doing a Skoda variant with a 7 sided shield, DAK colors.  

That's a big if, I don't think I would want to tackle the Italeri one again.......lot of work

This one shows the Alkett (5 sides) variant, the one I'm building.

This one, though a bit unclear is the Skoda (7 sides) variant

Here's a pic of the only one survivor I know of in Koblenz. It's a Skoda.

The Italeri kit represent the 7 sided one, Skoda. But I decided to scrap the shield, keeping the base a bit modified, and replace the shield by the Eduard PE represent the Alkett variant.

Gun Tech wrote:

From what I've seen from Dragon these past few years, I would not be surprised if they would be including parts to build both version. That would be so awesome!

Ahhh, a 2-in-1 version. hehe. I welcome that.

I just airbrushed the shield again looking for cracks, looks like putty won't do the trick

I will have to get the serious stuff now, super glue!   I'll have to be carefull when sanding though, to not make other cracks in the process.

Well, I didn't get as much done over the weekend as I had hoped, we ended up doing a lot of stuff around the house.  Here are a couple of progress pics.  The thick plastic zimmerit pieces are a bit cheesy, but this will be some good practice for painting and weathing the zim texture.   

Do you have any engine screens Scott? They really make a difference on the rear deck.

Well, I of course failed to finish yet another GB on time. I should be used to it by now. And to top that off, my furnace went out. Haha, it's in the 20's tonight too. 

tigerman wrote:

Do you have any engine screens Scott? They really make a difference on the rear deck. Well, I of course failed to finish yet another GB on time. I should be used to it by now. And to top that off, my furnace went out. Haha, it's in the 20's tonight too.

I agree, I usually get the screens.  It would make a nice addition to this Panther although I hadn't ordered any as I didn't want to put too much into this kit (since I have the far superior Dragon Panther G Smart Kit waiting patiently on the shelf ) 

It would be a nice touch and might distract people from the plastic zim 

Good news, I was able to get some work done on my Panther.  The turret is pretty much done.  I have two grab handles I still need to attach but don't want to risk damaging them as I have several clamps attached to the turret sides to keep the plastic zimmerit pieces firmly in place.  

Here is a scan of the directions to show what I mean about the plastic zim.  You have to bend the part, but the plastic wants to bend in a curve.  I gently bent the pieces, then glued the longest part to the turret side and let it sit until it was nice and strong.  Then I glued the rest of it to the rear sides of the turret, holding each side until it was firmly cemented, then put the clamps on to let it sit over night.  Tomorrow I attach the remaining handles and brackets and off to the spray booth (but not until I get a nice, smooth seam on the gun barrel via sanding )

tigerman wrote:

That's crazy. I thought it was pemolded on the hull and turret. Bend-a-zim? How come you stayed with the kit zim? Hope you like it.

I decided to do this kit OOB as I really couldn't justify pumping a bunch of money into it.  I used the money to buy a bunch more 1/35 Dragon kits and reference materials instead. 

The kit includes 2 versions of many of the exterior parts, one with zim, the other without, but several parts are "applique" plastic zim pieces, which would include the turret sides, hull sides and a few others.  If I had to do it all over again I would have used the non-zim parts and taken this as an opportunity to make my own zim with putty.  But since this is a kit that's been in my stash for at least 10 years I wasn't too worried about it.  I'm still really looking forward to building the Dragon 1/35 Panther G Smartkit later this year.

tigerman wrote:

That's crazy. I thought it was pemolded on the hull and turret. Bend-a-zim? How come you stayed with the kit zim? Hope you like it.

       Well that a new one.   Bend-a-Zim      a Italeri trademark in your LHS

Man Scott, this one is hardcore. I also thought it was molded on. Can't wait to see how it looks on.