Takom Panzerkampfwagen I 1/16 scale... with figure

[GazzaS]

When the Takom Pz I came out, I ordered one straight away.  But....   looking for figures cooled my ardor for the scale.  Jeff Shiu makes great figures...   but they ain't cheap, and the the cost of shipping from the US...  raises the cost into the realm of not-gonna-happen.

 

So, anyway I settled on the Tamiya guy.  I thought "how bad could it possibly be?"

After assembling him, I thought something was wrong.  Mid way through painting, I realized what it was.  His head is not to scale.   And...  instead of getting him a new head, all they did was extended the chin to almost double what would be proportionally correct.

 

Anyway...  despite his Frankenstein face...   he's with us for the duration.

 

So...  yeah...   I started this one a while ago painting the hull tub and assembling some of the suspension, and it's been sitting in a relatively dust free space while I built lots of other stuff.  But, with the Albatros in a state of drying, and a cardboard palette full of paints I decided to restart the PZ I and dust up it's chassis and suspension with oil paints...  this is another new thing to learn.  Here are some pics...   feedback and advice...  always appreciated.

 

Happy Modelling!

[DocRob]

This guy looks a little wired, but as he seems to be in DAK livery you could sculped a scarf around the head as a protection from a sandstorm. I have the Spanish PZ. I variant with Breda gun in my stash, so I'm naturally interested in how yours went together.

Cheers Rob   

[Peterpools]

Gaz

Nice progress and the figure, still the best of all the choices considering the cost with shipping. Rob's idea should do the trick

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Kaireckstadt]

Wow that’s what I call large scale! 
Is it R/C-capable?

The figure looks good to me but the pictures are a little too dark.

Nice progress so far on the build!

Will follow this for sure! 

[GusMac]

Nice job on the figure Gaz.

You could give him a goatee to hide the chin but probably not allowed in the DAK? 

[belugawhaleman]

I like the figure. I'll be following this build as I have the Takom/Ammo 1/16 Spanish

Breda gun variant of the Panzer 1a. I also have Takom's  Panzer  1b which might

be my next build. Not sure if the figure's face reminds me more of Boris

Karloff or Raymond Massey. There's a manufacturer of resin stuff, SOL, that

makes figures in 1/16. These include WW2 and modern figures including

female subjects. I like their Soviet female tank driver in 1/16 but she's pricey.

 

 

[GazzaS]

2 hours ago, belugawhaleman said:

I like the figure. I'll be following this build as I have the Takom/Ammo 1/16 Spanish

Breda gun variant of the Panzer 1a. I also have Takom's  Panzer  1b which might

be my next build. Not sure if the figure's face reminds me more of Boris

Karloff or Raymond Massey. There's a manufacturer of resin stuff, SOL, that

makes figures in 1/16. These include WW2 and modern figures including

female subjects. I like their Soviet female tank driver in 1/16 but she's pricey.

 

 

Unfortunately Covid has made ordering from Korea problematical.  I actually had an order with them when Covid hit.  It took almost a year to get it.  Those were 1/35 figs.  Their 1/16 figs aren;t cheap.

[GazzaS]

9 hours ago, GusMac said:

Nice job on the figure Gaz.

You could give him a goatee to hide the chin but probably not allowed in the DAK? 

From reading, I know the Germans at the front weren't often put through the same crap a peacetime US soldier today might get regarding shaving.  But a full beard is pretty rare.

[GazzaS]

10 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Wow that’s what I call large scale! 
Is it R/C-capable?

The figure looks good to me but the pictures are a little too dark.

Nice progress so far on the build!

Will follow this for sure! 

Thanks Kai.  There's nothing set up for RC work.  Though, the tracks are workable, and with enough work it could be done as it's a large hull tub with nothing in the way.

[GazzaS]

HI everyone,

    Haven't touched this one for a few weeks as I sought to complete the Roden Albatros.  Anyway...  I have applied three coats of dust to the hull tub and running gear (most of it anyway) and started on the tracks.

The four track bogies are held in place by plastic c-clips.  I broke one of the four and lost another.  So, I used a little fine copper wire twisted tight on the axle.

 

Happy modelling!

[Kaireckstadt]

Spot on weathering of the tub Gary! Looks quite convincing! With the modeling knife close to the tub one can really imagine how big this Tank is! Where do you put all these models when finished? 

Seems like the track-assembly isn’t one of the easiest jobs. They are metal aren’t they? 

[GazzaS]

7 minutes ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Spot on weathering of the tub Gary! Looks quite convincing! With the modeling knife close to the tub one can really imagine how big this Tank is! Where do you put all these models when finished? 

Seems like the track-assembly isn’t one of the easiest jobs. They are metal aren’t they? 

Thank you, Kai.  The tracks and pins are actually the same plastic as the kit.  I sprayed the tracks with a very dark brown (with some black in it) while they were still on the sprue after some light cleaning.  Then I just clipped them from the sprue and gently removed the rest of the unwanted plastic.   I will give them a final spray once all of the pins are in.  ...before detail painting them. I bent one pin so far on the way in.  I'll try to avoid bending more.  There is only 1 pin per link, and they are each as long as the track is wide.

[Kaireckstadt]

Didn’t think they were plastic. Looks like treated metal. Great painting! 
Will you replace the pins by metal ones?

Curious how they will look like when finished!

[Peterpools]

GAz

Nice fix and after reading Kai's post, I took another look and she is big. Weather looks just right and so very well done

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[GazzaS]

10 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Didn’t think they were plastic. Looks like treated metal. Great painting! 
Will you replace the pins by metal ones?

Curious how they will look like when finished!

Thank you, Kai.  The pins and tracks fit well together...   it just takes a little patience.  There's no need for metal pins.  I'm forever trying to improve my tracks.  I've theoretically divided those into zones.

1.  Dirty zone - weather according to the rest of the model

2.  Steel scrubbed by rubber zone - I've been using a dull metallic paint with blue and brown washes to make it look like steel

3,  Metal on metal zone - shiny white metal paint

4.  Metal scoured by earth - these are the most raised areas and will get dry-brushed with a metallic color, then rubbed with graphite last to effect a sheen.

 

My inspiration came during a recent build of the Leopard 2a4:  Here are some slightly weathered Leopard tracks:

And here is how mine turned out:

I was trying to show a tank just returning from the sandy Bundeswehr training areas.

It's an exhausting process.   And even though most of it remains unseen, I feel like I have done the right thing.

 

 

[Kaireckstadt]

Thanks for explaining your track-painting method Gary!

At first glance I wasn’t able to tell if the second picture was from the real thing or a model. Looks stunning! Can’t be done better in my eyes. 

I will for sure use your method for the only tank I have in my stash. It’s a RFM Tiger I Gruppe Fehrmann:

[GazzaS]

4 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Thanks for explaining your track-painting method Gary!

At first glance I wasn’t able to tell if the second picture was from the real thing or a model. Looks stunning! Can’t be done better in my eyes. 

I will for sure use your method for the only tank I have in my stash. It’s a RFM Tiger I Gruppe Fehrmann:

Thank you, Kai.

The only tank??  Do I need to send you a couple?  At any rate....  if you're going to have just one...  you want it to be a Tiger I.

I just won an RFM t-34/85 postwar variant at my club's meeting.  The moldings look sweet!  The best thing about armor, is that you rarely have to fill a seam. 

[Kaireckstadt]

Sounds nice Gary but sending is no option. Would be better if I picked them up at your homeplace. I always wanted to visit Australia and the Gold Coast. 
Great place where you live. I‘m really envious! 

The quality of the RFM-kits is really good. Crisp details. Do you have more RFM-kits in your stash in addition to the one you won? Did you already build a RFM-kit? 

[DocRob]

Tub and wheels look really convincing, I like it to have a monochrome paintjob made to look interesting. That's exactly how yours turned out.

Cheers Rob

[GazzaS]

1 hour ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Sounds nice Gary but sending is no option. Would be better if I picked them up at your homeplace. I always wanted to visit Australia and the Gold Coast. 
Great place where you live. I‘m really envious! 

The quality of the RFM-kits is really good. Crisp details. Do you have more RFM-kits in your stash in addition to the one you won? Did you already build a RFM-kit? 

You would be welcome!  Make sure you come in November through March to enjoy our warmest weather.

This is my first RFM kit.  I had four kits to choose from:  Tamiya StuG IIIB, Asuka Sherman, Takom Blitz PzIIIm, and the t-34/85...   Having recently completed a StuG and a Pz IIIM, the Sherman and t-34 had some novelty interest as kits from makers I haven't built yet.   

[GazzaS]

1 hour ago, DocRob said:

Tub and wheels look really convincing, I like it to have a monochrome paintjob made to look interesting. That's exactly how yours turned out.

Cheers Rob

Thanks Rob.  Due to the desert figure...  this will have some sand colored paint on it, but only on the upper hull.  Making dust is tedious business, anyway. 

today I finally have the tracks together.   I broke a few pins and only have 2 spare.

 

[Peterpools]

Gaz

Very much appreciate your tips and techniques. No seams and filling ... perfect.

Keep ‘em comin

Peter

[DocRob]

I will keep your warning about being cautious with the pins in mind, for when I start my Spanish Breda incarnation. I definitely will not spend more than 100 Euros for metal replacements from Aber.

Cheers Rob

[GazzaS]

10 hours ago, DocRob said:

I will keep your warning about being cautious with the pins in mind, for when I start my Spanish Breda incarnation. I definitely will not spend more than 100 Euros for metal replacements from Aber.

Cheers Rob

Part of it is my blame, really.  I didn't want the pins loose, so instead of boring them, I wiggled the pins in.  But when I got to the last 1/3rd of the tracks, I started boring them with a drill bit that fit without much struggle, so that I actually wasn't drilling, I was just pushing the bit in and pulling it out.  Hopefully the pins won;t wiggle out as I've given each a tiny shot of Tamiya Extra thin. 

 

There is no need for AM tracks on this kit.  While I haven;t noticed any casting numbers...  they are detail enough and should look quite spiffy unless you coat them with viscous Ukrainian mud.

 

Today, I'll give them their final spray of 'track brown' and begin detail painting them.

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, GazzaS said:

There is no need for AM tracks on this kit.  While I haven;t noticed any casting numbers...  they are detail enough and should look quite spiffy unless you coat them with viscous Ukrainian mud.

Don't get me wrong, the 100 Euro are for the metal pins alone .

Cheers Rob