Hello

Long time with no posts from me. I think its time to fix that.

And good to see the same friendly names on the forum, since I last was a regular contributor.

This post is of S Models Pz.Kpfw 38H735(f).

These come 2 to a box and are technically 'quick builds' but the standard of casting & options sets a new benchmark for that market, in my opinion.

The rear turret hatch is hinged so can be opened/closed as required - something very rare in braille scale.

Options in the kit are 2 short barrel and 2 long barrel cannon for the turret, and 2 open and 2 closed german cupolas (as well as standard french cupolas) as well as a decal sheet with a great range of numerals.

Tracks are cast as one piece and are of a good standard, though a bit of sag would have improved their appearance.

I have painted these in my own style (discussed elsewhere). To the naked eye in most light conditions they look as per the pictures below with the white background.

The pictures with the sky as background have the flash (due to the darkening evening light conditions) which washes the colour and shading out to some degree, and doesn't show it to its best advantage. I also try to practice the same painting philosophy when painting braille figures.

build log on my blog, http://braillebuilder.blogspot.com.au/

cheers
Neil

Neil, good to see you back on here again. These look very nice, the originals having cast hulls and turrets I suppose has lent itself very nicely to them being cast, I assume, in resin. Might it have been possible to introduce a little bend in the tracks by warming them up - or maybe that would have just broken them... ?

Neil,

Ahhh, just like in the past, some somewhat exotic subjects. Obviously these are captured French tanks of the Hotchkiss H35 or H39 variety! As very nice as the tanks are, I am most impressed with the quality of the way the figures are finished. The painting on them is superb and the moulding looks very good, are they resin? Thanks for sharing these with us.

Cheers,
Jan

Hi Neil,

Nice work on those two little tanks, they look really good and not at all like 'quick-builds'. The figures are superb and I really like the bloke with his foot on the running gear, really nice pose. Whatever your style is, it works very well indeed, keep up the good work.

All the best,

Paul

That used to be my favourite tank on WoT when fighting with Tier 2. They look nice.

Hi, Neil and welcome back! Those little tanks look really good but like Jan, I think the figures are truly super. Hope to see more of you work in the future.

Regards,
AJ

Hello

thanks for the comments

@firstcircle: the kits are regular poylstyrene plastic, with a few small etch pieces. Very few parts in the kit, the tracks & running gear are cast as one piece, which is why I label them 'quick build' plus they follow the 'quick build' convention of more than one kit to a box. They come with a few tools moulded on the trackguards, & a few tools separate, which I have left off at this stage.

Good suggestion to put a bit of a bend in the tracks. I can easily remove the track assemblies without damage, as they are not glued, they are a nice tight fit, didnt need glue at all.
It might be possible to put a little sag in, though the return rollers would need to be cut off as they are cast onto the track, and also change position if sag is applied (just gave one a test)

@tread_geek: thanks, the figures are Orion, and in this case are soft plastic (they make the same figures in resin) the resin is better but more expensive.

@spacewolfdad: thanks, its almost impossible to make these Orion figures look bad, the casting detail is excellent for such tiny figures.

@casualmodeler: I have been avoiding WoT. People at work play, & have encouraged me to join up. I know it would be a lot of fun. I played an online multiplayer war game virtually every day for 4 years, and have sworn off them for more than a year now. I was fully involved at all levels of the game, as well as server admin, forum admin, etc, enjoyed it a lot, but in the end gave it up, too much sitting in front of a computer, dealing with hackers, cheats, etc now prefer to mess with kits. Still maybe one day I will venture back to an online multiplayer

@weathering_one: yet another familiar name, thanks, I think I will be posting much more regularly here.



cheers
Neil

Nice kit and figures Thanks for the explanations about the kits.

Best regards.

Pedro.