Well, I figure it's finally time to put a pic or two up on the board. Like (apparently) everyone else who does German WWII armor, I decided to take a crack at Tamiya's Marder III with a whitewash coat. I added Eduard photoetch (which was challenging enough, Aber fans!), fruimodel tracks, and a Moskit muffler. The photoetch was probably overkill, given the detail and crispness of the kit. Anyway, I opted for the aesthetically superior (IMO) but less-realstic airbrush-applied whitewash. I just can't imagine scrubbing it on without making it look like the paint job of a monkey holding the paintbrush with his tail. I still haven't added the exterior tools, jack, etc., and I haven't given it a wash (at least, not since the turpentine fueled disaster I mentioned last week!).









Not worth a darn compared to a lot of the stuff on this site, but a heck of a lot better than I was doing before I discovered armorama!

Hey, easy on the self critisism. Looks pretty darn good from here. Nice job so far. Of all the German vehicles, this is the one that may make me take drive into something other than OD green.
Please keep us posted on the finishing.

Part-Timer,

very convincing work! The gun makes my finger itch to go shooting...
A few pointers:
The aesthetically superior ( ) airbrushed paint finish would just LOVE some dark, tiny metallic scratches and some 3-D weathering effects. And I´m talking MUD. The kind of reddish, clumpy, icy mud that sticks and freezes in the track area.
The mud would help a lot to make the tank blend in whatever base you´re going to put it on, and it makes the camo more natural and aesthetically superior (IMO) !




Cheers,
Toni

Hey Part-timer

You build like a full time model builder to me. That is one sweet Marder. I love the detailing and the weathering. Looks great! One day I hope to be able to create one that good.

Cheers
HastyP

Hey Part-timer - just like Ken said - ease up on yourself! I don't often comment in these RRB threads, but I like your Marder. You've created a really nice pallet on which to work your weathering.

Thank God you left the salt on the table!

Follow what the guys above recommended, add some scrapes and some subtle mud and earth, maybe a little hint of dark rust here and there, and I'm sure you'll really start liking this model more and more.

Gunnie

Good looking marder, its not my game but I like it.
For the rest already mentioned before.

GREAT MADER AND EXCELLENT PAINTWORK
ROBERTO

Excellent job. I like the paint and I really like the brass rounds down in the storage rack. I think it is great as is, but maybe wear the floorplates and breach block as well as the other stuff. Great work. Steve

Great looking Marder! You've done well with the fading...I like the airbrushed whitewash better as well, and yours came out very nice.

Excellent detailing & weathering , perfect ! Can't comment more

I see a common theme in a lot of us here on this site - self criticizm.

Relax - that's a very nice finish. I like the way the white wash came out. Let us see the final version.

Thanks for all the kind words. Just to be clear, I'm pretty happy with it; I just happen to be of the non-controversial opinion that there are some truly fabulous modelers on this site, and I'm not in their league. Yet. But that's all part of the fun. If I hadn't found a group of people that knew more than me, I wouldn't be learning, which is most of the fun of modeling.

As per the suggestions, some weathering (washes, dryburshing, paint chipping, etc.) will be next. Well, right after I glue on the tools and final doo-dads. After that, I'll take a dive into the mud. I'm a little nervous about the mud stuff, but I'll look at some of the articles and posts on armorama to get me through. I'll post some more pics once there's progress to report. Thanks.

Very nice model Part-timer! The only thing I can notice is that in my view you should give a bit more worn look to the main gun breech...
Bravo!!!

Good point. Given that the 7.62 mm guns were captured from the Russians and thus had led previous lives before ever going on the Marders, that makes a great deal of sense. Thanks.

Duh, obviously they were 7.62 CM. A 7.62 mm doesn't make for a very satisfactory anti-tank cannon round, I suspect. #:-)

Great looking kit!!! Just remember with the weather it's easy to over do and this could be one of the best pieces of advice I have seen lately "Thank God you left the salt on the table!"

Looks great, keep HAVING FUN!!!!

Boy the difference between the Tamiya, and the Italeri Marder 3, they almost look like two different tanks, just about the only thing I noticed the same was that little box on the right side with the holes on top, the way my armor is, mine couldn't have those seats put on it, and that back rack that almost looks like a seat on yours, it is flat with the floor on mine. Your ammo storage, now that is all open on mine to where they can jump down to the drivers compartment, even the guns, to where yours is smooth all the way back, on mine, it has a raised ridge by the barrel transport lock, I could go on, and on, like I said, the only things that look the same is that little box, and the name. I wonder which one is the closest to being correct.

Looking good... the airbrushing is absolutely great.. Maybe a "subtle" highlighting will also do.

Nice work on your Marder III. I like the white-wash camo you have on it. The only thing I noticed was the drive sprocket could use some wear and tear on the guide-teeth. Mabye weather the idler as well. Other thent that you have a nice lookking kit just the wat it is !

Cheers !!

Robert