DML Jagdpanther Late Complete PICS P9 12-12-10

Congratulations Bill! Again another stellar build even though it took longer than your expectation's, but you crossed the finish line.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Finally managed to get this one across the finish line this weekend! Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that this build would take 2.5 months to complete, but that's life for you I guess.

I sealed up the previous weathering with an application of Testors Model Master Lusterless Flat in the spray can and let that dry overnight. That left only the pigment weathering for the tracks and lower hull. I mixed up a combination of Mig Pigments Dark Mud, Light Dust, Europe Dust, and Rubble Dust as a dry powder until I had the tint/color I wanted. This was converted to a wet mix using ordinary tap water with a drop of dish-washing soap added to break the surface tension. The wet mix was applied using a round sable brush to the lower hull, running gear, and the tracks. After it had air dried, I removed the excess using a stiff bristled brush (while wearing a dust mask to avoid inhaling the fine particles!) and then made further adjustments using several q-tips.

This was the first time I had tried doing this with the tracks off the vehicle and it made a difference so will likely be something I continue when using workable tracks at any rate.

The tracks were then installed on both sides and the idler properly tensioned to produce the right amount of sag.

The final step was the installation of a JB brass 2m antenna using some CA gel and painting it up with MM Non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal. Then it was off to the photo-booth for the walk-arounds to finally, finally! get this one across the finish line.

Thanks Andy, much appreciated!

VERRRRRRRRY NICE Bill, I do like this camo scheme a lot. You have pulled it off nicely mate

Steve!, nice to see you around these parts again. I hear you about thinking this one would be done by now, it's been somewhat of a start-and-stop build for sure but almost there! You're right about the hull numbers paradox, but then at this point in the war they were more concerned with hiding from the air than anything else so it makes sense from that vantage point I suppose.

Johan, thanks very much for the compliments and glad you like the scheme. It was a challenge to apply it freehand but I worked slowly and "wrapped" the pattern around the vehicle as best as possible to keep it consistent.

I like the way you have reproduced the "simple" pattern over such a complex stucture without loosing the visual context.
It looks right and the that is further supported with all the care that goes into the detail.

Thank You again for sharing!

Very Best Regards
Johan

     I thought this one would be done by now there Bill  I'm getting cough up around here and I thought that I was going to have to look a few pages back to find this one.

   The camo looks great along with everything else of course. Cant wait to see it with the tracks on

   Just gotta love that about the Germans they do the most intricate camo schemes and then put bright red numbers on the side

Thanks anthony!

Andy, it's a proven fact that over 63.4% of statistics are just made up. Appreciate the comments as always!

Looking awesome!  You are almost there... it is only 93.7 percent completed.  Don't ask me how I came up with this number...

Looking real good Bill

Thanks Tony, although I admit I can only guess at which principle you're applying!

Mike, always glad to see you stop in...this one's slowly getting closer and closer to the finish line, almost there!

Looking good!!!......Hang in there

Rounds Complete!!

The "Plunk Principal" is showing through Bill.

Tony Lee

The Thanksgiving holiday bench session came to an end today and while I had hoped to get to the pigment stage, it was not to be so this one will linger on just a bit longer unfortunately.

I did however make some more progress. I applied a thinned MM enamel Burnt Umber pin wash to bring out all the details, particularly the weld seams, that's present all over on the JP. I used a pointed 3/0 brush to apply the wash and then used clean thinner to come back over various areas where there was excess and removed or adjusted it as needed.

The JP is deceiving, there's a lot of detail work involved in this step with all the different elements on the roof and engine deck, so it took longer than I had originally anticipated. Since I was working with thinner, I wore a breather mask during this step to reduce the fume exposure.

I'll let this sit overnight and then take another look at it tomorrow to see if any further adjustments are needed before applying the sealing dull-coat. Then it will just be the pigment step remaining!

satch_ip

Bill, how did those Model Kasten tracks go together?  Were they easier to build than the standard indie link?  I hate that part of armor.  I've been scouring Ebay and hobby shops for the DS tracks.

Satch,

The MK tracks go together well but they do require some time/effort committment. The guide horns are separate so you have to glue two of them per link and of course clean-up each link and do the assembly. If yo'ure looking for something that's "easier" than indy links, this is probably not the route you should take. I prefer MK's for the other main advantage they provide in the form of workable tracks that are easier to position for sag and can be worked off the vehicle for painting and weathering prior to final installation. They always take more time to assemble though than you would spend on working with static indies for sure though. HTH!

Thanks Marc and Jose Luis, appreciate the comments!

More progress to report today. The tow cables were secured more firmly in place using small amounts of CA gel on the engine decks as well as the hull sides to insure a more "natural" look.

Weathering work began in earnest with the first step being an overall application of an MM enamel Raw Umber wash to the entire vehicle. This was followed up by a dot filter treatment using MM enamel Flat White, Panzer Dunkelgelb, and Raw Sienna. The dots were applied to small sections at a time then blended together until virtually gone using a square tip blender brush lightly moistened with clean thinner. It's a tedious process that took several hours all while wearing a breather mask to avoid heavy fume exposure to the thinner.

This will sit overnight so I can look at it with a fresh pair of eyes tomorrow and see if anything more needs to be done. In addition, a pin wash of Burnt Umber will get applied as well to bring out the details before it all gets sealed up and ready for the final leg of pigment treatment for the lower hull and tracks/running gear.

An absolute winner ... really nice step by step post

Bill, how did those Model Kasten tracks go together?  Were they easier to build than the standard indie link?  I hate that part of armor.  I've been scouring Ebay and hobby shops for the DS tracks.

Just 2 words for that.  Soup Herb!

Thanks Dave, have to agree with you about milestones. I have to be honest and say that this build has been the toughest for me to stay motivated on because of all the interruptions but I'm determined to get it across the finish line regardless.

Mike, nice "camo" Turkey and definitely not OD!

wbill76

Hope you didn't OD on Turkey yesterday.

Naaaaa......

Rounds Complete!!

It's good to see the line up and running again.  I love it when I get to the track portion of assembly..... it's kind of like a milestone in the build.

Cheers

Dave

Thanks Tony! Also went back over the tow cables and corrected some of the bowing seen in the pics with some carefully placed CA gel so they have a more natural look to how they lay against the casemate hull and the rear engine deck.

Andy, using MM non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal as my base paint is my normal method but I decided to give this route a shot as it might, if it works out the way I like, shorten the paint time since it would eliminate the need to primer with Flat Black then paint over again with the metalizer. So far the look is pretty consistent with my previous method but with one less step...will see how it looks with the pigment treatment before I will say for sure on whether this new method will replace the old.

Mike, always good to be back at the bench! Hope you didn't OD on Turkey yesterday.

Looking good my friend....nice to have you back at the bench

Rounds Complete!!

  I have to give it a shot... normally I use MM gunmetal as base paint.  Hope you feel better soon! 

Tracks look nice there buddy.

Tony Lee

Due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday, was able to get in a little more progress on this build. I've been fighting some sinus issues and that's made it tough to work on things that require a breather mask such as the heavily-thinner-involved weathering/filter steps but hopefully should be able to get to that tomorrow as it's the largest remaining task now to march this one on to completion.

As a result, this update is mostly about the details. I decided to go ahead and fit the tow cables so that they would blend in with the rest of the weathering, so they were painted up by hand and installed. I used MM non-buffing Metalizer for the cables over the steel wire and then lightly dry-brushed enamel Steel on the ends to show some use/wear. The collars were painted with the standard dunkelgelb mix I used for the base coat earlier on. The cables were installed into position with a small bit of CA gel used to secure the wires into their u-shaped retainers and the DML-provided cotter pins at the rear deck were glued in place with ordinary liquid glue.

I also painted and detailed the small track-changing cable and installed it into position on the right hull side rack. There's no way this could have been done with the kit-supplied wire without breaking things and the ship-rigging twine made things much easier. I still needed to use a pair of tweezers to thread it into position and used a small amount of liquid glue on the cable ends to insure they stayed put.

I also got around to painting the tracks. I tried something new this time around and airbrushed the MK track runs with MM enamel Burnt Umber. I followed this up by dry-brushing enamel Steel on the wear/contact points and then applied a thinned wash of enamel Raw Umber to mute/blend in the Steel a bit. Normally I would now install the tracks but given the prominence the tracks have on the JP suspension, I'm actually going to apply their pigment weathering and such first (also allowing greater access to the road wheels for their same process) and then install them.

Should have another update at the "usual" Sunday delivery point as well...maybe even finally get this one across the finish line depending!

Thanks Boyd! I've got the rest of this week off and fully intend to spend some quality time with this one in order to make up for the neglect over the last couple of weeks.

Bill

As usual, I've been lurking this one.  Just figured it was about time for me to chime in with the typical platitudes and praise.  This one is looking VERY nice.  Great job.

Oh NO!

Now Andy is gonna be heartbroken

no package from Bill.