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

Dupes: good job on the Semovente, I really like the weathering and the base adds a cool touch.

Labour In Vain wrote:

Where does that gun recoil, I always wondered?

Well, you're only talking about a 75mm L18. The Semovente was Italy's answer to the StuG IIIA. Technically, it was as much a tank hunter as the early StuGs, and probably less of a tank hunter than the SU-122 , although it was largely used in the anti-tank role after Alamein, using HEAT/HESH rounds, apparently.

Dupes,

Congratulations on a fine (and fast) build
The Semovente really looks the part, interesting how that shaded too tone sand makes it so convincing.
You might want to have a go at the mold seems on the suspension springs and give them a dark oily wash, they where lubricated with grease.

Where does that gun recoil, I always wondered?

Best Regards
Boarder

Scott,
Thank you very much for your kind offer, I really need a little bit of knowledge MIGO'd over, my service center SLOC is looking very empty and the STO's from main plant are doubling on RLT for some reason :)



The gap that worries me is between the actual castematte and part C13.
The angel on top of C13 depicts a weld seem.
I expect a fine line between C18 and C13 since this is bolt on plate but I think that the gap visible on the previous picture behind C13 should be filled.

Anyway and while you are at it :), would you have any reference picture from inside the fighting compartment?
Was RLM02 or red primer used in the lower parts of the interior?
Radio housings; black or RLM02?
Radio panels; black, steel or RLM02
Main gun brake cylinder housing; elfenbein or black?

Thank You
Boarder

Dupes, that Semovente looks pretty sweet, especially on that nice looking dio base.  

Panzerguy, I know I have a book somewhere that has a photo of some Marders with their canvas covers on.  I'm not at the house right now, but I'm pretty sure it is in this book: 

http://www.amazon.com/Eastern-Front-Camouflage-Czechoslovakia-Yugoslavia/dp/0897471423

I'm making slow progress on my Su-100 after starting out gangbusters.  Got laid up with the flu for a week, but now I'm back on it and its ready for paint finally.  I'll try to post some pics soon.

 Jeff

Hahhaha, thanks T-man. Yeah, sure, send your Jagd-thingy over, I'll bang it out.

Ahhh, base exterior coat was MM Sand which got toned waaaay down with all of the washes/pastels/drybrushing. The base base coat peeking through in a lot of places is Italian armor gray-green, made by mixing 2 common Tamiya colors together - I wanna say XF51 Khaki Drab and XF65 Field Gray...or something like that.

Panzerguy - amazes me you guys that can separately paint and weather 2 halves of a model...how do you make sure it all matches?

 Got some more work done on my marder last night and was able to put some paint on the lower hull. I'm gonna be painting and weathering the lower hull before I attach the top because I would'nt be able to get to the top of the fender's and the tool stowage.I scratch built the canvas top support's,if anyone know's were I can get a pic of one of these with the top on it it would be much apreciated.

Alright T-man, stick a fork in me , this guy is done. The Italeri Semovente M40 75mm Tank Destroyer, created by the Italians early in the Afrika campaign once they realized that they were getting their a***s handed to them by the U.S. and Brits. This is one small vehicle mounting a pretty hefty caliber gun, especially for so early in the war.

Without further ado:

...and a couple on the base I "borrowed" from my sd.kfz.222 (had to settle for this route, no desert in my backyard to take action shots in )

Enjoy! All comments and criticisms highly welcomed!  

Yo Group, advice requested:
The StuG has bolted on armor but the supporting plate seems to be an "add on" as well and leaves a gap to the super structure.

Now, does anyone know if the joint between the main superstucture and the supporting plate needs to be filled and sanded?

Picture:


Really appreciate your advice on this!

Thanks

I'd just like to thank people for the comments on the Nashorn. I tend to under-weather, unless I'm doing the model as part of a diorama, and it's appropriate to do more mud. Don't like covering up all the construction work and carefully-painted camo, shading and washes. There are, though, occasional exceptions:

Anyway, on with the Nimrod!

Cheers,

Chris.

Hey fellas, thanks for the advice on the black thread. If my current superglue-fix doesn't hold (I'm quite amazed the rubber tracks reacted to it at all!) I'll be going that method. Didn't come out perfectly, but close enough for government work. Just so you all know you aren't allowed to critique the superglue join on the starboard rear track section.

Anyhoo, little teaser pic - just have to do the pastel/mig work, and this guy should be done. I also just figured out that the exhaust tubes...are exhaust tubes! They don't have an opening on the end, so I didn't put 2 and 2 together, but they need some rust-style effects later today. Anything else I missed, pleeeease let me know.

Hi Dupes,

Major bummer with the track breaking, but I can also vouch for the black thread method. I did an SF scratchbuild a while back which required a set of running gear to be modified from a Tamiya M41, including shortening the track by six links each. I took three links from each end of each track, then butt-jointed them with superglue and reinforced them with black thread through the sprocket holes, and they've never even looked like parting from day one. They even roll fine too! And with the joined section hidden on the top-run, all's well.

Cheers,

TB379

PS: Still looking for time to spend on my Type 89...

Wow, thanks alot for the comments everyone!! So far the build has been the really easy part. I am really nervous about the finish and hope I dont mess up the build with it. The Eduard PE set was a joy to work with. I found a ref that said the L70 barrel protruded from the front of the tank 8' 6". I am at 9' 3" right now so it appears to be be a bit long, going to trim it up a bit in the rear and see if I cant correct it.

Dupes: You know what they say about a tank with a long barrel........

Chris: That is one very nice Nashorn!! The crew compartment looks sweet!!!

Ernest: Please do post some pics, I like seeing what others can do with this kit!!!

Having broken several tracks trying to stretch them out or force them over the wheels, I can tell you one way to repair this:  sew them.

 I use black thread and sew the ends together.  It seems to hold well and does not seem too conspicuous.

Here is a picture of my 251.  Note that you cannot really see the repair.

And here you see the thread repair on the same side, under the flash: (over second road wheel from the rear) 

bufflehead wrote:

panzerguy:  the Marder is looking better and better!  Seems like the Tamiya kit builds up pretty nicely

    Thank's buff, I had planned on building this one OOB and just add some AM track's but just had to add a few extra detail's.Hopefully I'll have it ready for some paint this weekend.

   Chris, that Nashorn look's great, love the camo!

dupes wrote:

Looks like I maaaay be able to finish the Italian Stallion tonight...one more wash later this afternoon, then pastels and pigments galore!

Welllllll, went ahead and hit her with that last wash........and one of the rubber band tracks snapped. TWANG! I'm guessing they were shoddily constructed (bad rubber band tracks? what? ) and the thinner must have chewed through a soft link. Meh. I really have no idea how I'm going to fix this quite yet...they're so tight around the suspension that there's zero play - may have to TIE them together? Don't think they'll respond to superglue...but I may have to try.

Of course, it's RIGHT at the back of the hull in a VERY conspicuous place.

Oooooh, and I thought I was going to finish this tonight.

Chris - great Nashorn, btw. Interesting scheme!

Chris:  GREAT looking Nashorn...I luv it!!  Glad to see you didn't go overboard with the weathering...sometimes its nice to see a moderately weathered AFV like this one!

panzerguy:  the Marder is looking better and better!  Seems like the Tamiya kit builds up pretty nicely

panzer88: Can't wait to see some paint on that big brute!!  Are you going monotone or camo?

Jester:  What a sweet looking Jagdpanzer!  Its really coming alive now!  I was going to post some photos of my partially completed Jagdpanzer, but after seeing yours I'm not so sure!  I decided not to add any PE or do any major mods on mine...I hope it looks half as good as yours!

Thanks for the compliments on the Nashorn, folks. Early this morning, I gave the running gear and lower hull some light overprays of heavily thinned dusty shades, using Tamiya acrylics. Then, this afternoon, I was playing with some weathering powders, working on staining and highlights, and suddenly I thought "that's enough. That'll do".

I always find that one of the most difficult things to do when weathering models is to know when to stop. Gut feeling is as good a method of deciding as any. so I added a radio aerial from stainless steel wire, intalled the periscope sights and the figures and that was it. Job done!

Here are some final piccies:

It was, on the whole, an enjoyable build, but the track links became a bit tedious after a while. that's one reason why I normally don't do more than 2 or 3 1/35 tanks per year.  Painting and weathering was much more fun.

As ever, comments and queries more than welcome.

Cheers,

Chris.

dupes wrote:

Wow, Jester - that thing is looking sweet...look at the size of that barrel!

I can't allow my PzJg I to see that photo. It will get barrel-envy (it's insecure enough as it is).

dupes wrote:

Wow, Jester - that thing is looking sweet...look at the size of that barrel!