PanzerWomble

Swift progress ! .

Found a picture of 233 , not sure when but deffo the 503rd. Also finished the Tigger ..sooooo cute ...sits in the lap of a hand . Only quick pic and onto a lil dio ...might need some micro Kurts . Laterz PW

Truly exquisite ....I wouldn't even know where to start with a build like this.

A good day ...look at all those wheels ...and the weights Tamiya use now instead of the metal hulls . Upper hull has old school grills that can be viewed though, these will be backed by black styrene card. Turret built in 30 minutes ...replaced the odd solid hatch handles with wire bent using my new wire bender . Lower hull and turret blasted with Vallejo german primer , and then Tamiya's "new" dunklegelb . Next up , to complete upper hull, and get the tracks on , then upper and lower hulls can be joined. I like these 1/48 , they are real shake and bake weekend kits , but lend themselves to all the usual armour tricks that can be done in 1/35. Laterz PW

This sequent looks great .....but water dios don't shift afterwards ..that damage of the air cleaners though .... Date: Monday, 4 October 1943 Place: Znamenka, Tambovskaya oblast, Soviet Union Photographer: Unknown Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger (8,8 cm L/56) Ausf. E (Sd.Kfz. 181) turmnummer 332 of schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503 carefully trying to make it's way out of the mud. S.Pz.Abt.503 was the only German heavy tank battalion to have two Balkenkreuz visible on each side, one on the hull and one on the turret near the identification numeral. The numbering featured black numerals with white outlines by this time. In October 1943, the battalion was in a rest area near Znamenka, where it had time to maintain and repair vehicles and conduct training. This sequence shows recovery training that was conducted on 4 October 1943. Source: Book "Tigers In Combat (1)" by Wolfgang Schneider Note early style mantlet , no reinforcing ribs and the rain guard. Similar looking village in background Below - front vehicle has more standard mantlet , 332 second in line . Germans standardised everything ...wrong ...503 like bolting on old PzIII/IV stowage bins as per below Stuckerised .... Jerry can , lacks of track cable, helmets a wealth of incidental details Loader gets the worst job ... Note missing first wheel ...might be damage ......might have been deliberated removed to help with mud clearance . So .......... panzers maarsch !

The other option is more interesting as 503 were pictured quite a bit at the end of the Kursk . No pix of 233 but plenty of other 503 vehicles . Looks like a nice dio opportunity ...

So Tammys 2004 tooling of an early one Trifle air filters and everything ..., no Zimm to muck around with ...in Russland . Only 2 options unless I fancy masking or digging through the spares box , both Wehrmacht , 503rd SchPzAbt in Russia (but could well by Ukraine by then) in August 1943 ...or the 502 SchPzAbt also in Russia "Summer 1943".. the 502 is dunkelgelb only and the kit is missing the links around the turret as per below

Enough of all this aeroplane nonsense - time to get back to some armour . And where better than the old Tiger 1 ...which I ignore as it is over represented IMHO ..the last one for me being 1984 ..ahem

Thanks Peter , that Gull Grey , White and Guady paint schemes always looked better ot me than the endles greys we get now . ,

Cheers bud !

All done and dusted ....months late ..more armour next I'm over aircraft for a while ... 95% of the weathering was mechanical - olive paint over silver, gentle rub back using 3000 pads , microfibre clothes and thinners etc.

Glam pix tomorrow ....not all plain sailing ....that moment when you get the weight in the nose is not enough ....despite putting in the advised amount ..

Cracking build again !

Whats a gym ?

More 48 armour ...well another one . I've the new Tammy Austin K2 in 1/48 on the way as well when it gets released next month . Also an Airflup re pop of the Academy Grant ....nope..... no idea why I bought it either ....late night wine fuelled shopping in the bargain section of Jadlams ....🙄

No ....not an axe .....for years I've been using these adjustable pliers from Bahco . Official name "BAHCO 8" EXTRA WIDE SLIP JOINT WATER PUMP PLIERS - 8231" There about $30 or there abouts , adjustable, and have removed lot of stuck on screw on lids, paint , superglue etc . Can even be used to tighten up plumbing fittings if. you're out of zone !

Me too ...I also like the Canadian Zip Ties and Bias Plies channel ...plus AvE of course ...and British Muzzleloaders .....so much good stuff comes from so little summer .

Thanks Dennis. I think that's what I did on the phantom , sort of both of best worlds . 👍 This B25 is tricksy though !

Whats the thoughts regarding painting canopies - attach then paint or paint then attach ? I used to paint the canopies then join .....then I found it was better to get a really seamelss join and then paint ...but recently have had issues with this method so curious to know what works for you .

Disaster .....clearing off the tape I noticed that silver spray had got in under the glass... & thinking well.... it's only held on with Kristel Klear....I tried gently pulling it away ...till it broke .... Glad the model came with three canopies - albeit this will be incorrect, it's better than having none .

Lovely - wouldn't guess that was 144 scale at all .

Some more 1/4 scale armour , I liked doing the Jadgpantherette dio , thought I'd have a crack at some others .

So sad, I know this pain .I'm sorry for your loss 19 years is a good long life for a cat.

Looking damn fine here , 100% admire all the extras you've taken time to design print and build .- thats well out of my wheelhouse .!