Impressive work! I see that the head pads come with the set as well.
Dan

Hi Steven,

Great to see you back at it. looking forward to seeing more of the little Pz.1. hope things went well for you on your exam.

Gary

Wb Steven, glad to see an update on your project

Have just ordered the Tristar Panzer I so this build is fantastic. One question, where can one obtain spare magazines for the ammo reacks?

Hi All,

Thanks for the kind comments,

Yes Panamadan the headrests are included in the kit but you have to be careful to get the correct kit. There is some duplication between the kits particularly the following:

Aber Volume 1 Panzer 1 basic kit 35118 and Upper Hull Panzer 1a 35066

Both kits have elements of the upper hull included in them, 066 is quite old made back in 2000 and made for the Italeri kit while 118 is newer made in 2002 and designed for the tristar kit.

066 is very comprehensive and includes the brass upper hull and rear deck plate with the windows and frames. The windows and frames are the ones used in my model and are very realistic if a pain to put together.

118 contains windows and frames that are very simplistic and actually quite poor. They are designed to be easier to put together and miss out a lot of detail. I dont see the point of this, I am after the detail why would I spend money on a aftermarket kit which is simplfied? 118 does not contain the headrests.

Anyway back to the build.





The above photos show a nearly completed upper hull. As you can see I have used the Tristar vision ports as the dragon ones are those awful clear plastic type that always seem to spliner when you trim them. apart from the engine they will be the only Tristar kit parts that I use.











I will let the pics speak for themselves, the windows were a real pain, perhaps more than the law exam. Getting the wire into the windows is not something you should do when they are installed trust me.

I want to finish this off before I have to study for my next exam in May !

There are only one or two more things to do before I prime the model these will be completed and explained in the next update.

Thanks for looking

Steven

Hi All,

I have been making some more progress on the upper hull. As you can see the model is now primed and I have added the remaining detail. I used Tamyia metal primer.





Shot with the hatch open





In the shot adove you can see details added to the drivers panel, and the headrests and cushion to protect the drivers head from hitting the upper hull. None of this is inclued in the Aber kit sadly.





Next step is to let the primer dry for 24 hours and then paint the hull off white.

Thanks for looking

Steven

Hi All,

In the previous photos I primed the model with Tamyia metal surface primer and now it is time for the paint. There are lots of colour schemes out there in surviving panzer 1a's but these cannot be trusted. They were overpainted during the war or afterwoods so it is difficult to establish with any complete certainty what the colour was, what I can do is offer my intreperpretion based on period photos.

The choice of white was dictated by the paint scheme in the lower hull Vallejo offwhite. I then painted all the vision blocks and cables black as I have come across several pics in the Panzertracts books which would indicate this to be correct.

If it is not I will not change it. Painting these parts was a real pain.

Any way on with the pics:









I added some "dirt" to the model using various shades of the Mig 502 colours mainly Abt100 faded grey and Mig brown enamel wash.

I have to finish the drivers instrument panel and then on with the engine deck and a fundermental decision on whether to to use the Aber or Dragon kits??????

More about that next update

Thanks for looking

Steven

I honestly would be hesitant to touch any of the sub-assemblies at this point. Very impressive Steven.

Hi Steven,

I wouldnt change a thing. looks spot on to me. nice job!

Gary

Hi all,

Thanks once again for the comments

Quick update tonight, I have been working on completing the upper hull and it is basically there. As you can see from these pics:





I have painted the drivers instrument panel, I am not entirely happy with it, thats why the pic is quite poor.

I also painted the first aid box and added a Archer decal. I honestly dont know if Field Grey is the correct colour. I also added the gas mask boxes and PE hull attachments. I used Dragon canisters as the Aber ones were inferior.



Ok now time for a moan.

I feel that Aber has tried to make this kit less complicated and I guess its to save money. They have not included a aerial holder on fenders why ????? I dont know, they did with my Panzerjager 1 kit but not here. I had to make and solder one and it took two days. I have paid over £100 in Aber PE and I am annoyed at this and they have not included a PE 3 ton jack and again they did with my Panzerjager. This added to my discussion of the vision ports being less detailed in the more modern kit and there seems to be a developing trend.

It just seems like I am paying the same only getting less.

Thanks for looking

Steven

checked the instruction sheets on the Aber site and they include the aerial holder and the jack on the Panzer IB set!!
Your workmanship is very impressive, wish I had your talent

You have some serious patience! Great build to watch come to life.

There is a book called Militaria in Detail No9 that has some very good colour photos of the interior of a Panzer IA.

Hi All,

Thanks for the comments,

Ian I guess since the PanzerJager 1 is based on the Panzer 1b I the PE is probably identical. Just wished they included it with the Panzer 1a.

On with the update

I have been working on the fenders, soldering all the tool holders inplace which was quite difficult because you have to avoid unsoldering all the bits you previously soldered together.





The jack is Tristar upgraded with Aber PE. I was going to use the Dragon jack but it had the jack holder moulded inplace.



I then added the exhaust. This is a heavily modified Tristar part. I added a thin lead sheet cover on the exhaust to replicate thin metal and cut off the end of the exhaust and replaced it with the more detailed dragon part.



Last shot is an aerial view of the tank.

Thanks for looking

S

Good to see you're back on track Steven !!!
Awesome work, we easily forget it's a tiny tank.
Again an amazing detailing on those small parts.


I got my Griffon set today

Hi Steven,

your patience blows my mind man! didnt you say you use a soldering torch? i have finnished my sherman 105mm and im gonna start my dragon Pz. 1 A early. just gonna build out of box but watching your build has got my mouth watering to build one. great job!

Gary

Hi John, Gary

Thanks for the comments, I do use a soldering torch, a Solder Pro 70, I used to have a conventional electrical one but that took ages to heat up and was annoying to use. The solder pro in my opinion is much easier to use, apart from when you burn yourself.

John you finally have those Griffon parts, I know that you were considering purchasing them for a long time.

One question, are you planning to do a build log? That was going to be my next project but I do not want to start one at you same time as another contributer. Its no problem if you are I have about 40 kits that I have yet to start including the 1/16th King Tiger lol

I figure that I have another month may be two before this is complete so this project will have taken almost 9 months. I have another exam in May so that will limit the time that I have to dedicate to the project.

Hi Steven,

Good luck on your exam first of all.
I am planning on doing a build log, but I have 3 kits on the bench for some Campaigns I hope to clear the workbench until June, and I might start at least one of them during the Summer, both sets were for the Grille versions.
I will post some pics during the weekend of those sets (more than 10 sets of PE)


Why do I pick these huuuge sets to get some PE experience...

You should leave the hull open otherwise we will miss the detailed interior !

Hi All,

As you can see work is progressing on the Panzer 1. I have just about completed the fenders, I have to add a few bolt heads here and there along with some wiring for the lamps but apart from that the fenders are complete.





I have also attached both exhaust boxes, I am quite pleased with them.

I thought at this stage I would give a brief comparison of the Dragon, Tristar and aber rear hulls.

The tristar hull is by far the weakest of the three, the screw heads are crude and on my version at least there are problems with mould marks. Not anything I cant take care of but not present on the Dragon kit.

The Dragon rear hull is superior in almost every way, screw head detail is first rate, even better than Aber and the hinges are realistic.While the the Aber kit looks great it is a little oversized.

Ok time for the fit test:



Tristar.... Ok a bit of a gap between the rear hull and the front superstructure



Dragon..... Not a great fit either. May be some miliput



Now Aber to the rescue..... Oh crap that does not fit either

Dont worry I have a cunning plan.

S

Waiting for your plan Baldrick

Hi All,

Yes I had a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel

I was wondering if anyone would get that reference well done John !

Ok on with the update:



The first picture is a composite of several images of the rear hull as I was building it. The first picture is of the standard kit part, unfortunately it was cracked during assembly along the air vents and fell apart shortly after the picture was taken.

The second pic shows the hull sides removed and the engine "bay" added. The third shows a the replacement airvents and the forth shows the reinforcing frames added to the vents. Five shows the armoured vent covers and six the re soldered hull with the sides in the correct place with the fender attachment points added.

The next picture is of the completed hull on the tank. Its more or less in the right place, please note I have had to remove the exhaust system and will have to refit it later. Its a shame but had to be done because of fit problems.



Next I began work on the engine air vent. Dispite looking complicated this was actually quite fun to complete.





I added the metal bar across the slats as well as the support brackets. Everything is soldered. The next shot shows the vent inplace.



The next few shots show the smoke discharger which was fitted to later Panzer 1a's I guess they retrofitted them.









Again this was a enjoyable build, while watching Quincy ME. The only real problem was heat control on the soldering iron and being careful not to unsolder previously soldered components.

Thanks for looking

Steven

Hi, this is looking better every time I see it.
I have been looking at the photos of the interior of a IA and have noticed that the tops of the steering arms both in the Tristar kit and the Aber interior kit appear to be inacurate. The strange thing is that the instructions for the Aber Panzerjager IB apear to show an accurate steering arm. Confusing is not the word.
Keep up the great work, it inspires us mere mortals into attempting the insane.

Hi All,

Sorry that I have been away for a little while, I was revising for another exam, next one is in Mid July some time so hopefully this little Panzer will be completed by then.

I started this build in September 2010 and I am so tempted to move onto another project but I will not.



The first picture shows the current progress on the Panzer 1. Again the Dragon turret is only on for illlustrative purposes. As you will see from this picture and the others I am about to show you, the rear superstructure is largely complete.

There were a number of challenges and compromises when building this section, chiefly was my decision to solder closed the engine bay hatches. This was not a decision I took lightly and was mainly due to my concerns about the structural strength of the radiator hatch when opened. It would have been exceedingly difficult not to have this part snap off at some later date. The next few pictures show various close ups of the rear superstructure.











The final image is of the rear of the tank with the superstructure in place. I am not planning on attaching the rear superstructure to the tank so that I will have the ability to take it on and off and show engine bay detail. There are one or two gaps which I will need to close but apart from that the rear superstructure is largely complete.

Thanks for looking,

Steven

Hi Steven,

good to see some more progress. thing are looking great as usuall. i do understand the need to start a new project. it might help you to not get burned out on the Pz.II. i completely understand if you decide to move on. but...i hope you dont.

Gary

Hi All,

Don't worry Gary, I'm going to stay the course on this one!!

Ok, significant progress to report on the build. My aim is to fully complete the lower and upper hull before I move on to the turret build.

In the picture below you can see I have added the gear box smoke extractor tube. Since I am planning not to glue the upper hull to the tank, I have had to make several compromises during the build between authenticity and practicality. I have superglued the extraction hose to the tank's upper super structure while in theory it should lay directly on top of the fender. The hose was constructed from brass tube with thin brass wire wrapped around it. The front of the tube is made from lead solder.





I would say that most of the progress on the build over the last few weeks has been on the rear upper hull. As you can see I have primed the section after adding all the appropriate detail. The smoke tubes on the back of the tank were created using copper tubing sealed at both ends with milliput with a brass wire inserted. I think it looks ok.



In the next series of pictures you can see an aerial view of the rear of the tank. I have reattached the exhaust and added the connection hoses to the engine. I will paint the exhaust before I add the shielding materials.





I have several small jobs left to do and I am confident that these will be accomplished tomorrow. I will then prime the model before starting work on the turret and a comparison build of the Dragon and Tristar kits.

Thanks for looking,

Steven