PAGE 5--FINISHED PICS!!!--- Revell Jagdpanzer Kanone

Well, that's great that you're back to normal, so to speak! Welcome back!

Now get to work on something!

School and some family problems have kept my modelling time at a record low, and my time on the site even lower, fortunately though most of that's resolved now and I'm slowly getting back on track with both, and as I was perusing the back pages I just couldn't let this one pass by!

Townsy11 wrote:

Wow... Doog, this is just spectacular! Seriously amazing work, the colour variances really transformed a potentially plain green finish into a work of art. And Geez, Hanz and Franz havn't aged a bit!

LOL!

Thanks a lot, townsy--man, where've you been? This thread was finished a good while ago; I am actually surprised that you've brought it "back from the dead" here!

Well, thanks for the kind complment! I appreciate ya ringing in!

Thanks so much Mike!

You're the king of 1/72 here! Can't wait to see your next project!

Doog

Superb build as always. I read your build articles with interest, with the new techniques I read about noted so I can try them on my much regular and smaller 1:72 builds.

Cheers

Mike

bultenibo wrote:

Doog: As usual: 10 out of 10! The weathering is outstanding!   /Tony

Doog:

As usual: 10 out of 10!

The weathering is outstanding!

/Tony

Thanks, JT!!!

I share your admiration of this vehicle, and for the fact that it looks so "WWII" as well! I've always thought it was like a modern Jgdpz IV!

I thought that it was probably better to have "smallish" footprints rather than BIG feet! I actually sized them up to Han's feet there; they're pretty close, to be sure. But thanks for your observation! ANd for taking the time to comment!

Karl, is there anything you can't do?

Another absolutely exemplary build, bro! Seriously, I'm in awe.

I've always quietly loved this particular vehicle, because like the original Leopard I, you can clearly see its roots in the Panzers of WWII. This is one reason why armor modeling is so much fun for me.

~J

P.S. Looking at it just now, I got the strange feeling that the boot prints are too small, in comparison with the figure. Not sure about that, though...

Thank you so much, Dave!

Your words are too kind!  

If you'd like to see more, I'll have my Hetzer in both the December and January issues as well!

Hope you're a subscriber!

Mr, Doog, you ought to write some books. Your talent for describing procedure is beyond excellent.

 Hear that, Kalmbach guys?

 Congrat's on your "Rust Bunnies" article in FSM, I just got my copy in the mail the other day. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Thanks you, Eric; it's great to hear that you appreciate the documentation of this and other builds I have posted here! It makes it all worthwhile, knowing that it's helping in some way to share with you ad others what I so enjoy to do!

Aaron--oh man; that sounds like a "Hollywood moment"!!  LOL!  What a rush!

Thanks too, terry! I appreciate your compliments! And to hear that you really think my figure painting has improved really gives me a boost, as this has to be the quickest figure I've ever painted! Thank you, Sir!

Well Karl, everything just went from strenght to strenght. It has everything, unusual subject, professionally executed and MAN has your face painting improved.

Just excellent.

Terry.

 Geez, Aaron--it sounds like I would have fit right in! LOL!

I would've installed a good stereo and gone to battle with some Black Sabbath blaring out of the hatches like "Oddball"'s Sherman!

Some cool memories you have there; thanks for posting your recollections! And thanks again for the compliments!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I told you the story about us wiring up an old Kenwood stereo to a power converter and mounting it and the tower speakers in the back of a 5 ton didn't I? Getting to be an old man repeating past glories I guess but We blew into Iraq ( Desert Storm) blaring Black Sabbath and some group called Pantera? ( They had nice G rated lyrics) The noise and music scared the poor civilians more than our tanks I swear. They threw their hands up begging us not to eat them!  Wild scene just like it was out of Apocolypse Now.

sfcmac wrote:

Another odd thing in that era was the German soldiers were not clean cut. They had long hair and beards. Wrinkled uniforms. I was shocked looked like a bunch of Rock n Roll motorcycle buffs....... Budda Bing!

I would've installed a good stereo and gone to battle with some Black Sabbath blaring out of the hatches like "Oddball"'s Sherman!

Some cool memories you have there; thanks for posting your recollections! And thanks again for the compliments!

 I had to take another look at this beast when I was a little more awake. The boot prints are  very cool. Details like that make the memories come back to me which shows your right on the mark.  The weathering looks great. Even after one washing with the recycled wash rack water the newest paint had a faded gray look to it and the mud on the lower hull? Well I can still smell that sour wet german mud. They do a lot of fetilization of the fields in these trucks that look as if they were made for pumping septic tanks. Heck maybe they are. They spray that lovely mix and it is very... well.. fragrant is as good a word as any.

 I looked for some pictures but remembered at that time there wasn't a digital camera in my pocket. Best I have from my time with the German Units is a Air Defense Beret and Uniform shirt. Kinda sad now as I was with the Marder, Leopard, and Gepard guys too. ( That Marder runs like a scalded dog!) Oh well hindsight is not something I had enough of in my younger days.

Makes me laugh when I see knock offs in the malls selling for $80 Guess the kids like the John Lennon look.

Another odd thing in that era was the German soldiers were not clean cut. They had long hair and beards. Wrinkled uniforms. I was shocked looked like a bunch of Rock n Roll motorcycle buffs....... Budda Bing!

Thanks, Huxy!

It's not as small a tank as you think; I think it's just that it's a low jagdpanzer that makes it appear small?

I do the flesh color withWinsor & Newton's Artists' Acrylics. They're realy fine-grained, and I use only two colors for the flesh tone--WHite, and Raw Sienna, over a simple base coat of Craft Store paint Tan.It's amazing how easy it is to get a flesh tone using these! Then a wash of raw sienna oil, and then just highlight with a little more of each, plus yellow if necessary, and red+white for the lips! Thanks again!

Thanks, too, bbrowniii, and stick man!

moose, I hope the wife's pregnancy goes without any complications?!

In any case, thank you for taking the time to comment! I do appreciate it!

Manny, thanks for your compliments!I'm glad to hear that you like it. I must say that I'm surprised at those saying the weathering is "a bit much". I thought I deliberately tried to keep it relatively light? Oh well...it could be the flash perhaps, over-accentuating it? 

Thanks for taking the time to comment everyone! 

Great build doog.  Sorry didn't respond earlier but this week has been a little rough.  Pregancy is hitting the wife hard.  But sweet build and love the effect that you ended with.  I would have never thought to weather it to the point that you did.  Also thanks for putting another technique out here.  Never would have thought of the liquid cement for weathering.  You are amazing.

Keep up the awsome work

 That's one amazing build! GGGRRRREEEEAAAATTTT work!

I realy like the streaks on th esides.

been gone for a week myself now...  and wow.. *drool*...  now I can go to sleep having seen that :D

 It's simply awsome!

But got to say.. it is quite a small tank, comparing to the guys there.... How did you do the skin?

Again, great build..  

-Huxy

Thanks for that info, Steve! Now see, that's something I never would have though of!

Interesting that you thought the other lights looked realistic--I guess the difference was that I simply used gloss paint to paint them. I did not, however, gloss-over the headlights, Note to self: "Gloss-over the headlights"! Thanks, buddy!

stickpusher-thanks, man! Yeah, the figures really make the build for me, every time! It really does give you a sense of scale! Puts some human interest in it too, IMO. Thanks again for the great recommendation!

sfmac--thank you too, for your kind compliment! Glad that you made it through the storm ok! 

I am surprised too, that this build seemed to go quickly. I thought for a while there that the tracks would have hung me up, but then I came to my "improv:.

That's way cool that you rode around in these! Got any old photos you could post? I'd love to see some if you have them!

Thanks again, everyone! Jeff, I'm looking forward to see what you can make of this baby when you get to it!

 Man another great thread I missed during the storm. Can't believe how much you miss here in just a week. Dogg what you did to those tracks is absolutely crazy! I'm loving it!  The progress you have made is phenomanol!  That is going to be one worth all the trouble you went to get it!

 I got to play with those monsters up in Putlos. They shook the ground so much as we rolled by windows broke in the old barracks. They are really big vehicles. Heavy too.

the doog wrote:

Thanks, Jeff!  Now you have to build yours so we can do a "compare" on them! I'm really curious to see now how someone else would paint and weather one of these!  BTW--if I had painted it pink, Jenn would have stole it for her shelf! LOL!

I'll work on that this winter. Probably not as much weathering but just a little so it doesn't look like a gate guard or a toy. 

the doog wrote:

Thanks, Steve! I appreciate your compliments! I'm not sure what I could do with the headlights beside do that "drill out and replace with lenses" look? That's off the table right now, as the build is pretty much complete. Do you have a recommendation?

Well, I would do what you did to all the other lights as they look VERY realistic...... or,

biffa wrote:

i agree about the headlights  that Steve pointed out, maybe some brighter alum paint with a dab of future (eek) to make them shine a tad?

.....or failing that ....

Let's see......    AH!.... here it is.... under the bed. Dang smileys hid it. This is my original 1968 volume 4 book of fixes......      hmmmmm... oh yes ....says it right here...

 Now this is simple but it looks complicated just because there is so much to read and I can't show you the pictures from the book. I'm flippin them for you but they just don't show the detail..... see. But, not to worry, it's plainly written right here in volume 4/page 1,396/section D/subsection X/paragraph 12/line 2...... 'bout halfway down the page.

 You can forgo the drilling with this, so, this is a rather shallow approach to attain some depth  and realism in the appearance of the headlights.

 .....this could be accomplished by takin' a short brass tube of the correct inner diameter, chuck it in a drill and use a file to produce a sharp edge....  (poor mans punch).

 After completion, get a piece of flimsy flashpack, cut two one inch squares. Now put some future on some tinfoil, shiny side up (that's brighter than paint). Place a piece of flashpack firmly on each one and give it some time to dry.

 Now, put it on a thin piece piece of rubber (keeps from dulling the sharp brass edge) and on a hard surface. Give it a light whack (and yes, use a hammer). Take a piece of rounded off sprue and gently poke it out from the hammer side. Now you have one reflective lense with a proper outer convex surface and a concave inner side for attachment with future, repeat for two.

 To finish up, put some future on the afflicted area of the kit headlight and carefully place the lens into position. Add another layer of future if you think it is needed. 

Of course, it's better to drill 'em, but in this case this will have to do.

 Now, if and when those 'lil boogers quit watchin', I'll have to find somewhere else to hide my book.

Thanks, Jeff! 

Now you have to build yours so we can do a "compare" on them! I'm really curious to see now how someone else would paint and weather one of these! 

BTW--if I had painted it pink, Jenn would have stole it for her shelf! LOL! 

Thanks for the idea for such a simple "fix" for the lights that, to be honest, I would never have thought of; I just never have done anything more than painted the lights silver. I'll dab some gloss over them and see how that brings them out a bit more.

A great point about building for yourself versus building for others' expectations! Though I can't imagine anything you've done being ripped apart here, it's a significant revelation from one whom we consider a "master modeler" around here! Thanks for the revelation--I think it makes an excellent point!

That being said, as I had stated, "Zen" is where you reach the complatin of a model and you say to yourself "That's just as I had pictured it".When you know that you accomplished exactly what you'd seen in your head. Pretty much, that's what I got here. Glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting!

Oh wow, golly gee.  I would have still liked it if it was painted pink!   Old school tank destroyer in modern times.  One of my favs!  Nice work doogy!

Thanks, zokissima--"Old school"--you got it; that's really kinda what I was going for, to be honest. A bit of drybrushing, a bit of the ol' streaking, ala' Shep Paine--I don't know why, but that's what hit me that I wanted for this build.Thanks for your comments, and for the !

It's interesting to hear the varying opinions on this one. Of course, when I look at it, I'm as pleased as I can be with it, but it's interesting to hear how it hits others. Food for thought, for when you take something to a contest to be judged--"newbies" listen up!--you never know what one individual may find fault with? Very thought-provoking!

the doog wrote:

Steve--well, thanks for the compliments, and I'm sorry to hear that you feel it lacks "WOW"! But that's ok; no offense taken; to be honest, one of the reasons I don't do much modern armor is because of the relatively understated weathering that I've come to believe looks more accuate on modern vehicles. It's hard to say "WOW!" sometimes when the model doesn't scream "ABUSE!!" You may be right about the front hull color--I may touch that up with some Tamiya OD. I think that that was actually a result of going a little too nuts with the glue. That might be a little of the bare plastic showing there..?.... However I don't plan to add any rust; I believe that Buhdeswehr crewmen would be pretty diligent about cleaning up and making neat of their vehicles. As for the dust streaks, well, they are what they are... I deliberately want to leave them kind of understated as well; if I add more color variations it's only going to emphasize them. Thanks for your imput--I respect your opinion on it; you are a true "Weatherhead"!

doog: As I expected you responsed with class....  It was tough to post a "non -sunshine club" comment but I knew you would evaluate/consider the input.  As I pondered my comments...and after reading redleg12's post..."WOW" may not be what's missing or even needed.  As I said originally, ALL the techniques are top notch, it just doesn't grab me like all your other work.  That's just me I guess...

As far as the dust streaks,"needs to be more random" might be a better critique.  They are somewhat evenly spaced and similar in length.  I think the rocking (great word for you)  and jerking motion would slosh water build-up more haphazardly(sp?) They might be more understated that way too...adding longer streaks say, near the upper rear and down the front and/or in locations in proximinty to where turret articulation would collect water...make sense?  Anyway, just some food for thought...

Just thumbed through November's FSM...LOVE that Nomad...I'm excited to read the article in detail!

I just sent you a PM too!

the doog wrote:

Tony--Thanks, friend! I just may decide to bring this to SYRCON....hmmm...?

Uhhhh Please do!!!

We all reach Valhalla through different paths. Its not the destination but the journey that counts. I may go down the semi modern strange and obuse while you are on PZ and rust but they are good journeys for each of us and both end in our personal WOW!! (wow...thats deep)

Glad to hear you are still writing. I am waiting to hear from Aaron on the Pershing article and am co-authoring an article for the AMPS Mag on "Camo and Position Improvement for Artillery Dios...WWII to Present". See what you did to me!!!!

I hear the call to prayers.....

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks, Steve! I appreciateyour compliments!

I'm not sure what I could do with the headlights beside do that "drill out and replace with lenses" look? That's off the table right now, as the build is pretty much complete. Do you have a recommendation?

TO be honest, I didn't want to go all out with AM parts on this build, but I did go for the Modelbau parts because I felt that the accuracy issues which they corrected were really important. Also, they give me an "angle" to write this into another FSM article, which I'm in the process of doing. (Aaron has already expressed interest! YAY!) But because I want towrite it up for an article, I kinda wanted to show what could be made of a substandard kit with just a little bit o' detailing. I'd like to hear of your ideas for the lights though--it never even occurred to me to monkey with them?

Hey, if I'm getting close to discovering some of your secrets, I figure I'm doing alright?! Thanks for the comments!

Mike--thanks for y0ur kind words! I'm not offended by anything said here though--Ibelieve that youachieve "Modeling Zen" when you reach the point of being satisfied with your build, and I'm pretty happy at how this came out. I realize that everyone has an "ideal" that they'd like to see, but at this point, I feel confident that I turned a less-than-spectacular kit into something pretty decent for my money....(I hope that that doesn't sound cocky? )

The next thing I "have" to do is a Jagdtiger for the SYRCON weathering demo I'll be doing. Then I'm probably going to do my Leopard 2A6. Another modern piece...probably just go OOB for that one too. I've also got a "surprise" thing I'm going to work on--something really different, unique...I can't tell!!!! ! LOL! 

Thanks again, guys! I appreciate you giving your comments and being honest with your opinions!

Karl

As far as being the supreme artist....that shows again. Nice tools, details and the mud and how it was done was very creative. I agree with some of Steve's comments and understand your comment about modern armor. Without getting into that discussion again....yes weathering is more uniformly faded, less streaks, less chips.

I disagree with the WOW. Everything does not have to be SOOOOOO weathered. The WOW now becomes more build creative in detail work, scratch parts. The WOW...IMHO....is when you look at it and you can picture it as if you were there.

Like different types of art.....there are different appreciations. You did a WOW job on the build. The painting was excellent....the weathering is a little too WWII. Well build details will catch the eye as much as weathering.

If you are building for yourself.....the only WOW is you. IF you are trying to impress the judges like a beauty (ugly) contest....well "a man has to do what a man has to do"

For you Karl, I know its for you and not the judges. We all venture into other areas at times. You hit a home run with the rust bucket. Your WWII stuff is beyound reproach.

This was not a home run but maybe a triple.....you still have a great batting average!!

Overall (for the others) the only bad build is the one you don't finish or don't try. This was more than a good build, it was great......just not the usual Doog perfect. you should aspire to master the modern like you have mastered WWII.....& rust.

Rounds Complete!!

Well doog....

here,

seems you've wandered into some of the ways I achieve things myself.

I personally don't see any fault here except for one tiny observation. That's the headlights. Compared to the superior results of the tail lights and the dual amber lens on the front, it wouldn't take much for you to bring 'em up to speed with the rest of the build. I know you could do it.

Other than that......      lookin' really good.

Thanks so much, Russ; glad you dig the mud! I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised at how the mud came out!

Jon--thanks, buddy! Can I trade in those 10,000 Ninja points for a Super Stealthy Katana Kompressor?! Then I could model all night and not wake the neighbors! LOL!

Tony--Thanks, friend! I just may decide to bring this to SYRCON....hmmm...?

Steve--well, thanks for the compliments, and I'm sorry to hear that you feel it lacks "WOW"! But that's ok; no offense taken; to be honest, one of the reasons I don't do much modern armor is because of the relatively understated weathering that I've come to believe looks more accuate on modern vehicles. It's hard to say "WOW!" sometimes when the model doesn't scream "ABUSE!!"

You may be right about the front hull color--I may touch that up with some Tamiya OD. I think that that was actually a result of going a little too nuts with the glue. That might be a little of the bare plastic showing there..?.... However I don't plan to add any rust; I believe that Buhdeswehr crewmen would be pretty diligent about cleaning up and making neat of their vehicles. As for the dust streaks, well, they are what they are... I deliberately want to leave them kind of understated as well; if I add more color variations it's only going to emphasize them.

Thanks for your imput--I respect your opinion on it; you are a true "Weatherhead"!

Thanks again, guys!

doog: It's as hard as heck for me to say this with the tremendous amount of respect I have for your work...but something is missing on this one...it doesn't feel "the doog!" enough to me...

All the work and techniques are your usual top notch fashion, but the "WOW" factor seems to be missing.  You've set the bar so high with your other work that we've all come to expect so much.  Here's a couple of things that I noticed:

The dust streaks on the side look a bit too uniform, IMO...maybe a slight color variation would help.  The paint running down the front lower hull seems a bit too green...almost a hunter green...I know you were going for some color modulation, but it appears to strong, IMO.  You may want to add a touch or two of rust/rust streaks also...may I suggest at the exposed shovel blades for example.

Overall this is a one fine build doog...and I really like the boots prints by the way...very nice touch!  I hope my input helps.

Wow.

Karl, you truly have a gift my friend. That is awesome. And thank you SO MUCH for sharing the process. Truly wonderful stuff.

The footprints are really cool... very nice touch.

Honestly, a good bit of the reason I'm giving armor a try is your work- it just looks fun.

That one is like 100,000 Ninja Bonus points....

Thanks, acmodeler, Pvt Mutt, Bodge, and dupes! I appreciate you taking the time to comment, and thank you for the nice compliments!

Stuart--for the Oil DOt method, my recommendation is always the same--use primary colors; Blue, Red, Yellow, White, with a touch of Orange maybe--but stay away from black, browns, raw umbers--they should be used for pin washes.

The primary colors will melt together and fuse into all sort of subtle hues which simulate the spectrum of light falling on the model. It shoud work the same on any color base coat. 

DO NOT USE A "FUTURE" coat!!!!! 

"Future" makes the model surface too "slippery", and what you want is for the flat finish to "grab" the colors and "stick" the to the base. Make sur eyou use enough thinner to almost pbliterate the dots, and then dab the excess offf with a soft facial tissue--this will leave the color in irregular patterns on the base coat, and after it has dried, you can lightly scrub away any paint that looks too "heavy". 

God luck with it, and thanks for your comments and compliments!

By the way--SNOOPY ROOOOLZ!!!!

Wow...just read on how you did the mud look by spraying on the paint then wiping it off with liquid cement....

That technique alone is worth an article.

I gonna try it on my Bradely...just the look I was looking for..I hope it works... 

Snoopy says...four paws up

Great finish...I love the mud look under the hull.  Not overbearing and looks perfect.  I've always had problems getting the look just right with tracks.

This weekend I will problably put my weathering skills to work on my Bradely in European Tri-color.  I plan to follow your method (s) closely as everything you post looks really realistic to me.

What colors would you suggest for the dot weathering approach for Europe.  Currently it is Tamyia acrylic paints.  Should I future it then dot weather with oils or just apply acrylic waterbased paints over the surface before futuring.

Good stuff Doog! That was an awfully fast build for all of the extra bits and reworking you did...pretty darn nice fig for only 2 days of work as well.

Super stuff! Glad to see you doing some modern-ish builds!

A real nice job on that one Bud

You know me ,never say a lot but get my point accross.

    I knew that Froggy would work his magic.

Looking mean as a junkyard dog. Great Job my friend.

    SPGs Forever

    Tony the Mutt

It looks great, Doog! I am a little surprised about the size: I was thinking it would be much bigger, but that looks like a rather small vehicle, even more evident with the figures in it.

I think the mud technique worked well for you, it's a good result. I'm not a big fan of the streaking on the sides, but it does a nice job of making look like it's been in the field for a while, so it is fitting here. And the boot prints are a really neat detail, I may use that on one of mine in the future.

Hi Guys!

Well, here's the final update and the completion of the build! First, let me post a few preliminary weathering photos. After the last post, I gave the model a wash of Van Dyke brown. This is a slightly darker shade than the standard "Raw Umber"; really almost a "black-brown". I also took my "dust" mix, and streaked itdown the sides a bit.

Same thing with  the wheels, although on this case some carefully applied pin washes brought out the bolt and rim detail.

In this build, I altered my aproach to painting the wheels--I still paint them off-the-model, but instead of painting the whole rubber part of the wheel, I simply drybrushed a grayish-black around the edges, and slurred a thinned application of it sloppily across the wheel's rubber sections in order to get a dusty/old rubber look.

Meanwhile, while that was drying, I tooka bit of Olive Green oil paint, and mixing it with white and a touch of yellow, I applied a little of "color modulation" to the hull; basically, adding varying shades of the base coat in order to impart a richer tone to the coor. I did NOT go for the "Oil Dot Method" on this build.

Here's what you can't do when you paint tracks on the vehicle--weathering the insides of the tracks; the track along which the wheels actually travel, and the guide horns--here receiving a drybrushing of silver. 

Tools for joining the tracks: a candle, and a block of wood with a small nail stuck in it. The wood stops the transfer of heat into your fingers. 

Heat up the nail...

Press it to the pns...

..and what ya get...notice the realism of the insides of the tracks?

And gentlemen, I present to you the 1/35 Revell Jagdpanzer Kanone!!! nu nu nUUUUU!!!

I painted up the old Verlinden "NATO tank crew" (thanks, stickpusher, for the recommendation! ) and installed them in the hatches--one reason alone, IMO, to buy the Modelbau hull update, as the Revell hatches are horribly deficient in the open position.

You know, I seriously thought about adding weathering powders to the hull, but I liked the look of the "Glue Technique" so much that I didn't want to cover it up with powders. A little bit of "Old School Weathering" seemed to suffice here on the JaPaKa!

A close up of the figures--I have to say that these were the fastest figures I've ever painted--done in two days! Oh, and the periscopes were painted gloss black first, and then Model Master Gloss Green Metallic--looks the part, from when I went climbing around the Leopards at Wolfhagen...

Some tools detail--a very simple technique here. Paint with tan, wash with raw sienna oil, and then when dry, streak with a thicker slurry of the same...the metal was painted Pollly S oily black, then DB'ed with Tamiya Metallic Gray and Testor's silver, then dabbed with my "Dust" mix for continuity.

I tried something here--putting "boot prints" up to the hatches. I also added a length of the Modelbau tracks on the rear there....in tribute!

Well that's a wrap! Time to clean the desk and start writing the article! I hope you enjoyed this foray into modern armor for me, and as always, comments, questions, and criticisms are enthusiatically and gratefully welcomed! 

The doog....

terry35 wrote:

You should submit that for an article. Terry.

wbill76 (Bill)--yup; I've been using it to clean my airbrush for years now. Just keep it away from the silicon/plastic washer on the tip. I'll swab some on the tip to reduce paint build up, or to just clean it afterward, and will even stick a brushtip of it or two up the nozzle and spray it through to clean the passage. Clean ypur airbrush cups with it as well! Works like magic!

PantherF (Jeff)--COOL! Thanks for the info about the Beo....you can actually build the Beo version of this tank with the Revell kit! The chassis is exactly the same--it would be a great reference!

JMart--thanks for the compliment!  The leopard will be in a little while after this build; I have to build a Jagdtiger first for the IPMS SYRCON contest where I'll be doing a weathering tutorial on it.

great finishing technique.... looks good, great save on the tracks!

can twait for the leopard, will copy your every step on that one ;) cheers

Anyone else that is building this, Chris (toadmanstankpictures) just posted some close up's of a similar vehicle (the BeobPz) that might help.

http://www.toadmanstankpictures.com/beobachtungspanzer.htm

Hey Karl, thats just superb. Another great build for the collection.

You should submit that for an article.

Terry.

lexesbenz wrote:

Gonna bring this one to Syrcon eh? Looks great!! I'm looking forward to seeing this in person. -Tony

Quite a few of them are actually models I have built for Jenn--really eclectic stuff, plus some "surprises"! 

redleg12 wrote:

the doog wrote: Mike--not too often that I get "out of WWII", but I might be for a while; I plan on a Leopard after this one! .  ....you better be looking for a "Doog" & "Jenn" figures for that Leopard. Rounds Complete!!

the doog wrote:

Mike--not too often that I get "out of WWII", but I might be for a while; I plan on a Leopard after this one!

We interrupt this WIP for an improtant message.... 

OK...so just a quick note....you better be looking for a "Doog" & "Jenn" figures for that Leopard. If not, we the masses may protest that build. Manny...if you have any ideas, let him know...

We now rejoin this WIP....

Rounds Complete!!

Gonna bring this one to Syrcon eh? Looks great!! I'm looking forward to seeing this in person.

-Tony

Manny, Mike, and Buddho--Thanks for weighing in and for your comments!

MAnny, I know what you mean about the decals "sticking" to the brush, but I've found that they tend to do that only if you wait too long to seat them, and if you don't wet the brush with water to dilute some of the decal setting liquid. 

Mike--not too often that I get "out of WWII", but I might be for a while; I plan on a Leopard after this one!

jwb---nice to see you around here so often, Jon! Glad to have imparted something useful to ya!

stick man--thanks for your comments and compliments! 

I think the difference between what you're talking about there is that in this case, I've actually dissolved the paint and smeared the paint, so I don't think that it will "clean up" any time soon; besides, I've since added some layers of oil shading to the parts where I used it.

Thanks guys! 'Nother update very soon!!!

WoW Doog! I realy like how this build is turning out it's superbe!

But one thing about your new tequnique... I've used Testors cement (the stuff that comes from the red tube) to make oil stains on veicalys and to make gasy efects on gas caps but I noticed that after my model had been siting for a couple of moths the glue dried out and I lost the efect. But I was'nt useing the same glue as you so hopefully nothing will happen to yours.

Great job!

Looookingggggg Gooooood. I wonder what the base of the Testors is as opposed to some of the other liquid cements. Most of those a chlorinated solvent based (as a chemical engineer....I'll go no further).

Will have to pick up some Testors, just for this if nothing else. The only other thought is grit. If there was a way to put some fine grit into the paint....it would raise those areas slightly and give a little "chunk" to it. Metal blasting grit might work, but I would used an airbrush with a wider opening.

Just some thoughts for future experiments. I'll keep an eye for where to get small quantities of blasting grit....could be and interesting experiment for the spray booth cow!!

I love that you left WWII for a while....even if it is German

Nice idea....looks great.

Rounds Complete!!

Wow...nice save on the tracks---improvise, improvise, improvise !!!  Cool stuff...you'll be able to later say: "See all those guide horns? I scratched 'em...".  Round guide horns?---weird...but cool. 

In regards to your decal method...I apply most decals in a very similar fashion except I don't flatten the wrinkled decal out with a brush---as it drys it naturally will flatten out...in fact, a big mistake many make is messing w/ the decal while it is still in its softened/wet state and end up tearing it...but it seems to work for you and you can't argue w/ results! 

Panther F wrote:

Where is that picture/plate/drawing/painting of the Jagdpanzer from?

You might be able to find it on Amazon, or Half.com?

AAAAAAhhhhhhhhh SSSSSoooooooooo

......Tony......

Pvt Mutt wrote:

Hey Doog:  Did the cement cut through to the gloss coat or just the acrylic mud?                         From the pictures it looks like oil has leaked out all over everything but being new at all these painting techiques I really don't know how it should look. I'm from Missouri and you'll just have to show me.I'm sure when you've got all the weathering done it will have a completely different look to it. Do your magic Froggy,i'm watching.     ....Tony the Mutt....

Thanks for commenting! You too, Jeff!!

    Hey Doog:  Did the cement cut through to the gloss coat or just the acrylic mud?                         From the pictures it looks like oil has leaked out all over everything but being new at all these painting techiques I really don't know how it should look. I'm from Missouri and you'll just have to show me.I'm sure when you've got all the weathering done it will have a completely different look to it. Do your magic Froggy,i'm watching.

    ....Tony the Mutt.... 

Hi again!

Here's the Friday, Sept 19th update! (WOW! Is it that late in the year already?! )

I applied a simple black/Van Dyke Brown oil wash to the model. It has toned down the paint scheme somewhat:

The tracks have been finished; they look like some "Giant Squid" tentacles! LOL!

Now, I asked myself, "Hmmm...how to weather this modern vehicle?" I didn't have the "luxury" of having the "comfort zone" of Dark Yellow, and I didn't want to just work within the pardaigms of what I normally use for weathering on German WWII vehicles. I also don't want to "overdo it".

Looking at the reference photos of Bundewehr vehicles in this color scheme, I was struck by the fact that they always seem to be covered with dried mud on the lower hull. To simulate this, I mixed up some Tamiya Dark Yellow, White, a touch of Black, Gray, and a speck of Red Brown til it looked right, and gave the hull and wheels/tracks a liberal covering of it....

Now I was left with trying to get the look of where the vehicle had brapped through wet areas or encountered mud. How would I get the look of the mud being washed away in select areas? I know that standard technique says to use base coior, and streak that on...hmmm....could there be a better way? A more "literal" way?

I thoght about how I use Testor's Liquid cement to clean my airbrush parts--it completely strips away acrylic residue in seconds. Why couldn't it work to strip away some paint in a weathering process?

So I went in with the brush. I would simply dip in the brush, dab the excess off on a paper towel, and attack the paint. Working quickly, I would pull it down, clean it quickly by dabbing it off on the paper towel, and re-wetting/dabbing/attacking again... Here's the technique "in action"...

The wheels got the same treatment...

....and here's where I am so far...

All, in all, what do you guys think? Too much? Just right? I'm pretty relieved tha it seems to have NOT really ruined the look of the base coat, and has achieved the look I was after. What do you think?

Comments welcomed!!!

wing_nut wrote:

Just caught up onthis thread.   Way cool paint job.  And the little circles.... I started to get a little queasy just thinking about that.  I hope you didn't have a nightmare after that of you running along the top of a giant tube and a massive shuny blade chopping just behind you as you ran

Thanks too, doc! I'm keeping an eye out of my door for the van to pull up soon!

UPDATE COMING IN ABOUT 10 MINUTES!!!!

  doog! This is one brave and outrageous build, your paint/finish is superb! Those guidehorns are genius, have the whitejackets showed up at your door yet? LOL I am impressed!!!

Thanks, moose!

Update coming soon!!

hey doog still watching your build.  Love your paint job.  Looking forward to the weathering that you will accomplish.  WOW on the tracks.  Those would drove me to making the vehicle a bench queen.  Cutting 180 pieces, matching no less is way beyond my paitence level.  and desire.  But your save over the resin tracks is amazing.

Keep up the awsome work.

Mike, Erik, Ron--thanks for looking in and commenting, guys!

Jenn helped me out taking some pictures there, Mike; she's a great little helper. In return, I help her sort the colors of the threads in the bundles that come with her Cross-stitch kits that she likes to do!

I'm strating in on the weathering now; should have an update in a day or two.

And I thought I was anal....do you also like knitting!!!.....nice save....sometimes when the going gets tough....the tough cut little circles

On the decals I do the same, but sometimes have the old big hands problem with the eyes arent what they were problem....thanks for showing everyone.

Now....with both hands on the decal....who is taking the picture....or are you that good!!!

Nice details. Detailing always requires improvisation. That's the fun part

Rounds Complete!!

wbill76 wrote:

I recall someone, who shall remain nameless, implying I'd lost some sanity along the way for hand-drilling out guidehorn teeth on a Pz III build a while back... Nice save on the tracks Doog, they will look the part for sure once mounted. I wondered about how the fit around the sprockets was going to go if there wasn't any way to connect them up, at least temporarily, until the glue set...I guess that one will remain a head-scratcher.

LOL!

I actually did get a run around a sprocket, and glued it carefully so as to try to not connect it to the plastic, but it was murder to pry it out of the teeth, and I just couldn't see it matching up correctly if I didn't sit the teeth exactly as before when testing the fit of the subsequent links/section. As you know, a matter of a simple millimeter's difference would have given me the dreaded "gap", and I just didn't want to risk that!

wbill76 wrote:

I recall someone, who shall remain nameless, implying I'd lost some sanity along the way for hand-drilling out guidehorn teeth on a Pz III build a while back... Nice save on the tracks Doog, they will look the part for sure once mounted. I wondered about how the fit around the sprockets was going to go if there wasn't any way to connect them up, at least temporarily, until the glue set...I guess that one will remain a head-scratcher.

I never did imply you were insane Bill, just thought it was a hardcore on your part.    But, after watching all of your builds over the years I shouldn't have let it surprise me.  You always go the extra mile.

Thanks, guys! I have to say that the resin track problem almost caused me to put this kit aside--for about half a minute. I've wanted tgis kit for so long though, that I'm thrilled that I've figured a way to slavage the tracks in a way that at least looks accurate. Luckily, they are nearly identical on the outsides, having big square track shoes, and being of identical width.

RRbaer, MECHTECH, and panzerguy--thanks for the kind compliments! I'm glad to hear that the improvised fix on the tracks seems to have met with approval!

ted nichols--wow, I never thought of trying that with a hair dryer! I might have tried it too, were it not for discovering that the spacing of the links around the sprockets might be a real problem; this was one issue I was having with trying to make them fit. But I will keep that in mind if I ever attempt a second pair!

Panther F--thanks, Jeff!; great call on the mirrors! I agree; they do look better than the huge kit mirrors!A good call on the semogloss coat as well!

dupes--I actually do trim my decals down as close to the decal as I can. I just forgot to report that...however, the way I do the decals, I very rarely ever see any silvering. As you know, I don't like to use sealants or gloss coats underneath. I only ever sometimes have a problem with really old, thick decals--but then, I WILL use a "spot" gloss coat to be safe.

jwb--You know, I actually thought about sticking every single link to a piece of scrap with tape somehow, and painting every single link and then weathering every single link so that I could then just assemble them without having to worry about removing them...and then I actually did hit myself in the head with a large hammer and say "Snap out of it man!!" LOL! I would have used the un-modified kit tracks before doing that! 

I agree that it might have been possible to do it in short link sections, but like I said--the real problem was going around the sprockets; also, I have seen tracks done in that menner---the "short link" section--and somehow they look a little "cobbled together", where the links sometimes on't mate imperceptibly. Some 1/72 tracks go together like that, and they're tough to make them look contiguous.

Thanks all for commenting!! I do appreciate you all taking the time!

Wow, Karl.... I thought I had patience...

Can't dispute the results... it looks great.

It seems kinda like pounding yourself in the head with a hammer so it will feel good when you stop. LOL

On the resin tracks, could you build them in short sections? My son recently built a Tamiya 1/48 scale British tank of some sort... the tracks were in about 8 sections.... one long flat run, then various curved pieces. Think you could do that? Maybe use some tape on the outer part of the tracks to hold them together, then use fine wire to tack them together when in place around the wheels?

Course, that might be as tedious as cutting and gluing 184 little circles....

I feel your pain.... I drilled the dive brakes on a Monogram SBD.... 256 little holes....

   Another great job doog on your build and the wip also

   Ditto the comments on your track save. Sometimes you just gotta go that extra mile to make it right and it looks like you went about a half a mile farther.

All I can say is ADHD, you ain't!

Good going! You are really getting something good out of it.

Cedric

Lots of good looking work here Doog - nice save on the kit tracks. That's an awful lot of patience to be slicing hundreds of teeth...then attaching said hundreds of teeth!

I'm kind of surprised that you don't trim your decals (removing some of the clear film around the outside) - have you ever had any problems with silvering? Or has the Solvaset pretty much prevented that in the past? 

Nice work on those mirrors!    I think they stuck out more to me than the tracks do but it looks like you're on the right 'track' fixing them! 

Nice save on the decal! 

P.S.  I use a smaller brush than the one I would use to paint the house with. 

Hi guys!

Well, here's where I am so far! I thought it a good idea to do a short tutorial on how I put my decals down, and then talk about a minor "tragedy"...

Now to be fair, I have not used any "sealant" coat per se, but because of the thread on "gelbolive" paint here recently, I did decide to put a coat of Model Master Semi-Gloss acrylic over the Tamiya flat base. Still, there is only a slight semi-gloss sheen.

Here I put a puddle of Solvaset on the spot where I want the decal:

...and put it down...

...then, taking a wide brush dipped in Solvaset, I press the bristles down against the decal...

...and then use a soft facial tissue to press against the decal and set it while diluting the Solvaset, stopping the "softening" action of the chemical...

.

If I get air bubbles, I just repeat the process with the brush first, and then the tissue.

Here's the decalled model so far.

You might also notice that I have fashioned new mirrors from the spare parts box, as "Panther F" correctly observed that the kit parts were just way too big--I used a disc of appropriate size, and built up "rims" around the edges with Squadron White putty, and then put them on brass rods into the holes which I drilled out in the kit. They're much more correct-to-scale.

Here is where the "tragedy" part comes in--here you can see the progress going along on the tracks...

I have tried, and tried, but alas......to no avail--I just cannot figure out a reasonable way to assemble these resin tracks along a curve, when they don't "lock" or "snap". I have tried to get them to "sit" on the sprockets, but they don't fit well, nor can I figure out a way to attach them to themselves on the curve adeqautely enough to be able to remove them for painting. I might be able to just assemble the tracks whole, around the wheels on the tank, but then I would have to paint them on the vehicle, which I am at loathe to do--and besides, given the difficulties I am already having in getting them to line up corrrectly and glue along a straight line, I just don't think it woul dbe worth trying to salvage them. 

I don't want to say that they are a "bad product", as they are finely molded, and I'm sure a more talented modeler than I might be able to assemble them in a satisfactory manner; I'm just saying that I don't have the skill at this point!

What I can do  however, is improvise!

I have decided ot use the kit tracks, but to correct the most obvious "flaw" with them--the lack of the prominent circular guide horns by cutting 184 separate circlets from a piece of 1/8th, .125 diameter plastic tube, using a razor blade.

So I cut off the incorrect teeth-like guides of the kit's rubber band tracks...

The Jagdpanzee Kanone does not have any slack/sag in the tracks, so I don't need to worry about that--here I use tweezers and gap-filling superglue to add the new guide horns...

..and....VOILA! Not bad, eh? The kit tracks are black, the resin ones which I gave up on are the gray ones. I'm just thrilled that I can salvage the kit tracks, and not have to deal with trying to muscle around those resin links!

Last thing I did was cut out the MG mounts from the kit's hatch rings, and appply them to the ModelHaus resin hull top.

Well, alll I have to do now is to finish one more track length, and then mount the new tracks and start the weathering process..

Comments welcomed!

Panther F wrote:

the doog wrote: Weird--that pic you posted has a number of very distinct mods; even different tracks. I know there were changes made in the production run. That pic seems to be a later version? It's one of 5 or 6 prototypes built before the production run.  It has 6 road wheels instead of the 5 the final production model had.  Pretty interesting vehicle history.  Too bad this model is marred with a lot of accuracy problems. Good luck with the build!  You're off to a great start Karl.

This model is no better or worse than a lot of older Italeri kits, but what gets me is that for a new kit, the quality of molding id really soft--surprising for a "new" kit. And the molding lihes--everywhere! UGH! 

Still, I'll put some lipstick on this pig and take her out for a night on the town! LOL! 

...your WIP's always inspire me Karl. Thanks for your extra efforts to show us how you achieve your great results...this build is looking really good! I'll be watching for your updates.

Cheers

the doog wrote:

Weird--that pic you posted has a number of very distinct mods; even different tracks. I know there were changes made in the production run. That pic seems to be a later version?

It's one of 5 or 6 prototypes built before the production run.  It has 6 road wheels instead of the 5 the final production model had.  Pretty interesting vehicle history.  Too bad this model is marred with a lot of accuracy problems.

Good luck with the build!  You're off to a great start Karl.

Nice work getting those tracks off the sprue doog even if you did have to use the Optivisor for some of the repair work.

Paint job so far has some cool foundation layers going for it, looking forward to the next stages.

Thanks, Mike, doc, and Huxy! I appreciate your comments!

Jeff, I agree--in your photo there, the mirrors are definitely oversized! I'll definitely have to see if I can find something smaller--I'm not optimistic though...!

Weird--that pic you posted has a number of very distinct mods; even different tracks. I know there were changes made in the production run. That pic seems to be a later version?

Looks awsome! I want those airbrush skills too!

As said, too cool for words.

Great start doog!  I haven't looked at my kit yet but those mirrors are really too big compared to the real thing.

Karl - Looking great, love the OD shading

Rounds Complete!!

 Doog, This is one "RAD" build! Too cool for words, it looks like you took on a challenge with this kit. But if it's the only game in town your the man to do it.

 The paint and shading are fantastic man, can't wait for the next episode!

Well, guys, here's the next big update:

I jave assembled all the components in these next three photos.The sides had to be putty'ed and sanded, as there are no seams on the real vehicles.

I decided to build periscopes rather than use the kit parts, as the kit parts are simplistic; the perisciopes and guards are molded as one unit--cheesy. So I used .040 X .060 strip to form periscope guards, and .040 X .100 for the periscopes themselves. Here's the comparision.

The wheels have no detail on the back--I don't know if that's correct or not. I leave them on the sprue, glued togethe, for ease of painting.

I also started on the tracks. The good news--they were a cinch to remove. Just snap the bar off next to the link, here...

... and then you can snap off the link cleanly--wouldn't you know for the photo that I didn't get a clean snap! (99% of them come off clean though.)

And what you're left with--the remains of the bars, and the links.  It takes 92 links per side for the track runs, and the little open guides are quite fragile--at least one of them is broken on every bar of tracks. You can see the broken guides on thelid of the plastic container. Yes, I eventually reattached each one of those little half-circles with super glue and my Optivisor!

I put a solder wire lead into the searchlight...

and gave the whole thing an undercoat of Tamiya Khaki Drab + Olive Drab + Black.

...then a sloppy coat of pure Olive Drab...

...and then, the coat that "counts" --the highlight "post-shading", of Olive Drab + Dark Yellow + White. I accentuate the insides of all panels; weathering will tone down the sharp contrast somewhat later. Hee it is with the wheels added. The tools are not yet added.

All in all, I have to say that the kit's quality is less than I would have liked. The moldings are somewhat heavy, and the tools especially are clunky-looking. The Modelhaus hull really dresses it up a bit more to acceptable standard. The kit's parts--especially the hatches and mantlet---are consistent with the rest of the inferior molding,but the Modelhaus hatches are thankfully correct.

Another modeler who built this kit said that he felt that this was just like an old Italeri kit, quality-wise; I must concur with that assessmnet. I am grateful still, for the release of a kit I've wanted for a looong time!

Well, now on to the tracks......they have to be cleaned up a bit, and then I'll have to figure out how to best assemble and paint them...stay tuned, as well, for the doog's decal tutorial!

Comments and questions welcomed!

Well Karl, This one i want to see. Its a very interesting subject.

Terry.

Hey Doog. Looking Good!

Maybe it's just me, but the Xenon light box(?) on the gun trunnion for the Revell kit looks better detailed than the Modelhaus.

the doog wrote:

squeakie wrote:   being as this kit is based on the M47/M48 hull; why not just opt for a better set of aftermarket tracks? I know that AFV makes them, and also think that Friul does as well. gary Well. it's not that they're bad tracks, Gary; they'll just be a bit tedious to do...but I've already spent the money on them, so I'll make the best of 'em. Besides, the vehicle itself as far as I know was NOT based on the M47/48--just the gun is the same calibre. Do you have documentation of that claim? I'd love to have that info, if it was! As far as I know however, the tracks are an entirely independent creation from the M47/48 series.

I no little if anything about this track, but I thought I read somewhere that it was based on the M 47 hull. The running gear sure looks like it right off an M47/M48 tank. And remember the NATO standardization thing.

gary

Huxy wrote:

Looks awsome, Doog..  And by the way, that gun barrel looks all done to me.. Finish painted and weatherd...  really, it does..

squeakie wrote:

being as this kit is based on the M47/M48 hull; why not just opt for a better set of aftermarket tracks? I know that AFV makes them, and also think that Friul does as well. gary

Do you have documentation of that claim? I'd love to have that info, if it was! As far as I know however, the tracks are an entirely independent creation from the M47/48 series.

the doog wrote:

Hi again guys! Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I' sorry I've been busy working on this, and in the meantime I'm also working on planning, scripting, and eventually shooting an Instructional Guitar DVD to be released next year, so I've been just busy, busy, busy! I've also got to find the time to build a Jagdtiger for a weathering tutorial in person at SYRCON this year! Yikes! A full plate fer shur! As far as the "quality" comments, I can only say that the quality of the castings may look similar, but the resin one already has proven its worth, as the hatches detail is seriously lacking on the Revell kit. There's no way to pose the hatches opened with any accuracy, and you know that I like figures with my builds. I plan on building BOTH parts, and will show you the comparison. As to why I bothered to purchase this one, well...you know me--always thinking, always stretching my legs. I will be submitting this build story as another article to Finescale, so I had to think of some "angle" to make it stand out and catch the editors' eyes. It will be worth the tedious tracks, which DO NOT "snap" by the way! I don't think I'll be using the Gator Glue--I want to use CA glue; thick type, slower-setting. I willl laboriously cut and clean each link, assemble lengths and paint. Never take the easy way out for me! This IS a somewhat-novel build for me, being "modern" and I willl also be painting it in the hard-to-duplicate "Yellow-Olive", mixing it from my own stock here. Plan on weathering techniques of pre-and-post shading, ala' the E-100 that I did a while back. This will be a one-color scheme. The weathering will also be light. I feel like a virgin on her honeymoon! LOL! In between all I've got going here, I'll try to get a nice update up by Wednesday at the latest!

being as this kit is based on the M47/M48 hull; why not just opt for a better set of aftermarket tracks? I know that AFV makes them, and also think that Friul does as well.

gary

Panther F wrote:

Thanks Karl for the side-by-side.  The mantlet tells the whole story, huh.

The mantlet is more scale-accurate than the Revell one for sure, but also looks a bit "squashed flat on top for me; I may actually sand it a little to make it more smooth in the transition curve?

Hi guys--well, here's the first hull update. here's how the hulls join;

The kit hull joins flawleesy:

...but the Modelhaus hull leaves a small gap:

You have to clip about 2mm off of this part:

...and she'za bee-YOO-tiful!

So, here's the two hulls again, side-by-side before assembly:

And with all common parts assembled, excluding ones I'll need to complete the hull; the Revell hull has been given a coat of primer gray for sake of comparison.

The improvements of the Modelhaus hull are as follow: 

• Better mantlet definition
• more correct shape of mantlet--the Revell one is too bulbous and the collar around the gun mount too pronounced, as well as the MG ports looking overscale.
• better scale fidelity on periscopes--the Revell hatches are completely unsuited for being posed open, as they are portrayed as only single-layer

Here's the mantlets:

And the hatches:

Here's the Modelhaus hull so far with the gun, which is the Revell piece with about 50 minutes of careful sanding and filing to clean up--man, I would have gotten a metal barrel for this kit, with the tricky job it was to get it looking repectable. Of course, there will be one released after I finish this kit!

That's it so far.... I'll be working on the lower hull next, and then those dreaded tracks! Wish me luck!

Look forward to your build on this vehicle.  I too have no clue about it, eccept for what you have writen.  I to have fallen for the resin kit once.  My Merkava IIID,  didn't have the resin tracks, thank god, but all the road wheels were.  The dust mask came in handy for that adventure.  I looked like I was 100.  My hair was white.  Why I bought another resin update, I don't know.  It is for the magach 7c.  But I will be watching how you handle the tracks. Also how the weathering and colors come out will be something special, I am sure.

Nice to have you back from the car scene.

   I will never curse MK tracks again.

    Your a brave man Mr Logan.

doog - look forward to this build! Great looking machine actually... maybe some day I can get myself to SYRCON, in the meantime, APMS East/Danbury CT will be my armor destination, cheers!

Agamemnon - did you contact kenny/gator? maybe you got a bad bottle, stuff really works great and you can 'wipe" the excess with a moist brush. Maybe it got too cold, during storage? Only prob you have to keep the glue at room temp, it will get messed up when very cold.

Hi again guys!

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I' sorry I've been busy working on this, and in the meantime I'm also working on planning, scripting, and eventually shooting an Instructional Guitar DVD to be released next year, so I've been just busy, busy, busy! I've also got to find the time to build a Jagdtiger for a weathering tutorial in person at SYRCON this year! Yikes! A full plate fer shur!

As far as the "quality" comments, I can only say that the quality of the castings may look similar, but the resin one already has proven its worth, as the hatches detail is seriously lacking on the Revell kit. There's no way to pose the hatches opened with any accuracy, and you know that I like figures with my builds. I plan on building BOTH parts, and will show you the comparison.

As to why I bothered to purchase this one, well...you know me--always thinking, always stretching my legs. I will be submitting this build story as another article to Finescale, so I had to think of some "angle" to make it stand out and catch the editors' eyes. It will be worth the tedious tracks, which DO NOT "snap" by the way!

I don't think I'll be using the Gator Glue--I want to use CA glue; thick type, slower-setting. I willl laboriously cut and clean each link, assemble lengths and paint. Never take the easy way out for me!

This IS a somewhat-novel build for me, being "modern" and I willl also be painting it in the hard-to-duplicate "Yellow-Olive", mixing it from my own stock here. Plan on weathering techniques of pre-and-post shading, ala' the E-100 that I did a while back. This will be a one-color scheme. The weathering will also be light. I feel like a virgin on her honeymoon! LOL!

In between all I've got going here, I'll try to get a nice update up by Wednesday at the latest! 

wbill76 wrote:

Gator Glue can be found here: http://www.gatorsmask.com/gatorglueorder.html it's pretty good stuff for gluing PE to PE and PE to plastic, not sure how it will handle resin though. Using CA will be a challenge because it bonds near instantaneously with resin because, well, CA itself is a type of resin.

Doog???? Who dat??? Oh the ex armor guy who became a car guy, who became an ex car guy, who is an armor guy. Then to top it off he was a WWII gun now an ex WWII guy, now a modern era guy.!!

OK....All I can say is:

1. Get a dust mask
2. Get plenty of sharp new #11 blades
3. Get Gator Glue
4. Get good sanding sticks
5. If there are any voids or bubbles, get Mr. Surfacer (and use in the paint booth)
6. Get a set of helping hands for the little parts
7. Get a lot of patience
8. And most of all.....Get Going

Rounds Complete!!

wing_nut wrote:

Doog? Doog?  I rememebr a doog around here once. (They say the same thing about me over in AC) Welcome home doog.  Will be watching progress on this. Do I see a resin indy track tute inmy future?

You know, I was thinking the same thing about the replacment hull top; I didn't see a whole lotta difference in them, and anything that promises to be a "drop-in" usually requires a lot of filling and sanding...not that you couldn't do it of course, just wondering if there is enough of an improvement to justify the extra hours involved...I don't know a lot about this tank but id does look cool--sorta like the next generation of Jagdpanzer from WW2...In the past if I was really stoked about a particlar release, I would buy up EVERY possible AM item only to realize that most weren't impreovements at all...but then again, you probably know why the resin replacement is warranted as I know nothing about this vehicle...Anyway, looking forward to the build and once again you seem to be stretching your legs and getting outside your comfort zone as this is a "modern" tank...cool! 

Man, I've always loved the KaJaPa. I built this kit in 1993 or so (or one that looked very much like it), back when I was building them for my AT platoon. Back then I thought sticking a Verlinden "Modern German Tank Commander" in the hatch constituted superdetail .

As for the "drop in", looks like a lot of work. I'm seeing more than its fair share of flash. But the good news is that a good pair of angle-bladed snips will slice those track links clean off the runners without much trouble - as long as you have a steady hand (no coffee).

But it does look pretty freakin' sweet. Can't wait to see how you build this beauty up. One of my favorite kits meets one of my favorite modelers.

~J

Wow.. that's nice!

Good luck, Idool.

Me myself just started experimenting with oilwashes and that dot filtering.. but. meh.. :P

Good luck!

Hey Doog. Is this the kit you got in Germany?

If it were me, I would give the tracks the basic metal color, and black treads while on the sprues. Then after you have S.glued them together you can weather them which will also cover any extra glue spots. But then, thats what I would do, you are going to make your own decision.

Good luck with it and I am sure it will turn out like other samples of your work seen in the past.

Cedric

Oh man...good luck with those tracks.

I'm more interested to see what route you go down with the weathering.

Good to have you back from those car rascals! 

I saved the pictures of the resin tracks and re sized them and cannot see anything that will click on these tracks.  Normally there is a void or a dimple for the pieces to grab hold of, but they are not there.

So, hello Mr. Glue.

Doog? Doog?  I rememebr a doog around here once. (They say the same thing about me over in AC)

Welcome home doog.  Will be watching progress on this. Do I see a resin indy track tute inmy future?

I'm sure you could get good results with slow setting CA with these resin parts. At least I've never had any problems. But I'm itching to get my hands on some of this Gator Glue for the properties of working with PE that it has.

As for those links, they look to be a major pain. As mentioned, are you certain they cannot simply click together? If not, well, you'll have a long time worth of fun in removing them from the casting blocks without damaging them, then sanding, then assembling into runs, and then finally painting, lol

Just don't try to clip them from the casting block, you'll definitely snap a few.

It looks like you've got your work cut out for you on those tracks... but hopefully they'll be a significant improvement over the kit parts. For your sake, I hope they are "clickable" that would save you some headache.

I've got a question for you, Karl... I wonder why you went ahead and got the upper hull resin kit? Looking at the side by side with the kit hull, I can see that the resin part is molded right off the origianl kit part, with some changes to the hatches and a few other small details. The only part that I can't get a good look at is the mantlet, but even that looks like the kit with only a few added/changed details.
Now at the risk of sounding like a jerk (not the way I mean it), why would you go and spend the money to buy the resin if all these details can be fairly easily built on  your own out of some styrene and a little time? Honestly, I think I could probably update the kit if I had some decent research, and I don't consider myself a very good scratchbuider by any means.

Regardless, I really look forward to seeing another one of your builds (seems like it's been a while) and I hope you don't take my comment as criticism directed towards you, I am merely curious.

wbill76 wrote:

Gator Glue can be found here: http://www.gatorsmask.com/gatorglueorder.html it's pretty good stuff for gluing PE to PE and PE to plastic, not sure how it will handle resin though. Using CA will be a challenge because it bonds near instantaneously with resin because, well, CA itself is a type of resin. I saw many careful hours ahead of you removing those links so that they aren't damaged in the process doog, but the result will be worth it. Are you sure these links aren't "clickable"? Normally resin links go that route precisely because of the problems with gluing you mention.

I can't wait to see more pics of this thing it's one sweeeet veical!

Thouse tracks look realy fun enjoy! LOL! you'll sure have a challange removing them from the trees.

Gator Glue can be found here: http://www.gatorsmask.com/gatorglueorder.html it's pretty good stuff for gluing PE to PE and PE to plastic, not sure how it will handle resin though. Using CA will be a challenge because it bonds near instantaneously with resin because, well, CA itself is a type of resin.

I saw many careful hours ahead of you removing those links so that they aren't damaged in the process doog, but the result will be worth it. Are you sure these links aren't "clickable"? Normally resin links go that route precisely because of the problems with gluing you mention.

While I am disappointed in the kit tracks, after seeing what the resin aftermarket offerings look like I thought the effort wouldn't be worth the gain ... especially getting them off that resin sprue! 

I'll be watching with great interest and keep us updated on how it goes.  You're the test mule doog! 

Hey doog!!  Funny you posting this.  Just a couple of days ago I came across this Perfect Scale Modellbau resin conversion on the internet and thought it looked pretty cool, and I didn't know what a Jagdpanzer Kanone was until now!!  I'm keeping an eye on this WIP, I KNOW you'll do another bang up job on it! 

I might have a tip on the resin indies.  I read that "Gator Glue" was being successfully used to bond PE to plastic and also for tough-to-glue vinyl tracks.  Its some sort of acrylic glue, but I don't know where to get it.  Its advantage over CA is that it has a slower drying time AND has a more robust bond....maybe it will work on your resin tracks??