Hello....im thinking about getting 1/72 kit from Revell, i think its called "Jagdpanther and German Infantry" - 1 Jagdpanther and about 40 figures !

Just how hard is it to make 1/72 armour ? I looked at in-box contents, all parts look tiny and fragile Also, is it extremely difficult to paint 1/72 figure ?

Thanks !!!

I don't think building the kits are difficult, but I bet painting the soldiers will be.

A lot of detail is simplified on the kits, but the recent Revell of Germany ones are very nice. I have both the West German Marder 1A3 and Marder 1A3 with Panzer Grenadiers, the M2A2 Bradley and the T-80 Russian MBT. A great leap from the last decent set of modern armor produced by Esci back in the early 80s. I have/had many of those kits and they are very nice for being 20 years old.

If you go to the Features section, I did a build up review of the Italeri M1 (ex-Esci) called "Building a Bantam Abrams" and you can see some of the detailing that is possible on a small scale tank kit.

I'm going to guess those are soft vinyl figures. If so, the detail is likely to be slighly over scale and soft by comparison to 54mm and 1/35 scale figures. Seams tend to be more prominent and harder to remove. Paint does not adhere to this stuff all that well. I'm sure there's a reason a chemist/engineer or other tech type could explain. That being said, you can get not too bad looking guys with these with a little effort.

I tried painting the revell figs and I just hate them,all the paint just peeled right off,maybe I need a heavier primer coat?

Just some thoughts on modeling in 1/72nd or smaller. Often scratch building is necessary to get a good model. Painting takes a little patience and head magnifying glasses to get accurate detail. As far as why paint may peel I find that a good washing with a dish detergent resolves that problem. I work primarily in 1/87th - How much longer this will happen is questionable. I find myself seeking stronger and more elaborate magnifying equipment to get the same level of detail. It does effect your eyes. Just some comments. Happy modeling.




Butch Cassidy Tanks46
Pig #3 Head Armorer
DSB

Painting the body is just a breeze. When you go into the threads, wheels and the interior, it gets difficult. Once you're done with that, the infantry is the hardest especially German infantry

Alot depends on what you hope to get out of your 1/72 scale kit.Speaking for myself as some one re-embarking on modleing,they are a cheaper place to learn building and painting techniques than 1/35 scale and the human eye is a wonderful deciever .I wished to build dioramas as well as kits but found that only a handful of the figures within Revell box sets of any use but this certainly cuts down on the painting tedium but not the expense.However I have found that with careful use of the knife some can be adapted.Before buying I strongly recommend a look at www.plastic soldier review.com/ which provides exellent reviews and pictures of most 1/72 scale sets.Equally good are the military minatures magazine site and the AB figures site which provide sound painting advice.I intend(tomorrow infact) to investigate the figures available through the wargaming produces to populate my avf,s and dioramas.Hope this is of some use,despite some of the draw backs 1/72 is an enjoyable scale to work in,all the best October

Toon,
I got bitten by the small scale bug awhile back and it is very addictive. Especially the ROG stuff that is hitting the streets now. As far as building, like Rob G. said, alot of the parts are simplified. As far as painting, I paint them the same as my 1/35 scale pieces. Hulls, turrets, roadwheels, etc. Once the base coat is applied I'll go back and pick out things that need to stand out...ie. the rubber portions on roadwheels if it is to be a clean build. If not a little Liquitex modeling gel simulates mud very well in this scale.
As to the figures. Because they are a soft plastic the paint is going to be very easy to take off. So easy that you could wipe it away after it appeared fully dry. The best suggestion I have to combat that problem is to mount the figures on something during painting and apply a good primer before hand. Once the figues have had a chance to dry fully, shoot a dull coat over them and let dry again. Once they are fully dry, carefully remove them from their bases and mount them to where ever it is they will finally end up. I have several 1/72 scale dios that have these "soft" plastic figures on them and I have never had any problems with the problems described. The key though is the primer and to reduce the amount of handling of the figure itself while painting...hence attaching them to a temporary base. Not the catch all end all solution but it has worked for me. HTH "Q"...Sweating bullets in Iraq...liteally

For any soft vinyl figures - paint them with a thin coat of PVA glue, making sure to cover the whole figure - let it dry fully and paint - no more peeling. I have not tried this method with acrylics but it works with enamels ok.

Airbrushing any camouflage and weathering takes patience and a steady hand. Small scale stencils help. Cutting a pattern using plinking shears or scissors gives a ready made wavy pattern. If you want to skip having to detail the tracks and roadwheels you could paint them muddied up. Also--go light on the drybrushing. It is very easy to overdue it and make a vehicle appear like it is covered in snow. Of course, unless you are doing winter scene and that is what you want.