PE zimmerit in 1/72 scale is fairly easy to work with and looks good enough in scale. I just hate trying to add markings over zimmerit.

Too late for this one. But noted. Next 1/72 German armor will have to have some. I like the way it looks.

My 55+ hour work weeks with commute made me lean towards the nicer 1/48 scale Tamiya armor kits. I just wish they had a greater range than mainly German armor and a handful of others.

Have you seen the 1/48 Hobby Boss M4A1(W) 76mm Sherman? It's a seriously nice kit. PE, two turret choices, and really nice detail for it's size. I've got one waiting for me to take it serious.

Tamiya also has a nice line of Brittish subjects as well. I've got a Matilda II that also needs more than just an open build.

There are some choices out there and I was super impressed with what Hobby Boss offered in that box.

Thats a nice looking build. There some very nice armour kits out in this scale.

Most Ausf D's would not have Zimm anyway. This was not introduced until Sept 43, so those at Kursk would certainly not have it.

The build was easy and enjoyable for a snap kit. There's still the seam at the glasis front to fill, but that's easy enough at this stage that it won't be hard to repair.

No zim usage at Kursk.  That's what I thought out of memory, but couldn't find where I'd gotten the information. 

The base paint job is obviously too high contrast right now but I will be toning it down. Like I said, this is just a base paint job for now. All my references show this type of scheme much more muted and that's the final look I want to achieve.

Can't tell much by the pictures but I did try to get a field applied camouflage look to it. Not sure if you guys can see it so well in these angles.

M. Brindos

Have you seen the 1/48 Hobby Boss M4A1(W) 76mm Sherman? It's a seriously nice kit. PE, two turret choices, and really nice detail for it's size. I've got one waiting for me to take it serious.

Tamiya also has a nice line of Brittish subjects as well. I've got a Matilda II that also needs more than just an open build.

There are some choices out there and I was super impressed with what Hobby Boss offered in that box.

 

Yes, I have virtually all of the Hobby Boss 1/48 scale kits and most of the Tamiya kits. The Tamiya kits fall together like a dream. They just lean heavily towards WW2 German. I've got their modern US vehicles (three different HMMWVs and the M1A2). If they downsized their Bradleys and M113s, they'd make a killing.

M. Brindos

Too late for this one. But noted. Next 1/72 German armor will have to have some. I like the way it looks.

 

Rob Gronovius

 

 

M. Brindos

Have you seen the 1/48 Hobby Boss M4A1(W) 76mm Sherman? It's a seriously nice kit. PE, two turret choices, and really nice detail for it's size. I've got one waiting for me to take it serious.

Tamiya also has a nice line of Brittish subjects as well. I've got a Matilda II that also needs more than just an open build.

There are some choices out there and I was super impressed with what Hobby Boss offered in that box.

 

 

 

 

Yes, I have virtually all of the Hobby Boss 1/48 scale kits and most of the Tamiya kits. The Tamiya kits fall together like a dream. They just lean heavily towards WW2 German. I've got their modern US vehicles (three different HMMWVs and the M1A2). If they downsized their Bradleys and M113s, they'd make a killing.

 

Add a challenger and a leopard to that lineup and you'd have solid gold!

Rob Gronovius

 

 

M. Brindos

Too late for this one. But noted. Next 1/72 German armor will have to have some. I like the way it looks.

 

 

 

 

The only bad thing about 1/72 scale PE zimmerit and 1/72 scale Atak resin zimmerit is that it often costs more than the base kit, and it's harder to find. Part of Poland makes very nice 1/72 scale PE zimmerit, both regular and battle damaged for the Panther. I do not know if it would fit the new Zvezda kit. It is made for the Revell Panther G.

 

 

Well I guess I need a revell panther g. 

Hey Mike, nice job on that kit.  I had to look again to see what scale this is.  Excellent camo job, and looking forward to seeing what you do for weathering.

This discussion is peaking my curiosity about 1/48 and 1/72 scale armor. 

Nice to see you get some bench time, even if you don't have a proper bench.  Hope you get one soon.  I really enjoy watching your scratchbuilding!

Nice work on the Braille scale Mike,speaking of 1/48 Hobbyboss,the T-34/85 with interior was a great kit also

The Tamiya 1/48 stuff originally got me into armor.

ManCityFan

Hey Mike, nice job on that kit.  I had to look again to see what scale this is.  Excellent camo job, and looking forward to seeing what you do for weathering.

This discussion is peaking my curiosity about 1/48 and 1/72 scale armor. 

Nice to see you get some bench time, even if you don't have a proper bench.  Hope you get one soon.  I really enjoy watching your scratchbuilding!

 

 

 

The downside to 1/48 scale armor is that the lines are very limited. Hobby boss does Shermans, T-34s and KVs. Tamiya does a wide variety of WW2, but leans heavily towards German and just a few modern. Airfix does some decent modern, but is just British stuff from the recent conflicts. AFV Club (ex-Skybow) does Tiger variants and a 251 halftrack. There are also some legendary WW2 Bandai kits from the 70s that are split between those that are good and highly collectable and others that only run $5-10.

M. Brindos,

Great job so far, liking the paint camo . Looking forward to seeing it done. ZVEZDA makes some decent kits in 1/72 especially their IS-2.

ManCityFan

Hey Mike, nice job on that kit.  I had to look again to see what scale this is.  Excellent camo job, and looking forward to seeing what you do for weathering.

This discussion is peaking my curiosity about 1/48 and 1/72 scale armor. 

Nice to see you get some bench time, even if you don't have a proper bench.  Hope you get one soon.  I really enjoy watching your scratchbuilding!

 

 

 

I miss scratch building things too, Dwayne. Working over a coffee table, I've learned that it is much harder to do when you have to bend over to do it. It kills my back.

But rest assured that I will start adding my little bits when I have a desk to work at again. 

Happy to hear you enjoy seeing my additions lol. Thanks D!

Tojo72

Nice work on the Braille scale Mike,speaking of 1/48 Hobbyboss,the T-34/85 with interior was a great kit also

The Tamiya 1/48 stuff originally got me into armor.

 

I've got to dig out and dust off my Tamiya King Tiger one of these days. I painted it with a hairy stick long before I had an A/B and it turned out nice. Unfortunately it's one of my first posts here before Pb shanked us all for a dollar.

That T-34/85 with an interior sounds like a kit I want in 1/48! I remember a 1/72 Sherman with a basic interior that I think Revell(?) used to sell.  I found that kit amazing and built it many times.

Thanks for the compliment.  I haven't even painted any of the details in yet lol.

RX7850

M. Brindos,

Great job so far, liking the paint camo . Looking forward to seeing it done. ZVEZDA makes some decent kits in 1/72 especially their IS-2.

 

I will look for more, trust me. I also need to get more acquainted with more of  Revells latest offerings. I got a taste with the T-90K and I liked that kit!

Thanks for the kudos! I 've got a picture in my head and I hope I can make it work on the model.

M. Brindos

That T-34/85 with an interior sounds like a kit I want in 1/48! I remember a 1/72 Sherman with a basic interior that I think Revell(?) used to sell.  I found that kit amazing and built it many times.

Thanks for the compliment.  I haven't even painted any of the details in yet lol.

 

That 1/72 Sherman with partial interior is the old Esci M4A1 kit and is still available in the Italeri box. It included a subturret floor, radial engine, transmission and drive shaft. The kit is often dinged for it being a very rare version of the Sherman that reportedly was only used as a duplex drive tank (late M4A1 hull with early 75mm turret).

That's the One! Italleri, thanks! 

Mike: Looks great to me. Love the camo.

Didn't comment before since I couldn't see your photos. Oddly now they're showing up perfectly.

Thanks Gamera. I added the decals and gave it a dusting with 50/50 buff and clear. Looks more appropriate now. Still working on the detail painting, but all work stopped as I've got some virus at the moment. 

No pictures yet but I'll get some up later.

I dusted the model with Vallejo Buff a while ago, but today found myself pulling it out of the box to give it another look.

I broke off one of the exhaust pipes in transit and never found the missing piece. Today I stretched some sprue, dusted off my paint brushes and started in on some of the details along the Hull sides.

The antenna is a cat whisker lol.

She looks really good! 

I need to do the same, get out some of those stalled projects and finally get them done... 

I'm working on finishing things. A little here, a little there.

This one needs a clear Cote and maybe a few minor effects to make it look bigger and I think I'll be finished with it.

It's a really well detailed kit for a partial snap Tite kit.

I'm at the point where I believe I'm finished with this little fella so I put some time into an older kit. Made some time to AB this 1/72 Jagdpanther and it was pleasent to paint the little bugger. Details are thick as all get out and the tracks are garbage, but it'll find a place on my shelf.

So now I need some final pics of the Ausf D and we can bring this adventure to a close.

I love the contrast between early and later paint schemes. The Jagdpanther is nearly completed. Just some details to paint.

It sucks that the tracks are total garbage. They don't even fit within the Shurtzen. It's not the worst kit I've ever built, but the lack of tracks is a downer.

The camo schemes look fantastic, love the ambush scheme on the Jagd. Are you going to try to replace the tracks or use them as they are? 

I free handed the camo scheme because the instructions were vague lol. The markings were for an SS division (I think in mid '44 sometime) so I made it an Ambush scheme.

The tracks are so bad there is no point in using them, I'd have to carve half of the end connectors off to get them to fit behind the Skirts. No, i'm afraid this kit will be completed without tracks, Gam. I have no interest in trying to adapt AM tracks to this kit. The sprocket and road wheels dont quite line up right anyways and I never intended to do much more than build and paint this kit. I wasn't even going to do anything with the tracks besides toss them on. They are the old school vinyl and no paints will ever stick to them anyways. But they wont even fit behind the skirts, so the heck with them!

Perhaps I'll add it to a railway car eventually as if it were in transit. I'm thinking of a captured example that lost its tracks somehow only to be carted away after the war by the U.S. Army for study. Thats about the only scenario I can think of to use this for besides looking neat in my collection.

So I will hold off on any serious weathering for now. Its got a dirt wash for the time being and it does look great next to the Ausf D. Eventually I'll have to have on in 1/35 so I can detail one of these beautiful monsters. This is my favorite Tank Hunter after all lol.