In another thread I said the Alan Panzer II C was the worst plastic model kit I ever built. However, that’s relative because its only the 8th kit I’ve built since returning to the hobby. I just wanted a quick, little kit so I could practice on painting schwarzgrau vehicles and this kit was cheap and had few parts (compared to Dragon’s Panzer I B). Several weeks later here is the finished assembly ready for primer and schwarzgrau. Most of the time spent was in correcting all the little molding flaws, improper fit of tracks, fenders and other items, and adding better fittings and accessories.
I didn’t have a whole lot of references so some of my additions or corrections might not be totally accurate (ie, the fire extinguisher came from an old Panzer IV kit).
All the work I did on it makes it look pretty OK in my eyes. I just hope I don’t mess up the paint job![D)]
I think you’ll be fine Ernest. It’s looking pretty nifty so far. Did you come up short on links on the left side or did it break? Hopefully you can repair it.
Thanks Eric. The tracks are broken into two runs each for painting so they’re not glued in those spots. They’ll be glued together on the suspension when the tracks are fully painted. [8D]
Ernest wow you have really done a number on this one dood and i know from experience it couldnt have been easy but to say this is only number 8 this is quite impressive, a very well done and i look forward to seeing her painted.
looks nice. i like how you improvised and found spare parts or scratchbuilt for the bad pieces. i espically like the weld seams, what’s the secret? look forward to seeing some paint on it.
Thanks for the good words everyone, I really appreciate it and am glad others are enjoying the build so far. Its already primered, basecoated and now is getting the highlight treatment. I’ll post some in progress photos in a couple of hours or so.
roosterpelo - I used 2 different methods for the weld seams. For the turret I used the method Tom Cockle uses in his fine Osprey book, “Modeling the Early Panzer IV”. He uses a 2 part putty called ZimItRite (very similar to Aves Apoxie Sculpt) and rolls it very thin. The thin string of putty is applied to the area and then a toothpick with a convex tip is used to make the weld beads. He makes it look so easy and the results are fantastic, however I found the putty hard to use. It kept sticking to everything and had a hard time laying straight.
I then resorted to the stretched sprue method for the hull. I simply stretched some sprue to the appropriate thickness, cut it to size and glued them in the seams. If there wasn’t a seam I made one using the reverse edge/tip of a #11 blade. This method is so much easier and less stressful!! Once these were dry I used the hot knife method using a sharp blade tip to make the weld beads. I brushed Tamiya Extra Thin Cement on these to soften the beads and to remove any stringers leftover from the hot knife. The results may not be as nice as the putty method, but I at least I still have some hair left![(-D]
thanks for sharing ernest. i just finished a T-34 where i had to make the weld seam on the turret, and i just masked it off with tape, and applied some tamiya putty. i have some aves and i’ll have to try that method, or the thin rod treament with glue and a hot knife. thanks for the helpful tip.
No problem roo! The tape and putty method works too! I just like to experiment and try different methods.
I tried to post this last night, but the forums were down. Then I tried to post today, but turns out my work has blocked photobucket. Anyway, this is what I’ve done so far:
I primered with Mr. Surfacer 1000 in a spray can, then preshaded with Tamiya XF-17 Sea Blue (suggested by fingerseddie), then mistcoated with Vallejo German Grey.
My lights are bright and wash out the subtle shadows created by the preshading. Ugh, in fact the shading on the turret is practically gone…guess I got carried away the the mistcoating! Looks like I’ll be doing some postshading tomorrow!
The tracks were sprayed with an enamel mix of MM Flat Black and MM Rust to achieve a milk chocolate color.
Thanks doog! Everythings gone good so far, except I lost one of the turret hatches. I think I washed it down the sink…so I’ll be doing more scratchbuilding![sigh]
Other than swearing off coffee for a week and a steady hand, how do you paint the pioneer tools. I always leave them off until after everything is painted.
