Greetings! It has some weathering you just can't see it in the photos. I will have to take some more! I modelled it under the premiss that it had just gone into action and it was mainly running across snow covered frozen ground, so there are only some fuel spills and some stains were they have been sitting on the turret and some lleading to the drivers hatch.. I am new to the weathering bit but am slowly but surely trying new things. Hey, I can only get better!!

Excellent and a very unusual build, Christer. That guy really needed to go fast

Warren, you could try to apply a very thinned down wash of dark brown oil wash. That could really bring out the detail and is a good place to start with weathering.

Here is an update on my build. I have now applied some foliage to fit the WWII pictures of the real thing I have posted earlier. I added some copper wire around the hull and hang different kind of PE branches etc. from them.

I have also started on some old resin crew figures I had in my stash. They are far worse than I thought with a lot of flash and air bubbles. Anyway, I think I can make it work.

More to follow.....

Hi all,

It's nice to see a progress here on OTEF!
Jesper - your build is looking promising - I'm waiting to see more.

I've just tried a dry fit to check if the engine and gearbox fits to a hull and I'm amazed - it fits perfectly
I hope that the rest will go in the same manner

Tomorrow is Saturday and I hope it meens a lot of time for model making (I hope my son will allow me to play with my toys for a change )

Andrzej

A bit of a progress report.

The Half-track is nearing completion,

I've terrorized a couple of figures in the half-track with a paint brush.

I've ordered Archer Transfers collar and uniform patches to deal with the nasty collar tabs.
This is sort of the concept, to make this whole thing modular. Like the Model RR guys do.

I don't know if I can get all this stuff in my camera's view, but, This is what the half-track will be towing. I hope I have enough time to complete this project. I'm thinking of building a T-34, to finish another incomplete project. Heck, I just hope I can complete this project.


Best Regards,

That's some progress alright . You're doing great job so far - I really like the figures.

Andrzej

Thanks for the encouragement, I HOPE to be pretty good after finishing another dozen or so! Until then I struggle, I juggle and then I attack enforce.
Andrzej, I was going to tell you earlier after seeing your better half let you pick up the Mauser K98, that my dad has a real K98 that was issued in 44. It has had the stamping on the chamber ground off and has been restocked but the action/barrel is all original. It packs a mean punch when you fire it. It still is an awesome firearm. My son picked up a Springfield Model 1903. His buddy came over to do some shooting and brought his dads M1 Garand. It was a cool sight seeing all that hardware in one spot.

Nice going, guys!!

@ Jesper: Hope your figures aren't some cheap Chinese rip-offs, are they???


Your build looks very good though. Just 1 small item. try to make the foilage look more like foilage. It's very rigid and stiff looking right now.

@ Mobious: I just love what your are doing here! Looks very good and I can't wait to see the whole thing completed.

As for my w.i.p., it's kind of stuck right now. Can't seem to get anything done so far. Bit low on steam.....

@ Mobious

Well, authentic Kar98k is a dream, but since I'd have to get licence for a gun in a first place, get allowence from the police, pay 4-8 times what I paid for this replica... I've figured out that it's far too much to do to have a real one... (though, if somebody would give it to me as a gift, I think I'd take an efford and proceed with all necessary paperwork and psychiatric tests... )
BTW, I have original Mosin-Nagant bayonet, so maybe this will be next replica I buy (right after MP40 )

Andrzej

Thanks for the comments, guys. I appreciate it.

Ron, the figures could be copies - I do not know, but I do not think so. I have had them in my stash for more than 4 years. I bought them in Russia when I was studying there. They are bought in the hobby store located in the Artillery museum in Sct. Petersburg. So it is not some shady ebay buy.

Work is progressing rapidly on my Marder II after getting some wingy things finished for some campaigns at Aeroscale
I am finishing it in overall dark yellow as a Marder II from the Wiking SS division. Next is some small detail paintings and some weathering. I will go for a dusty vehicle from the Caucasus in Summer 1942.

More to follow....

Hello All. Here is some work I've done on Eastern Express' KV-1S. Once you get past the flash this is not a bad kit. So far I've had no major fit problems and the detail is pretty decent.

I replaced the front fenders and the sheet metal deflector at the rear with cuttings from a frozen lasagna tray. Weld seems were enhanced with a hot knife and some added with plastic strip. The grill under the rear deck was made from a bit of window screen on a plastic strip frame. The handles on the tool boxes are wire and more bits from the lasagna tray.








GB

My Marder II is now finished. I am quite satisfied, although I am still considering to give it an extra wash.

Positioning the figures I realize how cramped and uncomfortable these vehicles must have been to fight from. I had problem fitting in three figures and I guess it is bad for the commander to stand in front of the armour shield for the gun.

I might find another crew for it. The resin figures from my stash had misligned faces with air bubbles and I am not skilled enough to recreate the faces. All in all they turned out alright, but I am not too happy with the faces.

It was a joy to participate in this campaign. I might still join with a Panzer IV or King Tiger as a second build.

@ Gary,
Nice build - I see you keep focused on details - it goes really nicely!

@ Jesper - thanks for participating! I do like your Marder.
You're right - most of these vehicles were not too comfortable. Every time I was sitting in any tank (mostly in T34s) I hurt my head... maybe I'm too big for this stuff (189cm) ).
I wouldn't bother about placing one guy on the front of the gun's shield. Since this vehicle offers so small area to stand on on the other side of the gun what other place could he chose? Should he run next to a driving vehicle?? ("Guys.... Guys... hrrrrrr.... wait a second... guys.... hrrrrrrr.... shoot that '34 on the right.... Guys!!! wait for me!!!... )


I started painting my vehicles interior white but I did not calculated the amount of paint I need for this monster - in the middle of fun I've run out of it... .
Fortunately I'm expecting delivery today so the work will move on .

Andrzej

Thanks for the comment, Andrzej. I would not want to be the tank commander on that Marder II though

I am looking forward to see how your T-34 turns out. I have the 1/16 T-34/76 model 43 in my stash, but have not had the guts to start it yet.

If I can get hold of the Dragon 1/35 Pz. IV F2 or early G I might enter this into this campaign as well.

Hello,
That is a nice start to the KV 1, Gary. I like what you did with the fenders. The weld seams are a nice addition. Keep Posting!
Jesper, that is a nice Marder II. I agree, I wouldn't have wanted to serve in one of those open tops. After watching "Saving Private Ryan" what those boys in the 101st did to those open tops with the molatovs was pretty gruesome. I think they would have been extremely cramped and dangerous conditions for the entire crew. I hope you continue with a PzIV or the PzVIB.
I also wanted to thank everyone for the encouragement, I've ordered another set of seated figures to amputate , and a set of heads. I'm beginning to feel a little like Dr. Frankenstien.

Best Regards,

Very nice builds and subjects so far. Hopein to make some time next week and get working on my contribution. thanks for shareing. milvehfan

So here we are one month into it. Here is my progress so far:


I changed the layout Sunday night, the old one seemed too crowded, so right now there are no figures to show.
The tank is mostly dry-fit right now. And I have to get the terrain done so I can finish the running gear. The kit is the DML "Chinese" ISU-152. It is really a pretty easy kit and I'm going OTB with it...no etch or aftermarket items. I did enhance the cast texture:


And I plan on doing some battle damage but that will be all. I really can't wait to get to the painting stage.
I know not much to see yet but any comments/suggestions are appreciated.
Cheers, BillK

EDIT: I don't know why the pics are so small? I used the same procedure I've used the last times I put pics in my post and they turned out fine. Oh Well.

The layout from what I can see looks good. I was going to comment on the size of the pictures until I seen you're edit. What scale are you working in?
Best Regards,

Here's the turret for the KV. The texturing was achieved with some Model Master glue smeared about and scrubbed with an old brush. A little Tamiya putty smoothed out any overdone bits. The rear machine gun needed some filling at the join but nothing major.





GB

Wow, great work everybody!
I can't believe you're finished already, jesper, I haven't even started yet!
Gary, great job showing that you don't need a bunch of aftermarket stuff to enhance a model, very creative and inspiring

Thanks for the comments, Mobious and James. Things suddenly started to go fast when I got those wingy things for Aeroscale campaigns of my desk

Gary, your KV is coming along well. Very nice added details on the turret.

Bill, good layout of the diorama. Different high levels always work well in dioramas.

Larger Pictures of Bills project:

@ Dave - thanks for enlarging these pics - I was going to do that myself, but since few days each time I seat in front of computer for a while somebody wants me to do something and blocks any posting .

@ Bill - nice work with the diorama! Both - building and vehicle look great so far - keep posting.

@ Gary - great detailing. Keep posting as much as you can - I don't want to miss any detail

Delivery of my paints is late... just glueing for me...

Andrzej

Thanks Dave for the larger pics. I'm an old guy and I can only see so much when I squint.
The casting texture on your 152 looks great. I can never manage to get the texture right when I try.

Gary, What scale is that KV1. It looks really good so far. The casting numbers(I think thats what they are) on the rear of the turret, are cool. Nice going.

Just finished primeing my Tiger II (Porsche) will follow up with photos soon>