GazzaS Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 Hello friends, Now that my 109 build is waiting on parts, I've started this Kit. It's a fine kit with small flash and lots of parts. Some would say over-engineered. But... there are sacrifices we must make if we want to build certain kits in certain scales that aren't made by somebody like Mr. Tamiya-san. There are several versions of the Panzer II. This one has four large road wheels on torsion bars instead of the usual five small wheels on leaf springs. So, when you look at the pics you'll have to mentally adjust to the smallness of the thing. It comes with a nice instruction booklet: With nice, uncluttered instructions: There are several Panzergrau schemes: And one more three-color scheme: ...representing some of the Wehrmacht's most famous units. Over a period I've build up the wheels and last night I started on the tub. It's a flat-pack tub, but fits together nice and square. The Wheels have plastic caps that you would expect to work like Tamiya's Poly caps. But they don't. My original plan was to attach the wheels uncemented, glue on the indy-link tracks, and then pull off the assembly and paint it. But that won't happen. The plastic caps hold on tooth and nail. And to remove them, they either have to be twisted... or wedged off with a knife blade. No matter... I will do it the old-fashioned way There are no figures in the kit. But I have two options: So, come... watch and listen as I curse my way through another build. I curse mostly when I drop parts... or when they are ejected into space by tweezers. Even at this early stage, I have had to resort to a toothpick with a gob of blutack on it. 4 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaireckstadt Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 Wow Gary! Interesting new project and nice progress. The tub looks really beautiful. Can you describe the old fashioned way of painting? Not an easy job with all the wheels attached… You must have a big stash! Really nice crew-figures! Which one will you use? Did you already decide about the color-scheme? I would prefer the last one. Very unusual! Will follow this in the first row! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted July 3, 2021 Author Share Posted July 3, 2021 2 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said: Wow Gary! Interesting new project and nice progress. The tub looks really beautiful. Can you describe the old fashioned way of painting? Not an easy job with all the wheels attached… You must have a big stash! Really nice crew-figures! Which one will you use? Did you already decide about the color-scheme? I would prefer the last one. Very unusual! Will follow this in the first row! Thank you Kai. The old fashioned way... basically is just gluing everything together and painting it as one solid thing. But... I have sanded the axles a bit and put each wheel on each axle to try to soften up the mating surfaces... so, I will go back to trying to keep the tracks and wheels separate from the hull. My stash is somewhere from 50-70 kits. I will clean it up one day and take a picture. But mostly Dragon armor with about 7 figure kits. I have a few different Marders... so crew is required. I haven't decided on a color scheme, yet. The first one you saw on the first post is Großdeutschland division and one of the gray ones is also GD. The one you like is an unknown unit. There is even a plain dunkelgelb scheme, but also unknown unit. There is even one from a training unit. I am pretty certain that I will do one of the yellow schemes. The main reason is I want to do a diorama with a enemy panzer also (partially, or in full) on the base...and the enemy vehicle is definitely a 1943 vintage. Who knows... I might find a scheme from a picture. But now I much separate and clean 192 track links. Each link has four sprue gates. By clever molding, the ejector pins are all on the sprue and not on the track. And they are small tracks. Glad to have you along! 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 Nice topic Gaz, I like these open topped tank hunters. It's maybe to late for that, but with my Ford GT build the manual asks for cutting the poly caps on sided, to slid the wheel onto the axle more easily. Might have been an option for your plastic caps. Cheers Rob 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaireckstadt Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 On 7/3/2021 at 11:55 AM, GazzaS said: Thank you Kai. The old fashioned way... basically is just gluing everything together and painting it as one solid thing. But... I have sanded the axles a bit and put each wheel on each axle to try to soften up the mating surfaces... so, I will go back to trying to keep the tracks and wheels separate from the hull. My stash is somewhere from 50-70 kits. I will clean it up one day and take a picture. But mostly Dragon armor with about 7 figure kits. I have a few different Marders... so crew is required. I haven't decided on a color scheme, yet. The first one you saw on the first post is Großdeutschland division and one of the gray ones is also GD. The one you like is an unknown unit. There is even a plain dunkelgelb scheme, but also unknown unit. There is even one from a training unit. I am pretty certain that I will do one of the yellow schemes. The main reason is I want to do a diorama with a enemy panzer also (partially, or in full) on the base...and the enemy vehicle is definitely a 1943 vintage. Who knows... I might find a scheme from a picture. But now I much separate and clean 192 track links. Each link has four sprue gates. By clever molding, the ejector pins are all on the sprue and not on the track. And they are small tracks. Glad to have you along! Good that you found a solution for the wheels Gary! Great idea for the diorama! I hope that you choose a yellow scheme (but not plain). 192 track links? You really need strong nerves for this job! The 50-70 kits are only armor? Curious to see a photo of this stash! Hope that your overcame your cold! Looking forward to seeing the next update! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomber_County Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 Gaz, nice to see Marder II for a change, I did the IIIH ……I’ve a half built Sturmpanzer IV from Tristar, looks pretty similar moulding colour and detail as the Bronco. I also like these mobile artillery pieces…… 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 Gaz Nice start and thank you for explaining what the old school way is. The interior is looking mighty good and 192 track links to clean up - patience for sure and way more then I have. Nice stash and in these of nearly everything being back ordered or out of stock, makes so much sense. Of course, convincing our wives of that is a completely different story. Keep 'em comin Peter 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 7 hours ago, DocRob said: Nice topic Gaz, I like these open topped tank hunters. It's maybe to late for that, but with my Ford GT build the manual asks for cutting the poly caps on sided, to slid the wheel onto the axle more easily. Might have been an option for your plastic caps. Cheers Rob Thank you Rob! I thought of that too, but after it was too late to do anything about it. I've been a big fan of the Marders, too. When I was a kid, I think the only one I could find was the Tamiya Marder II. Which of course is the other Marder II... thank you for the confusion, OKW! There is more info on this particular variant here: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi_germany/sdkfz-132_marder_ii.php Sadly, it's the best site I've found so far, even though it doesn't tell you a whole lot. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 5 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said: Good that you found a solution for the wheels Gary! Great idea for the diorama! I hope that you choose a yellow scheme (but not plain). 192 track links? You really need strong nerves for this job! The 50-70 kits are only armor? Curious to see a photo of this stash! Hope that your overcame your cold! Looking forward to seeing the next update! Thank you Kai, I think taking zinc and Vitamin D3 everyday minimized the effect of the cold. Speaking of schemes, what do you think of this one? Sadly there is not a caption to help identify the unit. I'm still thinking of this one which is on the box top: But I have plenty of opportunity to change my mind as I go back to work tomorrow. These were all converted from Flammpanzer... so they're not very numerous. The tracks are almost done... I'll do a small update later today, hopefully. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 4 hours ago, Bomber_County said: Gaz, nice to see Marder II for a change, I did the IIIH ……I’ve a half built Sturmpanzer IV from Tristar, looks pretty similar moulding colour and detail as the Bronco. I also like these mobile artillery pieces…… Thank you, Phil. I've also done the IIIH and Brummbar... both by Dragon. Neither turned out as good as I had hoped... so they'll be on my 'build again' list eventually. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 3 hours ago, Peterpools said: Gaz Nice start and thank you for explaining what the old school way is. The interior is looking mighty good and 192 track links to clean up - patience for sure and way more then I have. Nice stash and in these of nearly everything being back ordered or out of stock, makes so much sense. Of course, convincing our wives of that is a completely different story. Keep 'em comin Peter Thank you, Peter. Doing the tracks wasn't so bad. It's just one of those things about armor. Best thing you can do is set yourself up to minimize swapping tools as you go. For instance... nip them all of the sprue with your nippers first. Then do all of your knife work, putting each part into a new pile as you go. Then... if you think necessary, do the sanding step, and drop each completed piece into a wide mouthed container. It can be very therapeutic, really. Get up... have a few minutes to stretch or a drink... Then sit down to the next sprue. My stash is only 5-6 years of modelling. They are all good kits, nothing too old or known to be troublesome (except for two Revell kits). The wife supports my hobby, and my bench area is just off the livingroom... So I'm pretty lucky. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 Anyhow.... To quote Mr Miyagi in Karate Kid: ...or to misquote him.... Tracks on. Tracks off. And then back on again... The kit is supposed to have four sprues of tracks. However.... as long as you aren't placing the extra long strap across the upper glacis... you only need three sprues. Interestingly... I had five. Until I realized I had too many sprues... I thought the task ahead of me super large. But now we are past the tedium stage. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Nice choice of subject. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 one more 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Gaz The modeling gods are surely with you: extra sprees as compared to the normal manufacturing mistake of too little/missing parts. Completely agree - most important of all is a supportive and understanding wife. Keep ‘em comin Peter 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaireckstadt Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 8 hours ago, GazzaS said: Thank you Kai, I think taking zinc and Vitamin D3 everyday minimized the effect of the cold. Speaking of schemes, what do you think of this one? Sadly there is not a caption to help identify the unit. I'm still thinking of this one which is on the box top: But I have plenty of opportunity to change my mind as I go back to work tomorrow. These were all converted from Flammpanzer... so they're not very numerous. The tracks are almost done... I'll do a small update later today, hopefully. Nice work on the detachable wheels and tracks! Makes painting much more easy! To answer your question: I would choose the second subject which is on the box top. Looks even more interesting with the parts of a tree on it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 37 minutes ago, Peterpools said: Gaz The modeling gods are surely with you: extra sprees as compared to the normal manufacturing mistake of too little/missing parts. Completely agree - most important of all is a supportive and understanding wife. Keep ‘em comin Peter 27 minutes ago, Kaireckstadt said: Nice work on the detachable wheels and tracks! Makes painting much more easy! To answer your question: I would choose the second subject which is on the box top. Looks even more interesting with the parts of a tree on it. Thank you, fellas. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomber_County Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 7:09 AM, GazzaS said: Thank you, fellas. Any updates Gaz? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted July 22, 2021 Author Share Posted July 22, 2021 9 hours ago, Bomber_County said: Any updates Gaz? I've been committing my modelling time the 109 build. Lot's of fettling going on. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted August 9, 2021 Author Share Posted August 9, 2021 Welcome back, friends! We've returned to the Bronco Marder after a bit of a break. Directions... the beautiful directions... if you follow them to the letter, you add a lot of fragile, protruding parts long before necessary. So, I'm doing a lot of flipping back and forth with the directions as I try to build from the inside out and bottom up. First on the block was the rear end with it's shielded muffler, taillights, and small brass parts. Then I added fenders and forward glacis parts as well as the over-engine parts. I positioned the driver's and radio operator's armored vision slots open. Then it was time for the radio in it's PE box. All hand painted. Next up was the Gunner's main ammunition storage that hangs beneath the breach of the Pak36r. As you can see there are a lot of tiny parts. Some plastic, some PE. I didn't dare try to shave off any nubs off the PE. For removing the tiny plastic parts from the sprue, I embed them in a worm of Blutack so that when I slice through the sprue gate, the part doesn't go flying into the ether. I also added these thin pieces over the engine cooling louvres which will disappear behind the armor shielding. They're far to thin and fragile to trim. Unless one of you know some technique?? Then I started adding hatches and hinges. All small, thin parts. The support for the main gun and the ammo container are only dry-fitted here. I will have to paint and weather the Ammo box, even though I'm 99% certain that none of it will be visible later. Happy Modelling! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomber_County Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 8 hours ago, GazzaS said: Welcome back, friends! We've returned to the Bronco Marder after a bit of a break. Directions... the beautiful directions... if you follow them to the letter, you add a lot of fragile, protruding parts long before necessary. So, I'm doing a lot of flipping back and forth with the directions as I try to build from the inside out and bottom up. First on the block was the rear end with it's shielded muffler, taillights, and small brass parts. Then I added fenders and forward glacis parts as well as the over-engine parts. I have the same mentality as you Gaz, will I knock that part off before spraying….?.?.?…also the blutack anti carpet munching device is always being used….looking good…… 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaireckstadt Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 That’s my mentality too! Looks very good Gary! And thanks for the tipp with the Blue Tack! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Gaz Nice progress and nice to see the Marder back on the bench Keep 'em comin Peter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Good to see you back on the Marder Gaz. After the maybe disaster with the 109, it should be good for some breathing room. There seem lots of tiny parts involved and being open topped, there will be lots of detailing, but going through it will pay in the end. I like the Blue Tack idea and use sometimes adhesive tape for the same reason, which works even better with PE-sheets, where tiny pieces also have the tendency to go airborne while cutting. Cheers Rob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark31 Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 nice work you show here and a lot off small parts Sometimes i think there is a competion between model makers how can make the smalest parts in plastic. Keep it up Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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