Well, payday has finally arrived and I wasted no time, catching the first bus into Daegu to get to the model shop. I bought everything I could think of and still left some stuff out. I purchased the Dragon 1/35th scale Pz. Kpfw IV Ausf. F2 as my first armor model.

Upon opening the box, the first thing that struck me were two small bags of the famous "Magic Tracks." Nausea set in at the sight of the hundreds of small track parts.

I will obviously be posting pictures for all to see, any tips or hints anyone has will be greatly appreciated as this is my first armor model. Especially specific hints or tips to the Panzer IV. Ausf F2.

Thanks guys

First would be here for a look.
http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/dragon/dr6360.html

Good luck.

So Second Inf?

I plan on making the Pz. Abt. 1 "LAH" panzer IV if thats what u are asking


BTW, thanks a bunch for the site, extremely helpful! I've already run into a few things they have mentioned, including assembling the turret hooks (parts A51 and A53) in stage one and they are micro small, yet are not put on the turret until the last stage!!! also, A51 is supposed to be supplied in 4 parts but is only labled 3 times, the fourth being labeled A50.

Bugger!

" BORDER="0">

test image...just the instructions

" BORDER="0">

" BORDER="0">

" BORDER="0">

the road wheels and idler wheels done!

Looks good.

So 2nd Infantry division?

Or them folks we called the laid back 8 th Army

oooh haha i got ya...nope 8th army...TCS down at Camp Carroll...4-5 ADA

process as of 9 pm korea time, next up is to attack road wheels/idler wheels/drive sprockets.....then the tracks

i apologize for the shots guys, the best i have is my webcam.

yes, i painted behind the tracks. Being my first i wasnt sure just when i was going to put these guys on. The directions have them on at this step but they will not stay on for much longer.

A huge thank you goes to Karl Logan for the link to his tutorial as without it i would still be looking at the tracks and scratching my head!

Looking good.
When I was there our Compound was right across from ADA company.
But those were Vulcan's on M-113s in those days.
Some pretty bad dudes for the day.

jeff, now you are showing your age!

pictures of the right side track getting ready for install.





right side track on and painted (again, i've done things far out of the order I wanted, I wasn't sure just when the tracks should have gone on...rookie mistakes!! )

Good work so far Justin, keep at it. Thanks for sharing your progress, definitely something to pass the time over there! Doing the same thing here, just floating at the same time!

Cheers -

Tim

Tim, thanks for the encouragement! This is hundreds of times harder than aircraft models i've put together before and I've uttered many words my mother would wack me for trying to get these tracks together but alas, they are on!!!

I painted the tracks a mix of Tamiya red brown and black, I think it came out wonderful. Also i threw in a picture of the bottom of the tank, which i used to practice painting for the upper hull and turret. I also used it as a ginue pig for weathering also while waiting for the tracks to dry.

You bet and also the "Cobra" was the baddest helicopter we had.

Looking good on the build.

I bet Korea has changed a bunch since the 70's

yes, i am sure it has. from what i am told there are waaay more cars on the road than back then. Still smells bad I can tell you.

I think i've grown a head of grey hair on this build. Thanks on the compliments on the build.

'bout that Cobra thing....you should see the Longbow AH-64Ds flying around now, they are quite a sight back at Fort Hood. Loud too!

I took these pictures a few days ago, got very involved in finishing my model so i never got around to uploading them to photobucket.

Looking good!

I hate putting together individual link track, but they look so good when done right!

Looking pretty good so far Justin. I have been to Daegu (taegu) a few times my self. I was always there for the foal chicken exercise. We would come up in March from Kadena.

Jeremy

thanks for the comment. I am still confused whether they spell it Daegu or Taegu. I noticed its like that with alot of places such as Kunsan (Gunsan) and Kimhae (Gimhae).

Well gentlemen, she is done. Although i did it in a week, i spent pretty much all saturday and all sunday on her. I still think I went too quick and definately made mistakes. I wrote them all down and tacked them to the wall in front of me so I never do them again.




Here I accidentally broke off the supports that the tow cable was supposed to be wrapped around. I guess you could attribute it to battle damage but I can't think of anything that would not steel off clean. So that got messed up. Also, again handling the vehicle too early, the LAH decal peeled of and ripped.



Here you can see the turret decal is ripped. Thats from handling it before they were fully dry. Stupid mistake.







Again, another decal casualty!





About the build:

I brush painted Tamiya Enamels and used a thin coat of German Grey for the base coat. I also used Tamiya's weather sets A through D. I used the "oil stain" and "soot" for the engine covers and exaust. I just pictured that area of the tank as probably really oily and stained. I added "rust" on most hinges and rivet areas. When I looked at the tank, thats just where I saw it being. Other areas recieved a dusting of "mud" which I think broke the monotony of the color up while giving it a bit of "dirtiness."

I really welcome all constructive criticism, this is my first armor build so it would be most beneficial for the facts to get straightened out now.

Looks good and as a first I would be pleased.

A lot better then my first.

A hint is if using Micro sol or set wait until dry and apply a coat of Vallejo or a spray of dull coat matt varnish will seal the decals.

If like me I can't remember how I do one and then I have to relearn again.

But as to the country and PX system I would save and look for a nice deal on a Digital Camera.

Think will help you a lot.

See I can comment and spend your money besides.

Still think that the best for doing American Armor from here was Jim Lewis but he does not visit to much any more.

Thanks for the positive comments, after killing the decals I was very discouraged. As to the camera thing, that is up on the list but since x-mas near, perhaps I can locate one in Osan for cheap. Again, thanks for the feedback.