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

Dupes- The cammo netting is gauze soaked in elmers glue and water. Only thing I did was mix some OD acrylic paint in the glue mixture so I would not have to put a base coat on it. Thanks for the comments!

-Stephen

Hi Scott -- Quick technical question. I'm about to mount the MG shield before painting (all masking now done) and it struck me that my reference books are unclear on this point: yes, the forward section of the loader's hatch locked to and supported the shield, but was the shield supported any other way? I.e., would it be technically incorrect to have both the hatch closed and the gun shield raised? The late production Ausf. G had a hatch that opened laterally, rather than longitudinally, but that may have been teamed with the MG in the remote control mount rather than the manual gun, so that sheds no light.

Any advice would be most appreciated. For the moment, I'll mask the attachment point and leave the shield off while I paint, and come back to it later.

Cheers,

TB379

Hi all,

StuG update -- the main camo is now on. Subject to it passing inspection in natural light tomorrow, the next step is a fading mist coat on the upper surfaces, then onto decals, weathering, external tools, mud and dust.

Here's the latest photo:

" border="0" />

The tracks need airbrushing, drybrushing and dusting, and there'll be antennae to scratchbuild. I'm very pleased with the way the PE screens worked, I'll be doing this a lot in future.

The GB ends on Saturday, that's four days: I'm gonna try my hardest for that badge!

Cheers,

TB379

Thunderbolt379 wrote:

Hi Scott -- Quick technical question. I'm about to mount the MG shield before painting (all masking now done) and it struck me that my reference books are unclear on this point: yes, the forward section of the loader's hatch locked to and supported the shield, but was the shield supported any other way? I.e., would it be technically incorrect to have both the hatch closed and the gun shield raised? The late production Ausf. G had a hatch that opened laterally, rather than longitudinally, but that may have been teamed with the MG in the remote control mount rather than the manual gun, so that sheds no light. Any advice would be most appreciated. For the moment, I'll mask the attachment point and leave the shield off while I paint, and come back to it later. Cheers, TB379

That's a good question. If I understand it correctly it is the front loaders hatch which is the support for the shield.  I have one great photo of that arrangement which I'll post for you when I get home this evening.

BTW, Nice progress on the StuG!  

JMart wrote:

Chris - sweet looking LAV! couple questions... the wheel treads seem to go in both directions (ie, each wheel's treads point in oposute ways0, is this by design? I dont know much about modern vehicles.  The "turning" wheel details is FANTASTIC, really makes the vehicle jump to life.

Thanks James! and thanks for the heads up on the tread direction, I didn't even notice! Your right they're not supposed to go in opposite directions I just wasn't paying close attention. Since I havn't glued them to the axles yet, I'll just pop them off and reposition them. And nice work on your SU-85 so far, How is that kit to build? I've heard mixed feelings on it.

Chris,

As far as I can tell the gun shield is supported by the front loaders hatch only.  There are a few photos of StuGs with the gun shield upright and the loaders hatch shut but these are all photos of StuGs on static display. 

The front loader's hatch plate had a locking hasp that engaged a hook on the shield and stabilized it during firing. You'll also notice that there are two places to mount the MG, either through the hole to shoot at ground targets, or on top for air defense.

Hi Scott, Thanks for the info and photos. Right, that clarifies things, I'll lay the gunshield flat. I'll open the hatch and pose the shield and gun on the next StuG I do.

Today I sprayed the fade coat on the upper hull, a very dilute yellow/white mixture with 90% thinner, misted on to fade both yellow and green together. I might have got it a bit heavy, but it's the first time I've tried this. When the general dirt and chipping builds up it'll probably look pretty realistic. I also sprayed the tracks and spare links a dark umber and am now rusting the latter before mounting them with the retaining bar behind the superstructure. The masking can start to come away too, and the external tools will be painted shortly.

Next WIP pic hopefully tomorrow night,

Cheers,

TB379

When the hatch interiors were painted elfbein crews usually painted them over with a camouflage color - many Panzer corps veterans remember this, even though most don't remember much about paint schemes. I can't image feeling too cool about a nice white target sticking up, either...

My Jagdpanzer is nearly done - I have only tools and final touchup left. Finally, a GB which I am not late finishing...

Chris - Glad to have been of help! The old Tamiya SU-85 kit is mixed... goes together very easy, great fit, hardly any flash. But detail is laciking and the tracks are very simplistic. A great kit to build for a newbie like me ;)  easy to put together, not much detailing, no camo. The only tricky part in terms of build is the external fuel tanks. You have to do some careful dry fitting and sanding, and probably use a 'welder" type of glue like tenax in order to keep the tanks looking "cylindrical". I have mine will all hatches closed, since it has zero interior. Kit does come with one figure, which is useful for practice purposes I guess.

Here is my progress: major construction done, you can see the ugly dark pseudo OD color of the plastic:

The holes on the side are for the external fuel tanks, which are being painted separately:

you can see the almost complete lack of detail in the suspension section. The grab handles are also on the thick side, I tried to shave them down a bit carefuly with an Xblade

I glued all the hatches shut; no sense in opening them since there is no interior at all. The holes up front are for the spare track, currently drying from a basecoat of gunmetal metalizer.

Grill is plastic of course, you need PE if you want a better build. I tried to do a good job on the simple construction aspects, no seams, etc. Anyone please let me know if you see any construction errors!

----  and of course, disaster happens! I get my AB compressor out to do the basecoat and paint the wheels and... "something" fell on it during the winter and sheared off the valve connecting the gauge to the compressor. Half of the metal chunk is wedged in the valve... cant get it out :(  I spent couple hours hand brush painting the wheel rims black, and the wheels MM Russian Armor Green. I got the thinner ratio OK for hand painting, but there is no way I will be able to finish by the deadline :(   hand painting (or brush painting), you really need to slowly put down the coats and wait long enough for drying, to avoid brush strokes.

I am going to my niece's wedding this weekend, so... unless I can get an extension, I will be unable to finish in time! Boo hoo

Jmart:  Don't underestimate what can be done with those old kits!  Here's a couple of in progress pic's of my SU-122 that may help you.  I'm sure they are the same except for the barrel.  I added a weld seam of styrene at the front and accented the other welds with a with a wood burning tool:

Don't forget the underside!:

Watch out for those fuel tank straps/supports!...the holes in the hull are too large so you'll have to hold them in place while the glue sets to keep them plumb and perpindicular.  I hope this photo keeps you motivated:

Good Luck!!!

SMJmodeler - Thanks for the pics and words! I loved your Su122, did not even realized it was an old Tamiya ;).  Neat idea the styrene welding, i will try that (was thinking of tracing some Tenax to melt some plastic for "welds"). I dont mind hand/brush painting, just takes awhile! :)

Here is some progress:

Road wheels painted flat black and MM Russian Green Armor (enamels). Also you can see the 4 external fuel tanks, they need one more coat, I had to re-sand some of the seams.

The rest of the road wheels (back ones). Also the spare tracks, I gave them a shot of nonbuffing gunmetal metallizer, will follow up with steel dry brushing and couple other steps (got this from a recent thread on spare tracks, this method came from wbill). you also see the track threads... not very good detail wise, gave them a shot of flat black from a rattle can, will follow up with washes.

testing the thinner/paint ratios for hand brush painting the hull. Just the two pieces of fenders, one coat, Im looking for brush marks post-painting

and finally,  I did not forget the bottom ;)

Alas, Im leaving for my niece's wedding tomorrow at daw and will not be able to finish before the deadline... unless there is an extension    .. if not, I will post as a WIP.. in any case, this was a GREAT GB and I did learn a lot. And got some "armor" practice for the Big Cats GB :)

Cheers all

Hi all,

I'm in the home stretch! The fade coat is done and the tracks are ready (airbrushed dark umber, washed rust and drybrushed gunmetal). The running gear has been pinwashed in burnt umber plus enamel for rust, and the camo overall has been dot filter weathered. The wash so far has darkened the overall effect, I can apply some lighter colors to have an opposite effect (if that works.) I've always advocated less-is-more, but this is my first time on these techniques.



" border="0" />

" border="0" />

The external tools are hand-painted and will go on tomorrow. Decals are a job for tomorrow, then final weathering over them, uncluding old rust and scratches, and rusting the weld-seams. Mud and dust (MiG pigments) should be the last major task, then I'll add the running gear, final small details, an antenna, graphite around the muzzle break, touchups and anything else I can spot. I missed one hull part, an armour plate just behind the mantlet, which needs to be airbrushed with faded yellow, mounted and oil-washed to blend it in.

I'm gonna give it my best shot to be finished by tomorrow night, which is May 31st here in Aus.

Cheers,

TB379

Lookin great so far James and TB379!

I've just about finished up the LAV-AT, weathering is basically finished (just need to add a bit of mud.) and it'll be done! I don't get the camera until Sunday though, so it'll be a close finish but hopefully I can finish by then.

Chris,

This is what I intended to do:




The pictures are from Vaso Barbic's article "Samokhodnaya Ustanovka" in the July 1993 issue of Military Modelling and represent an Egyptian SU-100 (Tjekoslovakian Build) captured by the British 3'd Para at Port Said in November 1956.

I messed up the commanders cupola, got side tracked and ran out of time, but hopefully I will be able to give her at least a first coat tomorrow and if the camera decides to return to life I will post some pics :)

This has been / is a very good thread, thank you all for sharing!

Very Best Regards
Johan

Here are a few update pics.  Since I took these photos I have already done a raw umber oil wash over everything with specal emphasis on the lower hull and running gear.  I have some more weathering to do this evening and tomorrow and I need to paint the commanders periscope and attach the tow cables.  I will eventually paint both the figures and the dog that came with the kit, but not for this GB.  I'll work on them as a side project later. 

Hi Scott,

Great work, it feels really solid! I'm looking forward to seeing the finished shots.

I'm curious about the placement of the balkenkreuzer -- I've just been through my references and the majority (okay, only about five photos of G models where you can actually see the insignia) seem to agree on a pretty centralised location for the flank hull crosss. The decal instructions also centralise it on the panier of the F.8 in the profile. However, the StuG build-up in Armor Models #14 features a rearward location, but only about 45% of the way down from the top edge of the superstructure (I believe that one is based on photos of that particular vehicle). Are you working from specific shots to place it rear/low?

Decals are the next big task, then final paint weathering, small details assembly, mud, mount the running gear and at least one antenna, and this beast is done!

Cheers,

TB379

Thunderbolt379 wrote:

Hi Scott, Great work, it feels really solid! I'm looking forward to seeing the finished shots. I'm curious about the placement of the balkenkreuzer -- I've just been through my references and the majority (okay, only about five photos of G models where you can actually see the insignia) seem to agree on a pretty centralised location for the flank hull crosss. The decal instructions also centralise it on the panier of the F.8 in the profile. However, the StuG build-up in Armor Models #14 features a rearward location, but only about 45% of the way down from the top edge of the superstructure (I believe that one is based on photos of that particular vehicle). Are you working from specific shots to place it rear/low? Decals are the next big task, then final paint weathering, small details assembly, mud, mount the running gear and at least one antenna, and this beast is done! Cheers, TB379

Thanks! 

I spent a lot of time analyzing all my StuG pics and profiles.  There is no "set" place to put them.  In some cases, the balkenkreuz is located towards the front of the side panel in the area where it slopes downwards towards the front.  In others it is almost all the way to the rear of the side panel.  The vast majority, however, have the vertical bar of the balkenkreuz lined up with the front half of the commanders cupola when looking at the StuG from the side, so that's what I based my placement on.  The markings guide that came with the decals was useless as the profile is of an F/8 which has a completely different shape and size to the superstructure.  

In terms of how high up on the superstructure, I based my placement again on the majority, which had the balkenkreuz either perfectly centered from top to bottom, or placed lower.... never higher.  So I put mine a little on the low end of the spectrum.   

Hi Scott,

Thanks for your input! I'm doing the decals as we speak, the tail cross just went on to start the process, and the flank crosses are trimmed ready for soaking. I'm using the kit decals for these as I know how they'll behave and it simplifies matters at this late stage. I'll go to the Echelons for the unit markings, next.

My impression is that the flank crosses moved around with regard to where stowage was mounted -- there are StuGs with spare track links lined up as extra armour along the superstructure, and the cross could be painted in the sloped area for visibility under those conditions. Also there were sometimes jerry cans mounted at the flank behind skirts, so again that might influence the placement of the insignia.

I agree with the front-half-of-the-cupola rule of thumb, that pretty much centralises the insignia on the length of the superstructure top plate, which would agree with the clear photos. I'll also go with the half-height impression.

I think I'm going to leave the MG shield loose and just lay it in place. If I glue it in it'll permanently obscure some wash detailed that looks very realistic!

I'm going to leave off the tow cables for the moment. The Tamiya string is ineffectual and I've not yet located a set of Eurekas to purchase, so they'll be coming at a later date.

Right, on with the rest of the decals. I'm determined to be finished tonight!

Cheers, thanks for your advice,

TB379

Scott:  Sweet!  Really cool camo'...kinda subtle...but VERY effective, I love it!!!  I'll be curious to see how you weather that jack,  why did you choose silver versus gun metal or black?   by the way, is that the Tamiya kit?

Hi guys,

It's just ticked over to June 1st here in Aus and I'm very happy to say the StuG is done! I've used a heap of techniques I've never done before, including all-acrylic cammo, dot-fiter weathering and MiG pigments, but they all seemed to work well. I didn't get to the mud, unfortunately, I ran out of time and didn't want to touch the job without experimenting first, so I went with "European Dust" instead and tried not to be over-enthusiastic with the stuff simply because it's my first time.

I'll do the 'gallery' photos tomorrow evening, with the full paper curve-up backing, I need to set up my bench specially for those images. I'll post one to this thread and the rest to the finished-builds thread.

I'm very happy with the way it's turned out. There's probably stuff I've missed, though, and constructive feedback is always welcome.

I've enjoyed this group build very much! It's a great motivating method for getting a quality model done, instead of it being perpetually a WIP that sits half-built in its box for years. I look forward to many more!

Cheers,

TB379

PS: Thanks Scott, for the advice and the benefit of your own build-experience along the way!

PPS: SMJ -- FANTASTIC finished dio for the Su-122! I didn't catch the second part of your winter tutorial, that snow looks so real I could shiver at the sight of it!

SMJmodeler wrote:

Scott:  Sweet!  Really cool camo'...kinda subtle...but VERY effective, I love it!!!  I'll be curious to see how you weather that jack,  why did you choose silver versus gun metal or black?   by the way, is that the Tamiya kit?

Thanks!

Yes, it's the Tamiya kit (StuG III Ausf. G Fruhe).  I painted the jack XF-56 Metallic Gray (Tamiya Acrylic), which is the color specified in every German tank I've built so far, including in these directions.  As far as I know the jacks were never black or gun metal.  They were either steel or over-sprayed in base coat.    

Here are a few shots after the first wash yesterday.

Hi all. Though the build is officially over, i'd like to thank all the participants. Some great converation and equally impressive builds.

For those of you whom are still plugging away, please continue to post until you finish. You might see my build later in the Fall.

Um, Tigerman...it's May 31 today and according to the rules on page 1, it runs till June 1...

I do believe you meant to post that tomorrow

Hermesminiatures wrote:

Um, Tigerman...it's May 31 and according to the rules on page 1, it runs till June 1... I do believe you meant to post that tomorrow

My bad. I guess I'm so tired I thought today was June 1st. Wow, do I feel like an even bigger loser. Can't finish my build and can't keep dates straight.