Konrad - I wish you the best in luck in re-creating the engine deck details. If it doesn't work out at least you have the conversion upper hull to use still. Nice work on the suspension details! I thought the front set would be a little more 'horizontal' in appearance but once on the hull it will be easier to see. You do a great job in keeping all those hull cuts looking so clean

Jeff - nice progress again from you. The Puma is such a cool vehicle

Robby - Wow, the makers of that kit should have included a bucket of bondo. Coming along nice though

I'm off today and hope to sneak in some model time.

[quote]Konrad - I wish you the best in luck in re-creating the engine deck details. If it doesn't work out at least you have the conversion upper hull to use still. Nice work on the suspension details! I thought the front set would be a little more 'horizontal' in appearance but once on the hull it will be easier to see. You do a great job in keeping all those hull cuts looking so clean

Thanks Greg - so far looks pretty easy, and will take pix of the steps to post for those similarly inclined. As you say, there is Plan B. Put some Tamiya epoxy putty on her today and the tranny cover is well in its way to done too. Hoping for some modeling time this weekend, who knows how far I'll get Definitely going with the Jim Weschler 'build the whole thing and paint it' for this one, these late tanks were really monochromatic, the tracks were about the only thing not painted OD - they came in semi gloss black. Now how to churn out those EEC's

Love what you have done with the old sewer, BTW

Robby - great T-Bolt!

Sandell - really like your 222, stowage looks perfect!

Jeff, keep going with that Puma, she's looking great!

Props to everyone for the great work going on here,

Konrad

Thank you Gents.tonight I will be fixing some minor warping on the hull
Jeff T.

Rubber bands, glue, and putty are the order of the day! Best of luck with that...I know all too well that things can get ugly when warping is involved.

Hi Gents,
well.... after some great deliberation i think I'm gonna go for the Jagdtiger, and if there's time the KV, I'm not going to start until I've finished my current campaign build, probably be mid April by the time I've cleared the bench. Keep up the good work everyone.

Jason

Jason:Well played

Robby:Speaking of rubber bands....
Thats funny Jeff T.

Well, this is about it for today. I used some Mr.Surfacer to give a little cast texture on parts needing it on the T-34. I took the airbrush to do brown on the bricks, dark grey on the street and nato black on the sides. Mostly did Honey do list and tree trimming today.

Greg,coming along very well.I got one of those lists too.Something about rakes and flower beds and leaves and pot holes in the drive way.I'm hoping for rain Jeff T.

Looking solid, Greg...is that a second T-34 in that picture? What purpose does that one serve?

Now for my nightly update...this might be the last one for a while, though (wah...), so here it is. I finished the cockpit today,and it actually is pretty solid. Pieces went together very well, which was surprising for this kit, and that walkaround I posted gave me a lot of different ideas on to make it more interesting rather than just simply black/grey panels with drybrushing. I'm pleased with the result, and also in my ability to paint very small lines




The pilot was also spruced up a bit. A few different grey shades, coyote brown equipment webbing, silver buckles, and of course the individualized helmet and unit patch. I was feeling pretty confident in myself and couldn't really stop!


However, once I put him in the cockpit, I found a problem...if I'm going to stick with the "thumbs up to the ground crew" idea, the thumb isn't visible...


In fact, it's barely separate from the instrument panel...


Oh well, I'll make it work. And the cockpit looks great when installed.


After tonight's work, she's standing up all on her own! She's a HEAVY beast, though...the kit comes with a clear rod to prop it up from behind since the kit is extremely back-heavy, but I put enough copper BB's in the nose to weigh it all down without the clear rod. Yessssssssssss...



Finally, the weapons pylons are installed. This will likely be the last construction I'll be doing...probably won't have time tomorrow to get the weapons on AND prime the whole sucker. Wah. But we'll see.


I do have one inquiry that I'll be researching though. The kit has raised surface details. If I do a dark wash after painting, will that do anything? My understanding is that the wash is meant to sink into recessed panel lines and such, so how do weather this beast?

Robby: Nice work Bub,I know its major surgery,but could you lower the right arm,and raise the left so that it would be the one giving the thumbs up?Jeff T.

Jeff, it could actually be done pretty easily, considering I haven't glued the dude in yet, and the right arm is just green so it would be easy to hide the scars. The left arm can be left alone though, since it actually rests flush on the throttles when he sits correctly. In the picture, you can see a bit of space between the pilot's back and the seat...the right arm looked even worse though when he sat "correctly."

Jeff - My rain dance came a day and dollar too short as I'm on my way to work now

Robby - to get those panel lines and details I think you do a gloss coat followed by careful pin washes with a small brush. Maybe you can use the search box on KitMaker and see some aircraft articles to get an idea. I haven't done any planes since I was a little guy unfortunately. Oh, the painted T34 I did a long time a go and have been showing it just to help plan my diorama scene/base. Campaign rules require you to build a new kit This version of the Hobby Boss t34 will be a little different then the last. They're cheap kits to find at $10-15 so I have a few stashed.

my second entry

Great suggestion! Unfortunately, the method of choice for weathering raised panel lines seems to be to rescribe the panel lines and work from there. I just finished the payload so I'll probably prime, darken up all the lines, then paint over lightly to get the difference in color. I have grey primer and I'll be doing the plain grey scheme, so it shouldn't be too difficult...I may just end up using the same rattle can of primer and paint to save time and effort!

Tomislav I'll be keeping an eye on this one as I am thinking about this kit for my next build.Jeff T.

JT: very nice clamp-down on that one!!

Greg: coming along nicely.

Robby: nice work on the Warthog. The cockpit looks good. You might try pre-shading the raised panel lines. Not sure though.

Tomislav: nice. how is the kit to build? I've been thinking about one of those as well. From the instructions it looks like there might be a lot of itty-bitty parts?

I've gone about as far as I can go on the Jagdtiger before fixing all the ejector marks in the track links and getting my replacement barrel (still in the mail). Left the camera at the office though, so no pics yet.

Happy Modeling, -zon

You are a strene machine Tomislav!

Tomislav, that car looks great! I know this is always a hot issue with AFVs but should the tires look weighted or not? Some vehicles are supposed to have the weighted look, some aren't...just bringing this up because I always enjoy remolding tires/playing with fire!

Now for my final update for a while. Sad face. Payload is on the pylons and the primer has set, and the next step will be the preshading. I'm not entirely sure how to go about doing this effectively without an airbrush (I'm still pretty gun-shy after my recent AB debacles), but if a slight wash ends up working, I might just leave it all as is. I mean, this warthog will be grey in the end anyway...why not just skip the second coat? Anyway here are the pictures.



Thought: If I give him black gloves, maybe it'll stand out more against the grey interior. I'll still cut and reattach the arm, but the glove contrast could help.


So that's all I have now. I'll be watching the other builds, so best of luck to you all!

Here's a nice little concise article on shading using various means, pens/ markers, and other weathering effects:

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2001/01/stuff_eng_tech_panel_lines.htm


Tomislav - awesome clean build - the directions speak for themselves in the labor involved.
Robby - Thumbs up to your black glove idea

Robby: that came out really well.Nice work with the fit and finish.Jeff T.

Thanks for the feedback, guys! I'll be bookmarking that page for when I get back home. I'm far away from the workbench, so for now I'll just have to watch you guys enviously as you build. Good luck to you all!

Some pics of my P-51D,ready to close it up.The ultracast seat was a easy upgrade,it makes a big difference over the kit seat.

Anthony: That's what I call a steady hand,nice work

I did not get much done this week end,but here it is.
The hull warpage taken care of
Inside of turret and turret mounting plate painted
Seats and turret controls painted and installed,also scratched some bolt heads for the seat hangers
I had hoped to have the axles done but I am having to rework almost all the parts to get rid of seam lines,injector holes,flash ect.It's really slowing me down. Jeff T.

update