Here's what I found, the Wespe.
Was working on that one many months ago, part of a Buildlog,
hope to finish it on time.. no pressure, no stress, just plastic

Start a while ago...I will finish here...

and out of nowhere, a wild Italeri 1/35th Panther A, Russian captured,appears..





what a dog of a kit. old old old school italeri. Dimensions are off with AND without the molded zimmerit panels.
At least it has the right number of roadwheels.. cough cough Tamiya cough cough...
I only wish I had not wasted an Archer Captured Panthers dry transfer set on this doggie.. really it would have been just as well to sloppily paint the markings on by hand.

Those with sharp eyes will notice no engine deck screens, guilty as charged. I am not about to waste a set o grills on this one!

Anyway, another one bites the dust. Off the shelf of shame and into the display case.Nothing show-worthy here, but done!

Wow.. that Panther has been in the stash for a LOOONNNGGGG time unfinished. I've had it in progress not quite since it was a 'new' kit, but pretty close.

Also on the shelf of shame, DML's Jaboschrek, again wasting away at about 85% done.

I think I was spraying Vallejo dark yellow primer recently and had some left in the paint cup, pulled this one off the shelf and shot the rest.

It's a nice little kit, fiddly as all get out, but nice kit.
Tonght's progress is the unpainted plastic.



I didn't crop this pic to show an example of the very worst of DML instructions. There are 4 subassembles of 5+ parts each coming together here at the end with one crummy pic of how it is done. Ouch!

I will have to paint and weather inside the shield before installation, but the mojo is strong and I have until, what.. October? -grin-




Mike

Some interesting work going on in this campaign. And a very diverse range of subjects.

I got a 'head' start on the knight. All he needs is some oils on his face and some blonde 'highlights' in the way of dry-brushing on his hair. It's hard to tell in the pic, but there is a slight reddish tone to his mustache and beard vs the brown in his hair, as often occurs with many fair-haired Europeans.



Keith

Yes...It's finished...I hope you like it...


















Happy modelling...

@Hakan--that VW Bug is gorgeous! I'm sure there's a story behind what you turned it in to. And would you mind sharing your processes on achieving those different finishes: wheels & tires, body, rear engine cover, etc?

Keith

Thanks Keith...Actually some photos are gone with my sd card..But you can see all photos about process in my blog site...

I'm calling the head done. This was my first attempt at using John Pradarelli's 'Face Painting: Oils over Acrylic' method. An excellent tutorial. (Thanks John!)
Although I'm not too thrilled with the hair, I am very pleased with the face.




Keith

Major headway this week. Armor plate is coming together, as well as the saddle.




Dry fit of the saddle blanket and some if the horse armor.



This kit is taking forever, hence why it's in this campaign.
Hopefully more to come over the coming weeks.

Keith

Keith,
It's looking really good!

Cheers Rob.

Great work folks,

All done on my side pics in the gallery.



Cheers

Al

Well the long weekend allowed me some building time.....

Nice looking Kugleblitz. The primer turret 'ball' and beat up old hull go together well.
Are you going with the kit tracks or aftermarket?

Mike

@Rob--Thanks! Slowly but surely it's getting done.

@Alan--Nice dio! Very convincing groundwork, figures, and stockpiles of 'stuff'. I may have missed it, but does the dio have a title?

@Geoff--Hmmm...that Kugle looks familiar. Was it left over from the AA campaign? Ditto on Mike's remarks about the newer looking ball turret being a good contrast to the used & abused chassis.

Keith

Hi Keith,

Thanks. The Somme 1916. The full story here:

http://www.armorama.co.uk/features/5238

Cheers

Al

A couple of moldy oldies from the shelf of shame have gotten some bench time this weekend. DML's 1/35 T-80U/SMT and T80 w ERA.
The BV has a 1990 copyright on the box and the SMT has a one from 1992!
They've probably been in this level of build completion since just about then and have moved house with me at least 4 time since then.

Both had old school flat Tamiya DK Green, you know back before we knew any better (cough cough, modulation, filter, dot fading, pigments, cough cough..)

After a repaint into lighter colors (Tamiya Nato green and Tamiya Deck Tan), a little color modulation with lightened versions of both, and a failed filter over flat paint debacle.. they are glosscoated using a 50/50 mix of Future and Windex.

The modulation atempts that looked so stark in flat paint pretty well vanish under the gloss and the glare of the lights. I realize I am going to have to go what seems WAAYYY overboard if I am going to get the effects I am seeing in magazines and online these days. About the only place it still shows here is on the front hull ERA bricks on the BV.

[IMG][/IMG}



The 80U/SMT still needs the crow's feet painted in. The BV needs a couple of little 'long term shelf life' repairs.


Probably going to do a muddy Russian one for the BV and skip the blue/black/green camo for now. Some guy on facey bookey just did that to his trumpy kit.

Mike

Sans some touch-up on the tail, the horsey is done. With the saddle affixed I can now start positioning and assembling the knight.





Keith

@Mike--I, and am sure many others, know exactly what you mean. and can totally relate. Not to hijack your post, but here is a 'before' and 'after' of an old Zvezda T-72 turned into a test bed for "new-fangled" techniques.



A little bit if a difference.

Keith

Kieth,

I know exactly what you mean. My version of that kit is the older DML first release that has had so many different test coats of paint it more resembles and M&M than a T72...

I found some ancient (gasp) 1980's Hobby Japan magazines buried in the mancave and the level of work from those days is WORLDS apart from even the amateur work you see on sites like this every day, much less the work from the pro's!

The state of the art is a moving target and while I am not catching up I am at least producing excellent builds by 1980's standards.

Oops.. Forgot to post updates during the paint and weathering part before finishing the build. Oh well, here it is:





Quite happy with both the result and the fact that I'm done with this kit. It has taken way too long to finish it.

Looks great, Vegard!

@Vegard--WOW!...wow-wow-wow-wow--Wow! That is one of the best rendered desert paint jobs I've seen. Nice clean build too. AND excellent job on the photography. Your pics look more like they're from a model company's website than a modelers' social-media site. Well done. Will this be a monthly contest entrant?

Keith

DML's ancient T80 e ERA and SMT kits from the early 90's have moved house with me several times since then.
repaints, glossed, and now filtered and washed.
chips, and pigments to come.

THEN I go buy new Trumpeter kits...

Mike