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

Prometheum5 wrote:

Looks great so far, but kinda funny without any weathering...almost cartoony.... the rivets on yours look a heck of a lot better than mine tho...

cartoony?-- how about pristine?-- tread--

Here's some of my progress, mind you no washes or drybrushing has occured yet.

The first photo shows that I hollowed out my MG barrel with a knife. Man I'm all for outdoor pics. These were taken in the twilight and if you can make it out, there is snow on the table. LOL. We are over that though.

I mentioned that I'm soooooo ready to move on, but this has been a great GB with some very cool peeps. Thanks for making it so great! 

Here is another update photo.  All the handles and misc details have been added to the turret including the machine gun mount on the commanders cupola.  (except for the spare track mounts, need to scour my references so I can see exacly where to place them)

I've realized something over the past couple of days.  Working on one model at a time, chipping away at it little by little every day is the best way for me to actually finish projects....

tigerman wrote:

Keep chugging Scott, you're almost to the painting. What scheme are you going to cook up?

As of right now, dark yellow, weathered from Gross Deutschland

Prometheum5 wrote:

Come on Tm, you've gotta get that Marder finished... if only so you can later get the new DML one (Im so mad) and really appreciate how much better it is...

Thanks Prometheum, I'm with you on this. I put my tracks on and then realized I put one on backwards. Of course I broke it taking it off. A lot of flaking of paint too from the vinyls. That's one thing indies won't do is flake. I'm going to work hard on it, but it will probably be at least a couple of weeks before I call it done. I'd post pics, but photobucket is down and my indoor pics just bit.

Oh, you had to go and mention the new Dragon kit.  I mean how many of you have ever had a new kit released of the subject your still working on? And a way better one?

Kinda back in the saddle. I put on my Archer crosses today (refs were poor, so may not be in exact location. I'm gonna try and put on the tracks later. Haven't weathered yet. Oh, how I hate it. I'm ready to move on, if you know what I mean. 

Keep chugging Scott, you're almost to the painting. What scheme are you going to cook up?

Anyone left except, Scott, Jean, Ygmodeler, and Me?

Gun Tech wrote:

That Bent-it-Zim looks awesome Scott!

Thanks.  The bent part is actually crisper than it looks in the picture.  The plastic lightens up in color a bit when you bend it which makes it appear more curved than it is.  It turned out ok all things considered.  I was a little worried about snapping it when I did the bends, but the plastic is nice and soft which gives it a decent amount of flexibility.  Makes me appreciate the modern kits and Cavalier resin zimmerit that much more. 

I had a work function this evening, but managed to spend a few minutes on the Panther.  Here is a minor update.

espins1 wrote:

tigerman wrote: That's crazy. I thought it was pemolded on the hull and turret. Bend-a-zim? How come you stayed with the kit zim? Hope you like it. I decided to do this kit OOB as I really couldn't justify pumping a bunch of money into it.  I used the money to buy a bunch more 1/35 Dragon kits and reference materials instead.  The kit includes 2 versions of many of the exterior parts, one with zim, the other without, but several parts are "appique" plastic zim pieces, which would include the turret sides, hull sides and a few others.  If I had to do it all over again I would have used the non-zim parts and taken this as an opportunity to make my own zim with putty.  But since this is a kit that's been in my stash for at least 10 years I wasn't too worried about it.  I'm still really looking forward to building the Dragon 1/35 Panther G Smartkit later this year.

CAn't say I blame you for going easy on the AM. I'm not using any myself, though it could stand quite a bit. Next time I'll just buy Dragon's new Marder H due out next month. 

tigerman wrote:

That's crazy. I thought it was pemolded on the hull and turret. Bend-a-zim? How come you stayed with the kit zim? Hope you like it.

       Well that a new one.   Bend-a-Zim      a Italeri trademark in your LHS

Man Scott, this one is hardcore. I also thought it was molded on. Can't wait to see how it looks on.

tigerman wrote:

That's crazy. I thought it was pemolded on the hull and turret. Bend-a-zim? How come you stayed with the kit zim? Hope you like it.

I decided to do this kit OOB as I really couldn't justify pumping a bunch of money into it.  I used the money to buy a bunch more 1/35 Dragon kits and reference materials instead. 

The kit includes 2 versions of many of the exterior parts, one with zim, the other without, but several parts are "applique" plastic zim pieces, which would include the turret sides, hull sides and a few others.  If I had to do it all over again I would have used the non-zim parts and taken this as an opportunity to make my own zim with putty.  But since this is a kit that's been in my stash for at least 10 years I wasn't too worried about it.  I'm still really looking forward to building the Dragon 1/35 Panther G Smartkit later this year.

Good news, I was able to get some work done on my Panther.  The turret is pretty much done.  I have two grab handles I still need to attach but don't want to risk damaging them as I have several clamps attached to the turret sides to keep the plastic zimmerit pieces firmly in place.  

Here is a scan of the directions to show what I mean about the plastic zim.  You have to bend the part, but the plastic wants to bend in a curve.  I gently bent the pieces, then glued the longest part to the turret side and let it sit until it was nice and strong.  Then I glued the rest of it to the rear sides of the turret, holding each side until it was firmly cemented, then put the clamps on to let it sit over night.  Tomorrow I attach the remaining handles and brackets and off to the spray booth (but not until I get a nice, smooth seam on the gun barrel via sanding )

tigerman wrote:

Do you have any engine screens Scott? They really make a difference on the rear deck. Well, I of course failed to finish yet another GB on time. I should be used to it by now. And to top that off, my furnace went out. Haha, it's in the 20's tonight too.

I agree, I usually get the screens.  It would make a nice addition to this Panther although I hadn't ordered any as I didn't want to put too much into this kit (since I have the far superior Dragon Panther G Smart Kit waiting patiently on the shelf ) 

It would be a nice touch and might distract people from the plastic zim 

Do you have any engine screens Scott? They really make a difference on the rear deck.

Well, I of course failed to finish yet another GB on time. I should be used to it by now. And to top that off, my furnace went out. Haha, it's in the 20's tonight too. 

Well, I didn't get as much done over the weekend as I had hoped, we ended up doing a lot of stuff around the house.  Here are a couple of progress pics.  The thick plastic zimmerit pieces are a bit cheesy, but this will be some good practice for painting and weathing the zim texture.