GazzaS

Nice work. Do you have access to an airbrush?

Hah... thank you! I use Bob's Buckles for my WWI rigging and never thought of using them this way. Great tip!

Thank you, Kai! I only have speed because I am on holidays. I should have much more done... but I have lazy times, too. I take a month off every year to mentally escape obligation and the alarm clock.

You did a fine job on the Lanc, Kai. I have every faith in your abilities!

Well.... there's more. Despite watching 3 or more hours of modelling videos looking for informative as well as entertaining... I made some progress. I gloss coated the upper hull and turret, painted the cobblestones, grouted them with a mixture of poly filler and gray pigments, and worked on the tracks with acrylic paints. Although we're used to seeing muddied tracks from the Eastern Front, much of the time, tanks were on the roads. Road speeds were faster, and the bridges were on roads themselves. One of the failings of the German plan that led to the Battle of the Bulge, was that on the secondary phase, they were supposed to drive northwards whilst many of the roads trended more east to west. Walter Schuck, Luftwaffe Pilot wrote in his biography something to the effect that the pilots followed the roads to avoid getting lost... that even the vast number of aircraft wrecks were to be found along those same roads. For those reasons, I've elected to put the panzer on a road and weather the tracks appropriately. So, throughout the pics you will see shiny metal facets. The same facets you've seen on a hundred documentaries. Areas of blue steel where rubber has scrubbed away dirt and oxidation (red arrow), and dust and areas where the sprockets have polished the metal white (yellow arrow). Tomorrow, hopefully I will use brown and blue washes to make the dark steel look more steel like. As you can see above, there is an area of contact between the guide horns and the metal parts of the road wheels. On some historical photos you can actually see the rims polished to a high sheen. I'm still trying to reconcile myself to trying to make perfect, shiny metal circles, or leave them alone. I know that there are some who dislike the idea of all of that white metal... but if you look at pics... and watch documentaries... you cannot deny that they were there. Anyway... there is a fly in the ointment. My base warped. The water in the PVA glue caused warpage. It doesn't matter, really. ...chalk it up to experience. But here are a few pictures to show you how things will look: Despite the fact that the Pz I was the smallest of the German tanks, it had the largest commander's hatch. I didn't paint the interior a light color because I didn't want to highlight the lack of equipment in there. Happy Modelling!

Thank you, Harv!

Herr Panzer Kommandant is matte coated... and therefor... done!

I like the look, Kai. Detailed but not contrived.

Nice looking work, Frank!

It is great work. And... I don;t know why, but when I'm scribing, the tool often chooses to make detours.

Thank you, Kai. I've left Knight's Cross and Oak leaves in place. As well as the other decorations. Removing them cleanly would be too difficult and time consuming. Thank you, Peter.

Merhaba, Efendis! Today I made a base for a friend who couldn't find one the size he needed. So, I decided to work on the base for my panzer. I decided to model a cobble stone road. I mixed some poly fille, poured it onto a sheet of baking paper, then scored it with a knife. Then, about an hour later I chopped it up with a knife which resulted in a lot of different sizes and shapes. I glued them to the wooden base with PVA... and they're drying. There are a few steps left before they're ready. The Tank will sit like this: Of course.... work continues on the Kommandant. I finished painting the uniform last night in various shades of dark gray, trying to bring out the details. Then, after letting him sit overnight, he got three black oil washes to unite the shades. Also, I did three dust washes on the tracks. Each dust wash was a different shade of dirty gray... but the pictures came out poorly. One problem with the figure... He's an early war guy and he's already got the Iron Cross 2nd Class, Wound badge, and Knight's Cross with oak leaves. And my research shows that the first Knights Cross with Oak leaves weren't awarded until 1940. Happy modelling!

What I'd like to find in my car...

Beautiful stuff, RichO!

Impressive looking printed stuff, Ron. Love the hood ornament. I don;t think there is such a thing as a hood ornament that is too large.

Thank you, Peter. I just don't feel much satisfaction doing cockpits. I rarely buy AM for them, and I'm usually disappointed by my results. There are others who seem to make them look beautiful and interesting. I'm hoping on this build that greater application will lead to greater satisfaction. But I'm definitely not looking forward to the PE seatbelts.

Thank you, Kai. Luckily, this one landed on the desk, so I heard it. But once they hit the floor, it gets a lot harder.

Welcome back, meine Herren! While I did a little work on the Panzer I today, both crewman and tank had paint that needed to settle. So... I started work on the cockpit of the 109. The Brassin set is quite comprehensive, with a colorful IP. I spent a lot of time folding and attaching an amazingly small amount of PE. One part even pinged off my tweezers but I heard it land on my bench. I picked it up only to realize that I had picked up the desiccated carcass of a tiny black ant. Fortunately I found it later. Had company for dinner, so my achievement for the day had to end there. Here are some very poor pics.

Thank you! I've always thought you a better painter than me, Peter. It's still a process of learning, and painting a a 1/16 figure that is well formed is a lot easier than trying to paint a 1/32 or smaller face. The well defined structures of the larger face basically tell you where to put the paint, and give you room to do so. The smaller face is the opposite and much harder.

Looks nice. I like your plan... trying to spray yellow over blue or red... would be a nightmare.

Thank you, Rob! A lot to think about... maybe too much. I can really only go with what evidence can be found. My colors are not far from color chips presented online to represent the period. The good thing is, that if I don't like the result, I can do the next model differently.

Thank you, Kai! I'm quite happy with the face... as Uncle Nightshift says: "a great figure almost paints itself".

Buenos tardes! Face and detail painting... been struggling most of the day on it. Tomorrow, I'll do the wood detail on shovel and ax handle... then give it a clear coat to unify the paint surfaces on the tank. And I'll keep working on the figure. BTW...the flash makes the tank look lighter than it really is. I took a punt on the padded leather on the hatch being brown instead of black... that's my artistic license.

Looking pretty, John!

Wow! That is crazy pricing! I had to get an entire sprue from Airfix once. It was loose in a box with a little piece of bubblewrap. Fine broken parts that I had to replace with brass pins. But at least they didn't charge me since the sprue wasn't in the kit when I received it.