Wirbelwind---FINISHED PICS! pg 7

Wayne, thanks for relating your experiences---it's good to know that you're pushing your own boundaries and improving through bold steps where you're not fearing he possibility of potential failure---sometimes you have to risk big to get the best lessons and results! Can't wait to see your new build!

the doog

!I also teach guitar, and I think the "lemme show you how to do this" thing is just in my blood, lol. When you have that kind of "thing", there's nothing more rewarding than to hear that someone else is learning or taking something away from what you're trying to share---so thank you sincerely!

this quote was not directed at me but it fits. you turned into a oil wash junkie. just finished UN UNIMOG and weathered all of it with oils, even mixing colors, no powders or pastels just to try it. the weathering arsenal grows and 3 THE WEATHERING MAGAZINEs are due in this week.

and it all started with a suggestion (BRDM-2) which turned into a finishing disaster but with enough encouragement and patience and determination it came out rather nicely and certainly unique.

spacepacker

Regards the mud spattering, did you not do a blog where you blew thro' the bristles with an airbrush?

Had you forgotten?

Any how....................I'm Gobsmacked!!!!!...cheers....Kenny

Yes, I often change up my methods and am experimenting with ways to do different things. I guess I try not to follow too much of a "strict method", as it can make your models look rather "cookie cutter" if you don't change things up and experiment. You CAN blow "spatter" from a brush by using the airstream from your airbrush though. But always experiment first and practice against a sheet of paper so you can see the dispersion pattern and breadth of spray.

enodaed

STUNNER!!!! You are constantly inspiring me to improve my own builds. I might not be to your level yet but I keep practicing. I also appreciate your willingness to share and teach. Thanks for that and I can't wait to see the next one. Cheers...

Thanks so much, RBaer! And you too, Mike! Thanks for taking the time to comment and for the kind words!

Regards the mud spattering, did you not do a blog where you blew thro' the bristles with an airbrush?

Had you forgotten?

Any how....................I'm Gobsmacked!!!!!...cheers....Kenny

STUNNER!!!! You are constantly inspiring me to improve my own builds. I might not be to your level yet but I keep practicing. I also appreciate your willingness to share and teach. Thanks for that and I can't wait to see the next one. Cheers...

Karl - As usual the Master of the Finish...love it and love the tips you give along the way....as usual

Fantastic

Rounds Complete!!

Schweet! I like the splattering, well executed.

Thank you for those sentiments, Wayne! :)

sweet build karl.

good luck with the move etal.

I'm always learning new techs from your BLogs, Bro. 

Always subscribing 

Thanks, Bill! I hope to have an enjoyable time away and then come home to a great new house and life! I appreciate it!

Very nice finish on this one Karl! Best of luck over the next few months and hope you can squeeze in some bench time here and there in between!

Actually, I have that CMK kit too--I got it years ago when it was the only game in town. I'll sell it ebay one of these days. Pretty chunky compared to the new DML kits.

I've got both the CMK and Italeri Ostwind kits and only the Italeri kit has a rudimentary interior. If I was going to build that one I'll need to get ahold of more 37mm ammo cans to line the sides of the bulkheads.

I think I've seen that photo? It may have been during prototype building? If I were doing one of these in a diorama, abandoned, I might do an interior, but like you said--you can't really see anything so I couldn't see putting the effort in it just to hide it. A lot of kits today with the interiors are like that.

Mikeym_us

Karl if you build this kit again would you do an interior? The Wirbelwind and the Ostwind both had visible interiors due to the open bottom turrets. And seeing as these are on former frontline Ausf H chassis would said interiors retain their primer red flooring and ivory interiors or would the interiors have been painted Dunkelgelb to camoflage the interior?

I am not sure about the Wirbelwind, but on the Ostwind, once everything is in place, you can't see inside anyway. The Italeri kit has a flooring section that goes right under the turret, and looking at some pics of a Wirbel with the turret removed, that had a raised floor as well, with nothing else directly under the turret. The pics are from a vehicle in a museum and are black and white, the interior does look dark, I would say primer red, while the drivers compartment, which you can see with the turret off, is defiantly white.

Mikeym_us

Karl if you build this kit again would you do an interior? The Wirbelwind and the Ostwind both had visible interiors due to the open bottom turrets. And seeing as these are on former frontline Ausf H chassis would said interiors retain their primer red flooring and ivory interiors or would the interiors have been painted Dunkelgelb to camoflage the interior?

From what I know and have read, primer red as an interior color was VERY unpopular with the crews---there were, apparently, many complaints about it. So I would think that if they had the paint to do the exterior DY, they would most likely have gone and painted the interior in a DY as well.

I've got a DML Ostwind, but probably won't get to it for quite a while. On to another variant of another vehicle after this one. I may do a big paper panzer after this one?

Thanks, Greg and Eric! I appreciate you leaving such nice comments!

stikpusher

That is another beautiful finished build from you my friend. That splatter technique is sure interesting. I might suggest more concentration of that stuff in areas more likely to have increased mud build up around the running gear. When your other stuff in the near future is done, your modeling batteries should be recharged, and I am sure you will wow us with another superb build.

Thanks, man!. You have to be careful for doing too much "spatter"--it is very difficult to control, and not really the proper technique to "build up" bulk like you suggest. Much better to use plain pigments with acrylic medium--white glue will also suffice-- with dirt or plaster filler and make a dedicated thick slurry to then add around the suspension. I did some of that, but didn't want to go crazy with it as it tends to obscure the paint.

Thanks for your vote of confidence---I'm already excited about the next project--whatever I decide that will be!

Karl if you build this kit again would you do an interior? The Wirbelwind and the Ostwind both had visible interiors due to the open bottom turrets. And seeing as these are on former frontline Ausf H chassis would said interiors retain their primer red flooring and ivory interiors or would the interiors have been painted Dunkelgelb to camoflage the interior?

Amazing work! Thank you so much for sharing this build.

I have to echo what others have already said Karl, she looks great!

Best of luck with the move and the new house and safe travels my friend!

That is another beautiful finished build from you my friend. That splatter technique is sure interesting. I might suggest more concentration of that stuff in areas more likely to have increased mud build up around the running gear. When your other stuff in the near future is done, your modeling batteries should be recharged, and I am sure you will wow us with another superb build.

Thanks, Lee and Johan!

I hope that you get more FSM time, Lee, and good luck with the new house---I know how exciting that can be!

And thank you, Johan, for the well-wishes! Hope your new year is as rewarding as well!

Hi Karl,

I would agree with Jack that a lot of focus on a Wirbelwind goes to the interior of the turret and you simply scored there. The contrasts make all the difference and you have it all the way from the sighting aperture in there instrument black, the worn but clean interior over to the outer turret and then finally the beaten up hull itself.

Very good way to finish 2013 and an inspirational kick start for 2014.

Happy New Year and Good Luck!

Johan

Due to my own move to another home, I have been slacking on my posting.

on the Wirbelwind, Karl. Another super piece of work.

Lee

Guys, thanks all, for the nice comments, the well-wishes on the house, and the sentiments on my travels. It's much-appreciated and I will indeed be looking in as much as I can. I am happy to know that after so many years on this forum that there are still things to share and show, and that some new modelers and friends here are still finding my WIPs educational. Just paying back what I got from the modelers before me who taught me through their own WIP posts!

I have to leave here some time in late January and will be on the road a month, then home for a few weeks before jetting off to Europe again. When I come home a month later I have to move, and then May and June brings a few more weeks of travel. It's going to be crazy. I will be trying to get on and keep in touch though!

Another great project done Karl,best wishes on your move.

Amazing job again Karl. I think you have defiantly pulled off what your going for, new turret on old hull.

I hope you will pop in and check up on us from time to time. Safe travels.

Amazing job again Karl. I think you have defiantly pulled off what your going for, new turret on old hull.

I hope you will pop in and check up on us from time to time. Safe travels.

hi Karl, super job and can really see that textured  mud.    Very successful  at creating the look of a new turret on an older chasis, and at the same time still comes across as unified piece - well done!

regards,

Jack

Karl, you've taken that venerable Tamiya kit and turned it into a piece of modeling art!!  I love whole overall look of your Wirbelwind; the weathering is just awesome!   Like Brian said, you push the boundaries and aren't afraid to use any and all methods in your modeling arsenal to give us these great build logs and completed builds!  I've been on this forum for over seven years and I'm still learning from the Masters on this forum!

Sorry to hear that you'll be away from the forums, we'll miss you.  Have fun and take care while you're away!

Wirbelwind?  More like WirbelWOW Karl!  No one can doubt you are at the top of your game my friend.  Never content to stick to a single process you push the boundaries, and we are all lucky for your sharing the experience!

Brian

Karl- great job as usual; thanks for another informative tutorial.

Congrats to you and Jenn on the upcoming new home.

Dave

.....and Hurry Back!

Hello, all---Happy New Year and all that jazz... 

Well, here's the last update and the finished pics. Time to go into the suspension weathering here.

I mixed up some pigments from Adam Wilder's new Gunpowder line--Dark Brown, Dark European Terrain, and Russian Brown Earth. I also added some old MM Powders in "Worn Yellow Armor". Later I also added in some White pigmnents as a lightening agent.

I started out by just doing some heavy spattering. Using a cut-down brush, I saturated the bristles with a thickish mixture of pigments and mineral spirits and used a wood cocktail stick to flick the bristles, causing the goop to fly off the bristles onto the suspension. If you are trying this for the first time, PLEASE practice aginst a bare piece of paper to learn how the goop behaves and in which direction it disperses. This can be a messy procedure if you don't know what you're doing.

Here's what you will get if you do it right. This is done with three different shades. If you don't mix it up, it will appear flat and one-dimensional.

At this point, I started adding runs and drips of oil paint. Raw Umber, and Black. I pulled them down the zimmerit, over the splatter. I also used mixtures of the previous pigment mixtures for color harmony. I added some MIG "Wet Effects" for glossier patches--this gives a depth to the finish beyond just "dry" dirt. The final step was adding a bit of white glue to the pigment shades and mixing them into a paste with a little bit of real dirt added for bulk, and then dragging that around the suspension and lower hull.

I present the Finished Pictures.

Note the difference in this photo to the one above--the darker highlights and shades are evident.

You can see more dustiness on the front hull as you would expect to see. Tools were painted in the usual way.

Thanks to everyone who looks in and is kind enough to leave a comment! Thanks for following along, and I'll try to get that track tutorial up by the end of the week.

Got a SUPER-busy period coming up, guys--not sure when I'll be back with another project. Jenn and I are moving into our new dooghouse that we're building down here in Charlotte after I return from Europe. I"m traveling a LOT this year, but hope I"ll be able to find time to model again soon. Oy, but it's going to be a busy 6 months though...

Thanks, Steve! I'm patiently waiting for your next masterpiece! I hope that your life circumstances gives you more bench time some!

Hugo, thanks, too---you're always so kind, so complimentary with your comments. I DO appreciate them, and your enthusiasm!

Thanks too, Ernest--I am watching your latest build as well. Judging from your results, I would say that I'm in good company with you looking in here!

YEAH!!  Its looking awesome Karl!!  I knew your weathering would tie all the painting together!  Can't wait to see the finished product!  

WOW my friend..that looks so good!, I knew I had to wait for the finished product.

As always you are an example to follow...or at least dying in the intent.

One more to you museum collection.

Jeez Karl.....

                ......that looks awesome!

 I could express approval and admiration for this over and over but I would surely fail to express how impressed I am with it..... and you're not even done yet.                                               

     You're continually motivating me to finish my stalled project....                   

                       ☜ Stalled, SEE.

.... but currently it's just not possible given the recent turn of events I'm still having to deal with.

                LOVE IT!

New Hampshire

She's the bees knees Karl.  Them's the apples!  Top notch!  Insert any other old tyme pun here.

Brian

Hey, thanks guys, for both looking in, and for letting me know about the pics---yeah, they made a liar out of me, lol. I dunno why, but when I was finished posting and clicked on them, it took me right to my PB page--maybe it had something to do with me being still signed in or having an open tab there? Weird.

Anyway, thanks for the luv... :)

She's the bees knees Karl.  Them's the apples!  Top notch!  Insert any other old tyme pun here.

Brian

Bish

Some more great work there karl, she is looking great.

I clicked on a couple of pics and it just blew them up as normal

yeah, me too. Looking good, Karl

Keep practicing Karl you'll get the hang of it and you'll surprise yourself when you do buddy.

What you've done so far ain't bad though

Tony lee

Some more great work there karl, she is looking great.

I clicked on a couple of pics and it just blew them up as normal

Hi all,

I've been working on some weathering, and have gotten the tracks on. Don't worry--I"m still going to do a Tracks Tutorial, but let me finish up here first!

I started the weathering with some good old fashioned drybrushing using a light tan acrylic paint from a craft store.

Let me apologized too, for those of you who click on the photo, trying to blow it up a little--I know that it takes you directly to Photobucket now, which really stinks--I don't know how to change that though. The link I used to use doesn't work on the FSM site now. Anyhoo...

I then used a metallic-brown-black mix of oils to do some light chipping, and used some raw umber to do some streaking. Pretty standard stuff here.

I used oil paint to do the muffler. Just some orange and raw umber. Started with dark tones and added lighter ones to get the end result.

Next came the tracks. These were painted and detailed on both sides using Adam Wilder's "Gunpowder" Line of pigment.

Next I decided to try something daring--chipping and weathering with just acrylic paints. I used Model Master Flat Black, Leather, and Steel, with a fairly "club-like" brush.

I dropped the brush against the sides, transferring the paint.

I also later used a smaller brush and, by keeping the paint thin and rather watery, was able to make thin lines and scratches in three different shades--tan, dark brown, and primer red. Scratches and chips wre done in the 3-color "depth" method. Tan first, primer red 2nd, and then steely-gray. Tools were painted with the same initial combination of colors. A few oil washes of raw umber were used for stains behind the bullet splash rail.

I'm about to start doing the lower hull--dirt, mud, spatters, etc. Stay tuned to see the finished result coming up by the end of the week! Comments or questions always welcomed!

That looks awesome! Those welds on the turret are killer!

Jester75

Looking good Karl. You can definitely tell the difference between the turret and the hull. I've lucked up and just added the Dragon version of this beast the the stash. Bring on the weathering, lets see you work that Doog magic!

Thanks for that affirmation. I'm hoping I can make this look like something special. I'm aware that there's a better-detailed version of the Dragon model out there, and hope that this one can live up to the newer release.

Bish

I really like what you have done with this. The idea of getting the turret and hull to look slightly different is a good one and makes a lot of sense. Not something I would have thought of. I think you have pulled it off nicely.

And I with Ernst, getting that scheme right isn't easy because our brains tell us its just wrong, when we all know it isn't.

Tojo72

Nice camo job as usual,I see what you were telling me about the lightened DY

Thanks, Anthony. Lightening the DY is, in my opinion, the first prerequisite for making a realistic-looking model. It's called "Scale Effect", and it holds that light reacts differently on a 1/35 sized model than it does on a huge vehicle in real life. As a modeler, you have to learn how to fool the eye into believing that light is playing upon your model the same as it would if your model was a real-scale vehicle. That';s the principle behind it.

Nice camo job as usual,I see what you were telling me about the lightened DY

I really like what you have done with this. The idea of getting the turret and hull to look slightly different is a good one and makes a lot of sense. Not something I would have thought of. I think you have pulled it off nicely.

And I with Ernst, getting that scheme right isn't easy because our brains tell us its just wrong, when we all know it isn't.

Looking good Karl. You can definitely tell the difference between the turret and the hull. I've lucked up and just added the Dragon version of this beast the the stash. Bring on the weathering, lets see you work that Doog magic!

Thanks for looking in Bill! It was nice to have the whole day just to model!

Looks like Christmas was good to you in terms of bench time there Karl! Nice work on the paint scheme.

Thanks, Mike! I appreciate the support!

Karl - doing a catch up and as usual what do I find.....you are performing your magic here. The color modulation work is great.

Rounds Complete!!

lol, thanks, Hugo----yeah, I admit, it was kinda cool looking without the camo, but I've never see one in overall yellow--they all seem to have had elaborate paint schemes in 3-color. I apppreciate you enthusiasm though, honestly,

Hope you had a Happy Holidays as well!

What can I say my friend!!

you are a master at modeling,the colors are amazing, to be sincere in fact I liked it more before the cammo patern, the base color with the darken areas looke perfect for me.

But I should wait and see it finished before giving an opinion, Im sure it will be another museum quality piece

Happy Holidays!!

"Santa Doog", lol. I like that, ha ha. Thanks, Brian!

Thanks for looking in, SprueOne. Glad you like the weld seams; the turret really needs the detail on the old Tamiya kit.

Ernest, thanks for the confidence in my future weathering, and for the comment on the camo--i DID try to make it look rather "field painted". It's a relief to hear that someone thinks I made a mark in that regard.

Thanks too, Jack! I appreciate the thumbs-up on the turret interior!

Karl, looking stellar.  

Really impressed with how the turret interior turned out.

regards,

Jack

"You ARE a bold one!"

Much bolder than I was with my last attempt with color modulation!!  I must admit its looking a little funky right now, but you've always managed to apply some great weathering that tones all of those stark colors right down!

I like your method of applying the two tone camo.  It looks very random, haphazard and rushed, just like a field maintenance crew would do when hard pressed for time (which most were!)  Many of us, myself included, tend to make it much neater....falling into the "hand of God" trap when applying camo.

Looking forward to the end result Karl!

Looks good from here. Nice realistic weld seams too

Ho ho ho, Santa Doog brings us a nice present in the form of photo goodies.  Thank you Santa Doog!

Brian

Hello all, and Merry CHristmas to you all!

Well, it's been a weird CHristmas--Jenn had to work (there are no "holidays" in the hospital!) and since we couldn't travel north to visit our families, I'm just modeling through the day and practicing guitar.

I have another painting update. Lotsa work here: since Wirbelwinds were modifications of existing Pz IV hulls, I wanted to go for a look of a new add-on turret with a fresher paint job than the old hull. First thing I did was give it a all a shot of Tamiya gray primer to cover all that PE.

'

Then, a coat of Tamiya Brown + Black as an undercoat..

Next, uninted Tamiya Dark Yellow

Wheels got the same treatment, but I"m omitting the inneccesary coverage of that for now.

Then I made a "light"  mix of DY by adding WHite and Buff, and sprayed it in the panels of the hull. In the turret, I only bothred to fo the inside fo it, as the outside will be painted when the interior is weathered a bit.

One small detail I did to add some life to the interior ws to build "empty" magazine holders. Just to make it look like the vehicle has seen some use. This was easily accomplished with styrene.

Next,. some light Dark Umber washes was added in the seams and corners, and the guns were painted along with the barrels in MM Semi-Gloss Black, and then lightly drybrushed with steel.

The turrert was sealed, and sprayed with untinted DY over the plastic. Leaving the brown undercoat out of this step will give me a slightly different tint to it-a key step in making the DY coat just ahair different than the hull's.

Next, new welds were added to the plate joints using white putty and lacquer thinner.

After a quick repaint of DY (slightly backwards step there...) I masked and taped the panes in oder to do some Color Modulation Technique.

The panels were sprayed with a new light DY mix ONLY on the top, and from the top-left corner, in. The lower right panel would be shaded darker by not painting it. Additionally, I won't paint the lower half of the hull.

ANd here's the result:

It looks kinda funny, now, but I then mixed a "middle" DY color and highlighted the bottom panels so as not to have such a stark difference.

I then mixed a green color from Olive Green + Buff and sprayed a pattern. I used it on the turret as well to provide some color harmony.

Next, I took Tamiya "Field Gray" and sprayed the turret lines again, so I had two different shades, but predominantly Field Gray.I also added some Red Brown.

I feel like I"ve succeeded in making a subtle-but-noticeable dstinction between the hull and turret. Hopefully the weatering will serve to tie it together even moire and make a cool presentation.

Thanks for looking in, all, and please let do me know what you think of the concept?

It looks really good. I built this one a long time ago. It was my first serious attempt at doing armor and it doesn't look anywhere near as good as yours. Nor does it have any PE details on it.

Thanks for taging along here again, Ernest! And a Merry Christmas to you as well! Glad that track toot worked for you!

Shoot!  I've been busy and thought this was done already!  I'm pleasantly surprised that you're still working on it Karl and I must say its looking very nice!  Love the detail work on the gun and interior....some of us just can't leave well enough alone!!

Oh, and nice track assembly method.......I think I've used that before!

Glad to hear that, Ernest! Merry Christmas to you too!

As always looks good! Welcome back home and Merry Christmas.

Thanks for your and Bills Nashorn blog. Progress is slow but I have finished all steps up to 8. Without the blogs I was contemplating seeing a shrink.

Thanks, Hugo! Paint update coming up this weekend!

Another great buidl, cant wait to see the paint.

good work pal!

Thanks for looking in, SchattenSpartan, Bill and Steve!! I Hope to get another update sooner than later!

It'll be coming soon, Bish! Hang in there--I just have to find the time!!

lol, Kenny, you flatter me too much! Of course you would have been prompted to get back into modeling! I would hate to think that my simplistic details would dissuade anyone from enjoying the enjoyable act of building OOB! I only wish I could build MORE OOB builds--but at this point, modeling for me is another potential source of income, so I have to buck up and notch up the finish factor a bit. But sometimes it's a real albatross!

Looking nice Karl. can't wait for that track tut.

Nice update Karl! Looking forward to seeing it with paint on.

She's looking superb, Karl! I can't wait to see pics of her with some paint on.

'This was the model that brought me back into this game.

I picked it up from a Charity shop for £1.00 built OOB because I didn't know any better, even followed the box art for the painting; all very simple.

So, I'm very pleased you  did not publish this 'Blog' at the same time, it's for sure I would not have finished it and would not still be modelling.

Great build so far, looking forward to the finish...cheers....Kenny

I'll be tuning in.....

Hi all,

Well, I'm back home from hunting up north, and after a successful hunt (got a nice 6 pointer) have gotten around to finishing this construction--she's ready for paint! YAY!

I have got the tracks on--I"m going to be doing a special "tracks tutorial" post here soon, so watch for it!

I detailed the interior of the gun trunions--there's no detail here on the old Tamiya kit, only knock-out marks. I found a photo in a book showing how to detail them and went to work. It's just styrene sheet with some razor-blade cut nuts.

The PE set had some small details to use on them.

And I also added some hand rails and foliage loops on the turret. I'm going to paint the guns and interior first, then glue it up and add weld seams to the joints.

I'm going to start painting tomorrow. Trying to think of something cool for the camo...this should be fun. Stay tuned! Comments or suggestions always welcomed!

You are really testing your patience. Its even testing mine just reading all the efforts in the details.

disastermaster

Well, we all know that doog is into heavy metal.

This is just his armored version of it.

LOL, good one!

Well, we all know that doog is into heavy metal.

This is just his armored version of it.

Bristling with awesomeness, all that PE sure does looks great.

I like what you did with the spare barrel boxes, simple but very effective.

If you are going to remove PE, I'm sure you are aware nail polish remover does the trick, (the acetone?)

regards,

Jack

Karl I was there and the shovel got knocked off going through some brush. I told the guys not to put it there

but why would they pay any attention to me? Registered Rednecks don't carry much weight you know.

Tony lee

ha ha, that's funny, Lee!

Sorry, doog...

Guys,

Thanks to everyone who weighed in thus far, and thanks a bunch for figuring out my error--to be honest, that factoid of hull differences crossed my mind, but in all seriousness, I couldn't find a way to put all of the tools there without putting them the way that I did. And after the light's position being so far forward due to the dimensional errors in the PE, I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that this model will probably not catapult me into "Master" class at AMPS, lol. I think where I screwed up was when I put the shovel on the side---that made me shift the tools forward on the right side, and that made me run out of room.

Now the question is; do I have the patience to fix it?! Every time you pry a piece off of that PE zimmerit, you have to carefully clean every vestige of superglue off of the PE, in between all the ridges, etc. UGH--I've done that at LEAST a half-dozen times already!

Even as I"m writing this question, I KNOW that I"m going to wind up doing that..........

I'l probably get to it tomorrow.. I've got the track drying on it now.,..

Thanks again for setting me straight, guys!!!!

thanks Ixion, in that case it would have ben on all version's, just as Bill says in different places.

The "J"-shaped tool  is a track-tensioning tool, used for installing the tracks. It is actually two J-shapes, hinged at the bottom of the long end, which is opened up to form a V,

Bill, do you know what that tool is. I was thinking it might be something designed just for the Flak versions, I know its also on the Ostwind.

Bish is right, the tool placement will vary depending on whether the 'donor' Wirbelwind hull is a G or an H. With the tight spaces aside Karl, you've done a great job squeezing it all in.

Karl, I think I know what the problem is. That photo is from one of a series taken of one of the early Wibelwinds at Ostbau Sagan in summer 44. It shows one of the early vehicles on re built Ausg hulls. As you can see in that pic, there are no tools. On the other pics you can clearly see the axe bracket as you have it, but there's no holder for the other tool you have fitted. And that bracket is also absent.

The schematics show production Pz IV's as I mentioned, with the axe the other way and that other tool on the outside edge.

gentlemen, I realize that Im new to FSM, been on SA for a little while, but there is a wire that you can use. it is easier to use than guitar strings to bend jewelry makers use it to wrap stones, crystals and the  like. Any WALLYWORLD, or the such carry it in there arts n crafts depts. There a various brand names/gauges available. This is just a suggestion, don't want to step on any toes

Karl, great work on that, plenty of metal there.

In the regards to the axe, looking at the references I have, the holder for the head is the wrong way round. The blade should point out wards with the handle running under that bracket. The other item, no idea what that is, should then be on the outside edge of the fender.

Solid work so far Karl. love all that metal.

Thanks, Ernest and Tony!

Good to hear from you guys!

Ernest, I feel your pain too about the PE you're into....it's a "necessary evil" I guess wen you get to a certain level of commitment to detail? Or can we call it a "disease"? It' IS contagious, it seems, lol!

Tony--if this were a body it would have more than "wrinkles"; it would have broken bones!

I see you took her by the body shop and had them beat out the dents Karl.

A few wrinkles wouldn't hurt.

Tony lee

Man o Man Karl, that is some serious PE ZIM MADNESS you've got going there!  I feel your pain when it comes to those tools, I had some of the same struggles with the Pz IV D I'm currently working on.   Wish I knew more about Wirbelwinds, but everything looks great to me!  I love all the detailing touches you've added, like the fender hinges and the wrench holders....GREAT STUFF!  You're a man after my own heart! 

I am DYING to see some paint on this one!!

Hey Tojo, thanks for looking in and taking time to comment again!

Well, after much PE wrangling and much stress over this build, I've finally got the hull basically finished as far as all the detailing and PE. Man, what a PITA! I've realized that the PE set I have is actually for the OLD Wirbelwind kit--the original issue--and the PE is, in many instances, designed to fit the older tools which are different dimensions. The relatively NEWER kit which I have has that "New tools" sprue, which seem to be different, dimensionally.

The first pic I have to show is the new fender hinges I made; The Eduard set has a piece that is designed to fit over the zimmerit piece, but it rather gets lost in it. I used a piece of .009 guitar string--man, is that hard wire to shape!--and laid that over the correct spot. I made hinges out of metal foil, and cut bolts out of .040 sprue rod.

In the rear, I drilled out the cable stays and added some music wire to form new ones. I put a "chain" of twisted wires on the bottom circular crank cover. Since I lost the first rear light and reflector, I stole some from an extra Pz IV  Aber set I had laying around.Ignore that idler--its just falling off.

And now the fenders and tools. Ugh--I spent days wrestling with the arrangements and PE details, replacing or modifying some, ditching others, and just deciding not to use some pieces that were just unusable--such as the front spare track holder PE piece--it was just way too long to fit in the space between the shackles.

You can see that, despite my best efforts, the light is a little bit too far forward on the fender. I'm hoping that it gets lost in the finish and is not too much of a distraction. What precipitated this was a too-large fire extinguisher piece that I even shortened, but was still too long. Also, I had to rebuild the stays for the opposing track wrenches below the jack block.

On the other fender, I couldn't fit the axe; I had to leave it off, as it wouldn't fit with the other parts. Even then, the arrangement of this fender is different than called for by the instructions, which are inaccurate. You can see in this photo that the axe is clearly on the fender in this position.

I won't be adding the second track over the glacis. Here's the overview; I added in the shovel as per reference photo placement.

Oh god, but it's going to be good to move on from the hull! Onto the tracks and gun now. Kinda wish I had a detail set for the gun, but actually.....glad I"m done with the majority of the PE! NOT my favorite aspect of modeling!

I'm curious what the German armor modelers think about the tools placement? Does it pass inspection guys?

man,those tracks are tedious !!!! ,but this is really coming together,looking good

Thanks, Eric, Steve, and Hugo! I appreciate the support!

Tony, thanks for stepping away from the assembly line and giving me a ! !

Chris, glad you like it, an I"m always happy to show someone something new or helpful!

Thanks too, rocker286, and SprueOne! Sorry I missed you guys in the last post!

T26E4

good progress Doog.  My only thought is this: on the left rear fender, the forces that would bend it so dramatically--- wouldn't that just shear off the fender from its hinges?  I can understand a krinkle or slight bend but that huge an impact would seem to rip the fender off its hinges I'd think.  Just my 2 cents

Wayne, I believe most, if not all, PZ IV's had those flaps on the rear fenders. I know that, at least the hulls that these flaktanks were built on had them. Just so you know, we're talking about those rectangular blocks on the rear fenders on the side of the rear deck.

Those $25 sanding sticks make me SO MAD!!! I can get the package in the photo there for like, $7 or 8 dollars at the LHS! They're a "no name" company, and that's a reasonable price---but twenty five bucks? Ridiculous!

Thanks, Bill! I was going to use some of the new tracks after they arrived, but I figured that I already had the effort into these old dogs...now I"ve got to tackle the dreaded tool clamps! (collective groan!)

I'm enjoying this build Doog.

Great work with the PE and balsa - truly an inspiration to us novice builders.

Chris.

Wow Karl, you did a great job with the PE zim!  I love how you damaged it and blended it back in!  Plus all the detailing.....NIIIIIIIIICE!  

hi doog looking good. were the air filter lower "covers" on al PZ-IVs or just late models?? i don't recall seeing them.

micromark sells those thin sanding strips in a 300 pack of various grades for about $25. i use them all the time but be careful with wet sanding; they will fall apart quickly when wet

indy tracks are bad enough. indy tracks with sink wells are evil. reminds me of my chinese treasue ship EVERY part has sink wells.

good progress Doog.  My only thought is this: on the left rear fender, the forces that would bend it so dramatically--- wouldn't that just shear off the fender from its hinges?  I can understand a krinkle or slight bend but that huge an impact would seem to rip the fender off its hinges I'd think.  Just my 2 cents

G O Karl G O

Tony lee

Oh WOW, already having a lot of detail.

PE is a pain in the lower part of the back but hey, gives awesome reality.

 It's nice to click in and see some significant progress here. I just don't know where you get the time.

    Needless to say, it's certainly looking good.

Looking great Karl!

Lots of great progress with the PE details here Karl, keep at it, you're dressing this one up nicely!

Hi guys,

Well, I've finally got some significant progress to report. Man, I've been puttering away, but honestly, the PE is just taking a lot of time. Anyhoo----

waynec

might i presume the gray on the edges is the squadron putty? i have found using white glue wiped down with a damp Q-tip works well for filling hard to sand edges too (like caulking a bath tub and blending it with your fingers).

OK, I've been experimenting with this PE zimmerit--I don't care for the uniformity of this zimm (1): I wanted to add some damage and variety, so I cut the zimm with a fine pair of scissors. (2) Unfortunately, this tends to deform the brass (3), so I just tamped it down with the flat handle of my bigger Exacto (4) and that seems to flatten it just fine with no other degradation of the pattern. (5).

I made a nice little jack block out of balsa wood and the supplied PE.

I also added some blank panels under the hull area where it's open before I mounted the hull halves.

The front hull, so far...note the damaged zimm panels...I still have to put in the zimm on the sides of the fenders after I fashion some fender springs.

In the rear, I made springs out of wire wrapped around another wire--I have yet to put these on the front ones too...Annoyingly, I had to build "fender insides", as the PE part doesn't provide for that. I chose to use the kit parts on the air intake flaps that rest on the fenders because the PE parts were simply too big. I've actually veto'ed some of the other PE parts in favor of the more "to scale" kit parts. Sometimes, all that glitters is not in scale.

The Academy tracks I was using for this build (the kit has Tamiya one-piece that you can't really sag) all had to have their double knock-out marks filled in... OY!

But with these little sanding sticks that my local LHS up in Syracuse had when I lived there, it proved pretty easy to sand them down.

Next, the spare barrel boxes on the rear need to be completely sanded down to put the PE parts on them--this leaves you with nothing but square styrene rectangles! I had to find some way to add a straight line to represent the two halves that would open up.

I would up gluing a piece of .080 angled styrene to a piece of glass that I have here, and used that as a template for a scriber that I got from MicroMark.

After filling in the void on the bottom with a piece of styrene, they're good to get the PE...

The PE attached.

Here they are attached: note that the hinges are on the OUTSIDE of the boxes! A lot of modelers make the mistake of putting the latches on toward the outside, but they are designed to open to the back deck of the vehicle. Weird, I know----I put 'em on backwards the FIRST time too!

That's where I am now...motoring on, getting there.....thanks for looking in and giving a shout out!

might i presume the gray on the edges is the squadron putty? i have found using white glue wiped down with a damp Q-tip works well for filling hard to sand edges too (like caulking a bath tub and blending it with your fingers). i too will be watching this.

Dang, Doog, You're just an armor kit building machine. 

I've never ever ever tried putty zip but this PE version, I may try 

Can't wait to see more photos, Looks awesome so far!

cml

Easily my favourite piece of German WWII armour.

I'll be following this WIP Karl.

Keep the progress pics coming.

Chris.

Easily my favourite piece of German WWII armour.

I'll be following this WIP Karl.

Keep the progress pics coming.

Chris.

Thanks for looking in Bill. Pushing onward through the fog here...lol

Nice choice of subject Karl! Looking forward to seeing you work your usual magic on this one.

Yeah, but this cover of Blitzkrieg was from when Metallica was good.

Brian

Just saw your message, Brian----I LOVE Beavis and Butthead, lol!!!!

They look like our typical fans! ha ha!

Metallica though................ lol

Hey guys, it's good to have you all along!  Thanks for looking in!

Your comment made me chuckle, Steve! :)

I agree with DisasterMaster....you are on a blitzkrieg my man!

Just finished one and back with another.

It looks like the doog's on a Blitzkrieg

OK, another one to watch.

Nice start there karl. I have the same kit in the stash so will be paying extra close attention.

good stuff Karl,will be checking in for sure

SchattenSpartan

Just a small remark: The tank is spelled "Wirbelwind" (German for Whirlwind). I don't want to be ovely picky, but with German being my native language, I just notice things like this vrey easily...

Thanks, guys for the support on this new build already. I'm liking he look of the PE zimm--it'll be interesting to see how it looks with paint!

You're off to a great start, Karl! I think the Zimmerit looks spot on! I really liked your 4502 WIP, so I'll follow this one with great interest!

Just a small remark: The tank is spelled "Wirbelwind" (German for Whirlwind). I don't want to be ovely picky, but with German being my native language, I just notice things like this vrey easily...

Doog I think the zim looks great and I like how your sealing the edges. I've seen builds where edges are actually peeling off and it doesn't help the overall look.

Wow!  That was quick Karl!  Back with another WIP so soon!  Its looking good so far....I've always read that PE zim was "too thin" myself, but I like what I see!  

I'm on board Karl. All the "goods" are here for another quality build.