Italeri Group Build Sept. 1, 2006-Jan. 15 2007

Thanks again guys for the confidence boosting. 

I did some more microset treatments on the decals, the turret numbers are doing pretty good, just about completely hunkered down.  The little Grossdeutschland unit symbol (white german helmet) between the driver port and head light is resisting the microset..... resistance is futile..... I'll keep slathering it with microset until that puppy behaves.  If they look good in the morning, I'll quickly brush some future on them before I leave for work.

The rust has been painted on the exhaust.  I first painted them flat black last night, then gave them a coat of hull red this evening.  I'm going to stipple some sort of red brown mix on them tomorrow, wish me luck. 

Half the roadwheels have had the black rubber painted.  I realized when I was ready to start the other half that I had not painted their backsides.  I sprayed them with XF60 on the backside, and will finish up the rubber tomorrow. 

I need to get the tools painted, but I'm ready to call it a night, there is a cold beer or two in the fridge calling my name. 

Looking forward to seeing your paint job on the armored car Tigerman. 

edited: P.S.  I primered the tracks real quick... now I'm headed to the fridge. 

Geez, busy day Scott.

It seems to get dark so early around here I have trouble seeing what I'm doing. Probably had something to do with my camo job. Actually, I think it was better than I thought it was. Oh well. I'm going to try again tomorrow.

bufflehead wrote:

Scott, Verry niiiiiice Panther! I can't believe its your first!  Excellent camo!  Can't wait to see the completed build!  I know I'm not part of this GB but I've been following it for quite some time.  I regret not joining in last year.  Oh well I can still see the great job you and the others are doing with these Italeri kits!  Does this mean your Albert Ernst Nashorn & Jagdtiger are soon to come!?!?!

Thanks bufflehead.  I have a P-40E for the Chine Burma India GB that I'm starting on as I wait between weathering coats on the Panther, and I'm planning on building the JagdTiger concurrently with the P-40.  I've been on a big armor kick lately and have been loving this Panther, been a lot of fun and man have I learned a lot! 

Looking forward to some pics Tigerman  

Panther update:  I sprayed the basecoat on the tracks, futured the decals and finished painting the road wheels.  All that's left now is painting the tools and weathering. 

Man, loving the camo job on that Panther.

Here's the latest pics:

Earlier, I had a tri-color camo on, but disliked a few things about it. I opted for a one-color "Normandy" scheme. LoL. I can't confirm the authenticity. This is a for fun build anyway.

I might need some decals if anyone has a few extra for this kit. I got the crosses, but I'll see if I have numbers and such. I don't have directions.

tigerman wrote:

Sir, might I remind you, this the ITALERI GB, hence my old Italeri kit.  Thanks just the same.

DOH   I knew that.... lol  sorry, been a loooong week.   

Man, I'm on a roll tonight... started to squirt a bit of hull red into my jar of Tamiya Acrylic metallic grey, stopped myself pretty quick though, and took another dropper and sucked the few drips out.  Then managed to somehow get hull red all over my hand ... no clue how I did that, and while spraying the light mist managed to spill a fair amount out of the cup.    Fortunately none of it landed on the tracks... whew!    Gotta love acrylics, just a squirt of windex, some paper towel and it disappears like magic. 

I sprayed a 50/50 mix of metallic grey and hull red on the tracks last night.  Tonight I made a 75/25 mix of metallic grey to hull red and misted that over just the flatter areas, i.e. just spraying perpendicular to the tracks.  The theory being that the redder steel would remain isolated to just the sides and edges, and deep in any detail.  The less rusty color more steel color is on just the flatter and raised portions.   

Tomorrow morning I'll begin a series of washes on the tracks with a final dry brush probably on Sunday.

I'm attaching the roadwheels to the Panther as we speak, then I'm off to our model club meeting (IPMS Reno High Rollers).  I'll try to post some in progress pics later this evening.

espins1 wrote:

I'm attaching the roadwheels to the Panther as we speak, then I'm off to our model club meeting (IPMS Reno High Rollers).  I'll try to post some in progress pics later this evening.

Man, I'm sorry to hear about those issues. I can relate though; I've had those kind of days too. Im fact, just yesterday I was working on another model and was pressing two parts together to glue them and they literally flew apart! I got a couple of small cuts from that that I have no idea where they came from! Anyway.....

Reno High Rollers? That sounds familiar. Have you guys ever been to Orangecon in Southern California? If you have, we may have met, or at least ben in the same room....

Good luck getting that done. Makes me glad I do 1/72 scale armor. All I do on my tracks is paint them black and when dry I then paint a diluted (80-20 mix paint/thinner) Floquil Rust on them. Then while they are still wet, I take a paper towel and wipe off the Rust color, leaving the color only in the recesses. Then I dry-brush some Model Master Steel over the raised detail, and my tracks are done!

Anyway, back to the bench..... Keep those great projects moving! 

Duke Maddog wrote:

espins1 wrote: I'm attaching the roadwheels to the Panther as we speak, then I'm off to our model club meeting (IPMS Reno High Rollers).  I'll try to post some in progress pics later this evening. Reno High Rollers? That sounds familiar. Have you guys ever been to Orangecon in Southern California? If you have, we may have met, or at least ben in the same room....

I'm sure some of them have been down there.  I'm still relatively new to the club and have been an active member for about a year.  As my modelling skills improve (I feel like I'm transitioning from Advanced Beginner to Intermediate, slowly but surely).  I'm hoping to get good enough to enter some stuff this year at our anual model contest in September.

espins1 wrote:

Duke Maddog wrote:  espins1 wrote: I'm attaching the roadwheels to the Panther as we speak, then I'm off to our model club meeting (IPMS Reno High Rollers).  I'll try to post some in progress pics later this evening. Reno High Rollers? That sounds familiar. Have you guys ever been to Orangecon in Southern California? If you have, we may have met, or at least ben in the same room.... I'm sure some of them have been down there.  I'm still relatively new to the club and have been an active member for about a year.  As my modelling skills improve (I feel like I'm transitioning from Advanced Beginner to Intermediate, slowly but surely).  I'm hoping to get good enough to enter some stuff this year at our anual model contest in September.

Nice! Welcome to a club! I have been a member of IPMS Orange County for at least six or seven years now and I am currently the Contest Director. We are hosting the Nationals in August so I hope you are able to come with any other High Rollers who come down. It would be great to meet you.

And iof you think that Panther you're building is Advanced Beginner to Intermediate, I'd say you're undecurtting yourself! I would put that in an advanced catagory it is that good. You may be surprised at your own skills. Looking forward to seeing more progress.

Everything has been attached to the Panther now, tools painted, wood handles etc.  I found a tool a little bit ago that I had forgotten to paint, as well as the little rain shield that goes over the sight on the turret mantlet.  Those have been painted and attached.  I also put one more coat of Future over the decals just to be safe.  So the oil washes will begin tomorrow. 

The tracks were a bit of a pain in the to get together.  While vinyl tracks are convenient, the old hot screwdriver routine to get them joined together is always an iffy prospect.  I ended up reinforcing the joints with some white canopy glue.  The oil washes for the tracks begin tomorrow (or even later tonight) if all goes well. 

I'll try and post an update pic a little later, got some airbrushing to do on my P-40 

Duke Maddog wrote:

espins1 wrote:  Duke Maddog wrote:  espins1 wrote: I'm attaching the roadwheels to the Panther as we speak, then I'm off to our model club meeting (IPMS Reno High Rollers).  I'll try to post some in progress pics later this evening. Reno High Rollers? That sounds familiar. Have you guys ever been to Orangecon in Southern California? If you have, we may have met, or at least ben in the same room.... I'm sure some of them have been down there.  I'm still relatively new to the club and have been an active member for about a year.  As my modelling skills improve (I feel like I'm transitioning from Advanced Beginner to Intermediate, slowly but surely).  I'm hoping to get good enough to enter some stuff this year at our anual model contest in September. Nice! Welcome to a club! I have been a member of IPMS Orange County for at least six or seven years now and I am currently the Contest Director. We are hosting the Nationals in August so I hope you are able to come with any other High Rollers who come down. It would be great to meet you. And iof you think that Panther you're building is Advanced Beginner to Intermediate, I'd say you're undecurtting yourself! I would put that in an advanced catagory it is that good. You may be surprised at your own skills. Looking forward to seeing more progress.

Thanks for the positive reinforcement Duke... makes me feel better about my work, and keeps me motivated to have the model factory working at full steam. 

I'll bring up the Nationals contest in August at the next meeting to see if anyone is planning on going.  Regardless, I think it would be a good mini-vacation for my wife and I. I've only been to two of our local contests and would LOVE to attend the Nationals, if for nothing else than to meet so many of the fine people that enjoy this hobby of ours.   

looks great guys.

I still need to finish the painting but the weather has been so cold. I wont be able to do much starting Feb. 19. as Lacrosse starts and that'll take up most of my time. hopefully i'll finish before then.

Here are two quickie shots as a "clean" build.  The weathering commences tomorrow.  Some oil washes, paint scrapes, dry brushing and then a final "dusting" and flat coat. 

Prometheum5 wrote:

...can't wait to see the results of weathering... always my favorite part.

I wish I could say that. 

Keep at Scott, your almost home.

Scott, try soaking them in hot water until they are soft enough to bend easy without breaking. Then place them on the model where you want them to go and carefully 'mold' them into place. If possible, hold it there with some small strips of tape until the tow cables cool. Then when it is cool, you can remove the tape and cement them into place.

That just might work. In know someone else did that some years ago in a similar situation and he said it worked great. 

Good luck on that Scott, your model is coming along great! I do hope to see you at Nats too.

Thanks for the tip Duke, I'll give that a try with the tow cables.  If that doesn't work I may experiment with making my own.  That's one of the things about these old kits, I don't mind experimenting and trying new things on them.... I'm a little more hesitant to push the envelope with my nicer kits.

I was talking with my wife yesterday about the Nats this year in August and she seemed pretty interested.  We will probably take a road trip and bring the kids with us, so I'd say 80% we'll be there this year. 

Sweet! That's great! I can't wait to see you there.

It's being held right across the street from Disneyland, so you and the family will have no problems being able to visit on one of the days. All Model entrants get discounted tickets to the Magic Kingdom. There's also Knott's Berry Farm nearby, as well as many other great attractions. We are also arranging to have tour busses available to take people to several local museums such as Chino Planes of Fame, the Peterson Automotive museum, and other locations.

For more info, check out our main website:

http://www.ipmsusa2007.org/

See you there! 

Here is a teaser shot of the weathering after the first wash. 

Eric that camo looks sweet, ive got a tamiya 222 on the bench ive been piddling with and i intend to paint it in a similar fashion.

looking great there Scott this one is really coming on, if you decide to make your own cables picture hanging wire works great just cut the ends off and drill them  out a little cut the wire and CA glue the ends on bend it to the shape you need and paint her up.

looking nice there too Duke looks like some nice detail opn that little dood, the factory never stops  

seeing as this thread is stil alive and well im thinking im about to start the italeri panzerwerfer auf maultier so i throw some pics up if i do. 

biffa wrote:

Eric that camo looks sweet, ive got a tamiya 222 on the bench ive been piddling with and i intend to paint it in a similar fashion. looking great there Scott this one is really coming on, if you decide to make your own cables picture hanging wire works great just cut the ends off and drill them  out a little cut the wire and CA glue the ends on bend it to the shape you need and paint her up. looking nice there too Duke looks like some nice detail opn that little dood, the factory never stops   seeing as this thread is stil alive and well im thinking im about to start the italeri panzerwerfer auf maultier so i throw some pics up if i do.

Thanks Ron. We don't intend to let this baby die, until it dies out from natural causes. 

I'm glad to see you jumping back into the foray. The Maultier should be awesome.

Oil washes are finished, as is the worn paint on hatch handles etc.  Tomorrow comes the dust coat.

I ended up stripping the vinyl tracks completely, they were looking good, but the paint was flaking off something fierce during the last oil wash.    Going to try a different strategy with them.