Yup, that’s the gun sight. When you asked about periscopes it caught me off-guard…since there aren’t any periscopes on the StuG F per se…just the gun sight and the driver’s binocular scopes when the armored hood is closed.
Looking good here, Edmund–nice job on that camo!
Thanks Karl your Silly Putty tutorial was the key.
Build Update:
Current Assembly and Dissassembly Time: 26 hours
Current Painting Time: 12 Hours
Weathering Time: 1 Hour
Aggregate Build Time: 39 Hours
I put three hours into detailing the Pioneer tools and “thinking” about where to place extra track runs and tow cables! I am one hour short of 40 hours! [:-^]
My question is this an average time or just a reflection of my newness to the hobby?
Well, I spend WAAAYYY more than 40 hours…
That’s looking VERY nice, Edmund. The camo is exceptional, I can’t beleive it’s your first 2 tone.
Well done.
Bill
Thanks Bill I just simply did what you told me to do on your last post! “Get some Cammo on her!”
Build Update:
Current Assembly and Dissassembly Time: 26 hours
Current Painting Time: 13 Hours
Weathering Time: 1 Hour
Aggregate Build Time: 40 Hours
I finished up painting the pioneer tools and scratch built some mounting brackets for track runs from spare PE.
I saw a pic of a bracket system that I think I could scratch build but my question is was this on the Ausf F or just the G? It’s way cool and would allow me to realistically mount some stowage.
If someone has already done this please let me know what to look out for.
Regards,
The previous reference picture I linked was not clear so here is the pic I had a question about.
Build Update:
Current Assembly and Dissassembly Time: 27 hours
Current Painting Time: 15 Hours
Weathering Time: 1 Hour
Aggregate Build Time: 43 Hours
I finished painting, weathering and mounting the majority of the pioneer tools but my pry bar commited sucide in a pool of CA so I will be starting over on another one.
I also scratch built a Spare Track Link Rack for the lower font hull using a single strip of .010" x .080" plasticard .
Here a few Pics:
I also went to the LHS tonight and picked up some Evergreen StripStyrene so I can scratch build my first stowage rack. It should be a fun exercise. The guy at the LHS said you could use heat to bend the Pasticard and I would not have to cut them? I have my doubts about that method but I will give it a try on a practice piece.
Looking good Edmund! Spending more than 40 hours on a build like this isn’t really that uncommon. My Grille H build (interior and open-topped) has already surpassed the 70 hour mark and is likely to end up in the 75-80 range before it’s all said and done.
As to your question about the stowage rack on the rear, very common for crews to create their own there and incorporate spare tracks into the design. It was only with the mid-Ausf Gs and later that a factory designed stowage rack was added to the vehicles. Look forward to seeing what you come up with. [tup]
A small suggestion I’d make is to paint the metal ends of the cleaning rods. They were usually made of wood and had aluminum or steel end caps that were threaded so that each staff would join with the next to create the full length bore cleaning swab and staff arrangement. [;)]
Build Update:
Current Assembly and Dissassembly Time: 29 hours
Current Painting Time: 17 Hours
Weathering Time: 2 Hour
Aggregate Build Time: 48 Hours
Hi Bill,
I apologize for the latenes of my reply and I owe you a PM as well. My Father is visiting us from North Dakota and I have been going through modeling withdrawl but that ended tonight with five hours of goodness! [(-D]
I will make the changes on the cleaning rods. I forgot about that detail o nthis one. Thanks Bill.
I puttered with some Evergreen Strip Styerene and some Silly Putty and this is what I came up with.
I still need to finish detail painting and weathering on this on but I am taking my time so I stay subtle.
Off to Bed!
Looking good! [:)]
Rack looks good Edmund, nice little personal touch to add to the build. [tup]
Very cool, I like this a lot!
Thanks Jim, Bill and Huxy appreciate the comments. I wasn’t satisfied with it though and I have some great ideals on how to improve it for the next build but that’s always how it is isn’t it!
I added a track bracket to the outside for both artisitic and practical reasons. I am going to place a number of wood ammo boxes in the rear staowage area and misc stowage.
I have not weathered the tracks or rack yet still work in progress.
Build Update:
Current Assembly and Dissassembly Time: 29 hours
Current Painting Time: 17 Hours
Weathering Time: 12 Hours
Aggregate Build Time: 58 Hours
I was only able to get a few hours in here and there over the last nine days due to famliy visiting from North Dakota and a Halibut & Ling Cod Fishing Trip. I love the the Ling Cod they have cool looking cammo!
I finsihed the filters and washes and also did a pin wash with wash brown and black oil paints. I completed the rear stowage rack and weathered the tracks and mufflers with Mig Pigments standard and light rust.
My next steps will be chipping and pigments on the upper hull. I have some pieces of chain weathered up to hang off the back and for the ammo boxes that I am going to load on the rear. I will use my MIG Resin and Mud pigments and static grass to mud up the lower hull before I mount the tracks.
I have never weathered and chipped a cammo finish so any suggestions will be well received. [:)]
Glad to see you back at the bench Edmund…was wondering where you’d got off to! Sounds like the fishing run was a success.
You might want to go back over the spare tracks and redo some of them. Some of them have ejector marks visible in the close-up shots and the rust is pretty heavy, something I’d recommend toning down a bit. On the rear hull the sheet metal deflector plate that sits over the exhausts wouldn’t have rusted the way you have it now. It was designed to redirect the hot air exhaust from the engine compartment to reduce the amount of dust kicked up while on the move and would’be been painted hull color. HTH. [;)]
Hey Bill,
Yes it was a success! I pulled up 4 Halibut at 500 ft weighing from 40-60 lbs. Thank God I lift weights every day. Each one took about 30-45 minutes to pull up.
I was wondering about the ejector marks on the tracks so that should be smooth then… I wasn’t sure if they were ejector marks or not. I will do that from now on before I assemble Magic Tracks.
The only color reference photos I found on the metal deflector plate were actually models and they all had light or heavy rust on it so I the photos don’t reflect on how much lighter it is than the mufflers. I can lighten it though no worries. I can also tone down the spare tracks as well. Do you think the camo looks faded enough?
Here is a front shot I forgot earlier:
Thanks as always for your comments Bill!
That’s some nice catches for sure Edmund…40-60 lbs is a lot of fish to wear down!
The Magic tracks have several advantages but they still require some inspection/cleanup even though they already come loose from the sprues. The ejector marks are usually raised and can be dealt with easily but you have to check each one as sometimes they will be readily visible, sometimes nonexistent, and then the “in between” where there are slight or partial marks.
Since the deflector plate doesn’t actually have any contact or relation to the muffler/exhaust, there’s no real reason for it to develop rust unless it’s been damaged from the vehicle backing into things and then left exposed to the elements. If you’ve seen it on completed models, it’s done as an artistic license and not for realism. The deflector is there to redirect air and the air is really just the warm air from the compartment, not the super-hot exhaust from the engine, so the metal wouldn’t be exposed to the sort of heat extremes that would cause it to lose paint and heavily rust. The air that gets expelled is just circulated air over the radiators that was drawn in from the side intakes.
Thanks for the info Bill. I learn so much here and my own research about each model I make which is as much fun as making them. I was watching Patton 360 in the History Channel and I saw some really cool Stug III G’s on there and Stug IV’s. What’s really cool is I am recongnizing the tanks and the variants of each.
So far I like the PZ.IV’s the best!
Build Update:
Current Assembly and Dissassembly Time: 29 hours
Current Painting Time: 17 Hours
Weathering Time: 14 Hours
Aggregate Build Time: 60 Hours
I was able to get two hours in tonight mounting the road wheels and weathering the drive and guide wheels. I was able to tone down the rust on the tracks but decided to leave the ejection marks on this one since I mounted everything and I would damage the model.
