Hello Guys.
My entry to the Meow campaign. Dragons late panther A. Im also using Attak zimmerit, Aber PE and barrel and friul tracks.
When looking through a few reference books on the Panther, most images seemed to have this tank on rail cars, so I thought, why not! The car is also Dragon´s Ssys car and I was having so much fun with it, I built the Ommr car as well (this also allowed the hooking system tobe completed on the Ssys car). The 2 old flaks are there for show only, but Ive ordered Dragon´s new Jaboschrek to use instead. Eventually these will be pulled by Trumpeter´s BR52, but Im concentrating on these first, for the campaign.
At this stage, the main body is complete and the zimmerit is fixed using 5 minutes epoxy. Any edges were fixed with gel superglue. Wheels are not fixed,only placed quickly for photos.
All comments and critic are welcome.

This is a tip I posted previously, but just in case anybody interested has missed it.



The wheels on the Dragon cars are a fraction too narrow for the Trumpeter tracks and will easily slide off to the inside.
If you glue the wheels as per instruction (as shown in image 1) this will happen.
But if you only place the wheels on the axles without glueing, and then when the whole assembly is added, move the wheels to the outside (as shown in image 2) by about 1 - 2mm each side, and the wheels will sit perfectly on the Trumpeter tracks. No other adjustment is needed. The brake pads can set to close in on the outer wheel rim instead, if needed. Then lightly cement the wheel to the axle only, allowing the little gap as shown in "2". The whole axle can still rotate, which allows easier painting. Hope this is of some help. Cheers!

The next stage completed. All the smaller details were added as per instruction and added PE accordingly. Some PE pieces were not used as it simply was too much bother, or took too long, or impossible to add, or wouldn´t be seen really after painting, or all of the above. I added what I felt was necessary or was fun, but after that, anything that become tedious was left off.
The friuls were used previously on an Italeri Panther, because their kit tracks were awful. As the rest was OOB and in the early days, I thought these tracks were better served here.
All painting so far on the rail cars was made by the airbrush and tamiya acrylic paints.





Wheels andtracks are only placed for photos

Hi all

Here is my first entry into one of the campaigns. I have recently moved to Latvia from Denmark and hobby supplies are hard to come by in Latvia. This is the ESCI Jagdpanther in 1/72 scale. It is build OOB and with the limited painting supplies available

My AFVs for entry into the forthcoming campaigns in the 2007 will be better when all the ordered stuff from internet hobby suppliers arrive and I get my airbrush and compressor moved here.

Next stage is the painting. All paint so far is with the airbrush and tamiya acrylics, thinned with isopropynol alcohol.

Next stages was detail painting and decals. All brush painting was with Humbrol enamels and a little oils for the wood. Decals were kit decals, set with microsol/microset. Decals were a bit on the thick side and took loads of microset to comply with the zimmerit. The images here are alittle shiny as they still have the klear cote, ready for washes and filters. Wheels are placed for photographs.
As usual, any comments or critic are welcome.

Some images with rail cars.







The OMMR car will be loaded with Dragons new Jaboschrek and stores .. then its Trumpeters BR52 to pull them!

Beautiful Frank! You can easily turn a normal kit into a beauty! How good were the rail cars? I'm planning to get one, but because they're old moulds, fit problems may arise.

Hi Ralph. Thanks very much for your kind words.
As regards to the rail cars, I wouldn´t say theres any major problems, and nothing that I would consider age related. Maybe not Dragons current mould quality, just the usual seam clean-up. See my post above if you are using Trumpeter rail tracks. Its also worth taking a little extra time to get the main frames of each car, square. I cemented them together, added the body pieces and let them set under the weight of a book overnight. The body pieces hold them parallel as well. If they are not properly squared and parallel, they wont sit right on the tracks.
Im actually quite impressed with the simulated wood effect on the body pieces. Should paint up nicely. Most of the parts are for the boogies, and can be kept seperate, for ease of painting. No need for major clean-up as these are mostly invisible and painted in dark colours.
The decals on the other hand ... especially on the Ssys car are dreadful. They fall apart very easily and are practically impossible to move when placed, without them tearing. I would recommend putting in some extra work and dividing them where possible. Then placing the cut parts individually and take extra care when placing them. Extra work maybe, but will be a lot more frustrating if the decals are lost. Pity Dragon wouldn´t update these with new decals from cartograph.
If you are only going to build one car and leave unattached, the hooking system is not an issue. But if you are hooking up to another car or the BR52, the hooking system is adjustable, and its best to build both to get the length right.

This is coming along really well Frank, you are turning out yet another masterpiece.

John

Great build! I really like it. And I'm sorry, but I have to ask: how did you paint the rail-cars? For the death of me I can't make that subtle variation of shades on my models. (From lighter gray to darker in the sides.)
Thanks...

Thanks John and Andras, for your very kind comments.



Its whats called pre-shading. The model is first painted in a dark version of the base colour, then a lighter version is sprayed in the middle to simulate fading. Its done quite easily with the airbrush ... the lighter shade should be thin and built up so the edges are feint and natural, the colour concentrated closer to the middle. It can also be done with a brush, but is difficult to get right and natural ... plus it takes a long time. Steve (Wewillhold) Keegan used to great weathering effects by drybrushing the middle of panels with lighter shades. Its actually not difficult with a little practise, and I suppose, a decent airbrush.
As well as defining the details, it also is a good base for weathering!

Frank, I am sooooo jealous of your skills, this looks way too cool! Hope I can make similar models sometime in the future.

Thanks very much Emre for the nice compliments. I havent done anything, that an average modeller can´t do. When I started out, I felt the same, and actaully I still do, considering the levels some modellers take their work to. Keep at it, you´ll get there. With some effort, and taking the advantage of the great help available on sites like this, it can be done quicker than you think!

At last, some final images. This is complete for now, but will be included in a larger diorama later. Some final weathering will be made then, to tie this into the final scene. There are also 2 figures planned for this particular car.

Looking great,Frank! The Panther looks ready to rumble off at a moments notice. I've always envisioned the dio you are doing-armor re-supply/transfer train.Flak support,flatcars,crews,the works.Keep going!(somebody's gotta do it,might as well be you! )*o* .
One thing to remember,in peace or wartimes,railroad transports are impossible to 'overweather'.Beat up,shot up,and crunched up,if they rolled and the brakes and couplings worked,they went to work."pretty" didn't come into play and it was truly a 'run it till it dies' attitude.With that said,maybe some of the heavy timber decking of the flat cars could be chewed up a touch more by squirming treads and such.Metal parts perfect for a 'chipping frenzy' :-) :-)
Great stuff!

Excellent work Frank, both on the Panther and the rail cars

Could you explain how you did the radiator grills? Did you paint them the insides black before you put he grills on top?

Regards from the Swamp

Eth

Hi Frank,

By far one of the nicest Panthers I´ve seen for a long time - look forward to see it with the BR52. Impressive build and paint skills you have put on display.

Best regards from Denmark
Morten