Well, it's almost complete. Tamiya's 48th scale Hetzer, OOB with the hatch handles replaced with wire. Feel free to comment on it,... shy of changing the paint scheme, anything goes.

A couple of questions,.... is the MG stock metal as shown, or should I paint it a wood colour? are the periscopes the right colour? should the exhaust look that corroded, for something that new?

thanks,
Frank

Thats one very nice Hetzer Frank

What method did you use to achieve the hard edge cammo effect ???

Nice rusting on the exhuast as well


Ian

Very nice, pretty sure the MG stock is wood, maybe a few manufactured in metal...they're already heavy enough :-)

Looks brilliant Frank! The MG34 stock would have been wood although some were manufactured using a type of Bakelite.

Vinnie

Looks very good, I tried the Hetzer but had problems getting the tracks to line up. I currently finishing the Jagdpanther and I think it looks pretty good. Now if I can find a way to post I will post pictures of it for you guys to critice

Frank, this is beautiful! Your craft and style has been my favorite since you post here. Great job once again! I hope in the future when I post my work you can give me a point or two!

I prefer you use the same technique you paint the schiwimmy on your MG stock. I really like that style. The convoy lights would be great if painted blue/purple.

WC

Very nice Hetzer, very nice indeed. The hard edge camo looks really good. I love the subtle weathering.

Frank that is one wicked Hetzer, I have to second the motion as to your style of painting its just awesome. Please tell us a little about how and what your steps are. I am sure there are a lot of us here that want to know. Cheers Kevin

Thanks for the kind comments folks,...

Kevin, Ian,... the method I use for hard edge camo is a simple one using Tamiya tape to mask off each individual paint colour, I have photographed the Hetzer at every step of the build and will post the photos in my gallery, under the Hetzer album, when I get a chance in a day or two (see below).

Shain, Vinnie,... thanks, I'll paint the MG34 stock, wood.

Benjamin,... anytime!, just PM and I'll do my best.

Clarification...... The convoy lights, are they a dark blue?

As an aside,..... It's 4:30am local time, I just got back from the hospital, it seems I'll have plenty of time to model in the next 8 to 12 weeks....... Lori (my wife) and I went to the YMCA for our Wednesday night workout and 2 hrs of volleyball, one hour into the match, I went up for a spike and came down with a thud!..... I've managed to rupture my achilles tendon, on my left leg, I had four x-rays done and will go back to the hospital for an ultrasound tomorrow, and more than likely.... surgery. I've been told that recovery is slow at best!

still smiling
Frank

Excellent work on your Hetzer, Frank. Hard to beleive its in 1/48th with this level of detail. That BMM/Skoda factory camo is fantastic. Weathering and paint scratching couldnt be better.

Great work, and it inspires me to branch out and try this scale of armor modelling. Besides, Hetzers are cool to begin with !

Cheers !!

Alpen

PS....Good luck on your recovery.

Sorry to hear about the injury, as someone who has suffered a simular injury I can tell you that the road to recovery is long but don't let any doctor tell you that there are things you'll never do again. I suffered my injury on the last part of a PFT while active in the Corps. My doc told me I would never walk without a limp and never run again in my life. Well I've proved them wrong on both counts. Take it easy for now but My wishes are with you on your recovery.

Best wishes for a fast recovery. That is one fantastic Hetzer nice job.

Hey Frank,

Look on the bright side...

A bad day modeling is better than a good day at work!

I’m building the Tamiya Hetzer right now also. Did you find any major issues / problems?

Your paint / weathering looks outstanding, hope mine comes out half as good. I think I’m going to do Ambush Camo.

Also, I think that the MG on Hetzer was remote control from the crew area so it did not have a stock on it (I’m far from a German Expert so maybe some other members know for sure but I’ve seen a few photos like that)?


Great Job & hope your leg is OK,
N E O

Frank, the rear convoy light of the sort you have on (early) is a sort of mid to light blue colour.

Vinnie

Great looking build Frank.. Is this the precursor to the Eduard Hertzer you bought?

Sorry to hear about the ankle.. Will you be mobile for the Guelph show in March?

Dave

Hi Dave, considering it's just 7 of us doing the show, and I'm the head judge, I'll be there,.... regardless of the condition I'm in! My surgery is tomorrow, and the surgeon has informed me that I'll be immobile for about 6 weeks with another 6 to 12 weeks of intense physiotherapy....... hhhhhmmmmmm, break out the sanding sticks! Here's the link to the show info...

http://www.thesprue.com/index.htm

Hi neo,... no issues with the build, it took me 6hrs to slap the model together, and about 30 to paint it.

Frank

It's true, your work is inspirational...I'm currently building the Tamiya Sturmgeschutz/ Sherman (1/48) and constantly refer to your photos for reference...thanks!

good luck...N

Love the way the colors just blend. Looking at it just seems relaxing to the eyes.

Very impressive Frank! Personally I don't like to see late war vehicles looking like scrapyard items, they didn't see enough service to look that bad. Yours is just right IMHO. Don't worry about the exhaust. it's fine, the heat soon disposes of any paint finish on a mild steel exhaust, just crawl under the car & check (unless it has a stainless system that is, they just go a yucky brown colour!).

Best wishes for a speed recovery!

And the Hetzer is superb!

Excellent work, the paint & weathering is great. I especially like the streak marks - how were those done?

I would imagine that it would have had a stock attached so that it could be dismouted and used, on the CVR series we carried a stock, so that by replacing the recoil assembly we were abhle to use it dismounted in the Light Machine-Gun Role.

John

Beautiful paint job, and awesome model. Sorry about the foot, but at least you have a great hobby to keepyou busy while you recover. All the best.

Cheers,
Salvo

You would think they would but...



...not all did.

I don't know how common / uncommon this was.

BTW - This is a great Hetzer page (it never shows up on Google).
http://www.pzfahrer.net/

Frank, just an outstanding looking Hetzer here, very very nice!

This model would make an excellent Models on Display Feature on the Armorama home page. If you're interested in submitting 10-12 pics that show this one off, please let me know, and we'll get them submitted.

Great work.

Steve
Armorama Content Scout