Took it to primer (waiting until grills come in to go further)

Hello all! For the campaign I would like to build Tamiya's Hetzer:



I've never participated in a campaign before so maybe this will prevent the usual newfound interest in a new kit two thirds of the way though.

Welcome to the campaign. I have found my build speed and percentage of finished models skyrocket through the participation in campaigns

Well, got started. Superglued all the plastic bits to the metal hull, and since I'm waiting on an order of spray paint, went ahead and brush painted a dark yellow base.



Fully painted, minus the glacis plate (correct term?) which will be sprayed along with upper hull:



Road wheels. Sprayed the center color then brushed on black for the tires. The sprayed on layer is a bit thin but I don't think it will be noticeable once the wheels are weathered.



I don't have an airbrush and am unlikely to get one anytime soon, so all the painting I have to do is with brushes and spray cans.

Miniflea----welcome to the fray. Will look forward to seeing the Hetzer.

Greg-----Sweet looking Ersatz M-10 Imposter/Infiltrator Vehicle.


Best wishes, Ian

Ok, Its finally green. Need to paint the tracks, add the stowage, and begin the weathering. The front LEFT fender is now missing (battle damage, FTW) due to a vigorous shaking episode with a Vallejo bottle that got out of control........

Minifleas - nice start on the Hetzer. Have you ever seen this youtube video of this guy that brush paints a Sherman in a huge dio?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oy1ZYoTVbk




Ian - thanks man The sneaky tank is coming


Patrick - your paint and decals came out perfect. What gloss and clear brands or mixtures do you use??? I like that barrel cloth too

Greg... Nice work on the M10,it's coming along very well.
miniflea... I have wanted to build a Hertzer for a long time.I need to get one soon.Great brush work by the way,are you using the paint straight from the bottle,or thinned with something?
Patrick... I must second Gregs comment,that is truely a great paint job.Details are still crisp,coverage is good,no dust or dirt,and the gloss is even with no runs,drips or errors .I, also would like to know what you are using for products.

As for the utube vid,to bad it's not in english,because i would like to know how he keeps the paint from drying too quickly.I know He works fast,but that paint stays wet a long time.I can never get my Tamiya paint to stay wet that long Jeff T.

I like the missing fender Patrick and overall it's a perfect effort that looks much larger than 1/48.







~ Jeff

Thanks guys for the compliments.
The base color is airbrushed Tamiya thinned with Tamiya Lacquer Thinner over Chaos black primer.
Color is about 60-40 OD and Dark Yellow. It came out "greener" than I wanted but looks ok.
Next time I am goig to try cutting the OD with Buff to see if I can tone down the green tinge.
I "spot shot" Future as a gloss coat for the decals then overcoated that with Testors Dullcoat. The Dullcoat really didnt "dull" it out that much. I need to find a better Flattning Spray.

I can't stress how "foolproof" airbrushing Tamiya is when you cut it with the yellow capped Tamiya lacquer thinner.

Patrick, great job on the Cromwell!! I was getting ready to ask you what you used for the green but you already answered my question. I think your paint mixture looks dead on. I am getting ready to tackle this color issue with my Churchill AVRE in the D-Day Campaign so I may try the mixture that you used. Once again, great job!

Best wishes,


Ian

Patrick, in regards to your issue with a flat coat....try thinning the Dullcote with Testors Metallizer thinner. The Metallizer thinner reacts better with Dull-Cote than regular laqcuer thinner and you will get a much flatter coat. It also airbrushes on much more smoothly. Don't know why it works better but an old modelling hand showed me that and it does make a difference.

Regards, Ian

Patrick, that's lookin fantastic so far. Can't wait to see it weathered. BTW - here's my Vallejo shaker (works great!) -

THAT IS @#$$^#%!!! AWESOME!!1 Gonna go build me one of those babys right now..........

GregCloseCombat- I have not seen that before, thanks!

imatanker, thank you. For a long time I did use the paint straight, and just rinsed my brush in water as needed (frequently since the Tamiya paint dries so fast) but lately I've started thinning a bit. I have a small plastic lid from a water bottle filled with thinner and I keep my brush wet with thinner while I paint- it makes the paint go on far smoother, and if I go back over an area that has started to dry, it doesn't flake, which was a big problem before. I'm using x-20A thinner, which seems to work better than plain water.

Moving along, I'm trying something new here, mixing up some mud for the hull using celluclay and Tamiya flat earth.








I mixed it a bit too wet, so I had to let it sit for a while then tried to texture it best I could with an old rough brush.



More will be applied, just wanted to do this before the road wheels went on. I'm thinking I'll leave it as dry mud, and perhaps do a darker "wet" mud. Not sure how to make it glossy though, perhaps mix a bit of future in? As always, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! My progress so far:



Now to tackle the tracks.

Well, got back to the Cobra and wanted to update the machine guns with these 1/48 brass units.



Had to snipp off the kit's plastic version.



They look "alright":



And closer:



Still need to paint them. Had one casualty ...

... I cannot use the Lindberg decals



I had picked out. Even though they are both "1/48" scale, they are just a bit too big and no amount of adjusting will they fit in that area, SO plan B. Put the crappy kit decals on and hope for no silvering!

I did find some Tamiya stars to slap on the side but we'll see.







~ Jeff

Sealed the decals... so far so, okay.







Now for some detailing paint, main rotor and flat coat... then the clear parts.





~ Jeff

Jeff S... Nice work on the MGs and decals,they look great.Did you use any type of setting solution on the markings?Jeff T.

Ooooh yes. My good friend Micro Set by Microscale. The AURORA decals are a bit thick but look okay and have not silvered... yet.

It's going too smooth. Something is going to go wrong soon, I can feel it.

Thanks for commenting!







~ Jeff

Took the tape off and put down a coat of DULL COTE.



Prepped and painted the main rotor blade. Need to do some touch-up painting and put on the clear parts.






~ Jeff

Evenin' gents!

So, I finally made it...

Here's my start pic (sorry, it's blurry but I couldn't tell on the camera and it's too late now...):


And I made a quick start. After the DML 1/350 scale Independence I almost forgot how quick these Tamiya thingies build...


Glad to finally join! This will be a quick OOB build with minimal weathering and sometime I will do a dio with it and some other vehicle (M4, M8 or M10). Maybe 1/48 scale campaign III?

Cheers!
Stefan

Welcome Stefan! I came in a bit late too, and the heat-wave in my attic man-cave has caused me to pause a bit, but there's plenty of time left.

minifleas - I used testors clear gloss to get 'wet' mud, street, walls, tires, etc in this M8 diorama I did last (first) 48th campaign.


Pete - is that a jigsaw? that would do it

Jeff - great progress, almost there

Stefan - plenty of time to finish that jeep to where you want it. I'm sure we can find a 'volunteer' to host the 48th campaign pt 3

Jeff S.----Cobra looks good and hat's off with being able to get the Aurora decals to work!!!


Regards, Ian

Hi All.
Here is my entry:-