Hello everyone.
I've almost finished my jagdpanther and I wanted to know your opinion on how i could improve it. Now i'm not really proud of the weathering on this as it was somewhat rushed. I know i could've improved the chipping and fading. But i'm happy with the road gear and the camo itself. Please tell me your opinion on it, and how you would improve it.

http://s1138.photobucket.com/albums/n534/stan1115/finished/?action=view¤t=P1000786.jpg#!oZZ1QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1138.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn534%2Fstan1115%2Ffinished%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DP1000801.jpg

It's an album on photobucket. Just hit next top right hand corner of the picture.
Thanks,
Callum.

Callum it would be best if you placed some pictures on this site for members to look at, this will result in your desired feedback I suspect.

Hi Callum,

Well, the photos are a bit "smallish," so it's difficult to see some of the details and other construction aspects. Also, there might also be a lot more weathering and other subtile finishing effects that don't show, so some of the following might not apply. I'm just commenting on what I can see in the pics.

I think your basic painting is particularly well done. I can see that you've got the idea for the chipping and are using highlights on the chipped spots which is a technique that a lot of guys don't pick-up on. Very nice.

I do think some of the chips, especially on the rear, are a bit large. Their size would be fine if there was more weathering and damage to put them into context. So, I'd say a bit more weathering is in order to make the chipping more convincing.

The overall finish should have a "continuity" so that all of its elements tie together and tell the same story, if you will. Your basic finish, the cammo colors and all, is very nicely applied (smooth, no drips or runs, nice edges on the cammo spots, etc), but it's also very clean and "new" looking. On the other hand, the chipping and missing tools say "this is a vehicle that's been 'rode hard,'" so there's some more that I think could be added to tie the basic finish and signs of hard use together.

The one thing that really stands out, though, are the decals. It is hard to get them to lay down on Zimmerit, and here you do have some issues. You might be able to apply some decal setting solution to soften them up a little and get their edges to draw down into the Zim texture. The exposed carrier film really does detract from the rest of the very nice job that you've done.

(I think you may have realized this yourself, tho. I can see on one siide where you've chipped the Balkan cross perhaps to remove the exposed and lifted decal carrier film. Again, the damaged insignia tells a story of hard use and wear and tear that could use some additional supporting elements to be convincing.)

Next time you build a vehicle with Zimmerit, you might consider painting the Balkan crosses and numbers to avoid the whole decal problem. From the rest of your work, I'd say you have the painting skills to either cut some masking tape stencils and airbrush the markings or use some commercial stencils to do do the same.

All in all, I think you've done a very nice job! Like I said, your painting skills are quite good, and that shows clearly in the basic finish and chipping work.

If it were my model, I'd just consider continuing and doing more work with the weathering and see if I could get the decals to lay down better.

HTH,

Callum,

Along with Mike's very pertinent comments and suggestions, it appears that either the insides of the road wheels are unpainted or not weathered to match the outside of the running gears as evident in this image:



It also looks like you could use a pin wash to make some of the details show more (or you have and its just not showing in the images):



Still, a very good effort that just needs a little more work to tie everything together.

Hi Mike, thanks for your thoughts and the nice comments. I'll start weathering it more, making it look "used" by using dark filters and pigments. I'll try to add some more chipping as well. I'll also weather the decals to. Jeff thanks for the advice on the pin washes and inside the road wheels etc. I'll get onto that.
I'll post pictures when the model is finished.
Thanks again,
Callum.

Hi Callum,

I think that Mike's post covers my thoughts quite well also.

Going by these pics, the whole thing does appear to lack some depth (which is where your washes & filters come in), but overall I think that it's a pretty decent effort.

- Steve

Hello everyone.
Here are the photos of my finished jagdpanther.
















Sorry about the late reply. I now like my jagdpanther, chipping could have been better by using vallejos dark brown. But grey is ok.
Thanks
Callum.

You used wrong exhausts. You need the early type. But all in one it doesnt look bad:)

Beautiful job on the camo

Hi Callum,

Much improved!

Your additional weathering really helps to tie all of the elements in the finish together and resolve the issues with continuity.


All in all, a very good effort and a nice looking model.

Thanks for sharing!

Hello,
Thanks for the kind words.
If you look at the engine deck you'll notice the pin wash ended in failure, I used 2 Humbrol colours, black and some grey to lighten it up just a tad, diluted with white spirit. When applied, it dried to be a "white-ish" colour in alot of areas. I used the white spirit and a cotton bud to try and remove it. After that the only thing that would work was mig pigment mixed with the fixer. So that's one of the main things that brings this model down in my opinion.
Callum.