If you have read my review of the PzH 2000 then you will have noticed that it wasn't totally finished. In this thread I will hopefully and in a timely manner correct that omission.

At this point the only addition to the build, parts wise, was the two antennas at the turret rear. The instructions suggest stretched sprue with a length of 17 mm (.67") but I thought that thin copper wire would be more durable. Some of the paint on the model is to determine if areas need work/refining while others are the start of peshading. I haven't worked too often with this dark a colour of plastic before so there will be a touch of a learning curve. In the pictures I have used a Tamiya acrylic dark grey for some preshading. Don't know if this will work. I used the same colour for the anti-skid pads but mixed in some ground chalk to see if it might add some texture. Here's what I have so far.







More to follow.

Cheers,
Jan

Been a little over a week since I started this thread but there is some progress to report. The pre-shading was done and two separate coats of NATO green (lightened and lighter) have been applied. I am pretty pleased with the way the process has enhanced certain details. Unfortunately, the roughness on the anti-skid panels didn't survive the painting to any great extent.

Here's the progress pictures.











Today I started the laying out of the NATO black areas with a white charcoal pencil.



Cheers,
Jan

Hi Jan

I'm not a fan or modern armour, so dont usually comment on it.

I am a fan of seeing unfinished models being workd on. Looks like it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

I know I should expand my horizons a bit, but the 1930 & 40s produced so many interesting looking vehicles, and so many are still coming out in kits, that I dont think I'll ever make it into modelling the post war or modern era.

So I'll just enjoy seeing you work on this

cheers
Neil

Neil, I truly appreciate you commenting and respect anyone's preferred choice in build subjects. Since my return to the hobby it seemed that for the most part I've built WW II armour. I always had a like for modern subjects and there are a number that languished in the stash for years.

The PzH 2000 is an awesome weapons system and even in our preferred scale quite huge. I have learned a lot from other's build threads (even in the 'darker' scales) and this is my way of showing my appreciation. It seems that every build thread can have something new to offer and I hope this one does too.

Thanks for your comments

Cheers,
Jan

PS- if you check out the Braille Battlefield campaign, you'll see that I am involved in two builds more to your liking. BTW, why not join the other Braillers there.

Jan,

I'm keeping a close eye on this build. I always like seeing others paint and finish modern armour. I'm always looking at new ways I could improve...

Btw, about the antennas, have you tried using guitar strings? The thinnest I've gotten is about 0.10mm thin or thinner that's about 30" long. Good for at least 10 kits! What's nice about it is it whips or springs around like real antennas when you flick them

Thanks for dropping by, Toby. This will be only my second attempt at airbrushing camouflage in this scale. While the airbrush is capable, its user may not be. I just hope I can do the kit justice.




I recall reading about using guitar string in the larger scales but knew nothing about their sizes. I usually use stretched (read: always breaking) sprue but used the super fine wire from a telephone cable on this build. Unlike hobby shops we have a good assortment of music stores in the area so I will check out what's available. BTW, according to the instructions the antenna are supposed to be 17 mm long and that's about 5/8" long so a 30" string should do for a lot more than ten builds.

Cheers,
Jan

Hello

Nice model from you!
Looks like much work.
Can´t wait see more pictures from you of next stage.

Greetings Daniel

Thank you for stopping by and commenting, Daniel. I see that you are new to Armorama so may I offer you a hearty welcome. If you have read my review of the PzH 2000 then you can see that the hardest part is the suspension and hull. Also, the instructions could have been better.

Cheers,
Jan

nice work so Jan i built that kit a while back and mounted it on a Faun slt transporter.

Thanks for looking in, Scott. I recall you're PzH on the big transporter and I tried to find it but had no luck. In fact, it was that memory that had me dig this kit out of my stash. It is one awesome beast.

Cheers,
Jan

Hi Jan

well I took your advice and have applied to join your campaign, I have left a post on your campaign thread to advise which kit.

Braille Scale is the only forum I look at (this site is do big I dont have the time to look at all the cool stuff) .

Can you post a link to where I put the sprue shots and then the progress pics ?

cheers
Neil

Neil, I left you instructions and added you to the chart in the campaign thread.

WARNING: Shameless Self Serving Plug.

To anyone else checking out this thread, if you don't know anything about how campaigns work or are interested, just click on HERE to be taken to the last page of the campaign thread. There are a great bunch of Braille Scale modellers there and they will be happy to answer any of your questions. The campaign is barely a month old and runs until May 1, 2011. More than enough time for even someone as slow as me to finish a build or two.

Cheers,
Jan

I must say that it has been a while since my last update. I've got two other builds in the works for the Braille Battlefield Campaign besides trying to lead it.

This is only my second attempt at airbrushing camouflage so please bear with me. I did the black about a week ago and started on the red-brown yesterday. It has been quite a learning experience trying to use the newer double action airbrush. In it's own right it has proved more difficult than building small scale vehicles.

On with the pictures.









That is plastic tubing temporarily glued to the base of the turret to aid in manipulation while painting. Questions or comments always welcome.

Cheers,
Jan

Wow Jan,

Your airbrushed camouflage looks terrific! Both you and AJ (aka weathering-one) are kicking some butt with the airbrushed camouflage. Thanks for the tip for use of the white charcoal pencil to layout the areas to airbrush the different camouflage colors. Will pick one of these pencils up next time I'm at the art supply store.

-Eddy

looking good Jan.

Wow! You sprayed the camo on free hand?! Coolness!



Re airbrushing being more difficult sometimes, I agree 1001%

Many thanks for the comments, people. It instills a desire to keep going and experimenting.

@Eddy -a warning for the charcoal is to apply it with a light touch. Too hard and it flakes and scratches the underlying paint.

@Toby - With the airbrush you also need a light controlled touch. Following the whit lines is a practice in patience. In a few areas I had to respray the area two times to get a uniform coat. Just keep the spray a bit back from the pattern edges.

And yes, this was totally freehand and my first ever attempt at it. To give due credit, weathering_one inspired me with their M1 to try this. It appears to work fine with these larger camo bands but thinner ones might be another issue.

Cheers and thanks,
Jan

Jan, I must blush at you mentioning that I inspired you to try the freehand airbrush painting. I originally tried using a yellow pencil crayon to outline the area to be coloured but for various reasons it seemed to cause problems. The worst was that the pencil scraped off the paint already there and the yellow didn't cover well. Did you find the latter problem to be the case with using the charcoal? At least from the pictures it looks like your method worked out well.

Regards,
AJ

Modern vehicles are not my favorite,but you did a very good job on this SPG.I just wait to see it completed...
Cheers,
Dani

AJ, we were both headed in a similar direction and found two slightly different ways to achieve the same result. I did have a bit of problems with the charcoal showing through a few areas. It turned out to be my inability to direct the airbrush where it needed to go to cover the lines.

Dani, thanks for dropping by and commenting. I know that you don't really care for modern subjects but camouflage is camouflage and at some point we all could find new ways to do it.

Cheers,
Jan

Okay, so it's been a while but I didn't forget about this build. I am thinking of entering it in a NATO AFV category at a local model show coming up. With involvement in three campaigns and running one, my time has been divided over several builds.

Last week I had it to the point of the next two pictures.





This week I started on the decals and my first ever use of that Future stuff. I always used Tamiya Clear in the past so this was quite a change. The front or bow decals have received a coating of Future mixed with Tamiya Flat Base. THey look pretty flat to my eye. The back and side decals just have a Future top coat applied.







Next on the agenda is to flatten out the remaining glossy decals and start the detail painting (periscope lenses, machine gun, tools etc).

One interesting note. These PzH are positively HUGE monsters! They dwarf most 1/72 scale AFV's that I have or have seen in person.

Cheers,
Jan

Jan,

Your Panzerhaubitze is coming along quite nicely. I can't wait to see it with some washes, weathering, detail painting, etc.

You should take a picture of your Panzerhaubitze next to a recognizable item (such as a Tiger or Sherman) to give it a scale comparison as you mentioned.

Keep up all your great efforts!

Jeff, ask and you shall receive. At least this time!

Here's the beast with an M4A2, StuH 42 and a PaK 36.





Had a spare moment so I whipped these up.

Cheers,
Jan

Looks real nice Jan. Got htis one in the stash with the tranport. Might be the only modern piece I have. Yours make me want to buildmine.

Jan,

I really like the camouflage on your Pzh 2000 (kind of biased after the M1 build). The markings (decals) really add to it. Can't wait to see how you are going to finish it off. The pictures with the other vehicles are also great. I'd like to see one beside either an M1 or a Leopard as a size comparison.

Regards,
AJ