Thanks Johan! I had a lot of fun building it. It's truly a 'pocket Tiger' as you can see from this side-by-side with its 'big brother'

Thanks Bill!

This is a little gem :)

The petite size is apparent but somehow you manage to make it look big and dangerous anyway.

Very nice!

Very Best Regards

Johan

Thank you M1 and Zack!

Hi Mr. Bill,

I have no favorite - the build log is very good in every step.

Thank you for the effort put into sharing this - remarkable!

Zack

disastermaster

This is my favorite shot.

Dusted

    not rusted.

      And as usual, looks great Bill.

Agreed!!!

M1 A1 A2 Tanker

Agreed!!!

Agreed!!!

Thanks J-M! It was a very enjoyable build. Bronco has seriously upped their game with their latest kit releases IMHO and they make the Alan kits look like stone-age relics by comparison. Still, I feel your pain about the 'expenses' end of things!

A fine job you did on this one my friend!      

Looks like you had a blast building it too!

Bronco seriously makes me reconsider my Alan kits stashed downstairs.....  So many tempting subjects I already own....      but way better!!!      

I better stick to them though, my wife already has a hard time tolerating my hobby expenses as it is! lol!   

Thanks Terry, always good to hear that the comments on the build are helpful to other builders. It's how I learned (and continue to learn) about many of the things I use so I'm always happy to pass it along.

Bill this is one fine build, I've really enjoyed following along and thanks for the instructional commentary. I love the dusting, theres so much more to it than a simple "brush on" and "spatter".  One thing I think is sometimes overlooked are the tracks, I like your technique a lot. Thanks again, Terry.

Thanks Karl!

Looking good, Bil. ANother great project up to your standards!

Always glad to get the Smiley King's stamp of approval there Steve!

This is my favorite shot.

Dusted

    not rusted.

      And as usual, looks great Bill.

Thanks Dave, glad you enjoyed it along with me.

Bill- as others have said, well done....as usual! Another informative WIP

Dave

Bish

Brian

Excellent job!  I would say this was probably one of my favorites of your builds.  Neat and obscure little guy!

Brian

I am sure its nothing any builder of modern Dragon kits won't be used to

I've been eyeing up 3 of their kits. One of the landwesserschlepper's, Pz II D and Pz II bridgelayer. Still not sure which one I will get first, but I am defiantly going to add one soon.

Thanks Bish! As with any kit maker, some of their older kits are more of a challenge to build but their more recent stuff is very impressive IMHO. Just know that they love to do lots of tiny parts to produce some great detail which at times can create some intricate and delicate assemblies but in the end it's a nice result.

Well done in deed. As always, a pleasure watching one of your builds, some great how to posts there as well as a great build.

And it defiantly convinced me that I need to add a few Bronco kits to the collection. Until now I wasn't sure what to expect, but they look very nice kits.

Thanks Bob! It's all still visible if the turret is lifted off so I can still peek inside from time to time. You're right though about the modeler's lot!

I'd call it "well done"! Too bad all the interior detail is hidden, but that's a modelers lot in life. Isn't it? Good job. Bob

Pigment weathering continued with the tracks. For these I used Mig Productions Dry Mud, applied it wet, let air dry, then removed the excess pigment with a large round stiff bristle brush until I was happy with the look.

Then it was time to finally fit baby with its shoes! After feeding the tracks in over the sprockets and idlers, I used a small amount of liquid glue to fix the idlers permanently in place but left the sprockets movable to allow for handling and small tension adjustments where needed.

Then under the 'minor detail' department I added some of the dried left-over pigment dust from the tracks and applied it to blend things in with the darker pigment weathering done earlier. I've found that the 'dried' pigment ends up being much finer and easier to work with vs. the straight dry powder in the container for this type of thing plus you use far less pigment in the process and achieve the same end. I also installed the RB Models 2m brass antenna and painted it up to round things out there.

Will let this sit overnight and give it a once over with fresh eyes tomorrow to see if there's anything I missed or need to fine tune before declaring this one 'done'!

Thanks Anthony!

weathering is looking good Bill

Thanks BD! Glad it's helpful, almost done with this little pocket tiger.

Jibber

Looks great Bill, love the weathering and camo pattern. You have a real steady hand on that brush.

Bill, This looks fantastic. Thanks for the step-by-step as well. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Made some more progress on the weathering front. First up was the application of a pin wash using thinned MM enamel Burnt Umber and a pointed 10/0 brush to bring out the details. Excess wash was cleaned up here and there with clean thinner and the same brush to make adjustments where needed.

The lower hull got some pigment treatment using Mig Dark Mud pigments. This was applied as a wet mixture using tap water with a drop of liquid dishwashing soap added to break the surface tension and left to air dry. After removing excess pigment with stiff bristled brushes and some wet and dry Q-tips, the lower hull and suspension had the look I was after.

Next up will be the weathering on the tracks. Almost home on this one!

O don't they ever. A new one to me for the Pz Lehr popped up on a build a few days ago. At first I thought yours was the bear of the 3rd Pz Div, but they are different. Its little things like this I like.

Thanks Bish! The markings were a new one to me too, but then the German unit insignia patterns often varied from unit to unit and time/place in the war as well.

Really great work there as always. I like the markings, I have not seen that unit insignia before, I like it.

Thanks Mike! Glad to hear you survived your trip and are back in somewhat warmer environment just in time for summer!

I return from the great white north to find this....fantastic, always love your camo.

Rounds Complete!!

Picking up where I left off last time, I applied a second coat of Future over the decals once they had fully set and let that cure for a good 24 hours before starting in on the weathering process. First order of business was the application of a thinned MM enamel overall wash of Raw Umber (roughly 90/10 thinner-to-paint).

This inevitably darkens the overall finish but never fear, the next step addresses that using a dot filter approach. I applied small dots of MM enamel Light Gray, Raw Sienna, and the 50/50 base coat mix from earlier. The dots are blended together using a square brush lightly dampened with thinner to produce a nice filter and streaking result. I worked small sections at a time and wore a breather mask due to the high thinner exposure during this process starting at the front of the hull and working my way back.

After a couple hours, the dot filter was done on the hull and turret. Next up will be a pin wash to bring out some of the detail further and get things ready for the pigment weathering stage on the suspension and tracks.

Thanks Jack! The gapped fenders certainly give it a unique look. A buddy of mine keeps calling it the 'flying squirrel'!

Bill, looking good, and that top view is interesting.  The segmented fenders make it almost look like a Daimler armoured car.

regards,

Jack

Thanks Steve and Karl!

You're a modeling machine, Bill.

Looking good, as usual!

    Just lookin' in.

Looking forward to seeing it all. 

                Ya' gettin' there Bill.........   

Terry

Still enjoying this build Bill. I have to agree with SprueOne about the tracks

Dave

Very nice Bill!  As usual.

Terry

Thanks SP1! Can't argue with you on the tracks, they are such a prominent feature on this little guy after all.

Johan

Chilling out... ; )

decals look clean and flat. Those tracks though, now those are just sexy   

Another round of progress to report! Finished off the details that were left on the rear hull. I detailed the two spare links using a combination of dry-brushed Steel, a light wash of Rust, and then some artist pastel treatment using various hues before installing them in place in the rack. Brake lights were picked out with Tamiya Clear Red and the exhaust weathered up to finish things up using a similar approach as that used on the spare tracks minus the Steel dry-brushing.

I also did some work on the track runs. These were dry-brushed with Steel followed by a wash of thinned enamel Raw Umber. More weathering to follow later on with the pigments of course.

Then it was time to seal it all up with some Future to protect the foundation paint work and set the stage for the weathering. Airbrushed a Future coat and let that stand for an hour before applying the decal markings. Speaking of which, the kit-supplied decal sheet was a bit of a let-down. The sheet provides markings for three different vehicles but most of the crosses were printed off register...I was able to salvage enough from the different sets though to get a decent single set to apply to mine though it was a close thing.

Markings were applied along with some Solvaset to help them snug down. I'll apply a 2nd coat of Future tomorrow to seal that all in and let that set up for at least 24 hours before going any further. Markings are for a vehicle with Panzer Regiment 1 in Russia, 1943.

That's it for now, next up will begin the weathering adventure!

My pleasure Chris! I personally prefer to paint my tools off the vehicle and then install them because it provides more flexibility and then they get 'tied in' during the weathering process. Others prefer to do it the other way around, so whatever works best for you is all that counts!

Thanks for posting about this Bill.

I've always wondered whether it's best to try and detail them whilst on the tank or separately. I think i'll be following your method from now on and detailing individually before affixing to the tank.

Thank you kindly Steve!

Today's 'regular' Sunday update isn't too heavy on pics but does cover an essential step, the install of the on-board tools and equipment. All of the tools were hand detailed using different methods. For the metal portions, these were base coated with MM non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal and lightly dry-brushed with MM enamel Steel. For the wood portions, these were base coated with the 50/50 Dunkelgelb/Light Gray mix used earlier and then given a light wash of MM enamel Leather followed by a dusting of Burnt Umber artist pastels to create their look. On the jack block, I scribed in some wood-grain detail using the point of a needle file to add some extra detail. Bakelite handles on the wire cutters and the engine crank were done with MM enamel Italian Dark Brown. For the jack and fire extinguisher, I mixed up a slightly darker shade of Dunkelgelb/Light Gray to provide some contrast for those parts as they would've come from a different manufacturer/supplier so their shade would naturally be different from the vehicle itself. For good measure, I also detailed the turret MGs while I was at it.

So without further ado, here's where the pocket Tiger stands for now:

Next up will be working on the rear hull details like the spare tracks, exhaust, tail lights, etc. before this one's ready for the decals and the weathering process to begin.

 Absolutely PAR for the course.

Thanks SP! Have to agree with you there. It's definitely got a 'cute' pocket-size feel to it...but the real deal weighed in at 21 metric tons!

Yes, a 'Stay-cation" at the bench is always time well spent. 

Steady progress on the panzer 

For some reason, the first thing I think of when I see this build is 'cute'  

Thanks Bish and J-M!

Mike

Very nice all around Bill!

I'm going to pay a lot of attention to the next steps.......         



 

Bill - You are having way too much fun. 3 updates in one week. Looking fine. always good to get the shoes on.

Rounds Complete!!

Really nice work here Bill. I'll be following the weathering closely.

More progress to report, this time in the suspension and tracks department. I removed all the blue tack that had masked the mounting points and then did some 'pre-weathering' on the lower hull and suspension areas. I stippled some enamel MM Burnt Umber to create some scuffing/chipping given where the tracks would run and likely wear that would occur. Much of this area is going to be obscured by the road wheels but some of it will still be visible and of course more weathering will be applied later with pigments.

Next up where the road wheels, these were installed and the track runs used to ensure that the outermost wheels set up level since their attachment points to the inner hubs isn't very large and the wheels have a tendency to bow out slightly as a result. The contact surfaces on the sprocket teeth and idler wheel were treated with a base of non-buffing MM Metalizer Steel and then dry-brushed with enamel Burnt Umber to create their foundation for the later weathering. The sprockets were carefully glued in place on the rotating pins so that they could move freely to facilitate fitting the workable tracks. The idler wheels aren't adjustable in terms of their position so they weren't glued down and only dry fit to make sure everything lined up correctly.

Earlier when I was airbrushing the primer coat I got a little ahead of myself and also airbrushed the 60-link runs with some MM enamel Burnt Umber. I say I got ahead because they hadn't been test-fitted to the suspension yet and I knew I was going to need more links, just not sure how many...so these will get some more paint attention now that the runs are the right length. Bronco's instructions call for 66 links per side but I only needed 65 per side to get the right amount of sag. If you do use 66, then the idler will have to be modified to be adjustable to take up the extra slack of that added link...you can do that by removing the raised pin on the tension rod (part F28) that the idler attaches to. This will allow the idler to move in its mount but of course the rod won't adjust with it...not a big deal really but I didn't need to do this since the 65 links worked out just fine.

Tracks will get more weathering attention later as well before their final installation. Baby's got her shoes on now!

More paint progress to report today. Camo pattern is on. I applied it free-hand and used MM enamel Khaki for the green splotches first then added the brown splotches with a custom mix of 50/50 MM enamel Leather and Military Brown. Some adjustments with the basecoat mix here and there and then a light misting coat of highly thinned basecoat mix to tie it all together.

Next up will be getting the suspension installed and start work on the other remaining details.

jibber

Bill when you spray MM, what are you thinning it with and at what ratio? I've always sprayed Tamiya but I like the shades you get and it's really going on nicely. I've sprayed enamels and maybe I didn't have the right mix but I never got it as smooth as what I see here. I know there are a lot of others using MM and I'd like to give it another try. Thanks, Terry

Bill when you spray MM, what are you thinning it with and at what ratio? I've always sprayed Tamiya but I like the shades you get and it's really going on nicely. I've sprayed enamels and maybe I didn't have the right mix but I never got it as smooth as what I see here. I know there are a lot of others using MM and I'd like to give it another try. Thanks, Terry

Thanks Clint! Road wheels are a necessary evil on these vehicles for sure.

Karl

Geez, that's alot of detail packed into that turret---I couldn't imagine trying to actually fit in, an operate those guns in there!

Looking great Bill glad to see the road wheels out of the way

Thanks Terry! I suppose that's what makes the difference between building and just 'assembling'! Always have to keep an eye out for the little pitfalls from time to time in the instructions!

Mike

Bill - All that turret detail....the most important thing is you know its there!! Keep it going.

Rounds Complete!!

Bill those MG's and the mantlet turned out to be a real pain, nice job working out those problems. You really have to study these instructions and think them through because to many times they're just wrong and leaves us with a heck of mess to deal with. Coming along nicely.

Terry  

The long holiday weekend means more bench time than usual and I'm taking full advantage of it! Of course it's more than a three-day weekend, this is also a chance to remember those who have given the ultimate in service to their country and I'd be remiss without acknowledging that and also extending my respect and admiration for all our men and women who serve in uniform.

The last remaining detail on my pocket Tiger is the turret. Earlier I'd mentioned that I was deviating a little bit from the Bronco instructions in terms of the assembly order and I elected to detail and install the twin MGs and sights into the mantlet first and then add the ammo bags after it was in place. This provide to be a good call as it made it much easier to detail them and install them properly into the mantlet while doing test fits along the way to make sure everything played nice with the rest of the turret interior. The MGs were detailed with Testors Model Master non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal and then lightly dry-brushed with enamel Steel for their finish.

Here's the bottom up view of the turret after the mantlet was installed and the ammo bags added. I also need point out an instruction diagram-induced error that you can see in this pic. Notice that slight gap at the bottom of the mantlet? Turns out way back when I installed the rear part of the mantlet, part D44, into the turret, I used the instruction diagram as a guide and it shows the larger part of the piece on the bottom with the thinner piece on top. Problem is that the external mantlet is designed to fit that part the other way around...and the MG barrel sleeves are keyed as are the MG mounts on the inside to specific alignments...which will result in everything being upside down. Not a good thing...and once I realized the problem, it was no good trying to get the mounts out and flip it around...so I had to trim the part instead to allow it to fit correctly and remove the 'extra' that hung over the bottom...and produced that slight gap. Once painted it will look fine and of course will only be visible if the turret is off and flipped over...but a word of caution to anyone coming along behind!

The base of the turret came next. The elevation and traverse wheels and gears were assembled and installed...they are delicate multi-part assemblies and were actually done last weekend and left off to the side to fully dry before handling. They were detailed and installed and the underside given a dose of red-oxide primer. After the paint was dry, the turret floor was installed in place.

Moving back topside on the turret, I detailed the commander's hatch using a 50/50 mix of Light Gray/Panzer Dunkelgelb so it will match what eventually will be the vehicle's exterior color and detailed the head pad. Bronco designed the hatch to remain workable and relies on a tight friction fit on the hinge to achieve this. A small note, the hatch stops on the edge of the turret swiveled on the real vehicle but Bronco has you position them in the 'open' stance, so a word to the wise if you decide to pose your hatch closed. Mine will be left open on the final display but will be kept closed during painting to help protect the interior.

The add-on armor for the turret was also installed along with the lifting eyes to round things out.

The key to the add-on armor is that it only touches the actual turret at the top edges and where the angled front pieces meet the turret sides. Be careful with the fit at the back, reference photos showed this was smooth so after the glue set, I did some light sanding to remove the join line that is inevitable.

A quick test fit shows the turret sits properly in the hull and can be easily removed for painting and detailing...just have to remember that the commander's chair supports stick up slightly so you have to use the turret ring to push that forward slightly when you go to add the turret in place. The turret will rotate but not 360 degrees obviously because of interference with other detail items in the turret hull and the fact that the commander's chair itself doesn't rotate with the turret, so don't try to do too much here or you may knock something loose in the process!

Next up will be getting everything ready for paint!

Cool beans! Glad I had a few shots for ya!

Stay out of trouble! Yep, that's the one!

That's good to know, Bill. I think I have a sprag of them somewhere. There's quite a difference in some companies' offerings though.

I'll home in about 5 days. Trying not to get in trouble over here until we get business taken care of and get back home to the lawn care and painting that TAKOM Obiekt 279.

Hey, is this your tank, in Kubinka? I took these the last time I was there.

Hey there world-traveler! Thanks for the comments Karl, to be fair the Griffon clamps are a 'generic' set and not designed for a specific vehicle and they are generally speaking size accurate, it's just that the space dimensions available on the Bronco fender are very tight.

Oh man...nothin" I hate more than tool clamps that don't fit!I wish all these PE manoofacturers would get together and settle on a "standard" size already! Nothing is more annoying than trying to fit tools on a fender when the clamps are oversized!

Hang in there, Bill. It's looking really nice. Sitting here in a hotel room in Tel Aviv, I'm envying your time at the bench! :)

Made some solid headway on the remaining details on the pocket Tiger, although as usual I thought I would get further along than I did because this little kit is deceptive in the amount of time it takes to assemble all the little detail parts and get things just so. Part of that is the need to assemble a little bit, let the glue set, then come back and assemble some more. It means a lot of jumping around to different areas and I'm rapidly running out of those, so there was more 'wait' than 'hurry' this time around.

On to the fun! Progress continued on the fenders, I cleaned up all the necessary tools, assembled the boxes, and the jack. Bronco has you assemble two stowage boxes out of 6 parts each...4 sides, top, and bottom, and have to say I'm not a fan of that approach. I got the large one together pretty easily but the smaller one didn't play nice at all...and after checking references, it doesn't appear either of those boxes were commonly used in the field and only show up on the 'factory yard' photos...so I ditched them. This has the added benefit of also showing off the tools on the left side which otherwise would've been covered up by the larger box. The tools fit very tightly together on the left fender so I used the Bronco-supplied PE clamp handles and didn't replace the clamps completely as test fits showed that my Griffon clamps were larger and wouldn't work in the space available on this fender. Some putty filled the mount hole for the smaller box that I'm not using. Tools are only dry-fit for now and will be detailed separately.  

The right side fender got more attention. Bronco has the clamp for the shovel in the wrong spot according to the layout shown in Panzer Tracts 1-2, so I shaved down both it and the axe and replaced their clamps with Griffon PE clamps. The clamps are closed and the handles of both tools can be carefully slid in and out, so I can detail the tools separately off the vehicle and install permanently later.

The last little remaining details for the hull were added in the form of the PE hooks for the tow cable mounts, the side hatch grab handles, and the antenna base. The antenna base was drilled out to prep it for an RB brass antenna later on, the kit supplied item is too short for a standard German antenna. I had planned to fit tow cables since the kit doesn't provide them but the PE hooks don't appear to be sturdy enough for me to carry through on that. In hindsight, these would've been better off removed and some strip brass used to create a stronger hook but once the fenders were fitted, getting at the molded on ones to remove them is near impossible...so no cables for this baby.

Attention also turned to the turret details, I assembled the external mantlet's MG sleeves and their little guards. The kit instructions would have you add the guards to the sleeves first and then install the sleeves to the mantlet but I did the opposite to avoid damaging them as they are a little fragile until the glue sets up. The MGs were assembled and these babies are very nicely detailed...but that also means lots of little parts for them, so these were done in stages. The instructions would have you add the ammo bags to the guns and then install the guns into the mantlet from inside the turret, but after doing some tests it's possible to install the guns into the mantlet first, then install the mantlet and guns to the turret, and then add the ammo bags from below, so that's the way I will do it.

Last but not least for the day, the turret was weathered and the commander's periscopes detailed and installed.

Next up will be finishing the details on the guns and the turret bottom and then getting the turret together so exterior painting can commence.

Thanks Terry!

Mike

Karl

That's gorgeous, BIll! All neat and tidy! A great start!

All that great inside work and it will be so hard to see....sadness....nice to see the hull assembly moving along.

Rounds Complete!!

I'm liking this little panzer.

Terry

Made some more progress today on the exterior details although, as usual, didn't get quite as far as I would have liked but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Picking up from last week, I worked on the rear hull plate as called for in Step 6. The smoke grenade box is a multi-part affair that doesn't have any locating points provided for the different parts of the box so some careful work was needed here to assemble it square and then mount it on the hull. The kit-supplied PE spare track holders were mounted in position after using a couple of the workable tracks as a guide to get them in the right spot. The pair of locator lines molded onto the plate are too far apart, so I used some Gator Grip glue to give me some work time and the ability to adjust the position to the right separation. The exhaust and heat shield were also added at this point.

Next up were the fenders. In the instructions, Steps 13 through 17 deal with the fender sections and their relevant details. Bronco would have you install all the details onto the fenders first and then add them to the hull but that makes life pretty challenging especially for painting and detailing, so I made some adjustments. Starting with the front portions of the fenders, I installed the fenders themselves first to the hull and used a small bottle of paint to support the edges to keep them from sagging until the glue set. Then all the various details were added except the fire extinguisher and jack block which will come later.

While the front fenders set up, I also worked on the rear fenders. Same approach as the front, I added the fenders only to the hull and let them set up. The rear mud flaps were added and their PE stops installed along with the rear Notek light and brake light. The lights have very delicate PE mounts with tiny contact surfaces so hopefully they won't go missing between now and the finish!

Just a few small details to add to the hull sides around the crew escape hatches and then it will be time to tackle the turret and get it ready for painting.

Thanks Johan! Yes, unfortunately, no cut-away on this one...although I was really really tempted to try to do it somehow! Problem was really going to come down to having enough 'integrity' in the hull due to the way that Bronco designed it...so I decided to leave it visible through the turret opening and the side hatches only. Wasn't easy though! Glad you like how it's coming along.

Bill,

This one, if anyone with all the work you have put in there would deserve a cutaway!

I remember you did one before, also amazing in detail 

But if you say this one is closed - so be it.

I have saved the thread

Very Best Regards
Johan 

Thanks Anthony! You're right but it is indeed all there...too bad there isn't more to the hull that would allow for a 'cut-away' type of approach.

Brian

wbill76

I had to laugh a bit at this photo.  It kind of reminds me of a clown car.

Seriously though, the little grasshopper looks to be coming together really nicely.  As always, I can't wait for the real paint to start flying!

Brian

As I said,great interior Bill,too bad it won't be seen fully,but we know it's there.

Bish

And all that interior is par of the kit, is that right. I know its small, but I thin that has to be the best kit supplied interior I have yet seen. I have the Dragon Pz I in the stash, and I am sure its not as complete as this.

And I am damn glad I didn't drive one of these. At 6'1'' my knees would have been round my ears.

Its looking really nice by the way, great detailing and great paint work, a nice grubby look just like a good AFV should look like.

And all that interior is par of the kit, is that right. I know its small, but I thin that has to be the best kit supplied interior I have yet seen. I have the Dragon Pz I in the stash, and I am sure its not as complete as this.

And I am damn glad I didn't drive one of these. At 6'1'' my knees would have been round my ears.

Its looking really nice by the way, great detailing and great paint work, a nice grubby look just like a good AFV should look like.

Thanks Steve! Hope to get that interior all buttoned up this weekend, fingers crossed!

 Looking gorgeous Bill!

Bill the bags are real nice and the weathering on the seat too, so how much of the interior will actually show. I've often thought about a low wattage diffused LED light somewhere in the cabin that would really show off the nice work with the hatches open.

Thanks IB!

Now that I'm caught up. As always, stellar!

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

Very nice work as usual Bill- I'm enjoying your progress!

Dave

Thanks Mike! Details take a lot of time but well worth it on this little guy.

I love all the little details. Nice work on the bags. Forming into an interesting interior.

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks Bish! Bronco certainly packs a lot into this little guy.

Rambo

Its hard to believe that they give you so much for the interior.

I was thinking that, I had to go and check that this wasn't an open topped vehicle.

Its hard to believe that they give you so much for the interior.

Some realy nice work there Bill. Those ammo sacks do look really nice.

No worries Mike, glad you found it! You never know about the full cycle...but for now I'm back on familiar ground at least for a little bit.

Holy Excrement.....I saw the posts on FB but i missed it here, that's what old age does to you, modelers dementia.  Up to your old tricks and looking good. Glad to see you back in armor...though I am still going to hold you to hitting the cycle

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks Karl! Having fun with it so far.

Very cool choice, Bill! I just saw one of these in Kubinka! I did an RPM or Alan ? version of this--something like that; a nice little kit, but nowhere near as crisp as this offering. A neat little panzer! I'm sure you'll do it proud!

Thanks Ernest! Now the fun begins in terms of pulling all that interior together.

Nice detail painting Bill!  Yep, sometimes its worth it to bust out the AB for work like that!  Like your color choices!

Sweeeeet tracks Bill!   Better watch out MK....Bronco's got your number!

Thanks Steve! It definitely makes it easier to assemble the tracks for sure!

 Finally managed to drag myself online......                               

       (been busy with problems in life).

Now, that's the most sensible and efficient appearing jig I've yet to see.

 It's gonna look great Bill!

Yes indeed J-M! I was very impressed by this as it saved me another $30 or so that I would normally spend on workables.

Those tracks are kit supplied?

NICE!!!    

Bronco is fast becoming one of my favorite manufacturer!    

Thanks Bish! The pins are two per link (one per side) and yes, the jig is kit-supplied, definitely makes things go together smoothly.

Nice work Bill. So I guess these go together in the same was as Fruils with the pins instead of wire. Does that little jig come with the kit.

Thanks Dave! Glad to have you stop by. Happy to provide you a sneak-peek into the wonders of Bronco kits. ;)

Hi Bill- I usually pop in on your WIPs but I need to get better at leaving a comment

Anyway, your treatment looks good as usual. I don't have any Bronco offerings in the stash and this'll provide me with a close look. Looking forward to more

Dave

I'm very impressed with the level of molded-on detail that Bronco has provided on this kit. The radios in particular. Glad to have you along for the ride Johan and jibber!

Hi Bill,

What an amazing little kit, looking forward to see more of this :)

Very Best Regards

Johan

I can see a couple Bronco kits on my shelf very soon, thats nice detail.

Yeah,I thought resin too. Any way looks very well appointed

Really, some of those parts, especially the pic with the radio, do look like resin. And not just the colour, but the detail as well. Looks really nice.

Thanks guys, glad to have you along for the ride!

Bish

Nice work bill, some nicely detailed items there, are some of those resin.

Hi Bill! Nice going so far!

I will be following this one really closely, it's a favorite of mine.  

Hardly see many Bronco Kits, and never this one. It looks like really nice detail. Nice choice Bill.

Tojo72

Wow,thats small Bill,looking forward to that interior.What kind of tracks with the kit,or are you using MK ?

Wow,thats small Bill,looking forward to that interior.What kind of tracks with the kit,or are you using MK ?

Thanks Ernest! The hull mock-up made life easier especially as two hands could only take me so far!

Bish, I also built their Marder II D last year and enjoyed it, so don't think you would have any issues with the standard II D or bridgelayer that they offer.

Brian, like you I'm partial to the 'workhose' models vs. the flashier 'big cats' and have been wanting to do this one for a while. I'm leaning towards a two-tone scheme since I've learned that one of the markings provided was for a unit originally planned for use in Crete and so had a 'Tropen' scheme...and some other modifications as well that could add some extra flavor to the build...have to see about that though as things unfold.

Very cool, Bill!  I may take some good natured ribbing for saying it, but the Panzers I, II, II and IV series are by far more my favorites than the big V's and up.  This should be fun!  I assume you are doing it in the box shown tri-color?  That should look very nifty on this wee guy.

Brian

Sounds good. There's a few of there kits I rather like the look of, they have some interesting subjects, and I don't recall reading of many problems with their kits. I rather fancy the Pz I Bridgelayer and Pz II D myself.

Nice to see you back here Bill!  I really like your kit choice....been eyeing several recent Bronco releases myself!  Nice work with the hull mock-up, makes it easier to get a good fit!

Thanks Bish! I'm very impressed with the quality that Bronco provides in the details and molding. The workable tracks included are another nice feature as well as they are quite sturdy/durable design and have the hollow guide horns molded on the links vs. separate parts, always a plus in terms of speeding the assembly process.

Nice, I will be watching this. I would like to get this version of the Pz I and this looks like a nice kit so far.