"The Hunters GB" (2/1/08 to 6/1/08)

It's funny how you see things in daylight that you think you can ignore under "good" workbench lighting.

I just dremelled some ejector pin marks - about 6 of them. 

Brews wrote:

tigerman wrote: That's how I'd want to do one.  That's a tad ambiguous :) You'd make one outside Moscow, with 11 kills, or as DAK?

I just think it would make a  good DAK scheme. I'm still itching to try one with the chip method. 

I added an instrument panel, with dials by Mike Grant Decals. I dropped one of the return rollers, and despite working on a concrete floor, I couldn't find it. It must have bounced across the room. So, I made another by sticking a piece of round sprue in my dremel, and using a #11 blade as a tool. I'm pleased to say that it's hardly noticeably different.

The tracks are now joined (by soldering iron). Despite the age of the kit, the detail on these is quite pleasing. There is enough slack in the track that I hope to be able to make it sag realistically between the idler and the rear return roller.

Edited to include pics:

Sample injector-pin remedy 

For the short-sighted Tigerman:

Well I spent a few hours last night working on my Jagdpanzer IV L70. 

I have noticed a few things:

--I started working on it after the kids went to bed at 8PM.   The next thing I knew, it is 1AM.  Talk about addictive.   Crack addicts keep better track of time.

-- I notice that there are many different styles of build.  I keep the hull halves separate and attach everything that will be painted in the base color and camo scheme.  I paint the tools and other stuff later.  

-- I leave the road wheels off for painting.  I paint them rubbber, then use a mask to spray the hubs.  I could never paint them all on the vehicle like some of you.

-- I find myself filling ejector marks and sanding edges that WILL NOT be visible.  Is this normal?  (of course, some of you build detailed interiors that are not visible, so I am probably not asking the right crowd...)

-- The kits seems to leave the sides above the return rollers completely open.  There is a 1.5cm gap between the lower hull and the upper hull along both sides.  This will not be visible on the assembled model, even without the Shurzen.  I filled the gap with some styrene.  I am crazy to spend time filling gaps that cannot be seen?

-- The L70 barrel that came with the kit was a mess.  I sanded and puttied, and it is still a bit lumpy.  Any suggestions for making it more round?  (I am looking at aluminium ones, but I dont see one for the Tamiya kit, only DML and Italieri.  Any thoughts?)

Next steps:

Painting the hull Dunklegrub, painting the road wheels, etc..

A couple more progress pics:

This thread's gone a bit quiet... There must be a whole lot of plastic engineers with their heads down over their benches!

For myself, I'm nearly ready to begin, the previous model is nearly done, but I managed to drop my AB earlier -- it slid off the bench, hit the floor and bent its trigger assembly. (No glass jar attached at the time, phew!) I'll have to drop it into the service shop tomorrow. Luckily I'd finished all spraying, including cleaning (thankfully!) and had even turned the gas bottle tap off, I just had to bleed the hose pressure and ... bang! I've never done that in 29 years of airbrushing!

Well, I could ceremonially glue two bits of Trumpeter plastic together tonight -- and announce myself as well and truly aboard!

Cheers,

TB379

The dimensions of the Pzkw I at achtungpanzer.com indicate that it should scale at 58mm long and 27mm wide, so I remeasured it, taking cognizance that reviews of Nitto / Fujimi 1:76 armour sugges that "the details are there, but the big picture (scale) is not".

I'm very happy to say that it is close to 58mm long, and about 27mm wide, including the suspension beam.

Thunderbolt379 wrote:

This thread's gone a bit quiet... There must be a whole lot of plastic engineers with their heads down over their benches! For myself, I'm nearly ready to begin, the previous model is nearly done, but I managed to drop my AB earlier -- it slid off the bench, hit the floor and bent its trigger assembly. (No glass jar attached at the time, phew!) I'll have to drop it into the service shop tomorrow. Luckily I'd finished all spraying, including cleaning (thankfully!) and had even turned the gas bottle tap off, I just had to bleed the hose pressure and ... bang! I've never done that in 29 years of airbrushing! Well, I could ceremonially glue two bits of Trumpeter plastic together tonight -- and announce myself as well and truly aboard! Cheers, TB379

It has gotten a bit quiet. I figure as excited as everyone was to start all of us are probably glued to the bench!! I know I am with this crankin in the background!! This Tamiya kit is pretty sweet and the Eduard PE is really going to set it off!!!

DerOberst wrote:

-- The L70 barrel that came with the kit was a mess.  I sanded and puttied, and it is still a bit lumpy.  Any suggestions for making it more round?  (I am looking at aluminium ones, but I dont see one for the Tamiya kit, only DML and Italieri.  Any thoughts?)

Hmm, couldnt you chuck the barrel into a drill and then run the drill at a slow speed and use some fine grit sandpaper to sort of smooth it out. Sorta like homemade "lathe" of sorts??

Lots of good inspiration on this page including a song and an art-deco poster for war bonds.

Was hoping that I might get to start firing a bit of whitewash in the general direction of this monster, but I've got a superbowl party to attend.

Nice site Brews, thanks for the link!!

 Awesome dupes, I love that barrel! Is it the kit barrel?

DerOberst wrote:

-- The L70 barrel that came with the kit was a mess.  I sanded and puttied, and it is still a bit lumpy.  Any suggestions for making it more round?  (I am looking at aluminium ones, but I dont see one for the Tamiya kit, only DML and Italieri.  Any thoughts?)

My thought would be ... what's the difference? Use a barrel, even if it's made for another kit.

Chucking the barrel into a dremel, or even a regular drill bit, is a bit dicey. Do it with caution, if you must, but you'll likely end up getting a barrel.

In fact, I'm surprised that there ISN'T a recommended barrel for the Tamiya kit. I'll take a look and get back to you.

Jordi Rubio do this 1/35 L/70 barrel for the Jagdpanzer IV/70:

http://www.jordirubio.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=640

but don't specify which kit it's for. Maybe it would fit the Tamiya kit. You could email them and ask.

Cheers,

Chris.

Hi Brews,

Squadron stock the Eduard barrels, stock # EU34023 for Dragon and # 34050 for Italeri, and the price looks very reasonable. I'll be ordering one for myself shortly.

Eric, WILD vid, guy! I love the manga anime take, and the whole seditionist take on globalisation! I can see me building a black F-5 with custom markings... (Bookmarked it!)

I assembled a wheel last night... Does that qualify me as part of the GB?

TB

Hi all,

I've been production-lining wheels today, I'm thinking of doing as many subassemblies as possible before bringing them all together in one big integration session.

Cheers,

TB

I am a HUGE Patriots fan.   I was completely depressed after the game last night.

 Rather than drink a bottle of wine to self medicate...I retired to my model desk.

After 4 hours of coping through focusing on something other than the game, I ended up here on my Jagdpanzer...

Better than Prozac, more expensive than beer, less dangerous than razorblades...

Jester75 wrote:

Awesome dupes, I love that barrel! Is it the kit barrel?

Thanks Jester! It actually is the kit barrel...albeit with a LOT of sanding.

Eric,
You are right, there is a lot off brass in there and I am not sure that it will pay off?
FI, thouse grab/tigh down handles are all presented in PE that needs to be folded back to represent a welding bracket?
Hmmm...
Working on the casemate now and not really worried about the exterior.
Should that firewall at the back of the fighthing compartment be solid?
Please, if anyone has pics from an SU-100 interior I'd appreciate any info :)
Final Q, did the russians do their radios with a zink housing and black dials?

Very Best Regards
Johan

Awesome looking paint job there DerOberst!! You are alot further ahead in yours than I am. This Eduard PE set has really slowed me down but I'm telling ya, it is great!!! I spent most of this evening working on the clamps and brackets on the rear deck for the tools. Yesterday evening was spent shaving the kit fenders off on the front and replacing them with PE as well as the mounting brackets for the shurzen. I am really having fun with this one. On a sad note though, I lost the first PE placement bracket. I thought I had a good hold on it with my tweezers, and then BLAMO, catapulted into oblivion!!!!!!!!!

As I am just going off of the directions on the clamps and what not and have no refs on this whatsoever, feel free to point out anything I am doing wrong on them!!

Jester75 wrote:

snip On a sad note though, I lost the first PE placement bracket. I thought I had a good hold on it with my tweezers, and then BLAMO, catapulted into oblivion!!!!!!!!!snip

that is not a lost part that is BATTLE DAMAGE!

Jester - looks solid so far!

DerOberst - nice camo scheme. Always makes me happy to see old Tamiya kits getting turned into something nice.

Jester75 wrote:

snip On a sad note though, I lost the first PE placement bracket. I thought I had a good hold on it with my tweezers, and then BLAMO, catapulted into oblivion!!!!!!!!!snip

Ah, the dreaded tweezerpult.