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

No worries.

A GB is generally just a good excuse for a group of people interested in a particular modeling subject (could be a specific plane like a Spitfire GB, or a military campaign like the War in the Desert, or a particular scheme like the Winter Warriors GB) to share ideas and just enjoy the comeraderie of chatting with your friends here about your build. 

The Panzer Aces GB (which I'm hosting) has a requirement that only one person builds a particular tank for each Ace.  I'm building Albert Ernst's JagdTiger, so no one else can build that one because our focus is on the Aces themselves.  Someone else could build Alber Ernst's Nashorn, or could build Carius's JagdTiger, for example.

Your best bet is to read the rules and guidelines on the first post of the GB, as each GB is a little different and everything is explained there.

T-rex wrote:

Well I thought that was what a GB was, like a contest except each person does one diffrent tank of that catagory (in this case tank hunter) so there can't be two Hetzer. But I must have misunderstood, this is my 2ed GB. Sorry

Like Scott said, not a problem. I'm sorry you discovered the hard way, I guess, that there can be multiple duplicate builds. It would pretty much be impossible, due to subject matter, to limit a GB to one subject by a particular manufacturer. I think there is like 5-6 Dragon Jagdpanzers in this GB. I also know of no GB that offered a prize or such, but always a GB badge for completion of your build. This is all for fun and no competition.

Luftwoller wrote:

Hey great Hetzer, camo came out really sweet. Nice job. ...Guy

Hey dostacos, noce job on the Hetzer!! Im going to give one of those a shot one day!!

 Another update and first for me!! Decided to do a 3 tone hard edge camo on this one early off. I have to admit, I was nervous as hell!! I felt that the build aspect had come along rather nicely and the last thing I wanted to do was screw it all up with a gunk'd up camo job. I sat there for a while while it had the base coat of dark yellow and trying really hard to convince myself NOT to leave it like that. I finally did and figured I would give the putty method a try. Glad I did!!! There are a few spots to touch up on and I'm not sure if the pattern is very accurate or not but I really like how it looks!! I going to knock down some of the sharpness with a really thinned out coat of dark yellow next.

Thanks for looking everyone and as always, comments are more than welcomed here!!

Jester75 - nice job on the camo paint. Dunno about the pattern, I am the least knowledgable person in here probably :)  I do remember reading a LONG time ago something about camo patterns are used to break "straight lines", so maybe you dont expect to see a camo pattern of vertical stripes like the left side (top pic)? Anyway, I am sure you will get better feedback than mine, but looks good to me!

dostacos - nice job on the Hetzer!

Looking good Jester75, don't forget to get those Periscopes in position before you glue the halfs together.

About the SU; does the r mean rechambered?
Back to research :)

Not quite sure what to say about the kit yet, the main gun comprises of 10 halfs:
The gun bed
The gun itself
Inner recoil cylinder
Outer recoil cylinder
Breach
All parts are quite crude, there is a lot of flash, some parts are not fully represented because plastic is "missing", and there are no location points.
The halfs are now assembled and I am waiting for the glue to cure, then it is time for some serioues filling.

Lots off fun :)

Svenne

Svenne Duva wrote:

Looking good Jester75, don't forget to get those Periscopes in position before you glue the halfs together. About the SU; does the r mean rechambered? Back to research :) Not quite sure what to say about the kit yet, the main gun comprises of 10 halfs: The gun bed The gun itself Inner recoil cylinder Outer recoil cylinder Breach All parts are quite crude, there is a lot of flash, some parts are not fully represented because plastic is "missing", and there are no location points. The halfs are now assembled and I am waiting for the glue to cure, then it is time for some serioues filling. Lots off fun :) Svenne

I'm not sure, but that makes some sense. I've seen it used before on other captured vehicles.

Jester, solid effort on the camo. I understand and feel your fear of ruining a great build. On my panther build, I resprayed the camo 4 times! It's not unusual for me to respray 2-3 times. I'm just picky I guess. My Jagdpanzer is going to be a first in hard-edged camo. I'm skeered.

I did get some progress done today. I worked on my build and my son worked on his Tamiya HUMVEE. Ahhh.......father & son time. His idea no less! He's got the bug again.

Hey, people, I finally got to start on my AFV M10.  Apon strting this I realized that I have to start painting right away.  Didn't think of the open top.  MY bad!   Once I get the ammo tube and the straps in place I will weather the interior then finish building the outside. Here is a pic of what I got done today.

Sweet looking interior Moose! I have always wanted to build a US TD ever since seeing the Hellcat on the military channel!

Hey guys!  Looks like I've got some catching up to do!

dupes: Man that Semovente looks really great!  Wish I could build and paint em as fast as you!  To be honest I can't even see the glued part of the track that you had a problem with!  BTW, what size gun is on that little beastie?

panzerguy: I'll confess that I've always found the look of this version Marder to be a little strange...is it a II or III?  Nonetheless your build looks great...especially with the extra work you put into it!  Bet it'll look fantastic with a coat of paint!

Luftwoller:  I haven't heard a lot of good things about PE zim, but your StuG certainly looks the part...great work!  I've very interested in seeing how the zim looks under a coat of paint! BTW, I've never seen zim on the top on an engine deck either, but stranger things have happened in war!

dostacos:  That's a fine looking Hetzer dos!  I keep thinking its 1/35 and have to keep reminding myself its 1/48!  Do you know if the camo pattern you applied is considered the "cloud" pattern done by the Skoda plant?

Jester:  Maybe I should just pack my Jagdpanzer IV away and buy me a new DML Jagdpanther!  Your's is looking sooo good!   In addition to all the great work with the PE and other stuff you've now applied a niiiice paint job!  Awesome dude!

I apologize if I missed anyone's recent photo posts...been really busy at home and work.  I did manage to get a couple hours of bench time today.  Here's some photos of my....mediocre Italeri Jagdpanzer IV.  I say mediocre because of the many problems I've been having.   I'll list some of them after the photos.  The upper and lower hulls are just dry-fitted as is the gun and mantlet (with the help of blue tac).

Basic views

The mantlet housing is oversized and required trimming to (barely) fit the hull properly

There's a WHOLE bunch of ejector pin marks on the rear hull plate...too many and too hard to remove.  I was thinking of scratchbuilding a new plate, but I don't really have the time.

Since I had to remove the molded in light mount I now have a hole (easy to fix) and lost tread pattern (not so easy to fix)!  Does anyone know how to add a tread pattern to a plastic fender?  I really don't want to buy a PE set just to fix this little quirk with the kit (one of many).

OK, if anyone has this kit and wants to build a somewhat more accurate version here's some problems you will encounter:

Oversized mantlet housing

Unnecessary light mount and Notek light mount requires trimming leaving problem areas to fix

All those epms on the rear plate

No steel return rollers included (necessary if you want to do a later version...option B in the instructions)

Weld marks on hull are all wrong

Fuel ports on side of hull are in the wrong position (ok for a standard Pz. IV but not a Jagd)

Not sure about the front tow eyes, but the ones on the back are wrong.

Poorly detialed pioneer tools

There's more but I won't go into them right now.  See why I'm thinking of switching to DML's new Jagdpanther?!!

Hi Bufflehead,

for the tread pattern, you might try this. Get a piece of regular kitchen foil, and rub it down over a piece of fender which already has the tread pattern, larger than the area you need to repair. Shiny side down is probably best. When it has acquired the tread pattern, remove it, and carefully cut it to size, using a steel ruler and a new scalpel blade. Then carefully cement it in place over the damaged area, ensuring not to remove the pattern as you do so. Use white glue, not superglue, so that if you mess up, as I am sure I would do the first few times of trying, you can remove the foil and start over.

Cheers,

Chris.

Hi all, 

SVENNE -- The (r) after Su-76 is German code for a captured vehicle, in this case Russian. (f) was code for French, and (t) for Czech (Tcheck).

I picked up some Tamiya Dark Yellow today, the MM equivalent was out of stock, (which sounds somewhat fortuitous). I'm trying to eyeball a good match for the Chinese cammo, and while the dark yellow is a fair match for the tan, I also need the mid-green: the Panzer Olivegrun '43 recommended online looks nowhere close in person, I need a warmer, yellower shade. I may end up mixing it.

I'm slogging through some lower hull fittings, and hope to do some turret details soon. Will figure out how to post pics and get some WIP shots up before very much longer.

Cheers,

TB379

Wow, Jester that is a really sweet 3 tone. Ive yet to try one of those but im shaking at the thought of it lol. Moose, that is some fine interior work there. Another of my todo's (An interior)  Buffelhead, Nice casting effect on the mantlet. What did you use, Come on spill the beans? I wouldnt worry too much about the rear ejector marks, surely that is what mud was invented for LOL .

...Guy

Jester75 wrote:

There are a few spots to touch up on and I'm not sure if the pattern is very accurate or not but I really like how it looks!! I going to knock down some of the sharpness with a really thinned out coat of dark yellow next. Thanks for looking everyone and as always, comments are more than welcomed here!!

Jester!  Awesome camo. Looks great!  I toned mine down using a mist over the entire vehicle.  Be careful, as the weathering process will tone things down quite a bit, so leave it a little brighter than the final shade you want. That way when you apply a wash or 10 so it won't get too dark.    Mine turned out darker than I planned.  (see page 29 of this thread for pictures.)

But your build looks great!

Well I've finally got the base coat on. Then on to some minor assembly,and then let he camo begin. I haven't decided on a scheme yet, I'll have to take look around, unless some of you fine gents has some nice color profiles to choose from. Thanks and the builds are looking absolutely beautiful here.  Nice work to everybody .

fantacmet wrote:

Are there any paint schemes on the Hellcat other then plain old olive drab?  Doesn't have to be a desert scheme, but even a camo scheme would be cool.  Winter Whitewash perhaps?  That I would LOVE to do on this, but can't see it happening with it being open top and all.  I wouldn't want to serve on it in the middle of winter.  LOL.

Here is one in winter "dress

I also found THIS page, compilation of museum TDs pics (1:1, not models)

http://svsm.org/gallery/Self-Propelled-Guns

The M18 page has a great "walk around"

One more pic showing lots of stowage and "addons":

I had a site that had great color drawings, but has since gone off the web. I'd love something too.

You can check finished builds on:

www.missing-lynx.com

www.armorama.com

www.cyberhobby.com

Wow incrediable work in here, i just hope i can try not to drag the standard down. How did you guys find building the Individ links. This was my first time using them ( just the ones that came with the kit) any tips for next time would be great. I was getting ready to shoot the base coat and noticed i had built the tool box inside out ( ya i know) anyway got that all fixed up and double checked again that nothing else had suffered during my brain fart. so her she is before the base coat:

and now after the base coat and camo. the barrel is still not attched or painted as you can see. made it easier to paint the hull with it out of the way.

Still have all the acc on the outside ( tools, cables, etc) plus paint and attch the barrel, weathering  and all that fun stuff so plenty of work left. any and all comments welcome

   Buffle-it's a III

   Jester- Interesting camo

   Dostacos-Nice Hetzer

 Got some paint done over the weekend and attached the upper hull little bit of a fit problem in the rear but the mufferler should hide it okay.A couple of touch up's then decale's.I'm gonna be putting a white wash on this using the hair spray tech.

   A couple of fig's I picked up to go with my TD when it's done.

    The driver and radio hatch's hinges did not line up so I had to shave off the one's on the hull side's and make new one's out of scrap plastic and the radio antenna mount had no bracket on it so I made one using thin brass sheet and grant line nut's.

    For my first GB this is really turning out to a ball and I can't wait to see all the finished build's.Later Panz. 

Townsy11 wrote:

It's a long shot but I don't suppose a Pz.VII Maus would qualify for this GB?

Sorry friend. Check the first post for some ideas.

Cruzr, that Elephant is looking might nice!  With the long 88, that vehicle is truly a Hunter!!

panzerguy, the Marder is coming along very well!  I especially like those figures!  They look very cold even thought they're unpainted....brrr!!

chris hall wrote:

Hi Bufflehead, for the tread pattern, you might try this. Get a piece of regular kitchen foil, and rub it down over a piece of fender which already has the tread pattern, larger than the area you need to repair. Shiny side down is probably best. When it has acquired the tread pattern, remove it, and carefully cut it to size, using a steel ruler and a new scalpel blade. Then carefully cement it in place over the damaged area, ensuring not to remove the pattern as you do so. Use white glue, not superglue, so that if you mess up, as I am sure I would do the first few times of trying, you can remove the foil and start over. Cheers, Chris.

Thanks Chris, I'll give that a try!  If it doesn't work I'll try adding the tiniest slivers of plastic.  If all else fails....$$ for set of PE! " border="0" width="15" height="24" />

Your Elefant is coming along nicely Cruzr! 

I'm really digging the Marder Panzerguy!