Thanks Ernest! Now you no longer have any excuse for yours. Get cracking mister!

Sorry to be so late responding to the completed thread Bill!  Gotta say this is another BEAUTY!!  The markings came out perfect and the camo scheme and weathering are fantastic! 

Now that your Neubau is done I guess I better get cracking on the WIP blog of my Dragon Neubau....

f8sader

I'll admit, I had to check out this post just to see what a Neubau-Fahrzeug Nr. 3-5 was!  I'm glad I did as that is a very good finish; nice work!

Glad you stopped in! Thanks for the comments.

I'll admit, I had to check out this post just to see what a Neubau-Fahrzeug Nr. 3-5 was!  I'm glad I did as that is a very good finish; nice work!

Karl

Gamera

Another great job there Bill! My hat's off to you for taking dull panzer grey and making it look great! Love the mud and weathering.  

Bill,

A top-shelf job on this one, honestly. Great weathering and staining, etc. It looks PERFECTLY dusty an all "muted-toney".

Really a slammer!

Mike

Good to see this one done Bill it turned out great like always

Very nice.....another Bill masterpiece. Real Life is taking chunks out of our bench time. I know exactly how you feel. It feels like I work twice the hours I did 5 years ago. Hopefully the next one will go a bit faster!!

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks Glenn!

Bish

Bill, a pleasure as always, watching one of your builds, and always something to learn.

Its a real beaut.

wonderful job, the weathering is right on.

Glenn

Wayne

Sharp as a tack Bill! Wonderful work!!

Nice Bill,the dust effect is very good

Very good work!!

Terry

hi bill

sweet build . i have the cyberhobby one from a few years ago in the bunker "i really want to build this" stash. the weathering is just the right amount, gives it character but isn't overdone. very hard to master the when to stop part.

i have a JGPZ-IV and an LVT(A)-4 base coated. i will be practicing my tri color camo this week, tape for one and silly putty for the other and, if all goes well, i will have 2 builds to use at my weathering demo class for my wood ship club on saturday. i intend to revisit this page and show your technique.

Thanks Johan and David appreciate the comments!

Well done, very nice Bill.

!

Very Best Regards

Johan

After a few tweaks and adjustments, this one was off to the photo booth for its final walk-around shots.

With tomorrow being Mother's Day and all, this week's update takes place on a Saturday as a result!

Lots of great progress to report, the build is 99% complete. I picked up from the last round by applying a dull coat using MM Lusterless Flat in the spray can.

After that had dried, it was on to the pigment weathering. I selected Mig Dry Mud to produce the dusty effects as seen in the reference photo posted earlier in the build. This was applied as a wet mixture using ordinary tap water with a drop of liquid dish washing soap added to break the surface tension. It's applied liberally using a sable brush to get it into all the various nooks and crannies.

The wet mix is allowed to air dry and then the removal process begins. The first step is remove excess pigment using a round stiff bristle brush. I wear a dust mask during this process as inhaling the fine pigment powder is not a good idea. After the round brush, I use a series of smaller square and rectangular stiff bristle brushes to get into the harder to reach places and remove excess where necessary.

Next more of the pigment is removed/adjusted using dry cotton swabs. A pair of tweezers is kept handy to remove any snagged fibers that get loose from the swab in the process.

Because of the large hull sides on this vehicle, I wanted to show some dust streaking effects with the pigments. This was accomplished by using a water-dampened large sable brush and drawing the brush downward to pull the pigments into streak lines.

Last but not least, the final details were added for the large head lamp on the hull front in terms of the kit-provided clear lens. The smaller lights on the hull sides under the main turret received some 'lenses' of their own courtesy of small amounts of Testors Window-Maker glue added with a toothpick.

I also took a set of walk-around photos to see if there's anything amiss for final adjustment. Will check tomorrow to see if I need to tweak anything before declaring this one 'done'.

Karl

Rodolfo

Great build my friend!

Regards!
Rodolfo

Nice progress, no matter how small, Bill. Keep plugging away! I know the feeling--it takes me months to finish something sometimes when I"m in a touring cycle. Just don't lose momentum--that's the important thing!

Only a modest amount of progress to report in this session as bench time has been precious the past week. Still moving forward though and that's what counts! This round of effort dealt with applying a pin wash of MM enamel Burnt Umber to provide some depth to the raised details and add another layer to the finish. I used a small pointed brush to apply the wash and after it was dry, used the same brush and some clean thinner to make minor adjustments here and there.

Next up will be the pigment weathering for the lower hull and track runs.

Thanks Terry! Been a long few months but almost across the finish line with this one!

Wow. We've waited along time for this project to mature and it certainly has even worth the wait . Super work Bill.

Terry.

Hi Bill,

Great link earlier, thank you.

This is excellent.
And you make it look so easy.
Keeps me coming back to this forum.

Thank you for sharing, please keep the good stuff coming:)

Very Best Regards

Johan.

Eric (Jester)

Great work as always Bill. Sorry to chime in so late.

Man Bill, I don't think I have ever seen this two tone scheme as well done as you pull it off. The two colors blend together so well and if I remember correctly you've done black and whites of your builds and it looks just like the real deal. Awesome work as usual!

Bish

Looking good Bill.I this uis the first time i have seen enamels used for weathering like this. I like the effects. I am guessing that if you doing doing a 3 tone scheme, you would use colours more like the 3 camo colours.

Thanks Bish! I use enamels for my dot filters and washes on a regular basis, glad you like the results! For a three-tone scheme I would use totally different colors. Typically start with a wash of Raw Umber and then apply various colors over that depending on how large the color patches are on the camo and what effects I'm trying to produce.

Looking good Bill.I this uis the first time i have seen enamels used for weathering like this. I like the effects. I am guessing that if you doing doing a 3 tone scheme, you would use colours more like the 3 camo colours.

While I had a lot of fun at the AMPS show in Atlanta last weekend, the Neubau needed some more attention to keep it on track and not feel so lonely. I started in on the weathering stages but with a dark vehicle the process is a little different. Normally the weathering will darken a finish but as dark as the gray/brown scheme is already dark colors, in this case the weathering lightens it. My goal is to create a dusty look to this big machine, so I started by applying an overall wash of thinned MM enamel Raw Sienna with a large #1 round sable brush. It doesn't have to be neat/even at this stage because of the stages to follow. I also applied the wash more heavily to the fenders and lower sides to provide a sort of demarcation between areas that would get different degrees of dirt/dust exposure.

The Raw Sienna makes for a great foundation to apply dot filters over. The wash isn't sealed as it's not intended to remain as a separate layer but rather as an easier way to apply an 'earth tone' color that will be incorporated with the dot filters. I used MM enamel Panzer Schwarzgrau and Light Gray as my filter color choices. Small dots were applied with spotter brushes and then a square blender brush lightly dampened with thinner was used to blend away the dots and create a streaking/filter effect using repeated strokes in the direction I wanted the streaking to flow.

Here's the turret in the process of getting filters applied:

And how it looks after the filters are done:

This process was applied to the entire vehicle working small sections at a time. Because the enamel dots will dry much faster than oils, it's important to work small areas at a time but the advantage is that the faster drying time allows for a lot of progress in a relatively short space of time.

My experiment with the turret numbers also paid off handsomely. No issues whatsoever with the different layers playing nicely with each other during these weathering phases.

Next up will be a pin wash treatment to bring out some of the details and then on to the pigments!

Terry

Jester75

That is an interesting tidbit Bill! I love how it turned out on the model, looks great!

That is an interesting tidbit Bill! I love how it turned out on the model, looks great!

Great work Bill, it's been slow but worth it, to see this fascinating vehicle come to life.

Terry.

Ernest

 Wow, I've put out so many compliments on professional model results here on this site...  I wish I could come up with something new and original.

How about "well built and well done", also very well planned out in the tracking strategy.

Now that looks awesome!!

I have the 1/72 little brothers of these in my stash. Seeing your build progress to completion makes me want to get them out and start building!

Huh!  I never noticed that before about #10 Neubau!  Great attention to detail Bill and I love how you overcame the painted over markings situation!  Good stuff!  Looking forward the weathering of this steel beast!  Have fun at AMPS and with all the attending forum members!

One of the most interesting things about the Neubaus in my opinion is not just their rarity but their individuality. #10 has a special case of individuality and the kit provides for this with the decal markings. As you can see in the reference photo below (posted for discussion purposes only), the markings on this vehicle underwent different transformations depending on when in 1940 it is depicted. This particular photo is sometime after the end of April 1940 and includes what appears to be a crew-memorial dated 25.4.40 on the right rear turret. The #10 insignia have also been painted over but are still clearly visible on both the turret sides and rear.

The Dragon finishing guide provides for this but with the added twist that the decal markings are all in white...no panzer gray numbers are provided. So to recreate this particular look, some extra creativity is called for. I started by sealing the previous paint work with a coat of Future acrylic floor polish by airbrush and let that thoroughly dry before adding the markings. The vehicle doesn't have a lot of markings, but most are large/prominent. These were all applied using Walther's Solvaset to get them to snug down tight to the surface. The left side turret number had to be carefully cut at the top of the 0 to allow it to fit over the lifting eye but all the others fit perfectly.

Once the decals were set, they were sealed with another coat of Future by airbrush. Then the fun part began. Working with a fine detail brush and the lightened 80/20 Panzer Gray/Light Gray mix I'd sprayed earlier to create highlights, I hand painted over the white turret numbers. After the paint was dry, I added the three 'R' markings along with the Feldwebel Faulhaber memorial decal again using Solvaset. Once they were set, a final coat of Future sealed them all up and created a uniform surface for the weathering to come. 

Next weekend I will be at the AMPS show in Atlanta so this one may not get an update for a couple of weeks as a result, but the next step will be to start in on the weathering.

Thanks Anthony! Loved the look you got with that E-10, glad to hear the track method worked for you.

moving along nicely Bill,I used your track method on my E-10 and i loved the look

Glad you stopped by Ernest! I had to put the build on hold for a while but now it's back on a regular schedule. Hopefully I can finish it up here in the next couple of weeks depending on how things go. Look forward to seeing yours when the time comes!

I totally forgot about your Neubau-Fahrzeug build log Bill!   I have to say its looking mighty fine and serves as an inspiration when I start working on mine. 

Johan

Russ

Spiffy neat, Bill. I always admire the attention to detail in your builds.

How dirty are you going to make it?

Hi Bill,

as allways there is so much to learn in your blog.

I will adopt to the track trick instantly.

Did you do a similar grey/brown scheme before?

The pictures in this thread are very convincing and I would like to try this on a mark II or 38?

VBR

JT

Thanks Karl! It's a fun little oddball project to work on. While an evolutionary dead-end in German design, it's still fascinating IMHO.

Awesome work, Bill. The camo looks perfect.

Really nice to see something different here. Those tools look superb too! I like how you photographed them all laid out impeccably!

Latest round of effort focused on the details for the fenders. The Neubau has a lot of fender space for tools and such but doesn't use the 'normal' type of clamps for them, so I stayed with the kit-supplied clamps and made minor modifications in thinning a couple of the molded-on handles to be more in-scale. Reference pics showed that the crews added two sets of spare tracks to the right hand fender so I used some spare PE brass strip and some Lion Roar hex nuts to create some simple mounts along with two runs of 4 links from the left-over kit supplied tracks. I used a #76 finger drill to open up the pin holes on the first and last link for each spare run for added detail. Last but not least, using the same finger drill, I also opened up the threaded ends on the gun-cleaning rods and used a short length of white rod styrene to simulate the 'male' end of the rod with the cleaning swab.

All the tools were painted using various colors. Metal portions were base coated with MM non-buffing metalizer Gunmetal and lightly dry-brushed with MM Steel. Wood portions were given a base coat of 50/50 MM Dunkelgelb/Light Gray followed by a wash of MM Leather and then dusted with Burnt Umber artist pastels. For the mufflers, I applied a base coat of metalizer Gunmetal, followed by a wash of MM Leather, then stippled MM Rust to create a random pattern. This was followed up with some dry-brushed MM enamel Burnt Umber to blend things back together a bit and tone down the Rust.

Then the tools were installed in place on the vehicle. It's worth noting that the small MG turrets need to be in place before doing this as the front turret in particular can't clear the track tensioning wrench once it's installed. The rear turret also has clearance issues with the jack mount but can still rotate enough in the opposite direction to allow it to be removed. The turret MGs were painted and detailed in the same fashion as the metal tools and glued into place in their respective mounts.

I also used the available time to add some subtle variation to the Schokoladenbraun camo pattern applied last time around. I used MM Italian Dark Brown via airbrush to create some slight lightening and shadows here and there as further prep for the weathering work to come.

Although not shown clearly in the above photos, I also used some regular enamel Silver to paint the interior faces of the small side lights and the large front headlight. Tamiya Clear Red was used for the rear brake light as well to round things out in the detail department.

Next up will be sealing everything and applying the markings.

wbill76

the doog

Bish

She is looking very nice. I still don't get how you guys can paint the tracks like that.

lol, I was going to say the same thing---I read your response, Bill! I was like, "BIll painting his tracks on the model?!?!?! What have I missed here?!?!"!

It IS a wicked-looking tank, and the camo looks great!

 

Thanks Karl! But to be fair, I can't claim credit for painting them on the vehicle. The tracks were painted in sections off the vehicle after they had set up and then reinstalled once painted. Each track run was left in 4 pieces so I could remove them. I'm not that good!

 Nice tip, not sure i wouyld have tought of that, will have to make a note of it.

the doog

Bish

She is looking very nice. I still don't get how you guys can paint the tracks like that.

lol, I was going to say the same thing---I read your response, Bill! I was like, "BIll painting his tracks on the model?!?!?! What have I missed here?!?!"!

It IS a wicked-looking tank, and the camo looks great!

Thanks Karl! But to be fair, I can't claim credit for painting them on the vehicle. The tracks were painted in sections off the vehicle after they had set up and then reinstalled once painted. Each track run was left in 4 pieces so I could remove them. I'm not that good!

Bish

She is looking very nice. I still don't get how you guys can paint the tracks like that.

It IS a wicked-looking tank, and the camo looks great!

Bish

thanks Russ much appreciated!

Neat work, Bill.

She is looking very nice. I still don't get how you guys can paint the tracks like that.

Thanks Eric! Can't argue with you there...definitely a 'unique' look to this multi-turret beast!

Wbill, the master of the two tone panzer grey scheme. Looks really nice in those colors! Such an interesting looking vehicle too.

Lots of progress to report so we'll get right to it. First order of business was to install the fenders. I used a combination of regular glue on the tab slots and liquid glue along the edges to get a good and level join. I also reinstalled the little side hull lights that had gotten knocked off earlier. While not visible in the photo, I took advantage of that opportunity to drill out their solid faces with a pin vise to allow for greater detail later on.

Prior to painting, I masked off the lower hull and tracks using a combination of thin strips of sheet styrene inserted under the fenders and blue painter's tape. Primer coat of Italian Dark Brown was applied by airbrush as the foundation. Three cardboard tubes and painter's tape created handles so I could easily paint the three turrets.

Base coat of MM Panzer Schwarzgrau came next.

Base coat highlights were added using an 80/20 mix of Schwarzgrau and Light Gray. Highlights were applied semi-randomly but with the main intent of creating a post-shade effect.

Then came the fun part, applying the disruptive camo pattern suitable for a vehicle in Norway in 1940. I used MM enamel Schokoladenbraun and applied the pattern free-hand.

Paint will get the chance to cure thoroughly over the course of the next week and attention will shift to the remaining equipment and fender details.

Thanks Eric! The complexity of the vehicle design presents some challenges but nothing that a little thinking ahead and lots of test-fitting can't handle.

Looks like a challenging build but your breezing right through it Bill. Your method always turns out some really good and realistic looking tracks.

The track saga continues with some more progress to report. After letting the 4 runs per side thoroughly set up for at least 24 hours, I carefully removed them from the suspension for painting. Since the two sides are not identical, it was essential to avoid any mix-ups between them, so I used an old MK track box with a divider and handy post-it note labels to keep things separate. I airbrushed a base coat of MM Burnt Umber as the foundation and let that cure for 24 hours before moving on to the next phase.

The track runs were further detailed by dry-brushing MM enamel Steel with a large round 0 sable brush followed by a light wash of MM enamel Raw Umber to tone down the Steel and tie things together. Once the wash had dried, the track runs were knitted together on both sides and installed.

Next up will be adding the fenders and continuing the paint work for the top side.

Work continued in the latest session on the lower hull and suspension. The design on this vehicle is a bit tricky and Dragon used a modular approach with a separate plate for the trucks to install to with the plate installing into the hull sponsons. The real challenge in this approach is getting all 10 wheels lined up correctly on either side by trapping them between the truck mounts. I made an attempt to leave the wheels able to rotate but found it necessary to glue them in place on their mount pins as the truck halves didn't have enough natural tension to keep them from popping out otherwise. Both sides were assembled and allowed to dry thoroughly before proceeding.

As already mentioned, the suspension on this vehicle is a complex design. After studying things for a bit, I determined the best route was to install the front idlers, tension wheels, and support plates first to ensure I had a straight alignment between them, the drive sprockets, and the return rollers that would install along the top run. The return rollers are similar to the road wheel trucks in that they trap the roller between two mount halves. The installation of the roller mounts into the sponsons must be precise as all four have to align perfectly for the track runs to come. Dragon molded a small step on either side of the sponson openings to help with the positioning and the fit tolerance here is tight. It was necessary to scrape paint with a needle file to get the right fit and the position of the outer half of the mount is the key since it has a small stop in its base to prevent it from sliding in too far on the position step.  After I had installed the rollers on both sides, some light touch-up with the panzer gray used earlier tied everything together. I also took the opportunity to create the sprocket teeth wear using some MM non-buffing Metalizer Steel and dry-brushed enamel Burnt Umber since this is the last time it would be easily accessible.

The next step was to assemble the track runs and test them for fit and sag. The instructions call for 124 links per side and that worked out perfectly for the right side but the left needed 1 more link to get things in shape. Each track side consists of 4 parts of 30-35 links that can be separated for painting and weathering off the vehicle. The runs will be allowed to set up thoroughly for 24 hours before moving on to the next phase.

Thanks Terry! For a moment I had to just sit at the bench and reorient myself as to where everything was, it had been that long!

Glad to see you got back to the bench Bill.

Thanks Tony, much obliged!

Way to go Bill

And Paint too

Tony lee

Bish

Best I can say Bill is that I'm vicariously enjoying your return to the bench---I know how good that feels. I'll be luxuriating in the glow myself in a few days when I'm back from the Urals. Let's hope that Aeroflot maintains their plane fleet with competence!

Looking fine, buddy!

Welcome back Bill,lotsa wheels there !!

I was wondering when you was going to get back on this. Glad to see you had some time to get back to the bench.

Glad to see this back bill.

Life has a way of getting in the way at times in terms of building models but for the first time in a long time I was able to get back to the bench and make some much-needed progress on this build.

I had done all the major construction with the initial plan of painting everything and then adding the suspension, tracks, and fenders but I decided to go a slightly different route instead. After looking at how the fenders install, I'm going to put in the suspension and tracks and then add the fenders and do the paint work for the vehicle in two stages. The first stage involves the lower hull, so I masked off the glue-line for the fenders so they will have a clean surface to mate up with for installation. I used MM Italian Dark Brown to lay down a primer coat by airbrush.

After primer, the base coat of MM enamel Panzer Schwarzgrau was applied by airbrush. One of the little side lights came off in the process, will add that back later on when it has less of a chance of getting knocked off again. The little sponson extensions that trap the idler were held in place with blue-tack and have not yet been glued in position. Camo pattern and some post-shading on the panzer gray will be done later when the rest of the hull is painted.

At the same time as I worked on the hull, I did all of the suspension components as well including the numerous road wheels. They were primered just like the hull and I airbrushed MM enamel Gunmetal for the rubber portions. Using a draftsman's circle template, the hubs were airbrushed with the Schwarzgrau to round things out.

Next up will be the fun of putting all the suspension components together and making sure it all sits level before tackling the tracks.

Tread

Ernest

I don't care who plays or wins the Super Bowl.....I'd still rather watch Bill work on those Neu tracks!!

BTW, I think I remember why I got the Friul tracks.   I was basing the construction on the CyberHobby release of the Neubaufahrzeug, which I believe was an earlier mild steel version.  There is a brace on the front of the suspenson that runs from the front fender to the top of the sponson (see pic). 

That little brace was enough to dissuade me from using the kit tracks!  However I don't see the same brace on this kit.  ??

Heya Bill and Tony 

A little off topic , but I wish the 49ers good luck this weekend... it was one heck of a game against Seattle, I think after a gaff like Pete Carroll pulled he ought to get fired, but I was rooting for the Niners all the way. Fate and great gameplay were on the Niners side. Just when you thought it was over Carroll mis-timed his interuptive time out on the Niners kicker and gave them their destiny.  We shall see if they can follow through.

I just want anybody BESIDES New England !

Tony, your build is looking terrific and Bill I need an update.. ( I know you are very busy and need to pre paint some parts.. just bustin stones   )

see you later

tread 

I hope you're right Tony! The Harbaugh brothers are both right where they were this time last year...will be interesting to see how the next chapter unfolds.

They should go all the way Bill.

That Sea Hawk coach sure did blow it for the team.

Tony lee

Plasticsurgeon

Ernest

wbill76

My plan of attack with the tracks is to assemble them as runs (top and bottom) and paint off the vehicle then install after the suspension is in place. It's the main reason that I haven't been able to make any recent progress as I need a large block of time available to get the hull painting out of the way prior to getting the suspension in place.

 

The NFL season has unexpectedly ended!!!  For some reason all the teams have decided to go home and watch Bill assemble the Neubaufahrzeug indy track links on the suspension, paint them and reinstall them.  Now THAT'S worth watching!!

Something like that Mike! Although the real culprits are NFL playoffs and having to read 6 chapters for my Marketing class.

This weeks update canceled due to PITA tracks!!

Rounds Complete!!

bufflehead

Bish

Ernest, i hope your still going to do a WiP on this kit.

Not intending to hijack Bill's thread, but yes I will be doing a WIP on my kit.  Actually the kit was a gift from my coworkers and I promised them I'd do the WIP so they can follow the progress.  The only difference is I'm going to use some Friul metal tracks that I bought last year....the reason escapes me now why I'm not using the kit tracks!! 

I am looking forward to see how Bill is going to do the tracks.  On most of the WIPs I've seen on this kit, the tracks are added during assembly and painted while on the suspension.

I got a GB running that this would fit into nicely.

A lot of guys seem to add the tracks before painting. I prefer to paint them off the vehcile and add them at the end. I just don't get how those guys do it.

My plan of attack with the tracks is to assemble them as runs (top and bottom) and paint off the vehicle then install after the suspension is in place. It's the main reason that I haven't been able to make any recent progress as I need a large block of time available to get the hull painting out of the way prior to getting the suspension in place.

Bish

Ernest, i hope your still going to do a WiP on this kit.

Not intending to hijack Bill's thread, but yes I will be doing a WIP on my kit.  Actually the kit was a gift from my coworkers and I promised them I'd do the WIP so they can follow the progress.  The only difference is I'm going to use some Friul metal tracks that I bought last year....the reason escapes me now why I'm not using the kit tracks!! 

I am looking forward to see how Bill is going to do the tracks.  On most of the WIPs I've seen on this kit, the tracks are added during assembly and painted while on the suspension.

It also provides some nice inspiration for the weathering later on once the tracks and suspension are installed...but I don't want to get too carried away just yet!

Nice to hear your feeling better Bill. Thats a really good photo, it shows off the two tone scheme very well, somthign that most photo's don't seem to do.

Ernest, i hope your still going to do a WiP on this kit.

Thanks Karl! Tracks are always a necessary evil and this beast has more than the usual share because of the hull size for sure! I was lucky in that it was only a cold and not the flu, my wife teaches elementary school music (aka the germ factory!) so I ALWAYS get a flu shot every year...even if the mix isn't all that much changed from the previous year.

This particular build has slowed down a little due to the NFL playoffs and of course the resumption of my MBA classes...sure will be glad when they are done at the end of March, almost there!

Bill, you are the KING of Brown/Grey schemes! lol! This one should be no different!

Shame about those annoying track clean ups!

Glad to hear you're feeling better too--I go slammed with the flu over the Holidays too, and am just coming back from it. It seemed like a nasty one this year. I couldn't stop coughing.

Have to agree with you there Ernest but that much quality steel just couldn't be left sitting with the war effort going on I guess.

Well, that's a photo I've not seen before!  Thanks Bill!  It does show the two-tone pretty well.  That's how I'll do mine.  I figured they would be repainted after 1940, but I didn't know what happened to them after Norway.  Too bad they were scrapped....they would have been awesome in a museum!

Hey there Ernest! Good to hear from you and sorry I stole your thunder! The Neubau's in Norway were pretty well photo-documented and there are some great shots that show them parked in a field with excellent lighting that shows the two-tone paint scheme very well. See below (it's also the basis for some of the markings options DML provides), but yes, to answer your question, I will do it in the grey/brown two-tone scheme when I get to the paint stage. Later on when they were brought back to Germany they were repainted solid grey but never saw any additional combat before they were scrapped.  

Dang Bill, you beat me to it!  I received this same kit last year for Xmas and was planning on doing a Blog here sometime this year!!  Oh well, its still great to see you're doing one and I always learn something from your great Blog posts!  Sorry to hear that you've been under the weather, hope you get well soon and back to the bench.  None of my NFL teams did well this year , but I guess that means I can spend more weekend time at the bench!!

Are you planning on painting this in a two-tone scheme?  Most of the recent builds on this AFV depict it in gray/brown, but I've been wondering if these weren't repainted in overall panzer gray before being deployed.

Dave,

That's true! I am feeling much better, thanks! The NFL playoffs are stealing my benchtime for this and the next weekend so there will be a slight pause in the build as a result! :)

Bill - fun way to spend the Holidays! LOL. Hope you are feeling better. You could have indy tracks for that bad boy, but they are Friuls (ATL-119) and would likely double the cost of your build... 

Thanks rodolfo!

Blitzwing

It's times like this when I am grateful to find Dragon kits that come with magic tracks.

Yeah, cleaning the tracks is very tedious, but the final results is a great recompense! .   Attentive to your progress my friend

Regards!
Rodolfo

Thanks Terry!

tread

Happy New Year ,Bill 

Hope you feel better soon.  I was just thinking what a lot of work to to clean up three sprue points on each link. .....  and I was looking at the M/K tracks you sent me.....guess I will find out soon enough ! LOL

Football was great Sunday..the Packers/Viking game was great...feel bad for Dallas and Tony Romo[00ps]

tread[H]

Right, i knew they looked familier, wrong tank. I thought it odd that such a big vehicle would have Pz I links.

Mike

Bish

They look similar to Pz I link. Are they the same size.

Ahhh yes....armor model knitting....at least you made progress. Hope you feel better

Rounds Complete!!

One of the downsides of the holiday season is that it's also cold season! I've been sidelined with a cold the last few days and that ruled out any possibility of painting, so I made use of the available time to take care of one of the less-glamorous-but-necessary tasks...cleaning up the tracks for this beast.

The kit supplies the individual links on sprues of 40 links with three attachment points per link.

The instructions call for 124 links per side so I removed and cleaned up a total of 250 links just to have a couple handy when the time comes to assemble the track runs. The links aren't handed so I only separated them into two bags in terms of the split of links necessary for each run.

Doing this kind of thing while listening or watching a football game makes the repetition less onerous...and I'm glad to have it out of the way! Hopefully next weekend will afford some time to get things back on track for the paintwork that needs to happen for the build to progress.

Thanks Rodolfo! A severe cold has set me back the last couple of days so have been unable to paint...that time of year I guess, hard to avoid the 'bugs' that circulate especially since my wife teaches at an elementary school.

Excellent advance my friend.  The detail of the kit looks great!

Regards!
Rodolfo

Thanks Joe! Glad to have you along for the ride.

I like your models Bill. They're dirty and dusty and not beat all to hell. I can't wait to see this one finished.

Tread

Terry

Clay

well Bill AWESOME work as always. and Marry Chirtmas to you and your's. i look in from time to time here, too tired after Chemo but still working on my Shermans anyway Q. on the twin MG turrets can they be opened? i'd like to build one of these tanks with figures out the twin MG turrets

Clay

Great work Bill. And ye, can deffinatly see the relation to Pz I turrets.

Nice update ,Bill  .....

and a very Merry Christmas to you and yours !

The fine detail on the main turret is very nice looking. I sure wonder what was going through the heads of tank designers of many countries when they came up with these complex , multi-turret ' land ships' . 

A very interesting build !

tread[H]

A special Merry Christmas update is in order for this project considering it is, after all, a Christmas present build! :)

Continuing on with the turrets, Step 11 addresses the twin MG turrets that are cousins of the type seen on the Pz I. I had no desire to display any of the view flaps in the open position so skipped the use of the interior parts and installed them all in the closed position. Curiously DML provides clear armored glass inserts for only the flat side flaps and not the curved flaps...for whatever reason, the curved flaps get an ordinary gray styrene insert. I opted for the hexagonal style of lifting hooks, parts D52, as those are the type commonly seen in the Nr. 3-5 vehicles based on the available reference photos. The MG13s were left off for now and will be installed later after painting. With care during assembly by avoiding getting any glue on part D16, the mantlets can be left movable although their range of movement/positioning is restricted by the turret design.

Step 12 begins work on the large main turret and attaches the base of the turret to the top, adds the side hatches, and installs the commander's cupola. The side hatches here also receive ordinary gray styrene vision blocks instead of clear parts and without any kind of interior provided, there's not much point to posing the doors open unless you're going to stuff a figure in there...so mine were closed up. The commander's cupola assembles as a 'stack' of multiple parts and some putty was needed to fill the gap between the cupola and the signal flag port extension that attaches to it.

Step 13 adds a lot of delicate detail to the turret side so I bypassed it momentarily to work on Step 14 which assembles and adds the side-by-side main armament. The smaller 3.7cm antitank gun barrel was drilled out slightly to give the barrel a more in-scale diameter and thickness for the muzzle opening. The two guns are paired up in the mantlet as halves, so the resulting join seam needed to be carefully sanded away to create a seamless part. The base of the mantlet is a separate part and shouldn't have a gap, so some Squadron Green putty thinned with liquid glue was used to correct that issue. While the instructions don't indicate it, if you're careful with the assembly and get the alignment of the mantlet base plate and the swivel hub that attaches to it (part B4) correct, it will 'trap' the part sufficiently to allow the main armament to elevate and hold it's position.

Returning to Step 13, I added the lifting eyes, the antenna and holding tray, and the turret hatch latches. Two different styles of latch are offered and parts B45/44 are the correct style for Nr. 3-5 so those were installed accordingly.

Last but not least, Step 15 adds the turrets to the hull so a sample shot of them in place was called for!

That concludes all the major construction so paint work will be up next!

Bish is correct. None of the Neubau's survived the war...so all that exists are the photos and plans of their construction as the basis for the models. I suspect that's a big part of the reason that DML chose not to provide any interior details on the turrets or engine compartments of this beast!

From what i can gather, those that survived were scrapped in 1942. I believe a Museum in Norway does have some small parts.

This is a real interesting subject. Any of them survive to make it  into a museum or collection?

After studying the rest of the hull construction steps and wanting to avoid having to do multiple paint-work sessions, I decided to go ahead and install as much as possible on the hull first before starting to paint.

So of course that lead me to continue on from the last update and add the details from Step 5. This includes all the driver's area hatches and the left side hull hatches as well as the front headlight. The option is given to pose it raised or lowered and since the kit provides a clear lens, I opted to pose it raised. The grab handle for the driver's hood hatch needed a little bit of putty help as the holes provided are slightly larger than the handle bases. The track installation called for in this step was skipped for now.

Steps 6-8 deal with the fenders and also adds details to the right hull side that more or less mirror what was already on on the left hull side. One little difference is the need to drill out a hole in the turret ring base to take the 2nd width indicator light, this is a little tricky as you have to guesstimate where the hole should go and you should NOT drill the hole all the way through the hull in order for the light to sit at the right depth to match the other side. I used a #76 finger drill for that purpose.

I cleaned up the fenders and did a test fit with some poster putty to see how they would sit and whether or not I could add the front mud flaps or not and still be able to install them over the tracks and idlers when those are added. The answer to that is no, so the front flaps had to be kept off for now. The fender tools and details will get added later after painting.

I went ahead and assembled the main twin muffler/exhausts for the right fender side. The exhaust ends only have depressions to represent their openings so I drilled them out to give them more depth. I also added the curved extension pipe that connects into the engine deck, the fit here needs to be precise to avoid issues with the fender and exhaust sitting correctly, so the dry-fit with the fender helped ensure that occurred. The full exhaust is removable for easier painting and detailing off the fender as a result.

Step 9 deals only with the front mud flaps. Those were assembled and set off to the side for separate painting.

Completing things for the hull is Step 10 which adds the details to the rear engine deck. I opted for the styrene air intake grill slats as the PE option was pretty fragile to work with and didn't offer much of a gain in the looks department. It's also worth noting that the diagram shows the grills (both the styrene and PE option) installing upside down, so be careful to get the orientation right prior to committing to glue on that part.

Next up will be working on the turrets.

There seems to be a few on there, so hopefully shouldn't have a problem. And i know the feeling. I was rather pleased when i saw this released.

Hope you're successful Bish! I've always had a soft spot for the pre-war/early-war tank designs myself and never ever thought I'd see the Neubau done in styrene...nevermind by three different kit makers!

Thanks Dave, i will check it out. It will depend on the postage and if i get slapped by customs as to if its worth getting it from overseas.

Thanks for the explanation Bill. I don't think I would have ever realized the difference without a lot more research...

Bish, if your looking for the Dragon version, I saw that Dragon USA has it in stock for $40 (usually $65)...

I have just seen the white box CH kit on Hannants. I didn't realise it was the earlier one and was a bit confused. I think i will deffinatly get one of these Dragon ones. There seem to be a few on E-bay still.

Guilty as charged Mike! Have to take advantage of bench time when it comes available!

Dave

Hey Bill,

I'll be following along as I find this vehicle intriguing... nothing like a Christmas Neubau, right? 

I'll be particularly interested in how you pull off the construction/painting as this one looks quite challenging. 

(It looks like Dragon puts out one of these thru CyberHobby as well, but looks more expensive and harder to find. Strange since they are probably ~90%+ identical...)

Wait....wait....this was supposed to be the Bill Xmas build....sneaking out early....

Rounds Complete!!

Dan thanks for following along!

Karl

Steve

Anthony

Bish

Terry

The Krupp MG turrets are indeed a spin-off of the Pz I style turrets (Krupp designed those as well) being roughly the same size but only 1 MG and different hatch and viewport arrangements. It's one of my favorite oddball designs for many reasons...and the Pz VI designation definitely has caused some confusion among modelers over the years before the Neubau-Fahrzeug designation became accepted.

Looking forward to watching this. Still haven't got one of these kits yet. I think i need to add one soon.

64 wheels, makes a Pz IV look like a breeze.

Well this is interesting,not one you see everyday.

Hey Bill!:  Another TANK VARIANT!?!?!  How many did the Germans produce?  Cool looking build...just wanted to drop by so I could follow along.

Good lord-and he's off and doing another one! No pause, no breath, onward, onward onward!!

WOW! You work quickly, Bill! Looking good already!

Bill, thanks for braving new ground, It will be great to see you work your magic. Dan

Terry

Tread

Blitzwing

I was dying to get this kit when it first came out but the thought of all those road wheels scared me off. I'm looking forward to seeing this one come together.

Hi Bill 

This should be cool  

I know the Germans only built about 5 of these guys, and it is very  'old school ' for their way of thinking and the way they actually progressed.  

In your WIP pictures, the unfinished hull resembles a Char B1  (not the B1 bis, but the earlier one )

Looking Good !

Gotta get back to the NFL...New England is getting their butt handed to them in a basket !

tread