Anthony - the cockpit looks great. nailed it

Jeff - progress is coming along nicely despite those nasty seams and fills

Tomislav - you're building and painting circles around us

Thanks Greg,that parts a little like armor.But now we'll see if I can also nail the seams and the bare metal finsh !!

waiting paint to dry on my staghound why not start another hound this time a grey one

Does any one know what the record is for most builds in a single campaign?Go,Tomislav,Go Jeff T.

Tomislav: you are a machine!! Keep at it. It is fun to watch.

Happy Modeling, -zon

We have progress!
A chassis is born
Looks like a Junebug on it's back Jeff T.
Zon: It was middle 80's all last week.Right now it is 28F.

Tomislav - very,very true. The more the merrier

Jeff -


you guys are keeping me motivated. I got primer on, but I'll try and sneak out for a little base coat tonight on the T-34

So this is what I got done tonight before I feared the neighbors may hear my AB getting loud


I primered with Home Depot rattle can and the airbrushed Tamiya flat black and thin coats of Nato Green. I think it worked ok as this was my first attempt at shading in this manner. Was definitely faster then a brush!













Thanks for the inspiration again!

I personally like the outcome on this Greg.

Corrected the hull issue:

Added the PE work to the rear plate:



Will now start on the grab handles and other hull details........

Jeff: good work on the chassis. 75 and raining today.

Greg: the pre-shading looks really good, as does the nato green. I'll have to remember that as a good color for an upcoming T-34 I'll be doing.

My box arrived in the mail yesterday, but no barrel. So I have to start some customer service as my Mig pigment set was also missing one of the pigments.

Happy Modeling, -zon

Patrick: The back of that thing looks good.

Happy Modeling, -zon

Zon: Whats up with the missing stuff That stinks.Hope you get it straightened out.
More progress tonight.It's starting to look like something.Turret is dry fitted
Allmost time for primer and paint.Model on,Jeff T.

Thanks for the feedback Marc and Zon

Zon - are you sure the barrel isn't inside another kit box - they do that. Hope you get it straight soon.

Patrick - BMF pe on there!

Jeff - glad the June bug flipped over and ready for more work

Looking good Jeff. I have a few of these and someday I must build one.

I recieved my missing parts from Gaso.Line for the Sd.Ah.115
trailer. The guys at Gaso.line are tops. QUICK replies and ship.
I also received the AM tracks for the 8-ton.

I have the road wheels painted and chassis assembled.

Bench time is at a premium. Hope to post pics in a few days.

Jeff: looks good with the turret on it!

Greg: I thought of that and scoured the whole box, including the newspaper used as filler, and no barrel. For the pigments, I'm guessing they needed the one for individual sale and forgot to pull the rest too. No biggie, but disappointing to not get the barrel as I need it to continue the build! I have faith it will resolve though.

Happy Modeling, -zon

The great work continues guys - fantastic work all. Thought I would pop in a quick update before running to the office - I have the M4A3 decking basically done on my Jumbo build, and will start adding the applique panels next. Here is the hull work compared to the unaltered kit parts:



The details for the side plates were cut out and sanded down as one would with vacu-formed parts to allow them to be reattached. Weld beads were added from stretched sprue and, in the turret guard area, epoxy putty. Up front the welds have been relocated forward, a replacement antenna pot cover plate made and relocated forward and the hatch hinge areas filled to better match the real thing. Looking at the pictures I can see that I have left off the welds crossing the side plates at the back of the turret guard and the engine door props, but you get the idea.

The Hobby Boss engine deck must be separated into three panels on either side of the engine grilles to allow it to be narrowed, the foremost and rearmost solid panels being narrowed from their outside edges and the grilles being narrowed by chopping hinge frame areas off and narrowing the grilles themselves, then reassembling them. Bolt heads are from stretched sprue and grab handles from .012" brass wire.

While I was at it I scraped off the spurious (for an M4A3 - the kit depicts an M4 or M4A1 with a Continental radial engine) detail on the hull bottom and replaced the engine hatch with the proper part for the Ford GAA powered M4A3 made from .010" styrene with stretched sprue bolt heads. You can also see the nearly finished transmission cover, thickened to match photos.



Here is the top side of the cover:



Lots of fun here, hope to continue to make progress, but have to start working on finishing the models I am taking to the AMPS Nats.

Best to all -

Konrad

O.K.Guys,here's the question.What do you use for primer?I have been using Vallejo's polyurethane surface primer #73601 grey.It sprays well and leaves a nice smooth surface but does not sand or featheredge that well.Doesn't stick that well for that matter.It's getting close to primer time on the Puma,and I would like to try something different,any suggestions?Jeff T.

Jeff - Tamiya rattle can primer for plastic and metal is a good choice and s/b in the rack at your LHS. Dust on in thin coats and it works from the can or if you AB you can decant some from the spray can, thin a bit more with laquer thinner, and spray in super thin coats with your AB so it drys quickly. It's solvent base, so it really sticks, has fine grain and sands nicely.

Looking fwd to your Puma in paint,

HTH,

Konrad

Konrad, once again showing why I consider you one of the best styrene cutters out there. Great work!

Konrad: I agree 100% with Pat.Very nice work.

On the primer issue,There's the rub.My "LHS" so to speak is over an hour away,and is not really a Hobby Shop.More of a craft store with models,if you know what I mean .So all my stuff is done online.I'm thinking some type of laq.based automotive primer might work Jeff T.

Konrad: nice work.

This is an older photo I found on my camera, so I thought I'd post it anyway.



Happy Modeling, -zon

I would order it - Tamiya primer - from Squadron or another Webtailer - before using "life size" materials - its all Bout the pigment grind and Tami's is super fine. Definitely worth the extra. If you have to pay shipping order an assortment of Tamiya and Gunze (Mr. Surfacer) - won't disappoint. Have to order some of the odder Tami stuff myself and I have good shops to go to.

Remember, if the primer is bad the finish is bad.

Konrad

Konrad - are you some sort of magician? How did you get that engine deck to fit there?

Jeff- I use Rust-Oleum from Home Depot 'for plastics' cheap $4 for a large can and I go for the grey color primer. (DON'T use Krylon brand).

Zon - love your monster's progress

I painted on my white turret stripe but need to hit up the art store for a white marker tomorrow to make some turret numbers. Maybe I'll start destroying a kubelwagen now. Keep up the nice progress pics everyone!