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

Brews wrote:

Is that an admission that you liked the Severn Class Lifeboat after all? What about the 1:72 Concord? Are you a fan of Roden kits? Maquette?

It's like cycling up a long, steep, hill - fun when it stops! I'm the guy who spent a month last year building and accurising a FROG Sea Vixen, remember:

and the best part of six months, the year before that, on and off, doing a Maquette 1/400 Cruiser Aurora:

There's more to life than Tamiya 1/48 P-51Ds...

Cheers,

Chris.

chris hall- Your nashorn is looking awesome!!!!! I had the same problem that you did with the gap in the armor and hull, actually the same spot too. Looking real good, can't wait to see her finished up.

dupes- Nice to see something different, don't see too much italian armor around here. Very nice job on the build and the paintjob. I think there's going to be a small rush at the local hobby stores on their italian kits.

And everyone else , keep the builds coming they're all looking sweet.

Got a quick question, what was the length of the L/70 barrel used on the Jagdpanzer? The Tamiya kit barrel is approx. 89mm from mantlet to tip and the Eduard barrel I have is 104mm from mantlet to tip.

Here's some more progress with my jagdtiger. Next step is to let the paint fly.

panzer88 wrote:

dupes- Nice to see something different, don't see too much italian armor around here. Very nice job on the build and the paintjob. I think there's going to be a small rush at the local hobby stores on their italian kits.

Wow, you guys like this one that much, eh? I suppose I had better make the end product look halfway decent! Got a bunch done on the mini-monster (probably weighs a sixth of that KT there), but no update pics...maybe something tomorrow, depending on how fast some of these washes dry.

Small update on the Jagd here. Done with all the PE and got the metal barrel installed. I actually had enlarge the hole in the mantlet so the Eduard barrel would slide a bit further back. Going to let it sit for a bit and let some things dry up real good and then shoot it with a black primer. Also going to order some MK's for this one. There will be no schurzen mounted so the MK's should look really good hanging over the return rollers. Thanks for taking a gander....

dupes wrote:

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

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).

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.

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!

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!

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!

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) 

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!!!

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...

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.

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.

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