Hello All!

Some feedback, please.

See pics below. Chipping effects still to be applied, as well as pigments and some weathering.

Please note that the lower hull mud is still drying, so that's why it looks dark/wet.

My real question is, does the rear equipment layout look realistic? I tried to put everything low so it don't "tip over while moving..." Don't want your gear leaving the vehicle!

Also, thinking about preaparing a tarp to cover the gun top... whaddaya think?

Feel free to critique!

Jorge

Jorge;

Looks GOOD! I just love these StuG loaded-up with stuff- a really common scene in the historic pics and about as cool as things can get for a modeler- IMHO!

I DO have a couple of suggestions:

Remember that this is a lurching, jolting ride.... stuff will settle down into its lowest and most-compacted seating pretty fast.

So... a few suggestions: Those helmets probably want to get down into the stuff- crew would not leave them up where they might get lost, and a loose helmet would probably roll down into some crack or gap, I think. The empty bucket would probably have stuff in it - maybe it could have some rags and small things, or maybe some fire-wood, or some rope, or maybe one of those helmets, or maybe some canteens or.... ? That shovel.... I think it would look more "typical" blade-in. Whenever I pile tools into my truck, I generally tuck the blades in- the more so if I think someone might be climbing up onto the load...

And maybe crowd it up with various little bits?

The challenge in loading these vehicles up, to me, has been largely trying to come up with the small bits... lots of pics show loaded StuGs- with a real mix of things. The large stuff- barrels, gas-cans, buckets, crates,- are all pretty obvious. But my impression is that there was also a lot of smaller stuff and odds n ends tucked in. Additional road wheels, track-pins (a bucket cargo!), loose tools, things crew have collected, stuff unit infantry tossed on- bed-rolls, personal equipment, ammo cans and barrel-cases for MG-34/42, grenade boxes, mortar-round containers, souveniers. It's the odd junk which adds some special character. I've always found those pics showing a bicyle or a chair or someone's sewing machine to be specially interesting and reflective of the Germans carrying along both their spare parts and supplies and the bits and spoils of war.

GOOD start and it's going to look really really cool whatever more you do to it, whether or not you add or change!

Bob

OK, a suggestion or two, but first: Nice work so far!

Suggestion 1: You may want to tone down the red in both your rust and mud. More brown generally looks better, more "real" it seems to me.

Suggestion 2: It appears that some of you "pin washes" could use some feathering to make blend into the rest of the paint more naturally.

Suggestion 3: Go light on the chipping! I know it's really popular right now to make your kit look as though it's been in the field for years and years without maintenance but that's just not reality. All tanks have to be repaired or rebuilt pretty often meaning that a coat of paint probably wouldn't even last a year without being reapplied. This is even more true for a tank in the field.
Add to that paint, even German paint, does not often chip in the way we depict it on our models. It's just too thinly applied for that.
Now, where applied to thin metal that can and has been severely bent (like fenders) that's a slightly different story and you can sometimes see paint flaked off around some of the more pronounced creases.
More likely to happen is for paint to be worn off or abraded in areas that are constantly walked on or contact the ground. The appearance in here is far different than chipping would tend to be pretty localized (around hatches and such).

Good luck and I'm looking forward to seeing this as you move along!

FWIW

Mark

Some update pics...

Chipping came out ok, in my opinion... and I think it is not overdone.

Now, onto the cargo paint, and pics.







BTW, tracks not done yet...

The left and right side tracks are going opposite directions...

Yeah, I know... just wanted to get the tracks on to see how it looked like... Thanks anyway!

What's the black paint on the rear of the vehicle supposed to represent? If it is the exhaust, you may want to go back over it with MM exhaust or MM burnt metal. The mud looks much better now that you have toned it down.

Underside of vehicle should be red primer.
You should tone down the reddish mud more, that's tropical mud and dirt and this vehicle was not in Vietnam. Try a greenish-brown filter.

Keep in mind with the rear that the mud present wouldn't be sitting there long enough to have the exhaust fully blacken it.