Hi All,
I've been quite remiss in my duties to this blog showing my progress. But to be truthful, there hasn't been much to update as I've been tied up doing other things! I have some stuff to share today, though. First, I noticed that the plate I added to cover the missing close-in defense weapon was in the wrong place. So, I carved the old one off and punched out a new one and glued it to the top of the "open" turret. It still needs 4 bolts, but that will be for later:



Next, I gave the interior a coat of paint. So far, only the lower part of the turret, cupola and front plate have gotten this treatment. I used some Gunze "sail" colored paint, as it looked pretty pale in the jar. With the red-brown primer under it, it is darker. Oh well.



You can see here where I left the primer showing. I really agonized over this, but decided on this as the Germans decided on painting everything above the vehicle's fender-line with ivory paint, but left everything below that line in primer. I made a command decision to paint whatever equipment was bolted to the floor to painted ivory, too. It'll make the interior of the turret more interesting once it's closed up by showing different colors in the gloom.





Here's the back of the front plate. It's got a ton of knock-out pin marks, but should be invisible once the turret is closed up.



I also got to work on the new tracks and ties. I painted the ties with Vallejo "Mahagony" along with a dark wash. There will probably be more of this in the ties' future. I painted the rains and the connector plates with primer flat black to start with.



All for now, more tomorrow.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I hope I'm not just babbling to myself with these posts, as there has been little feedback. Anyway, I was able to get more done on the model last night and here are the pictures. First off, I punched out a couple of styrene "bolts" on the close in defense weapon cover with one of my punch sets. According to Tom Jentz's Osprey book on the Panzer IV, this cover was held in place with 4 bolts.



I also noted from my reference pics that the commander's station on the Panzer IV had a back rest. I made one out of styrene strip and rod.



Most of last night's activity centered around getting paint onto the interior detail parts, usually some form of black. Here's the turret basket. I also rubbed some AK Interactive "dark steel" powder onto the treadplate to show some wear on the turret basket floor:



I also got the coaxial machinegun and gun-sight painted. I used semi-gloss black for these items. I also painted the spent shell bag field gray.



While all of this was drying, I moved on to the new base. I glued down the new ties and I'll get the rails dry-fitted in order to place the bolt in the right place. I used super-glue to anchor this down.



That's all fro tonight. More tomorrow.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I got more done on the model last night, although I don't have pictures(I'll get them posted this evening). I got the brackets for the turret armor mounted and got the new base further along, including finding the spot for the bolt.
I'm going to be at the Morris County 4-H Fair this weekend building models in craft tent, if any of you here on Armorama are in that neck of the woods. I plan on taking this beast with me so I can continue to make progress. With a little luck, I should have the figures ready for paint at the end of the weekend.
Regards,
Georg

And if you can, more images/views of that base too! Judging by the top view it does look very nice and a big difference from the normal looking bases.



Jeff

Hi All,
I cooked myself today at the Morris County 4-H Fair. It was in the mid-90's with high humidity, but I was able to get more work done on the Treibwagen. Almost all of the work centered around the "open" turret. As you can see, I was able to get the skirt armor fitted and get most of the details squared away. However, I lost ANOTHER one of those damn bolts on the close in defense weapon cover plate. Now, the only real bit of work remainging is the rest of the turret armor bolts and the commander's hatch.







The next piece of work to be done was to start on the figures. I selected 2 from the Tamiya set that looked promising. Here's the first guy. I think he fits very nicely.







The second crewman is perfect for walking along the top of a rail! I couldn't balance him and take a pic, but I think you get the idea.





All for now, more tomorrow!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
What a busy week! Work and real life stuff intruded into this week's building schedule, but on a happier note, the heat wave broke! It's no longer hotter than the hinges of hell here in NJ and now we get to do things like yard work (oh joy!). Anyway, I have managed to get something done.
First off, I took another look at my references and realized I'd made a major mistake: the turret doors were on backwards! I'm not sure how I screwed that one up, but I'm chalking it up to delirium brought on by trying to build models outside under a tent in 90°F+ heat! I was able to fix things, after prying the doors off. I also finished detailing the doors with some punched styrene mounts fort he doors latches, which were made from styrene angle, cut really thin on my dying Chopper.



I also got the turret interior repainted. The more I looked at the interior color, the less I liked it. It looked like dark yellow, which was wrong and after being weathered, it would be darker still. So, I masked off the turret floor and broke out some Tamiya flat white. Once that was on and dried, I repainted the other interior bits in semi-gloss black, steel and flat black. I also repainted the vision blocks in the cupola with gloss black and the turret gear metallic gray.



Being that very little of the interior of the turret roof was going to be visible, I didn't do much with it.





Once everything was dry, I gave the interior a thin wash of grimy yellow/brown to show, well, grime.

Finally, I made some more progress on the base. I added the Talus and fixed it in place with diluted white glue. We'll see, but I think it's going to need more attention with some paint, washes and pastel work. But it is a start.



Now, I I'm off to the workshop to get more done!
Regards,
Georg

Looking good George, especially the new base, very classy touch. Hope to see it at Armorcon this year. Al

Al,
That's the plan! I'm hoping to wrap this beast up in Mid-August, at the latest.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
It is done! I finished the construction on the Treibwagen this afternoon. I needed to get the central cupola hatch glued into place, which needed significant sanding and reshaping to fit. I also added the latches for the armor doors on the "closed" turret, using styrene strip for the brackets and the photo-etch latch.







I was also able to get heads onto the figures. I used a mixture of resin heads from Hornet and several others. Once in place, I used Mr. Surfacer 500 to fill any gaps around the necks. Once that was dry, I primed the figures with Tamiya fine white primer. I'll have pictures of those tomorrow.
Regards,
Georg

Very nice so far Georg.

Hi All,
I got the figures primed the other night and here's what they look like:





With luck, I won't screw them up too badly! I'm doing the blocking painting right now and I have a little surprise in store for the guy in the Russian fur hat.
Regards,
Georg

Well Georg what a great job you have done on these figures.
The heads that Jim gave you look awesome and I cant wait to
see some paint on them.
The whole project is coming along just great and is definitely a show piece.

Regards
Horst

Hi All,
I got a chance to get some paint on the model last night and here are the results:



The sharp-eyed among you will notice that one turret is missing and that was the catastrophe of the night: I dropped it while painting! The howl I let out with was inarticulate and to be truthful, I am still upset as I write this nearly 24 hours later. While the damage is not fatal, it has really messed things up. I feel that this may have just become a "me build" rather than a contest model.





I addition, I found a huge seam running along the side of the model that needs to be filled. So stay tuned.

Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I was able to get the turret together and the damage fixed. I also got the paint job completed on everything. When I found the large gaps between the upper and lower hulls, I filled them with styrene rod and putty. I finished the gaps with some Mr. Surfacer. After all this dried, I started sanding. Once everything was sanded smooth I painted everything all over again with Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow.




There's more to the story, but that is for tomorrow.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
As promised, the story continues. I think I was in a pretty blue funk the other day and things seemed kinda hopeless. With some more work and sanding, I think things are moving in the right direction (I really, really had to resist saying, "on the right track!"). I got some time in the spray booth. First on the list, was the base. I got the rails painted with various red and brown tones and then moved onto the ballast and ties with some dark burnt sienna acrylic paint, also from the airbrush:



I'm pretty happy with the result. I need to drybrush the tops of the rails and get the whole thing together and it should be ready soon.

I was also able to get the dark yellow base-coat on the vehicle itself, with some Tamiya XF-60 dark yellow. This was followed by some AK Interactive paint form their "1945 Panzercolors" set. I used both dark yellows in the set and I think it looks pretty good so far. Under some weathering it should blend together nicely.







I've also been working on the figures. There is still a lot to do, but things are moving in the right direction. Yes, I am trying to use a decal on the one guy's pants!





That's all for tonight.
Regards,
Georg

Hello Georg,
The paint job came out very nice. Especially how you presented the monochromatic finish (shading).
Regards,
Villiers

Villiers,
Thanks for the kind words. I got a chance to get some more work done tonight, mainly the filter and dry-brushing metallic gray onto the tops of the rails. I will get those finished up tomorrow. Then, on to pin washing!

Regards,
Georg

This is looking so good! I'm here to offer my condolences and support after learning of the 'Catastrophe'. I currently have 5 built Pz.Kpfw.IVs that are all either painted and awaiting finishing or awaiting washes. Of the 5 I have droppedm2 turrets and damaged EVERY SINGLE ONES TURRET SCHURZEN!! Nothing..no advice and comfort I could give could satisfy us because of those damn brackets...once they are broke or bent, the Schurzen will NEVER look the same..it's ok..I know.. All my love.

Hi All,
While it was quite a busy weekend, I was able to move forward on the project once again. Now, I'm deep into pin-washing the model. I always hate this part because it this stage, the model looks terrible! Here are the before and after shots of the turret:





Here are the hull shots:





All for now!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
Boy have I been busy! Unfortunately, it has not been with modelling stuff! But, now I'm back and, with a little luck, back on pace. I was able to complete the pin washes on the model:







I've now got to do the dot filters and I hope to jump into that this evening.

The figures have turned out better than I expected. I tried using washes for the facial detail and it worked out pretty good. Here are the figures shortly after they got a full pin wash:



I plan on reducing the contrast with dry-brushing. All for now.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I was really tired last night, so I got to bed early and did not post the pics. So, here they are! I'm pretty much done with the figures, unless I see something really glaring. For the first ones I've done in 20 years, I think they turned out rather well.





I began the dot filters on the turrets last night, too. I think I'm going to do more work on the spaces behind the skirt armor and a couple of other places, but so far I think they look good.







All for now. I hope to get more accomplished tonight.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
This is the end! It's done! All the dot filters complete and the figures are mounted. Here's what they look like:



I really liked the way these two look like they are chatting.





This dude is from the Mini-Art set. I thought the pose was really well executed.


Here are some close-ups of the vehicle:





Here's an overall shot:



This ended up being a HUGE project and took far longer than I expected. But I think it was worth the work. I'm not sure what my next project is going to be, but I'm thinking postwar. Stay tuned!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
Just a quick update. I took the Treibwagen to Armorocn this past weekend. The model got a gold medal in the open/topped AFV category with a 30! I'll post pics later, but I just had to share!
Regards,
Georg

Congrats! I really like how you made the base. I may have to use that someday!

Hi George
great looking model,am planing on scratchbuilding one in
1 72 scale from plans found on internet.

bazer.