[quote=“pr154, post:40, topic:375793, full:true”]
Fantastic technique! I’ve been going out of my mind trying to reconcile control over the camo pattern from masking with maintaining some diffusion at the interface… Looks like you’ve hit hole in one!
[/quote]Thanks Darren. I’m learning a LOT during this build.
She’s started taking on a little personality with the addition of decals to the turret and R/H rear infrared storage box at the R/H rear of the tank. Also hung a couple more parts on her and completed painting the barrel cleaning kit stowage tube which will be put on after I coat the whole tank with semi-gloss clear. Then …it’s off to building & painting the road wheels and then the weathering process.
I also opted against the use of the rubber band tracks that come in the kit and went with a 3D printed set from Panzerwerk Design.
Thanks Christopher. I wanted something out of the norm for the scheme on this one. Seems like I’m a glutton for punishment on out of the ordinary schemes on about everything I build. lol
I managed to get the rubber painted on the L/H side road wheels, install some hooks on the side of the turret for hanging things like water bottles (using the thicker Coke can bottoms cut into strips), gear and camo netting, applied a pin wash over the details, installed all of the hand holds & handles and applied a dark wash using burnt umber & black oils mixed over the sides and lower sides of the hull.
Up next will be the light chipping effects using different colors.
Been workin’ on this one for a while Russ it’s good to have the “modification expert” in armor along for the ride.
I made some progress in the weathering department. After reading a book called Panzer Ace over the past month or so I found out that these things got stuck all the time at the end of the war with some of the less experienced crews, so I depicted this one as just getting out of a muddy situation. Things like grit effects, weathering pastes and washes took center stage here.
I feel that I may have gone a little overboard with some of the mud around the lower sides of the hull but it’s all a learning curve for me right now. I can break some of that up with the addition of a side skirt panel or two I think though.
I took it a slight bit easier at the back of the hull:
These Panzerwerk tracks are the frickin’ BOMB!! A little time consuming but these are SO easy to put together that it’s almost a dang crime.
Got one side done and have it tacked in place on the build. I am VERY pleased with this:
Nice choice. The Panther is probably my favorite German tank. I built the original Tamiya Panther when I was a teenager. I remember painting it with my Paasche VL , in our unheated detached garage with an unregulated air compressor. It must have been January or February , because it was quite cold out. I remember having to pour hot water over the compressor cylinder to warmp up the oil in order to get it to start. I would air it up to about 40 PSI and spray until it was down to about 20 . The paint job came out pretty good at the time from what I remember.
Joe, your Panther is really shaping up nicely! When doing the camo, how are you doing it? Is it free handed or masked? Kinda hard to tell from this end but looks freehand?
As for mud, there is no such thing as too much mud lol
Love the progress!
Happy Modeling,
Mike
Excellent first armor kit to build being a Tamiya and a Late G. Your best decision was getting indi links giving a bit of slack. If you’re feeling ambitious and have some experience with basic PE, I highly reccomend the Dragon G Late Smart Kit. The details are more accurate and refined and has the very late 7th position steel wheel. Excellent work, keep chipping away at this awesome animal.
Looks great Joe! The mud looks good. I think it would be hard to overdo it. I’ve found that it’s pretty easy to get the wet look of the mud by applying several coats of clear on it. Just put it on with a brush. Tracks look killer.
I masked the camo and then painted the yellow lines free hand and used enamel thinner and a worn out brush to blur the yellow line, Thank you for the comments Mike.
I’m really trying to keep the weathering “in check” and have only gotten carried away with the mud aspects on the sides of the hull really. Just didn’t know how much was too much when applying but I think I’ve got that all figured out now.
There’s been a lot of work going on as far as painting and weathering these tracks. I started with a base coat of 70%-gun metal and 30% brown mixed and then moved on to a wash of White Mud Weathering Paste followed up by a light coat of Dark Mud Weathering Paste on in the center portion of the track links. This was then followed up by a dry brushing of Steel over the links to bring out the bare metal on the high points of the track. I’ve still got to apply a metal effect on the center track horns but we’re getting there:
Spent a LOT of time with these tracks trying to get the right look without messing them all up. I mean…I wanted 'em dirty but not filthy. Even coming home after being stuck, while the hull would still have some mud on it, the tracks would shed most of that as the vehicle was being driven. I put a light coat of grit on the tracks and wiped the excess off of the track cleats. Then I came back over them with a light coat of Dark Weathering Pasted thinned with some oderless thinner for oils. I believe I have the results I was after now with a perfect balance of residual mud on the tracks. All I have to do is set track tension across the tops of the road wheels and this side is done.
I’m down to the short list now with only the spare road wheel painting & weathering, exhaust muffler shroud painting & rust effects, turret machine gun paint, detailing and install, odds & ends like canteens and individual equipment install and finally the driver commander figure paint up and install left to do. Also gotta turn the spare tracks the right way. Goofed on that one.
. The paint job came out pretty good at the time from what I remember.
