I'm finally figuring on getting a Luchs light tank. Problem is, I can't decide between the ICM release and the Mirage Hobby release (and yes, if I had unlimited funds I'd go for the Tasca one all day long but because my funds are severely limited, I unfortunately can't get the Tasca Luchs).
Now I have looked at some reviews and from what I gathered, they're pretty similar kits, aside from being of the same subject. I'd like a little help sorting the two out.
Thanks.
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Luchs vs Luchs
MikeyBugs95
Joined: May 27, 2013
KitMaker: 2,210 posts
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Posted: Thursday, January 02, 2014 - 08:18 PM UTC
thebear
Joined: November 15, 2002
KitMaker: 3,960 posts
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Posted: Friday, January 03, 2014 - 03:17 AM UTC
If you have to choose between those two kits ,then go for the Mirage kit as ICM made a major mistake on the shape of the hull... I had that kit ..it's buildable but be ready ..It's no Tamiya kit.
Have fun with it. Hope to see you post your progress.
Rick
Have fun with it. Hope to see you post your progress.
Rick
MikeyBugs95
Joined: May 27, 2013
KitMaker: 2,210 posts
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Posted: Friday, January 03, 2014 - 11:13 AM UTC
Thanks. I was reading on it further and I think that, in this case, Techmod/Mirage is the way to go. I have a Light Tank campaign up, and I may use it for that... Although I do have 3 other light tanks that I might be using, 2 which I know I will.
barkingdigger
Associate Editor
#013
Joined: June 20, 2008
KitMaker: 3,981 posts
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Posted: Saturday, January 04, 2014 - 02:19 AM UTC
There's a build of the Mirage kit here that might be of use. I built the ICM kit a while back (pics here) for an Armorama campaign, and after some grief it scrubbed up ok. Hardest part was getting rid of a barrel of mould-release oil! (Some parts took several soapy baths to sort out - that stuff clung on for dear life...)
Hope these help.
Hope these help.
MikeyBugs95
Joined: May 27, 2013
KitMaker: 2,210 posts
Armorama: 1,712 posts
Posted: Sunday, January 05, 2014 - 05:39 PM UTC
Would I be able to paint a Luchs any plain color? I'm not yet good with an airbrush and I can't paint camo to save my life. Or are there any full masks that I can put on to be able to spray the camo? I know there are wheel masks, but my guess is that those are for keeping the wheel paint on the wheel part and the rubber paint on the rubber part.
panzerbob01
Joined: March 06, 2010
KitMaker: 3,128 posts
Armorama: 2,959 posts
Posted: Monday, January 06, 2014 - 03:31 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Would I be able to paint a Luchs any plain color? I'm not yet good with an airbrush and I can't paint camo to save my life. Or are there any full masks that I can put on to be able to spray the camo? I know there are wheel masks, but my guess is that those are for keeping the wheel paint on the wheel part and the rubber paint on the rubber part.
Mike;
You are certainly "good to go" with a straight dunkelgelb coat on the Luchs. Dunkelgelb was the regulation base-coat during it's issue and use period. Camo would have likely been a crew application, and many of the pics of Luchs seem to suggest "plain" dunkelgelb and / or DG with some white-wash over in winter.
PS: About the various east-bloc kits... I think any may be wrestled into some shape with work - but none of them apparently did a good job on capturing the dimensions / proportions of the turret very well, whereas the Tasca kits (2) appear to have done a much better job at that. This may, or may not, be much of a muchness - after all, most of us will have exactly one of these on the shelf at a time and so no likely comparisons or pain in the eyes from seeing two differently-shaped turrets side - by - side at one time!
I would recommend with any of the Luchs kits swapping in a metal KwK 38 / FlaK 38 barrel for getting best appearance at the business-end. (You can legit use either the L/50 KwK or full-length L/65 FlaK barrels on these Luchs - pics show both to have been used and they were interchangeable.)
Cheers!
Bob
barkingdigger
Associate Editor#013
Joined: June 20, 2008
KitMaker: 3,981 posts
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Posted: Monday, January 06, 2014 - 04:20 AM UTC
I agree - a metal gun barrel is a wise investment! I snapped the plastic one off of mine several times, during building & painting.
As for painting, I'd get hold of an old junker of a kit (type & maker don't matter) and spend some time practicing fine lines and camo with your airbrush. Once you start to get a feel for trigger pressures it really isn't as daunting as you think! Or, if you want the security of paint masks, try using Blu-Tack or Silly Putty to mask off - it gives an easy way to get a unique pattern. I roll out "sausages" of various thicknesses up to say half-inch, and drape them over the ares I want to remain the base colour. You can even go over with several layers to get a three-tone scheme. That's how I did this 234/1:
The tricky parts are getting the putty to stick to the model instead of your fingers and making sure it isn't smooshed into any of the breakable details (like those corner-markers on the fenders). Any harsh edges can be softened afterwards with a very thinned "fog" of the base yellow colour, and of course with weathering.
EDIT: you can even use the Blu-Tack method with rattle-can spray paints! That's what I did in the days before my first airbrush...
As for painting, I'd get hold of an old junker of a kit (type & maker don't matter) and spend some time practicing fine lines and camo with your airbrush. Once you start to get a feel for trigger pressures it really isn't as daunting as you think! Or, if you want the security of paint masks, try using Blu-Tack or Silly Putty to mask off - it gives an easy way to get a unique pattern. I roll out "sausages" of various thicknesses up to say half-inch, and drape them over the ares I want to remain the base colour. You can even go over with several layers to get a three-tone scheme. That's how I did this 234/1:
The tricky parts are getting the putty to stick to the model instead of your fingers
and making sure it isn't smooshed into any of the breakable details (like those corner-markers on the fenders). Any harsh edges can be softened afterwards with a very thinned "fog" of the base yellow colour, and of course with weathering.EDIT: you can even use the Blu-Tack method with rattle-can spray paints! That's what I did in the days before my first airbrush...
TrifonDK
Joined: February 17, 2009
KitMaker: 286 posts
Armorama: 285 posts
Posted: Tuesday, January 07, 2014 - 07:31 AM UTC
I don't know if this may be of any help to you but here you can find my build of the Mirage Hobbies Luchs.
MikeyBugs95
Joined: May 27, 2013
KitMaker: 2,210 posts
Armorama: 1,712 posts
Posted: Tuesday, January 07, 2014 - 10:35 AM UTC
Bob: Ok. At least I now know that I can at least paint it accurately. But either way, are there still any kinds of masks out there for that german Tri-color scheme?
Tom:
I've read about using putties but unfortunately, and probably partly due to my ADHD, I have a difficult time visualizing shapes like these. I've only been able to get a camouflage pattern twice. Both times on Revell aircraft years ago. I've tried a few times recently but I just couldn't it right (most notably for me is trying to paint it on an Academy F-22A but utterly messing up and now there is a nice layer of light grey paint from the nose back which I tried to get off but can't). I can imagine what I want to get, but the process gets lost in translation from my mind to my hands.
Plus I can't use my airbrush. It's been on the fritz after a few uses (Yes, I've cleaned it after every use) and I don't have the resources to run it effectively.
Trifon: Thats a very nice Luchs.
Tom:
Quoted Text
I agree - a metal gun barrel is a wise investment! I snapped the plastic one off of mine several times, during building & painting.
As for painting, I'd get hold of an old junker of a kit (type & maker don't matter) and spend some time practicing fine lines and camo with your airbrush. Once you start to get a feel for trigger pressures it really isn't as daunting as you think! Or, if you want the security of paint masks, try using Blu-Tack or Silly Putty to mask off - it gives an easy way to get a unique pattern. I roll out "sausages" of various thicknesses up to say half-inch, and drape them over the ares I want to remain the base colour. You can even go over with several layers to get a three-tone scheme. That's how I did this 234/1:
The tricky parts are getting the putty to stick to the model instead of your fingers
EDIT: you can even use the Blu-Tack method with rattle-can spray paints! That's what I did in the days before my first airbrush...
I've read about using putties but unfortunately, and probably partly due to my ADHD, I have a difficult time visualizing shapes like these. I've only been able to get a camouflage pattern twice. Both times on Revell aircraft years ago. I've tried a few times recently but I just couldn't it right (most notably for me is trying to paint it on an Academy F-22A but utterly messing up and now there is a nice layer of light grey paint from the nose back which I tried to get off but can't). I can imagine what I want to get, but the process gets lost in translation from my mind to my hands.
Plus I can't use my airbrush. It's been on the fritz after a few uses (Yes, I've cleaned it after every use) and I don't have the resources to run it effectively.
Trifon: Thats a very nice Luchs.
MikeyBugs95
Joined: May 27, 2013
KitMaker: 2,210 posts
Armorama: 1,712 posts
Posted: Thursday, January 16, 2014 - 11:23 AM UTC
Would I be able to use the Alliance Model Works German Hollow Disc stencil #1 (LW35075) or #2 (LW35076) for the correct scheme used on the Luchs?
MikeyBugs95
Joined: May 27, 2013
KitMaker: 2,210 posts
Armorama: 1,712 posts
Posted: Friday, January 17, 2014 - 03:05 PM UTC
Does anyone have an answer to this?
SdAufKla
Joined: May 07, 2010
KitMaker: 2,238 posts
Armorama: 2,158 posts
Posted: Saturday, January 18, 2014 - 04:59 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Would I be able to use the Alliance Model Works German Hollow Disc stencil #1 (LW35075) or #2 (LW35076) for the correct scheme used on the Luchs?
Quoted Text
Does anyone have an answer to this?
I've never seen a photo of a Luchs in any of the factory applied "ambush" camouflage schemes. As far as I know, there are only a very small number (single digits) of photos of "field applied" ambush patterns.
Even though this is a repainted museum example, it seems pretty representative of the few wartime photos of the Luchs that I've seen. A winter white wash over factory dark yellow (with or without camouflage) is another option.
The reverse masking techniques that Tom described and illustrated are good ones and can even be done with rattle can paints rather than with an airbrush.
Spray the tank with the first camo color, apply your masks (Silly Putty or Blue Tack), then spray either the dark yellow (single color cammo) or the second cammo color. If you go for two cammo colors with dark yellow, mask again, then spray your dark yellow.
Remove the masks and you'll have an overall dark yellow tanks with either one or two camouflage colors.
The AM-Works PE masks are stainless steel and require considerable effort and skill mostly with using the PE masks as a template to cut out flexible tape masks to conform to irregular surfaces on the model. These masks are also designed to replicate specific factory camouflage on specific AFV types.
FWIW, I'd suggest following Tom's recommendation, or if you don't want to use the Silly Putty or Blue Tack, that you cut your masks from painter's Blue Tape. Put the tape on waxed paper, draw out the shapes with an ink pen, then cut them out. Peal off the waxed paper and apply the tape masks in the same way described for the reverse masking technique with the soft masks.
As a last resort, you can always just brush paint the camouflage over rattle can dark yellow.
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