Dan,

I think I'm going to go for the box-art finish for the "R6" from 6 Pz..Div actually.

Bill, you have convinced me to go out and get this one for my stash closet. It might even get moved up to the front of the build list.

Great job on your shading.

Thanks Carl, it's been a fun little kit to build.

That was a nice build. Looks to be an interesting kit as well. It does seem people get fixed on the Tigers, Panthers, and forget the little guys out there.

Thanks for sharing!

The decal/weathering stage is always one that tends to go slowly and this one is no exception. I laid down the first Future coat this morning and let it set up for about 2 hours and then applied the decals. I'd chosen the 6 Pz.Div 1939-1940 markings scheme, the kit supplied decals thankfully have the large "R 6" markings for the turret as separate decals, dramatically reducing the amount of clear carrier film to worry about. The markings sheet provides an extra "R" and "6" just in case you damage one in the process, something not often seen in kits. All of the markings were applied and given a does of Walther's Solvaset to get them to snuggle down, the turret numbers of course requiring multiple careful applications to get them to conform properly. The real challenge of course being to get the decals to conform both to the conical shape of the turret sides as well as the complex surfaces for the side view ports. For the left side balkenkreuze, I used the tip of a sharp #11 blade to gently cut the line for the hatch hinge after the decal had set to avoid tearing it in the process.









Everything's all set for the weathering process to begin, something I'll tackle next weekend in all likelihood.

Very nice work.

Thanks matt, appreciate the comments.

Nice, but the conducts from the motor to the exhausts are rubber, not metal. Hope to be constructive.

Hi Bill. Great to see you back with a Blog again. Ive been finding it hard to get inpsired, but this has been really enjoyable and just what the doctor ordered!
You just gotta love those Pzr 1s. I built the 3´n´1 version a few weeks ago, and am dying to get to the painting stage .. but Ive 2 pzr IVs already there ..... and getting the decals to sit down over viewing hatches has been hard on the nerves! Knowing the problems you´ve encountered, all I can say is great job so far. Thanks for taking the time to build this and share with us!

Guillem,

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to look into that. I'll admit to always assuming they were corrugated metal tubing, not rubber, given the temperatures of the engine exhausts. That and always seeing other builds with them depicted as metal. I don't doubt your tip, just want to confirm it before making the change.

Frank,

Thanks for the comments and glad to hear you've got your build going again, looking forward to seeing what you do with the little guy.

Nice work indeed Bill - but take a closer look at the suspension girders - sorry !

Stirl

Ah, nice catch but easy to fix. Just need to pop them off and swap them around to the other sides.

Fine looking build Bill. I think this one will have to get picked up from the LHS..

Dave
Reporting in from New Hampshire

Hope they "pop-off" easily Bill - you`ve made an excellent job of this kit so far - can`t wait to see the next stage !

Stirl

Thanks Dave for the comments!

Stirl,

I'll have to do it carefully, but should go smoothly...I hope! I do appreciate very much you pointing out the mistake, I'll have to check the instructions to see if the diagrams are correct and, if they are, then I've got no excuse since I distinctly recall checking the alignment of the raised bars to be sure how they went but still managed to get them reversed on installation.

Having received some feed-back from last week's progress (special thanks to Guillem Marti and Stirling Lowery!), I checked my references and determined that I indeed had two errors that needed to be corrected. The first deals with the exhaust pipes, these do in fact have flexible rubber hoses that connect the mufflers to the engine and are not metal as I'd originally thought and finished them. I painted them with some enamel Gunmetal to simulate and correct. The second error had to do with the suspension girder, somehow or other I got them turned around and installed them in reverse, so these were popped off and switched around. The tell-tale sign is the little raised bit, it should go toward the idler wheel to restrain the suspension springs and I didn't pay enough attention on the original installation. All fixed now though.



Next up was the initial round of weathering. I used the "dot" method of applying small dots of enamel paint and then using a brush dampened with thinner to blend and draw down the dots together over the base paint. I used three different colors in the dots, applying them one at a time and blending together before adding the next, to determine just how much and where the colors needed to go. I used Raw Umber, Afrika Grunbraun, and a 70/30 mix of Panzergray/Light Gray in that order. Once that was taken care of, I applied a pin wash of Burnt Umber to all the raised detail and around the weld lines and hatches.



I'll let that set for the evening and come back tomorrow with a "fresh" set of eyes to see what adjustments, if any, need to be made before moving on to the next phase of weathering the undercarriage and tracks.

It looks awesome with just that little bit of weathering. Makes me want to try the "dot" method on my tank.

that looks great !

excellent job.
bravo!!!
petros

Matthew, Alexander, Petros, appreciate your comments, almost finished!

Seems I've hit a bit of snag...I thought I had some dullcoate on hand to be able to move on to the next step but fortunately not...so until I can get to the LHS to get some more, no progress will be made.

Looking great Bill the dot method you did really worked well on this grey i love the effect, i look forward to the final touches.

Ron.

Thanks Ron, managed to get hold of some stuff yesterday before the LHS closed, so some more pictures tonight.

Applied some pigment weathering to the running gear and the superstructure. I mixed up some Gulf War Sand and Dry Mud MIG pigments and applied with water, let it dry, then worked it over with stiff bristled brushes as well as some larger sable brushes depending. Since this particular vehicle is marked for the France 1940 campaign, I was looking for a dusty early summer type of look to it as a compliment to the Panzer Gray finish. After watching the wild Monday-night football game tonight though, it was tough to do more than just take the one shot.

omg the game was incredible, just got home from the watering hole

Looks great Bill, I like the collection of packed dust in a few corners here and there. The markings came out excellent as well