¹⁄35

Against The Clock!

Introduction

With my first project back in modelling taking 300+hrs, and my second still unfinished and approaching twice that, I needed a project to re-invigorate my enthusiasm, and remind me why I started modelling again in the first place! To this end I ordered Dragons re-issued 1:35 Jagdtiger, and decided to do something a little different. This is not a review of the kit, suffice to say it’s a very good one, with new PE, a metal barrel of the correct length, wire tow ropes etc. The only gripe I had was that the new metal tow shackles are far too narrow to fit, and I had to grind a lot of plastic away in these areas to make them fit.

the build

I wanted to see how fast I could build and paint the model and still achieve a result I could be proud of. In doing this I needed to strip the whole process to its barest minimum.
I set myself some rules:

No research

No AM parts other than bits from the spares box that were already completed

I would record the amount of time taken each time I physically worked on the model. Time spent looking at it and thinking about it would not be included.

My plan of action would be as follows:

Planning and familiarisation

Wheels

Hull

PE

Assembling and painting of individual items such as the MG42, periscopes, pioneer tools etc.

Tracks

Painting

Weathering

Photography/Editing

I cleaned my modelling area of everything not related to the project, and prepped everything I would need in the way of paints, glues, tools, pigments etc. I was quite surprised about how excited I was at this point – I felt like 12 year old with his first model!

Planning and familiarisation

I took all the sprues from the box and laid them out in my modelling area so that each was at hand and viewable. I then sat for several hours and referenced each section of the instructions to the correct sprue. I planned the required cleanup (pin marks on the inside of tracks – leave ‘em!, mould seam can be covered by mud – no problem!). I spent a lot of time planning the Magic Tracks as I had never used them before - going through this process in my head first proved an invaluable time saver. A second major brainwave was to keep the upper and lower hull separate until they had both been painted and weathered (the barrel was fitted last). In this way tracks can be fitted and weathered without interference from the side skirts.