Jeremy: It's not that bad, but you can definitely tell the difference in the engineering of the kit between ICM and typical Tamiya. The ICM is kind of short on locator pins and things like that. They also often attach the parts to the sprue at the locator pin, making cleanup rather fidly.

The two main sprues are from ICM, which essentially complete the vehicle, including PE for the engine grill and turret grenade shields. (the PE carrier has finger prints etched into it, but the actual parts seem OK) Tamiya provides a sprue of more detailed bits and pieces which I think is standard in their 1/48th scale Panzer III and IV kits. It has a couple of jacks, pioneer tools and such. The detail of the Tamiya parts is much better than the same parts by ICM.

Tamiya also provides the instructions in their typical method. The ICM parts are not numbered, so Tamiya provides a numbering key to correspond with their instructions. (Fortunately in this kit, the parts aren't that complicated as I didn't discover the number key until well into the build.)

If I could ask for one thing, I would have liked for Tamiya to tool the main gun for the 222 as well (you do use their MG34). The ICM had a ton of flash on it and the barrel was flat on the sides, while the mold seem was a bit prominent on the top and bottom Anyway, they did hollow out the muzzle, which I appreciate.

Hopefully I will be able to post some shots in the next couple of days.

Happy Modelling, -zon

Ralph: Looking good. I like the camo. What color is the grey?

Steve: Nice progress. How was the movie?

-zon

Zon;

The camo is Khaki (Vallejo 988) lightened a little bit.

Ralph

Thanks Ralph!!

Sinatra was fabulous, as always. I only have two World War II movies featuring Italians. One is Von Ryan's Express, which takes place right after the armistice in '43, and Sahara with Humphrey Bogart. J Carroll Naish plays an Italian conscript who doesn't want to fight for the Axis anymore. I show that one to my students because it has great examples of wartime propaganda.

Steve;
"Von Ryan's Express" and "Sahara" are a couple of my favorires also. Sinatra was a good actor, "From Here To Eternity", a clssic.

Ralph


I have photos of further progress, completed the build of the bed, pretty straight forward. Pay very close attention to the "directions", parts have a way just showing up. It took me ahile to find where parts were B10and B9 were installed, step 11, but I missed it. Oh, parts B5 (6) are swithched, B5 is the right side, not the left side. The notche for the reflectors D17 and D18 would be at the back instead of the front as shown.

Well here some pictures.

Ralph: Great progress with the Blitz! I have one of those in the stash and am watching closely and taking notes

Steve: Nice choices for both the build and the movie

Zon: Great info, thanks for the intel! Look forward to seeing our first 1/48 build for this campaign!

Ralph,That truck is really coming out great.

Sorry everyone, I have been out of pocket with a nast cold

@ Ralph: nice going with your Blitz. The DAK scheme is really an eye catcher.

@ Steve: your M13/40 start is looking good. Did you have any trouble when you mated the top sructure to the hull? I had to fill in some gaps with extra sheet styrene.

Regarding Sinatra, he could sing and after I got off of my rock and roll high horse, I began to notice the quality of his music along with many others who really could sing and not just make a lot of noise.

Bob

Steve: thanks for the info on the movie. I'll have to add it to my Netflix list.

Some progress on the 222:





To do it again I would definitely assemble the hull first and I would save the exhaust until after the fenders. The hull had a gap front and back which were harder to fill with the stuff on it, and the exhaust mufflers have no real guide to their alignment, so they conflicted with the fenders and had to be yanked to get put on later. That's what I get for following the instructions

Other than that, it has gone together well.

Happy Modelling, -zon

Bob: No need to apologize, glad you're feeling better

Zon: Interesting, the mufflers came off without damage I am guessing?

Steve: The M13/40 is looking good, nice progress. I have thought about building an Italian tank from time to time, but havn't been sure on what kit to get.


Zon: Nice progress on the 222. I know what you mean about the the instructions, I have had a little problem with the Blitz..

Tony and Bob: Thanks for the comments. It has been a nice kit, overall, to work on. I have had the time since 2/14 to jump on it, that all changes next Monday, go back to work. Hence the pretty quick build.

Ralph

Hey guys, nice work going on keep the updates coming.

Got the tiger going and most of the building is done and got it primed today. It was aquick build, typical Tamyia, no problems and great instructions. Daughter took camera before I was able to download the photos. So hopefully she leaves it home tomorrow.

Bob: I haven't had any problems so far with fit. I saw your photos and sort of dry-fitted the hull to check mine out. Luckily, it went together without a hitch.

Ralph: Thanks for your kind words. I like going outside the norm a little and the Italian armor fits the bill. I plan on doing a simultaneous build of a Semovente M40 with my son, who has the Italeri version of the same kit. He's 11 years old and I wish I was half as good as he is when I was his age. Of course, when he puffs his chest out too much, I tell him his Pop didn't have the advantage of hundreds of dollars of top-flight equipment. I had to make it happen in 1982 with a dull hobby knife and a tube of Testors glue.

I just saw an Italian heavy tank at the LHS (well, heavy for the Italians) that I hadn't seen before. I like that Tamiya, in particular, is doing things like the Finnish StuG, the Soviet BT-7, and the French armor in trying to show some of the roads less traveled. As much as I like doing them, really, a Panzer is a Panzer and a T-34 is a T-34 no matter which factory it came from.

I've got a photo of mine all primed and ready for some wheel work that I'll post soon.

Sal: We're going to have to have a talk about that Seriously, look forward to seeing your pics bud

Steve: Yeah... I didn't know there was so much out there to make modeling so much more enjoyable until I started looking at the hobby again a couple of years ago. Is your son's build going to be entered into this campaign as well?
I like the road less traveled as well, it's very stimulating and gets the old cogs in the mind cranked up again

Jeremy: fortunately the mufflers came off well after softening the join with a little liquid cement. Also, the new location still hides the old seem. (missed it by this much...)

Ralph: I forgot to mention earlier, your blitz bed is looking good. very clean buidl and nice detail on the underside.

Happy Modelling, -zon

Got started on the Kubelwagen today. Only two sprues make up the whole thing, and I'm not using about 10 of the parts due to the Verlinden sand tires I have.

Started out by drilling out the exhausts, as the Tamiya kit has them molded flush. A bit small, but got them reasonably close. In the photo, I've only done the left one to show the difference. It's small, but does add to the realism on the car itself.



After about 90 minutes, here is where the car stands:



And the tires I'm going to use. Since the kit is designed with the front axle mating to the specific rear of the kit tire, I have to do a bit of surgery to get these wheels to fit. Kit wheels have a channel the front axle fits in, and all these tires are simply round holes. So it's the proverbial square peg in the round hole.



The detail is actually pretty good. Here's one that I've cleaned up from the pour block. It's an older Verlinden product, so there are no bubbles and the cleanup is minimal.



That's about it for now. The majority on this project is going to be the base and ancillary stuff around the car, including Herr Rommel himself.

Matt; Nice start, interesting to see a Kubelwagen with the fat aircraft tires. Rommel too!

Ralph

OK guys, here's the M13/40 all primed:



I planned to prime it with Tamiya RLM grey, but then I wondered if that would be a bad idea considering the barrel was aluminum, so I opted for the standard Tamiya rattle can lacquer primer. My wife hates the smell, but she seems to like me regardless. Does anyone know if the regular Tamiya acrylic would have been OK?

Jeremy: I've talked to my son about putting a profile together here. He is currently weathering a Soviet SU 100. When I put it to him, he said "Well, I don't have any desert stuff." (This is translated: "Dad, we really should go to the hobby shop and buy me that $45.00 Panzer IV Ausf. H I was drooling over.") We'll see. Baseball is starting up and he typically only works on models in the winter months. He's really taken a giant step forward this year. The Panther he finished in January is in my gallery. It turned out better than my 88 mm Flak, because he knows when to "say when" when it comes to weathering.

Zon: Glad to hear!

Matt: Looking good, and love the sand tires!

Steve: That's pretty darn cool that he is getting into this hobby with you He would be most welcome in this community for sure, and sounds like he has good taste to boot

Steve; Your son evidently has a good eye for weathering, that goea a long way towards achieving a good presentation of the model subject. I remember when I started as a 12 year old with no guidance, learning by the seat of my pants. Still doing that despite the wealth of knowledge on this site, still have to try the techniques by trial and error.

I have made further progreee on the Blitz. Full camo, pin wash, decals. Now the real fun starts with the rest of the weathering. I have been waiting for the load items to get here, been three weeks and still a week or two away. Anyway here are the new progress pictures. The camera is not quite showing the true colors, I am going to have to shoot the pictures under more natural light and see if that works. The flash is to harsh.









The bed and doors are not glued yet, will make it easr to weather. The 15.pz Div. transfer on the back will be fixed, part of the middle disapeared, used wrong red color to try to correct.

Hi folks!
I just joined the campaign,
I'm still not sure what to make, but I think it will be
a Panzer III.

Greets

Bas: Welcome aboard. I hope you enjoy the campaign.

Ralph: I love the look of the Blitz and look forward to seeing it under the natural light. You're absolutely right about getting the weathering right. That's where Seth's (my son) little kid attention span works in his favor. By the time he gets to the weathering part, he wants to see it done, so he avoids overdoing it like I've been guilty of. I enjoy trying out all of these new techniques I've learned here and sometimes I end up muddying things up a bit too much between burnt umber washes, pin washes, filters, dot filters, and pastels. Time for me to refine those techniques and show some subtlety.

Jeremy: Seth's been at it since he was about seven. In those days, he couldn't really do much of the model on his own, but we worked on just being patient and putting things away when he got frustrated. He was able to do snap-together Star Wars models at that age, and moved on to Revell level 2 stuff when he was about 9. I've been very grateful that Tamiya still sells those old kits from the 70's, because they're perfect for a young modeler and they don't break the bank.

$60 Tigers with photo-etch and aftermarket products are great for those of us who are mature modelers looking for a challenge, but we risk pricing the next generation out of enjoying the hobby when we continually demand ever-more detailed kits. I got involved with modeling on my own. My parents supported me, but my models came from my own pocket. The idea of a "stash" was a dream in those days. If I got something, it was built 24 hours later. I encourage all of you to do what you can to bring young modelers into the hobby. Because, as we all know, once you get rolling on it, it's impossible to quit. Many of us go away for awhile, but we eventually come back.

And, as a teacher, I can tell you that anything that reinforces to kids the necessity of patience, perseverance, and attention to detail is a good thing.

Hi guys, Great work going on here lots of different sutff
@ Ralph, love the camp job on that Opel

Here is my update progress shots before the primer went on

top is just dry fitted to hull most of the build is complete

The card of PE that came with this kit was for the rear of an Italeri kit. I felt the Tamyia stuff was good enough so I didnt use it. Anybody want it PM me

As I said this is all primed and ready for paint but gotta head into work

More updates soon

Ralph: Looking good! Something odd that I noticed, if you look at the third picture from the top, it looks like the mold line in the rear tires is still pretty strong. It could just be the lighting.

Bas: Welcome to the campaign! A Panzer III is always a great choice

Steve: Great points! And keep at it with Seth, sounds like he definitely has the bug

Sal: Awesome! Are you going to leave the commander figure in place or will you remove him for painting?