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

Looking forward to see your finished pics Scott.

I haven't done any work in the last 2 weeks, but plan to give it the final push next week when I'll be off for the whole week.

espins1 wrote:

note to self.... old vinyl tracks suck.....  Just about done weathing the tracks, but I'm going to have to reinforce the joints with some staples.  The vinyle pins that are supposed to be melted over the holes are just too short, you can't even remotely get a strong joint with them.

Sorry Scott. I CA'd my Marder tracks and they've held so far. I just detest the flaking though. Luckily for me the Puma has tires.

espins1 wrote:

note to self.... old vinyl tracks suck.....  Just about done weathing the tracks, but I'm going to have to reinforce the joints with some staples.  The vinyle pins that are supposed to be melted over the holes are just too short, you can't even remotely get a strong joint with them.

Sorry Scott. I CA'd my Marder tracks and they've held so far. I just detest the flaking though. Luckily for me the Puma has tires.

Gun Tech wrote:

tigerman wrote: Coming along nicely Duke. That is tiny. Duke this is madness dude!    I have a hard time hand painting stuff in1/35.   WTG!

Thanks Tigerman and GunTech! Gun Tech, I didn't even have to paint a camoflage pattern on this one. I've had to do that before too. 

Thanks again guys! 

Gun Tech wrote:

tigerman wrote:   I'm waiting for the review of Tristars version in conjunction with AFV. From what I read about their Pak 40's, they were more accurate than Dragon's. Just a little update on the Dragon PaK 40 deal. I compared my Dragon PaK 40 with heer crew, the one with the not so accurate shortened craddle, with my Marder II and the Marder III H, and they corrected it on both vehicle. Sweet!

I've got the AFV Pak 40 w/251 D and the Pak 40 is really nice with a metal gun shield and so on. The Dragon version might be easier to build however, but the AFV kit is nice. Yes, Jean, I'll get one, but am unsure which one right now. Need more info.

tigerman wrote:

I'm waiting for the review of Tristars version in conjunction with AFV. From what I read about their Pak 40's, they were more accurate than Dragon's.

Just a little update on the Dragon PaK 40 deal. I compared my Dragon PaK 40 with heer crew, the one with the not so accurate shortened craddle, with my Marder II and the Marder III H, and they corrected it on both vehicle. Sweet!

tigerman wrote:

Coming along nicely Duke. That is tiny.

Duke this is madness dude!    I have a hard time hand painting stuff in1/35.   WTG!

Well, I'm moving right along on this one. I got the paint on my 1/72 scale Italeri Australian M-13/40 tank:

Here she is with the decals on her:

Yeah. all I have to do now is some wash, dullcoat and weathering and she's done.

Thanks for looking and comments are welcome. 

Gun Tech wrote:

tigerman wrote: Expect more Pz 38(t) version from Dragon and Tristar. Too bad I already built Tamiya's M version. Oh yeah!    Can't wait for all of those.      The Tamiya Marder III M was good. Bet it could be nicer even with Dragon's habit to had extras.

A Tristar Hetzer? I really do like the chassis. Doesn't take up much shelf space either.

tigerman wrote:

Expect more Pz 38(t) version from Dragon and Tristar. Too bad I already built Tamiya's M version.

Oh yeah!    Can't wait for all of those.      The Tamiya Marder III M was good. Bet it could be nicer even with Dragon's habit to had extras.

Gun Tech wrote:

Just started painting the road wheels today.     I'm telling you, the next panzer I based model I do, the whole suspension will be painted separately.  Everything is really tricky.    I had to stop in mid-work as my brush was getting sticky with dry paint.   Eric, I just received my birthday present a little early.  The Marder III H from Dragon. I looks great at first glance. The baskets are well moulded, with one pin mark where it should be glued.  The rear portion is preformed metal tubing. Seems like the interior is well detailled too.

Lucky guy Jean. I'm still debating whether to get one. Probably later on when I look back at my sad build and feel brave enough to tackle Dragon's. I'm waiting for the review of Tristars version in conjunction with AFV. From what I read about their Pak 40's, they were more accurate than Dragon's. Tis a good time to be a modeler. Expect more Pz 38(t) version from Dragon and Tristar. Too bad I already built Tamiya's M version.

Ygmodeler, hang and there and get what you can done. You'll be done before you know it.

Just started painting the road wheels today.     I'm telling you, the next panzer I based model I do, the whole suspension will be painted separately.  Everything is really tricky.    I had to stop in mid-work as my brush was getting sticky with dry paint.

Eric, I just received my birthday present a little early.  The Marder III H from Dragon. I looks great at first glance. The baskets are well moulded, with one pin mark where it should be glued.  The rear portion is preformed metal tubing. Seems like the interior is well detailled too.

Well, I have total respect for those who paint after everything is assembled. The tools were very difficult to paint without making a mess all over the hull. And for those that poaint tracks after they're assembled, kudos to you too.

Haven't made much progress this week, just painting the tools and wheels has been enough, plus the holiday. Also very  . I'll try to get more done so I can get to the weathering.

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. 

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.

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. 

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

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! 

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. 

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.