Hey guys. I'm a newbie modeler who got encouraged into scale modelling after playing hours upon hours of Company of Heroes and World of Tanks. I don't have a background in building scale models or painting so I'll be reliant on the methods and techniques I've found on this site and online on how to assemble. I've built a couple of only 1:72 braille scale models of several german tanks due to budgetary constraints but I got a hold of a DML Panther F in 1:35 for a fairly decent price. So I'll be posting my build progress here as I go along and hopefully you guys can give me some tips or corrections that I have to make Thanks for looking!

Box art:


Finished Suspension and Turret sans the 75mm gun. Dry fitted the hull and wheels. Added a 1:35 US Tank Commander I got off a old Tamiya M41 Walker Bulldog.

Hi Nigel
Welcome to the wonderful World of modelling. From what I can see fromm the Pictures you sent, it looks good so far. If you run in to trouble with this kit, don't give up, it might just be a the kit, which is too advanced for beginners. I'd sugest an easier kit, maybe from the Tamiya range. They are very user friendly, and usually just "clicks" together. I hope you'll show us your progres.
Best wishes
Jacob

nice start - do like the Panther, need to get one at some point... this place is great to pick up tips/tricks/advice...

looking forward to more from you

Love that Panther F!! Don't use that figure, that's an urgly Tamiya USA Tank commander. Grab a Alpine Figure, Panther Commander.

or this figure set.

Hey guys Here's an update on what I've been working on. I've nearly finished the lower hull and have only not cemented the wheels in place. Painted the lower hull with Tamiya Dark yellow partly to text and practice how to paint again and also to allow me to glue the wheels in place now and not worry about having to paint the hard-to-reach places. Test fitted the wheels once they were dry.

Also added the aluminum barrel that came with the kit and glued the Photo-etch lower frontal plate add-on.

THat's one nice and sharp looking tank commander Unfortunately, I'm low on cash and can't afford accessories right now (Maybe when summer comes and I get to go working again though...) In any case, I was only using the American Crew to show the scale of the tank in comparison to a person.

Hi Nigel,

Welcome to modelling & glad to have you join us!!

Good luck some dragon kits are "fun" with instruction problems

I understand that you're commander was just to scale the tank, but you could also do a 1946 what if diorama, were the Allies & Germans team up to get rid of the Russkie's now that Hitler is dead.

I.e a mix of crew & maybe iron cross, with a US star on the turret??

Hope you have fun!!

Cheers Mike

Looking good so far,great work,don't forget the bare metal on the edge of the road wheels for some additional realism as that paint would wear off quickly

Good start Nigel. For somebody who has never built a 1/35 kit before, starting with a DML kit and looking this good .... consider yourself a natural.

Actually, I've built a Trumpeter KV-2 and a Walker bulldog a few months ago but that was before I got any tips from anyone on how to build and paint a model >_< Made a lot of mistakes there.

Anyway, current progress on the Panther Not getting too much time to build nowadays because of College and Real-Life issues. Still, pressing on!

Glued the steel road wheels to the tank except for the idler and the sprocket wheel(to facilitate easier gluing of tracks in th future). Used a black pencil to shade the rims of the tire to simulate wear and tear... not too sure if it looks great or not but I'll revisit that part of the tank when I paint the whole thing. Also added the machine gun and ball mount.... I made a dreadful mistake and I broke the machine gun when I glued it It looked to short. So I took a small piece of cut-off plastic nearly the same size of the MG and glued it in the ball mount first then added the machinegun on top of it. It wasn't exactly a clean job but it isn't noticable unless you really shine a flashlight on it and stare. Will paint the part black to hide any imperfections left. Also added the view ports.

That's a nice build, Nigel. I have this kit in my stash as well, bought it from someone here on Armorama.

Looking forward to the finish!

So far looks good Nigel.

I did that kit a few years ago. I must say it's one of the best kits out there, despite Dragon's instructions.
I had a lot of fun doing it.

Engine deck 90% complete. Added the photo etched parts to the engine deck of the kit. Sadly... I punched a huge hole in the photo-etched section of the Crew Compartment Heater so I was forced to model it closed. Oh well :/ Also added the borsch headlight in the front. Anyhow, back to doing my thesis (Would really love to have an entire afternoon off just so I can finish assembling the lass and start thinking about painting it)

Looks good so far.

Don't worry so much about doing damage such as the afor mentioned screens. These things were in battle after all. The crews would be walking all over them, bashing thru the forest ect. I don't concern myself too much with dented photoetch as I like to think that it gives the model character



cheers

My problem is that it has a circular hole in it ) It currently looks like one of the crew members managed to slip and sink his hole into the mesh.... and that thing has a rotating blade inside it so >_< Already glued the closed fan cover but I'm still contemplating trying to reinstall the open-fan with the damaged photoetch part

After months of inactivity.... finally found a free weekend to build the model and paint it. Tried to do ambush camouflage, but I think I might have made too large spots with my brush on some of the surface. Still needs weathering. Comments on how to improve are again highly appreciated

PS: Sorry for the poor camera. It's slightly altering the shades of the camo color.

I think it turned out just fine as a newbie and I like it.

In no time at all you'll be an expert builder.







Jeff

Thank you for the kind words I've also finished work on a Captured KV-1 and will post it up for scrutiny as soon as I have the time.

Nice bro, your painting is amazing. And it is neat also,like it!

This is how she currently looks. I've been meaning to add more weathering with pastel chalks for more mud and dirt but alas! - I'm again quite busy with trying to find a job (fresh graduate here).

Damn fine result, I think. Well done!

Very nicely done for a NEW guy. Don't fret too much about the finished model. It looks fantastic. Each one you do next will get better than the last one. That's how you improve your techniques and methods. Do alot of reading from model magazines and get plenty of tips from this site. There is an abundance of experience here and most will be able to help you with any question you might have. Good luck with the KV and have fun with your new hobby.