#6 OLD Tamiya Panzer IV Ausf H WIP- COMPLETED!

Guys- Small update on my Panzer IV... detail painting in process and attached the wheels to the hull. 

 I ran into tracks issue and I hope you guys can help me out here. 

I used ModelKasten tracks (SK-17) and the instruction said to use 97 tracks on each side.  So I did 98 tracks during the assembly to start with.  BUT it wasn't long enough!  I had to add four more making it 102 tracks to fit each side.  Unfortunately I broke couple of links during 'cutting off the sprue' stage.  Now I am left with only four links to be used as spare tracks in the front...

It doesn't look that good and I'd hate to spend another $30 for more tracks from MK.  I was wondering if any of you have few tracks to spare... like 5 or 6 links?  Or is there a smaller set I can order?

HELP PLEASE!

Eric- Thanks!  Sorry about the slow response...

Hercmech- I am so glad you liked the subtle fade... thanks for dropping by!

Bill- Thanks buddy!  I am working on that part... detail painting.  I think I am going to need your help... look out for my next post in few minutes.

John- Brown County State Park was beautiful... enjoyed my stay there.  Hope they will have the conference there again next year...

Looks like you nailed it Andy! The camo looks great!

Yep, Brown County State Park isn't too far away. It's really beautiful there in the fall when the leaves on the trees start changing colors.

It all tied together very nicely Andy, now on to the detail stage to bring it to life!

Very nice. Love the subtle fade. Looking forward to seeing it all wrapped up.

I think it looks great Andy. I love the overhead view. All you need now is a really good weathering job to bring this boy home.

Bill- I am glad you liked the second attempt better.  I went for tan over spray this time... thanks for letting me know not to use green.  The camo will probably be toned down after I apply washes and MIG pigments too.

John- Always great hearing from you my Hoosier friend... guess where I am going for next three days?  Brown county state park where a conference will be held.  Not too far from you I bet...

Rob- Happy to have you back! Glad you liked the camo job... more to come! 

Guys- Here's update on my Panzer IV Ausf H... airbrushed the camo freehanded on the rest of the tank. Did touch up couple of times before I over sprayed heavily thinned tan paint all over to bring the camo together.  It really helped... thank you guys!

This is my favorite shot.... bird view of the panzer as you can see how camo scheme is breaking up its shape.  No way those wingy b@stards will be able to find me and my panzer! 

It is ready to do the next stage... detail painting and decals!   Thanks for looking and comments are always welcome...

WOW!  Have not been in the armor side in a while and this is what I've been missing!  Looks AWESOME, that is right on!!  Do more

Much better Andy! Can't wait to see it finished up!

Definitely an improvement Andy and much closer to the photo! I will echo the recommendation on a light dusting of the DY vs the Green...you don't want a green "mist" over the yellow as that will likely produce an unwanted contrast vs. actually blending the colors together. The DY mist will do double duty of creating a foundation of dirt/dust for later filters/washes as well and would be the way to go IMHO. Looking forward to the next evolution on this old girl!

Doog- Glad you liked... will do that next but first I need to paint the rest of the panzer.  Stay posted...  oh, did you finally try one of those Carolina BBQ if you can give up being a vegetarian just for a day?

Anthony- Thanks for stopping by... zimm part was fun which surprised me.  See you in Pz III GB soon?

Disastermaster- Only one smiley face?  I was expecting few.  Only kidding... again thanks for the compliment!  And I hope you are going to build something soon...

Manny- Nailed?  Thanks for making me feel better now.  I wasn't too sure earlier but know it will look better after filtering and weathering. 

Modeler #1- Same book... Vietnam Experience next to my iPad?  It was one of best Christmas gift from my parents.  WWII was only my interest when I was very young but later I studied Vietnam War history when I was in high school back in the 80's.  And I have huge respect for our Vietnam veterans...

Hercmech- Agree with you... I am thinking about doing hard edged camo using same method on one of my future builds but it has to be a late variant or something like that.  Maybe a Panther?   Thanks for stopping by!

Psstoff- Thank you for the comment.   More to come...

SPOT ON!

Love love the pattern

The camo came out much better the second time. Even for scale, the first attempt looked a little hard edged.

I think when the weathering and filters are done it will soften up your free hand even more and make it look spot on (no pun intended)

Looking awesome so far.

I have that same book deafpanzer

deafpanzer

Ernest- Yep, I thought I'd keep our friends here in Armor updated what I have been doing.  I am glad I did because I received a great deal of information such as incorrect camo scheme I picked... now I am feeling better so I can go back to our GB and finish my Panzer IV.

Bill-Yeah, lesson learned at my end and I will make sure to check with other references if available.  Safe to say that I am happy with my second attempt on the camo scheme.  As usual thank you so much for dropping by!

Guys- Like I said earlier I wasn't too happy with the result and somebody sent me the actual picture of the Panzer IV #505 in other forum.  Jeez, the artist's drawing wasn't even that close and I liked the real scheme. 

 

It showed how soft the camo edges were so I decided to follow this actual scheme.  Since the picture of #505 panzer showed that it has more dark green, I repainted the base coat using MM Dark Green after pre-shading job. 

 

With help of my new best friend... iPad sitting next to the airbrush booth I did my best to copy the scheme. 

 

Then I freehandedly airbrushed the Dunky spots...

 

 

 

 

 

This time I am pleased with the result but it is not over yet.  I will do a touch up job on the dark green area.   Then I am thinking about doing an over spray of heavily thinned dark green to make the camo blend better.  Or should I use Dunky instead?  

What do you think?  Thanks again for the comments and looking...

NAILED IT!

Whoa Andy, you're gettin' good at this.......

really nice job on the zimm,camo looks good also

Looks good with the came, although I would overspray with a very light DY--almost like "dust". That would be a better reflection of the natural weathering already evident in the photo.

You could also do a light gray filter. That would actually look pretty cool.

I'd overspray it with dunkelgelb, since that was the base coat at the time. Or you could go with washes.

Ernest- Yep, I thought I'd keep our friends here in Armor updated what I have been doing.  I am glad I did because I received a great deal of information such as incorrect camo scheme I picked... now I am feeling better so I can go back to our GB and finish my Panzer IV.

Bill-Yeah, lesson learned at my end and I will make sure to check with other references if available.  Safe to say that I am happy with my second attempt on the camo scheme.  As usual thank you so much for dropping by!

Guys- Like I said earlier I wasn't too happy with the result and somebody sent me the actual picture of the Panzer IV #505 in other forum.  Jeez, the artist's drawing wasn't even that close and I liked the real scheme. 

It showed how soft the camo edges were so I decided to follow this actual scheme.  Since the picture of #505 panzer showed that it has more dark green, I repainted the base coat using MM Dark Green after pre-shading job. 

With help of my new best friend... iPad sitting next to the airbrush booth I did my best to copy the scheme. 

Then I freehandedly airbrushed the Dunky spots...

This time I am pleased with the result but it is not over yet.  I will do a touch up job on the dark green area.   Then I am thinking about doing an over spray of heavily thinned dark green to make the camo blend better.  Or should I use Dunky instead?  

What do you think?  Thanks again for the comments and looking...

Andy, I just posted a comment in the Ostfront GB not realizing you had a thread going on over here!  Man, I can see why you want to redo the camo!  The actual camo shown in the photo IS quite different than the color plate!  Its a much softer camo pattern that looks more like yellow over a green base!  Even the number on the turret schurzen is a different size!!  I'm sure you're camo correction will be spot on!

So long as you're happy with the end result, that's what matters most Andy! I liked the way you approached the scheme with the template cut-outs using index cards in the first pass but can also see why you might want to re-paint from an accuracy standpoint. Color plates can often be subjective depending on the artist and what their source material was at the time they were created.

Eric- Thanks for the compliment.  I took another good look at my camo work and I have decided I will re-do.  You will understand why...

A guy in other forum posted this actual picture of Pz IV #505...

The actual camo scheme is not even close to the drawing by the artist.  Lesson learned not to rely on drawings. Anyway I really like the actual camo scheme shown in picture so I will give it another stab.  This time I will apply dark green as base coat on the skirts and airbrush Dunky spots.  It should be alot easier that way...

Clever way to attack the complex camo. I think it came out looking quite good. I think with some fading and weathering it will be great.

BaBill- Thanks for the compliment!  Hope you get to play better tomorrow... we can split $$$ if you win. 

Guys- Earlier Pat (shoot&scoot) noticed that the muzzle brake was cocked.  I am so glad he did because the brake would have fell off by itself.  When I was about to have it fixed, it just fell off. 

Now it has been fixed with CA... I have to spray Dunky over the muzzle brake again when I have the chance. 

I have decided to give my second top choice of camo scheme a go.  The edge was not hard or too soft...

Using this poster putty to hold the templates...it allows little space between the skirts and templates for softer edges.

It took a while to cut all templates... i used my boys index cards since they are much thicker and stronger.

Here's the result... you will notice the spots where putty were to hold the templates.

Tomorrow I will touch up the Dunky to hide putty spots and see how it looks.  What do you think?  I only want honest answers...   I am not too sure if I like this. 

Maybe I should re-do and cut templates using straighter lines instead of doing curvy templates? 

Hi Andy,,,  thanks for the movie review,,, sounds good,,  Also, the Pz IV also looks good / great...  Thanks for sharing,,  excellent work!

PS,,,,  my partner and I are doing terrible in the tourney...   we both played good yesterday. Today (3 sets of nine),, we did ok in the first 9,,,  a little worse in the second 9,, and totally sukked in the last 9. Dayum !,,,, in the last 7 years we've won our flight (a few times), sweeps, ringer, and in 2008 won the whole damnnn thing (most points).       Since then,, we've been stinking it up pretty bad. If we win both matches tomorrow we may have a chance to come into the money, (so to speak).

I'll hit you up later this week on the GB we discussed..........

Have a good weekend!!!

Gamera- I have to agree with you... Panthers has always been my favorite but now I am leaning toward to Panzer IVs.  Thanks for the compliment!

Hercmech- Thought you guys could enjoy going down the memory lane when I posted pictures of my old build.  Wondering how our builds will look like 20 years later...

Bill- Glad you liked my work so far.  Gave you the credit for the Dunky formula I used...

Actually I am doing it for Ostfront GB and not everybody goes there so I posted my latest work here yesterday for you Armor guys to share comments & feedback.  I am so glad I did because I had the wrong camo scheme planned until Manny's input so I am in a hunt for different scheme or going for the second choice.  Looks like I owe Manny one of my girlfriends now...

Stay posted guys...

Andy, don't know how this one slipped by me but really like what you've done with it zim and all!

As for the zim question on the DML J kit, it represents an Aug-Sept '44 production vehicle which is right when they stopped applying zim so you could go either way on it IMHO and be accurate.

Manstein's revenge

This is my old Tamiya J done in a Normandy scheme as part of Panzer Lehr---a well documented vehicle...

Needs more rust..........

That being said, nice little dio Herr Field Marshall.

Andy,

Looking great, I love the Zimm you put on. I also like the old kit you showed and the way it compares with your new work. I found a stash of built kits I did back when I was in my young teens and I thought they looked great then, but compared to now there really is no comparison and my "now" skills are not even in the same legue as yours. Funn to see how we improve.

Again thanks for showing this kit and the tips on the Zimm!