GazzaS Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 Hello boys and girls... and anyone else... I have always had a soft spot for German AFV's where a powerful gun has been married to an obsolete chassis. There is quite a story behind this tank hunter, but I'm sure many of you know it, already. Anyway... this machine was too tall, and too heavy. Yet, I still think it's cool. And there were only a few hundred built. But in some cases they were able to reap a heavy toll of Soviet armor. The kit itself is a 1994 product. I got it second hand with metal barrel and Eduard PE inside. I have ordered some new Thoma shields for it. I don't fancy using the nylon mesh supplied by Dragon. Nylon is a nasty material to work with. As you can see, the box is a bit battered. It's spent more than a few years in a shipping container because the previous owner couldn't fit his stash in his house anymore. The decals are yellowed, and the instructions show signs of being dined on by roaches. Roaches are quite prevalent in Australia. The chassis went together nicely. Having only three return rollers and using steel shod road wheels on the first four stations on both sides are the main difference between the chassis of J mark of the tank and this variant. This version also has unique tracks. They were hollowed out in places to make them a bit lighter. There are 200 cleaned and ready in this bowl. The Eduard photo etch is of the nickel plated variety. I have been sanding away the nickel on the area to be glued, hoping that the brass will adhere better to the plastic. And I have used stippled and lightly sanded Mr. Surfacer 1000 to try to recreate the look of rolled armor plate. I also tried to make the torch marks at the edges of the plate more noticeable. Finally the base. It's a narrow base that I've covered with a layer of air-dry clay that I've used Friuls to make tank tracks, and some figures to make footprints. I cut one side of it with my new foam cutting pencil. Amazingly it worked. I have three figures on the way from BNA model world. Thanks for looking! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 Nice Gary, I also have a soft spot for these machines, outdated, absurdly improvised with more and more add on modifications, which lead to even more modifications, because of the increasing weight. I will follow your build, as I have a similar boxing in my stash and it's on top of my to build tanks list. Mine has metal wire mesh combined with PE for the Thoma Schürzen and a supplied tool for bending them correctly along Magic tracks and represents the late version. Cheers Rob 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaireckstadt Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 Great start on the tank and the base Gary. I will follow this one closely! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 yay! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted April 26, 2022 Author Share Posted April 26, 2022 6 hours ago, Martinnfb said: yay! Ssshhhhh! You're giving away the plan! 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted April 26, 2022 Author Share Posted April 26, 2022 22 hours ago, DocRob said: Nice Gary, I also have a soft spot for these machines, outdated, absurdly improvised with more and more add on modifications, which lead to even more modifications, because of the increasing weight. I will follow your build, as I have a similar boxing in my stash and it's on top of my to build tanks list. Mine has metal wire mesh combined with PE for the Thoma Schürzen and a supplied tool for bending them correctly along Magic tracks and represents the late version. Cheers Rob 19 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said: Great start on the tank and the base Gary. I will follow this one closely! Thank you, my friends! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnB Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 That'll be a cool one Gaz! I look forward to seeing the completed model! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted May 1, 2022 Author Share Posted May 1, 2022 Hi everyone, I haven't done a lot of modelling recently. I've been lazy, and waiting on word about some AM for the kit. Seems my attempt to get the parts via Aliexpress has fallen through. Thankfully I already got my refund. Here are the three figures from Panzer Art. One I modified a little. He was originally equipped with a Ppsh 43 with two drum magazines in their Russian ammo pouches. Because I wanted to make this more of a very late war dio... to fit the life of the Jagdpanzer, I replaced the PPsh with a Stg 44 carried on his back. I needed something to fit the empty sockets of the drum mags, so I scratch built a Stg Magazine pouch with styrene, masking tape, and Mr. Surfacer. I also gave him a pistol holster and an empty hand. Nicely, the figures can all stand on their own. Happy modelling! 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaireckstadt Posted May 1, 2022 Share Posted May 1, 2022 Great to see you back on the bench, Gary! These figures look really nice as does your surgery on one of them. Can‘t wait to see your progress! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GusMac Posted May 1, 2022 Share Posted May 1, 2022 Figures look great Gary and well done getting a refund from AliExpress. Only site I've ever had my account hacked from, so wouldn't touch it now even although it does have some good stuff on it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted May 1, 2022 Author Share Posted May 1, 2022 12 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said: Great to see you back on the bench, Gary! These figures look really nice as does your surgery on one of them. Can‘t wait to see your progress! 1 hour ago, GusMac said: Figures look great Gary and well done getting a refund from AliExpress. Only site I've ever had my account hacked from, so wouldn't touch it now even although it does have some good stuff on it. Thank you, fellas! Hopefully I can make a decent job of painting them. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 Nice looking figures with very believable poses. The modifications you made, are well integrated. Cheers Rob 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 Gaz I'm back just in time to pull up a front row seat and enjoy the journey. Nice start on the kit and thanks for the background bio - helps so much to understand the build/dio and your thoughts. Of course your figures will bring the dio to life and other gem in the works. Keep 'em comin Peter. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted May 3, 2022 Author Share Posted May 3, 2022 23 hours ago, DocRob said: Nice looking figures with very believable poses. The modifications you made, are well integrated. Cheers Rob Thank you, Rob. As much as I like the idea of warlike action-poses, these more relaxed fellas seem to be easier to get right. 10 hours ago, Peterpools said: Gaz I'm back just in time to pull up a front row seat and enjoy the journey. Nice start on the kit and thanks for the background bio - helps so much to understand the build/dio and your thoughts. Of course your figures will bring the dio to life and other gem in the works. Keep 'em comin Peter. As always, I'm glad to have you around, Peter. I appreciate your input. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted May 3, 2022 Share Posted May 3, 2022 Thanks gaz Always a pleasure to follow our work and learn new techniques as you proceed through a project. Keep 'em comin Peter 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted May 5, 2022 Author Share Posted May 5, 2022 Hi everyone. Two steps forward, two steps back. When I applied the air-drying clay the first time, I neglected to put any anchors in the foam. So, once dry, the clay detached itself from the base. I imagine I could have glued it back on... but I wanted to take this opportunity to improve the surface. One of the things I wanted to do way to fix the places of the soldiers while the clay was still wet. Hopefully the improvements will show as I go along... but here are the setup pics. Sadly, the resin handles of the Teller mines broke. I will have to replace them with wire, I reckon. Happy modelling! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted May 5, 2022 Share Posted May 5, 2022 The slightly sunken in soles look good, better to do this with the clay not dried up. The footsteps left of the Tellerminenmann look a bit unnatural though. Cheers Rob 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomber_County Posted May 5, 2022 Share Posted May 5, 2022 Looking good Gaz, I might have a go at adding some figures to the Flammpanzerwagen……I said might……..ironic I have a number figures from old builds, mostly Tamiya, nothing in quality to yours it could be a start…… 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted May 5, 2022 Share Posted May 5, 2022 Phil Glad you're looking at the few steps back as an opportunity to improve a few details that will go a long way into adding extra realism. Carefully looking at the boots, now being slightly embedded in the clay/soil, it adds an extra touch of realism. Keep 'em comin Peter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted May 14, 2022 Author Share Posted May 14, 2022 Hello friends! Modelling has been a bit slow lately. Not because I haven't had much time. I've been using a bit of my spare time playing Verdun on the Xbox One. It the first console game I've ever really gotten into. Anyway... onto the model... It took a bit of searching, but I've finally found some brass mesh that's in-scale to the model. The only problem is, that I had to order it from the People's Republic. There were two shipping options, and the quickest and most expensive only guaranteed it's arrival five days earlier than the standard rate... which is scheduled to arrive June 24. But that's OK. I still have a lot of work to do, and other kits to build. So, after adding the tracks and shaping everything to the base, I was able to apply the camo. The colors are definitely not in my usual pallette, but correct for the period for when this vehicle was built at Alkett. Then, I did some enamel washes to give a patina of old grime. Then I did a detail paint with aqueous acrylics. I even used a little bit of pigments here and there. I'm doing all of this to the chassis now, because afterwards there is a lot of fragile photo-etch to add. And I want to avoid knocking pieces off if possible. Tomorrow, I will add a few more bits of enamel wash and then attach the superstructure. There'll be a bit of seam work, too. Thanks for looking! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 2 hours ago, GazzaS said: It took a bit of searching, but I've finally found some brass mesh that's in-scale to the model. The only problem is, that I had to order it from the People's Republic. There were two shipping options, and the quickest and most expensive only guaranteed it's arrival five days earlier than the standard rate... which is scheduled to arrive June 24. But that's OK. I still have a lot of work to do, and other kits to build. Looking good, I like the multi colored wheels Gary. Is the mesh you're waiting for the Thoma-Schürzen mesh? Cheers Rob 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 Gaz Moving along at a nice clip and the lower half's weathering looks mighty convincing. Keep 'em comin Peter 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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