My next diorama will have two vehicles. An Italeri Pzkpfw V Panther ausf D and Dragon’s Sdkfz 250/1 Le Spw Alte along with some figures.
6 Likes
Nice, looking forward to this!
1 Like
The Panther kit was a relic that was my friends. He started it, but I will finish it. There were some parts that were missing, so I had to kitbash the kit, but I like how it’s coming along. I’ve begun the workable tracks and I know they’ll take some time to finish, but I won’t attach them intil the appropriate time. Here are a couple of WIP pics. As always all comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.
5 Likes
Hello everyone. Hope you all had a good 250th Independence Day. Between a power outage and friends and family over, I couldn’t get much done. But I’m back to it and have started the tracks for the Panther D. Looking forward to making more progress on this project.
4 Likes
Well the tracks are finished. Although there will be tweaking. Now its time for priming and the basecoat color.
3 Likes
Hey everyone, I primed my Panther with the German dark red, then I airbrushed a Yellow Ochre as the basecoat. That’s because I was low on Dark Yellow and didn’t want to use Desert Yellow. But I like the ‘straight from the factory’ look with the basecoat. Next, I’ll airbrush Red Brown splotches as part of the camouflage, paint the road wheels and equipment, and proceed from there. Please enjoy the pics.
2 Likes
Hey, I wanted to use Red Brown as the camo color, but it looked purplish instead of brown. So I decided on Deep Green, which I’m happy with the way it came out. I’ll give it a dark wash to tone down the camo colors. But first I need to finish the suspension, road wheels and tracks. Enjoy the pics.
6 Likes
Hey everyone. Well, I painted the road wheels, the hull and turret and gave them an oil pin wash. Next I’ll give it a dark wash to tone down the camouflage along with some metalizing and highlighting of the vehicle. Then I suppose attaching the tracks and decaling will be in order. I’m still trying to decide the figures that I’ll be using.
3 Likes
Well, as I stated before, the dark wash to tone down the base color and camo has been applied along with the metalizing/highlighting dry brush, in these WIP pics. I like how it looks and now the decals/transfers and tracks are next on the menu. Comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.
2 Likes
Hey everyone, I finally attached the tracks and placed the markings on the Panther with Archer Fine Transfers. I ordered a unit marking of the Kursk Operation version of the 2nd SS Pz. Div. ‘Das Reich’ and will put it on when I get it. Basically this Panther is done, although some tweaking is yet to happen. Enjoy the WIP pics.
3 Likes
I’m still waiting for my transfers, so I made these 75mm ammo boxes. I like how they look although the decals might need some tweaking.
1 Like
Well, I finally got my transfers, but they turned out to be decals. But no matter, Archer makes very good decals. The decals for the 2nd SS Pz. Div. ‘Das Reich’ have been placed and except maybe for some tweaking later on, this Panther D is done. Now, it’s on to the halftrack. All comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.
3 Likes
The Panther turned out nicely! The dark yellow color on this one is pretty cool looking.
1 Like
Hey all! I finally started the Sd Kfz 250/1 Halftrack. I built parts of it, primed and painted it in dark german grey. The suspension wheels are ready to be attached along with the tracks. Now for some serious model building. More WIP as I go along.
3 Likes
Hey everyone. I want to update you on the progress of the halftrack. I’ve attached the suspension, track wheels, tracks and tires and got started on the interior. For a small kit, there are plenty of detailed parts. Enjoy the WIP pics.
4 Likes
Just got some work done. The driver has found his seat and pretty soon the camo and decals will find their places. Enjoy the WIP pics.
3 Likes
Nice progression on this build, Manuel. Looking back through the different stages you’ve posted, it’s really interesting to see how all those layers come together. The end result looks great!
I’m primarily an aircraft modeler, but I’ve been paying a lot more attention to armor builds lately because I’m trying to learn more about how you guys approach them. Builds like this are really helpful because I can see the progression from one step to the next.
Now I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with the halftrack and how everything comes together in the final diorama.
2 Likes
Half-tracks are such weird machines. I’ve always wondered why they went through all the trouble of combining wheels and tracks instead of just making the thing fully tracked. 
I’ve been a little behind on this thread, but it’s been interesting scrolling through your build and seeing it come together through the different stages. There’s a surprising amount going on in such a small vehicle.
I’m looking forward to seeing what the camo does to it. This whole diorama is really starting to come together.
1 Like
Well thank you Samphoto. I appreciate the comment. I also like to endeavor into aircraft, in the 1/72 scale as aircraft are much larger. As for why make half tracks, the concept is to have a vehicle that can go over unpaved roads i.e Russian front with its tracks, yet still have a front wheel to steer and maneuver the vehicle. Unfortunately my research has shown that the Sdkfz 250/1 was the opposite. Great on the hard surfaced roads but slow on unpaved roads. Still it served its function. The best one will always be Sdkfz 251.
1 Like
That’s interesting. I would have assumed exactly the opposite about the half-track, which is another example of why I enjoy the research side of this hobby. Sometimes you start looking into something because of a model and end up finding out that your assumptions about the real thing were completely wrong. Thanks for the great info!
1 Like