Still catching up after the 3!tch Sandy screwed everything up. Finally not too pooped to sit at the bench. It's not much but at least now I can start brush painting... if i get the nerve.

Eddy (Braille) has been a big help taking time to collect and send info relating to this vehicle. I think when it done it will definately fall into the, "Close enough for government work" category.

This was actually harder than one would have thought. Drawing the lines following a color plate then all of a sudden they don't line up so to speak and the logic of the pattern is gone and it confusing as heel to get it back on track. I decided part way throught that it was easier to make X's and O's instead of R's and G's. Yeah... that made it easy

LOL! Marc that looks great with the base coat on. You can really see all the extra detail in it. I swear it looks like a larger model. Well done. I especially like the "rock" work you did to replicate the rolled steel. Been scavenging around the yard looking for a suitable rock to do the same for my King. In fact, I am going to use your techniques on a lot of the subassemblies. Well done Dude!

Thanks Kerry. And good luck onthe rock hunt. Bet ya never figured on mixing modeling and geology.

Turret almost done. Some touching up to do. This is going to be a long tedious process. But I think once its all faded and washed and grudged up it will look OK.

Marc... Looks pretty good to Me, Bub
Once again,if I may be so bold,and if you would be so kind,make of paint,colors used,reduced with what and reduction ratio,and ,oh yeah,what size brush did you use?
I don't need to know if you are right or left handed though Jeff T.

Marc, simply a 1st rate build. I'm always in awe of anyone who can see, let alone model in 1/72-1/76 scale. At my age I can barely see the parts.

One point about colors that is hardly ever mentioned, is that 99+% of us use a non-calibrated monitor, so color variation is much greater then you would think. My other hobby is photography, and I can attest to the fact that color variation is a major issue from one monitor to another if they're not calibrated. Given that premise, I don't really concern myself with what I think I see, to rather what the builder is portraying. Add to that what Jan said about how the paint was diluted in the field, makes color accuracy posts a non-issue.

Joel

Super job, Mark! It's always fascinating to see the different finishing techniques and processes different modellers use. As was mentioned earlier, it is impossible to determine colour or shade from black and white photographs but they can be useful in determining camouflage patterns created with contrasting color paint!

Regards,
AJ

Thanks guys.

Jeff, I am using Vallejo. By far the best paint to brush I have ever used. That’s 3 coats with the first 2 at about 1 part paint to about 2 or 3 parts distilled water. The last coat is about 1 to 1… just enough to get a smooth coat without brush marks. I find this paint very forgiving in that respect.

Joel could not agree with you more about “color”. In high school photography was a hobby that turn into a college major for a short period. With the amount of factor that affect color such as what you mentioned, a monitor, there is ink color in print, batch variation in the paint, painting under adverse field conditions, color shift depending on background etc. And lets not the interpretation being made from actual paint samples that are now +/-70 years old. I am with you in that I look at what the modeler is doing and when I see one I like I will emulate that if I can. I never get drawn into the,’ That’s the wring color!” debate.

@wing_nut – Marc,

Looks real good so far, but you still have a ways to go before you move onto the next steps on the camouflage scheme. Take your time as this is where the pay-off comes in highlighting all of your pervious hard work underneath the paint.

Great close up photograph for such a small subject! I’ve been using an old Kodak 5 mega-pixel camera for years now and I can’t get consistent quality and in focus detail on my subjects. My wife recently bought us a new Cannon 18 mega-pixel camera that is still in the box. It’s Sunday so I may dig into that and check-out the enclosed CD and get acquainted with the camera and functions. I’ll probably use the Kodak for a while until I feel comfortable enough with the new camera before posting photographs online.

Marc, I now have two of these Dragon King Tigers in the stash, mainly got them because I was after the included paratrooper figures. Will you be creating a base for this build and add any figure(s)?

~ Eddy

Thanks Eddy. The camera i use mostly is an old Panasonic Lumix pocket camera. 14 MB and beat to hell. I've dropped this thing dozens of times on the job... it's my field camera... and it keeps on going. If it ever breaks i plan to find one on eBay to replace it.

Holy crap what a PITA this was. Once I tone it down with a buff filter so it is less stark it will look better. But I am pretty pleased with the outcome. Couldn't have done this with anything but Vallejo.

Looking great Marc, the vallejo paints went on beautifully. Can't wait to see it after some filters and weathering. BTW-hope Sandy didn't kick your kiester too much.

Thanks Kerry. Considering how bad it was all around me I am almost embarrassed about lucky I am. No damage at all... 2 large tree limbs landed in the middle of the yard missing the cars by a few feet and my power outage was measured in hours, not day.

Eddy, I meant to say also... yes a base and figures is the plan. But that's always the plan and I have shelves full of tanks with neither

Marc, The hand painted camo scheme looks great. Smooth as silk. Should be spectacular when it's weathered, which will really blend everything to a more pleasing pallet.

As for model picture taking, I use a Nikon D90 with a few different lenses, so I really don't need to crop the final image very much. If you need to crop, the more Mega Pixels the better.

What's just as important in model close up photography is Depth of Field, so that your entire subject is in focus. All too often I see pictures where the DOF is too shallow, or that point of focus was wrong. Many of today's better Point & Shoot cameras have a close up/Macro setting, which steps the lens down to it's largest aperature setting (highest number), increasing DOF dramatically.

Joel

Thanks Joel. II always shoot at 14MP. More pixels better tones. Also,, the closer in you get the less the depth of field so with the high resolution you can shoot further away and crop in on the details then resize the final pic. As you mentioned. I almost never use the macro feature. The DoF is crap.


A very quick pic of a step I was able to take while I wait for the oven to free up for my next batch of food. Yup... I am the cook!

Sprayed with a buff filter to homogenize the overall look. That's 5 coats at a 5/95 paint/thinner mix.

Ya that buffer is the ticket, really toned it down and brought it all together. Gotta laugh as I'm the cook 75% of the time at my casa as well! Learned a little bit about taking pics too. I have a Kodak 5X IS 14 Megapixel point and shoot. I usually take crappy pics of my models. I wasn't sure if this camara could take close-in shots. Need to read the manual! Anyway the KT is ooking great Marc!

Thanks Kerry. I had a blast in the kitchen. The trick is to not drink so much that you chop your finger off.

So... how is someone that had a huge turkey dinner and decanted spray paint the same? They both have to sit for a while de-gassing. At least this "someone" was able to sit at the bench. Hmmm? Alone for some reason.

Spent time finishing up paint and marking then working on the weathering. Added the dots fr the ambush scheme and the turret number. I may have opened a can of worms with the cross under the 222. from what I have read this has been discussed at great length. Not sure why since it was not too difficult to find photos that show the cross. Some dot filtering, pin washes and streaking. In the smaller scale I have to be careful not to over do the weathering so I am already thinking to do very little more. maybe just a bit of road dust.

I figured that if the camo was added with all the fenders on then when they came off the base would be yellow so I painted that in and made it dirtier for the crud that would have gotten in there with the fender in place. Painting all the tools and cables in place was a test of patience... which almost gave a out a couple of times.

Marc, Just an impressive Camo paint scheme. Can't believe what you guys do in braille scale.
Joel

Marc...I agree about too much weathering in the smaller scales.If you do to much,you end up with a greenish,yellowish,brownish little blob.Ask Me how I know For what it's worth I think it looks pretty darn good right where it is.
Oh,and thanks for the info on your filter coat,You knew I was going to ask,didn't you Jeff T.

This is looking really good now Marc. It's always neat when you work on a model and then all of a sudden the finish starts to suddenly come together like your has ....
Brent

Thanks guys for the comments.

Jeff... I think we know that for the same reason

Brent... I know what you mean. But at the same time it makes me nervous when tackling the next steps. More chances to screw up. Such as lower hull road wheels and treads. So far untouched

Marc, again, just a super paint and Camo job. Simply outstanding.

I did read several posts about photography issues, and some have basic misconceptions. With most of today's point and shoot cameras you get a processor with 10 plus mega pixels. That simply means the number of dots per mm that the camera lens can generate. The more dots, the sharper the picture, and the larger you can blow it up and or crop it.

It has nothing to do with tone variations. Tonality is a function of the processor's color pallet, and how each computer's graphic card interpets those electrical impulses, coupled with your monitors color settings.

A Point and shoot camera without a macro function, which is in reality just a close up function, can only focus to it's closest point. From there when you're in Post Production processing, you can crop the image. Hence, you're decreasing the amount of pixels by increasing the size of each one. The more pixels, the sharper the picture. the better the lens, the sharper each pixel is. Those are two completely different functions, but both are equally important.

For the average user with a decent point and sboot camera that has a micro/close up function, you're better off using it, as it allows you to get closer to your subject without enlarging the size of each pixel, thus keeping the image sharper and with more accurate and brighter color saturation. In just about every instance I've seen of a close up picture, there is enough depth of field to encompass a model if you don't push it to the max. Just enough where a small crop would be necessary.

the final issue for most edited images is the editing program you're using. Most are pure crap. I would suggest you go online and download Nixon View. It's free, works well with JPEG images, and lets you do things yo never thought you could do. The resulting pictures will be 100% better then you ever thought you could produce.

Joel

Roadwheels?Roadwheels?Did someone mention Roadwheels?
So,what color do you want?
Do you want them weathered,or un-weathered?
I got a million of 'em


That was my mornings work.Don't be scared Man,just line 'em up and shoot 'em Jeff T.

Marc,

The KT is coming along fabulously. I'll have to try your methodology of spraying the diluted buff on a couple of German subjects that I'm currently building.

Cheers,
Jan

Thanks for the add'l info Joel. EDIT... I cut and paste the name of the program you recommended and was getting all sorts of weird results. Then I noticed you typed Nixon. That explains all the Tricky Dick stuff I was getting

Thanks for the offer but got plenty of road wheels of my own

Thanks Jan. Try it. Gives a nice starting base for whatever weather you have in the plan.

@wing_nut – Marc,

Looking real good Marc. I like what you have done here and it is very inspirational. I think this is the best rendition of this vehicle in any scale thus far that I have seen and you have yet to finish your project!

As far as the German national insignias are concerned they are there underneath the turret numbers. This vehicle is unique in that this particular camouflage paint scheme style would not have had the dots applied, yet the crew has apparently selected to apply them and this is one of only two vehicles in the group sporting the national insignia on the turret sides but this particular vehicle is the only one with the turret numbers over the cross.

Most modelers tend to gather their photographs off of the Internet and these are usually not of very high quality to very grainy making close visual inspection a problematic issue. IMHO I think that reference material weather it be accurate or not is slowing killing this hobby and turning it into a very serious game of Golf! The idea here is to have fun, share and produce a piece of work that is both enjoyable to build and view such as your project here. There are no perfect model kits being produced or put together by any perfect people that I am aware of. Coming close is good enough as long as you are having fun!

@Panther64 – Kerry,

By now you may have already discovered that the flower icon on your camera is for taking close up photographs. You should easily be able to produce high quality photographs with the camera that you have mentioned you have. I have been posting photographs on my build logs here online with a Kodak 5 megapixal camera and I think that they are clear enough to show the viewers what I am building. Your camera is light years ahead of mine. I always use the close up feature and almost always crop my photographs. I have been using Photoshop Elements, Photoshop CS5 and Paint.NET to help with this as well as adding text, arrows and frames. I have a new camera and some new programs that I will be adding to the mix but I have yet to use them so I won’t go into that here.

@Joel_W – Joel,

Thanks for the photograph information you posted I will put that to good use. I am currently upgrading my lighting and backgrounds and have already started playing with some special effects and fonts with a couple of photograph programs that I own. Picture taking is a hobby all on its own and with a little talent can easily be turned into something professional but for me it’s going to stay a hobby!

~ Eddy

Sorry guys. Can't believe I typed Nixon instead of Nikon. Must be a mental thing. Most of these free picture editing programs have a million presets, and doesn't let you do much more then that. Nikon View lets you do so much more in the JPEG format except adjustments to white balance, and over/under exposure, which is handled usually in a RAW format. Another great editing program I've used is from Olympus which was designed for use with their cameras that shoot in JPEG format.