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

Thunderbolt379 wrote:

Yo, Scott -- reality check, I'm having exactly the same problem with Tamiya green. I pushed the thinning ratio from 0.5 : 1 (for the yellow) to 1:1, and had to use twice the pressure just to get it to spray at all... NOT GOOD! Acrylics may have many benefits but this is reason to think enamels. I gotta patch up the yellow on the gun and mantlet (the only part of the main beast I mottled, this session was for the running gear), and decide what to do. The wheels are fine, they'll get rusted, dusted and mudded, but the body needs better definition. I can try switching down to the fine tip and needle, and really thinning the paint, but an inadequacy in the paint formulation is the last thing you think of as a hurdle to overcome! BTW -- did you add backing to the driver's vision slit? I notice the Echelon profile drawings show what looks like an armorglass block, but the kit provides nothing and I've not spotted anything in references yet... Cheers, TB379

I believe there should be an armored glass block there, but I didn't put anything in there.  And I'm sure you're already aware that the profile used on the Echelon decal set is a StuG III Ausf. F/8, would have been nice if they had used a G profile for the two schemes that called for it, but no biggie I suppose. 

I'm wondering if the Tamiya green acrylics are somehow thicker or behave differently than the rest of the Tamiya colors I normally use?  I only have problems with their greens, especially XF-61 Dark Green. 

I meant to get these photos posted last night, but was distracted by a really good dinner made by my wife and oldest daughter, BBQ steak, zuccinni, garlic potatos, garlic bread and a nice bottle of Cabernet. 

As you can see this puppy is ready for the tools, tracks and weathing! 

tigerman wrote:

... However, the deadline is only 2 weeks to claim the badge. Needless to say, I won't be picking mine up. I had a brain-fart during this build and kind of fell out of the GB. Some leader I am. SMJ. Great idea. I did this with the Kursk GB also.

Tigerman, I had plans to do some additional detailing, but I am just going to declare this one complete.

Yo, Scott -- reality check, I'm having exactly the same problem with Tamiya green. I pushed the thinning ratio from 0.5 : 1 (for the yellow) to 1:1, and had to use twice the pressure just to get it to spray at all... NOT GOOD! Acrylics may have many benefits but this is reason to think enamels.

I gotta patch up the yellow on the gun and mantlet (the only part of the main beast I mottled, this session was for the running gear), and decide what to do. The wheels are fine, they'll get rusted, dusted and mudded, but the body needs better definition. I can try switching down to the fine tip and needle, and really thinning the paint, but an inadequacy in the paint formulation is the last thing you think of as a hurdle to overcome!

BTW -- did you add backing to the driver's vision slit? I notice the Echelon profile drawings show what looks like an armorglass block, but the kit provides nothing and I've not spotted anything in references yet...

Cheers,

TB379

WIP photo's of my Jagdpanzer 38(t). Just need to do some washes and weathering and details on the tracks.

My photo taking skills are non-existant so bare with me

I think for the wash this time I'm going to take Wingnuts advice and use pastel chalks and water and try just a pin wash, oil washes just have not been that succesful for me in the past.

I respect all of your comments and suggestions and will take all the help you can offer.I can really use some suggestions on these tracks I intend on highlighting with some steel and silver. and I think after the washes I might airbrush some thinned Tamiya buff to get a dusty look.

Thanks! Doug

My laptop is still being fixed...so not much carousing the forums for me these days

I still hope to finish my entry for this GB, only the details and a bit more mud left to do...

dupes wrote:

Carousing on the forums has been shown to be one of the top 5 reasons that people miss GB deadlines...

...which is one reason why I'm glad my workbench is at home and I have to go to the office to get to the forums...hmmmm...It's Sunday, why am I at the office

some assembly required wrote:

thanks bud

...hey, no time for replies there soldier, get to the workbench!!!

well last night after gettin the green light i built most of the lower hull/running gear.each of the bogies is 5 pcs. and then the associated fittings on the rear hull. so today im on to the int. pretty nice so far. wish me luck!

                                                           S.A.R

Thanks Tman, ill be burnin the oil on this one!!

Scott -- I feel for ya, man! I've managed to avoid disasters (so far) but entropy is always ready to pounce. I managed to get back to my StuG and spray the tire black and dark yellow on the running gear, but promptly got a cleaning cloth jammed in the syphon head (I know, I did a booboo, I used a fibrous tissue, cleaning the AB in a hurry because dinner was ready) and had to truck the AB to the art store to get it unjammed yesterday. All fine now, and I got some Paasche cleaning brushes and a cutting mat while I was there.

I'm hoping to do the green mottle on the running gear today, then I can weather the pre-sprayed cavity beneath the gun mantlet and get back to assembly.

While the AB was out of action I worked on construction for the IDF GB, but I gotta concentrate on the StuG, there's only a fortnight to go! Finish construction, PE, paintjob, decals, weathering, mud... Plenty to do. I notice the green in the Echelon decals instruction sheet looks a lot 'greener' than the olive used in the excellent feature in Armor Models. XF-26 looks a closer match than the more olive-type greens for sure.

My next WIP shot should be the completed running gear.

Cheers,

TB379

some assembly required wrote:

t man. im now moved and have more free time than  i thought. i was wounderin if you would  pretttyyy pleeease let me back in?? ive got a good block of time before i start my new job so ill get mucho done.  i wont be able to grab an m 10 though,but i did buy a marder 2 from dml. so heres hopeing.....                                                S.A.R

No problemo. However, the deadline is only 2 weeks to claim the badge. Needless to say, I won't be picking mine up. I had a brain-fart during this build and kind of fell out of the GB. Some leader I am.

SMJ. Great idea. I did this with the Kursk GB also.

t man. im now moved and have more free time than  i thought. i was wounderin if you would  pretttyyy pleeease let me back in?? ive got a good block of time before i start my new job so ill get mucho done.  i wont be able to grab an m 10 though,but i did buy a marder 2 from dml. so heres hopeing.....

                                               S.A.R

I've been away for a little while, so let me catch up.

Frangkly- That JS-2 looks sweet!!

Douglas1- Nice camo on the Jagdpanzer! It's coming along well.

Espins- Looks like things are rolling along well since the grills came in.

As always a lot of nice work going on here!! Now I'm going to have to dull down this thread by throwing in some OD pics. I feel my project is coming along pretty good, I still need to do a little more weathering and then it should be finished. Please let me know if you see anything that looks out of place. Already know the horn up front needs to be fixed and the towing pintels have seems on them (Thinking about removing them). Anyway here is where I'm at right now:

Now a little preview of what I'm planning when it's finished.

Once again comments welcome!!

-Stephen

You just gotta love those days where everything just winds up being a comedy of errors....

I did the touch up on the camo job and roadwheels.  At a minimum, I'm planning on attaching the sprockets, idlers, road wheels, return rollers and applying the decals this evening.  Pics to follow, of course.

espins1 wrote:

Coming along nicely Douglas!  Here are a couple of pics after I sprayed and retouched the camouflage.  I had a chain reaction of bad events happen on Saturday.  For whatever reason I just could not get the mix right for the green splotches Tamiya Thinner/XF-61 Dark Green.  I'm almost thinking it might have been an old bottle of paint.  I was getting a lot of spatter and overspray.  In fact, I was so dissatisfied with the way it was spraying I stopped after I had done the lower hull sides to dump and make a new batch.  I ended up dripping a big drop of the paint onto my pants....    I boogied to the bathroom to clean everything and start over.  I got to the bathroom then realized that the bottle of windex was still in my den.  I ran back to the den, grabbed the windex and headed back to the bathroom.  That's when I realized that at some point one of our freakin' pets took a dump on the floor which I had managed to step in and track from the bathroom, across the hall and into and out of my den.    I kicked off my shoes, finished cleaning the A/B and made a new mix and finished spraying the green spots, but still wasn't happy as I was getting a lot of overspray.   I spent the next 30 minutes cleaning up critter poo, swearing and cursing all the way and was still very dissatisfied with the spray job.  I managed to clog the toilet too from cleaning up the poop.    At some point I had to get something out of my daughters room.  I remembered to duck on the way in to avoid smacking my head on her pull-up bar but forgot on the way out.... smacked the crap out of my forehead which added insult to injury.  Tough day.  Last night I mixed a batch of XF-60 Dark Yellow and XF-57 Buff to fix the green overspray issues, then made a new mix of XF-61 Dark Green with just a tad of Olive Green for good measure and patched up the spots.  I have a few more little touch ups to do then I'll get the decals on it.

 

I found a big hairball in our bathroom the other day and realized I DROVE over it dragging it from the bedroom to the bathroom. at least I did not move it all over the house...cats, cannot live with 'em and they won't let ya kill 'em

   And you know, somehow it would have shown up on U-tube

   By the way Scott the stug's looking good I'm sure you'll work out the paint problem.

panzerguy wrote:

When you work with armor sometime's you've got to deal with land mine's

A sticky mine perhaps? 

The funniest thing would have been if I had been knocked out from smacking my head on the pullup bar, then having my wife and oldest daughter find me downstairs with poop everywhere, my spray booth fan humming away, lights blairing everywhere. 

   When you work with armor sometime's you've got to deal with land mine's

Thanks Hermis, that was quite the afternoon.  It's funny now looking back on it.  I had my wife and oldest daughter in stiches the other night when I shared my troubles with them. 

I just kept thinking.... "serenity now, serenity now"