hi guys i,m gonna start building dragons hetzer (kit no 6030) and just studying the ins sheet i can see i,m gonna have a couple of problems
the first prob i can foresee is i have never used pe before and the exhaust sheild looks like its gonna be a git to bend to the right shape
secondly i like to leave the tracks off untill i have painted the hull but it looks like i,m gonna have to attach the tracks as per the ins so how do i paint them ??
any help would be gratefully excepted as would any pointers on this kit

PE: Some suggest annealing the metal by running it over a flame, but I've had success just finding a dowel or other round thingie of the right radius and carefully bending the material.

Seems like most kit instructions would have you add tracks besore painting. There's no reason you can't paint the hull the base color first, then add wheels, then any camo color before adding track. As I remember the sapce betweenthe wheels of a 38(t) hull is pretty tight and you'd be hard pressed to get paint to the hull with the wheels in place, let alone the tracks. If you're using the skirts, add these after you've added the tracks.

hey sarge

i agree - paint the body of the kit 1st, your basecoat, camo etc, do your wheels, add them, and so on. one thing you could try is if u are using the standard tracks that came with the kit, lay them out flat on a spare piece of board, secure the ends ( use a pin etc) so that they stay relatively flat - paint one side, let it dry, them turn em over, and repeat the process. once done and dry, fix em in place and then add your skirts etc if you have them

good luck

alpha

Hi Sarge...I just finished this kit,so I think I can help you out here a bit...First the p/e isn't that bad on this one...what I did was to use the handle on my exacto knife and rolled over it on top of my cutting matt, when you do this you'll see the sides start to curl up...Then find something smaller and do the same thing over ...You'll see it will be just the right size in no time. As for painting the wheels and tracks ...I used friul tracks cause these plastic link to link tracks would drive me crazy...but if you are going to use the tracks I would suggest you build up kit with out the side skirts ....spray everything dark yellow and then paint the tracks..sounds hard but easier than it looks....then glue on the side skirts and touch up the paint and there ya go!! If you need any help do hesitate to ask....

Rick

hi guys, well as usuall you guys have answered all my questions ,thank you think i will assemble the hull , give it a base coat then add add the wheels and tracks

ooops i nearly forgot is it worth prepainting the upper hull part under the pe mesh black first before i add this part ??
thanks again guys and happy xmas and new year to you all :-)