Hi Shcatten – here’s the beast I’ll be starting with:
I’ll be cutting sprue momentarily! We’re in the grips of a severe heatwave in Australia and painting is not advisable just yet, the AB doesn’t behave very predictably, so I’ll build instead, fleshing out my long line of projects awaiting the paint shop! Hopefully I’ll come back for the Marder II as well!
Cheers, thanks for having me aboard,
Mike/TB379
That’s a nice kitten! Got ya added!
Hey guys. Been a bit busier recently so work has slowed down. Really slowed to be precise but here is what it is currently up to. I’ve sprayed the interior of the vehicle in black, although putting that machine gun in after I did that is starting to bug me.
The main gun has been particularly sweet though. Only very minimal sanding needed for the seam.
Thanks, Schatten – it should be a straight forward build, but that’s what you’d expect from Tamiya, regardless of the era (this one is copyright 1993.) Here’s today’s output, 54 parts used so far:
Target for tomorrow: exhausts and jack, upper hull detail parts and main gun.
Cheers, M/TB379
Blitz, Mike: some nice progress going on there, guys!
Nice, you guys are moving right along!
Hot night here in Aus, can’t sleep yet, so have the main gun mostly together… Will check seams in the morning, fill and smooth as needed, then add the saukopf and mount the barrel to the inner section/trunions/breach unit.
M/TB379
So much for thinking this build would be easy[:P]
And that’s after sanding everything down. Oh well I think the front will be pretty easy to fill in. The engine deck might be a little trickier. Also realized that I’m missing one of the return rollers, its a good thing the kit comes with side skirts[;)]
But at least its starting to look like a Jagdpanzer 38t
David
Hi guys, I’m considering having a go at the figure with the Jagdpanther kit. The moulding is superb, with separate arms, head and cap, and I got a set of oils for Christmas which set me thinking I could take a shot at the features in that medium, while airbrushing the uniform and cap. I did some research and found a thread at Armorarma on Jagdpanther crew uniforms, which can be found here:
I’ve not tried a figure in twenty years as I was never able to get my head around painting skintones, but maybe it’s time to take a shot.
I’ve pressed on with construction, there’s little else I can do in such a heatwave, and there’ll be another photo after today’s stint is definitely done.
Cheers, Mike/TB379
David: That is a very tiny tank, and at that size you would definitely hope the parts count would be low. I can just see tiny plastic parts just whizzing through the air if I tried something that sized. I didn’t see them on your picture of the kit but are the tracks vinyl or are they individual link?
Mike, Go ahead and give it a shot painting the figures. Even if they don’t turn out perfect the first time it will give you some experience.
Blitzwing, The parts count is really low. However, there’s a lot of cleanup on the tiny parts not much fun. The kit comes with vinyl tracks and are kind of junk. But I’m going to grin and bear it and use them. Individual tracks would drive me crazy!
David
Thanks, David, I will – certainly if I’m going to do the Marder II, the open fighting compartment is accented by two figures so it would be even more important, and the current build is a great place to get some practice.
Today’s targets were all accomplished, 56 more parts used, total now 110. here she is:
Target for tomorrow: complete upper hull fittings, including rear hatch and top hatches, bearer frames for tools, bow MG and headlight, plus mount the gun. Then possibly close the hull up.
Cheers, Mike/TB379
Hey David, that is some sloppy fit! Looks good from the top though!
Mike: Nice work on the Jadgkitty. And give the figure a whirl- if you don’t like it, strip the paint and paint him again!
I think you should try to paint the figure as well, Mike! I still have to find a kit with a half-decent figure I can practice on… You are really digging into that kitty!
David: That gap looks bad, but the rest of that little bugger looks excellent so far. My 1/35 Hetzer is a tiny model already, so I’m truly impressed with you building the even smaller one…
David, nice little gap in the front of that, but its looking nice.
Mike, nice start. I have been trying to do figures for armour builds for over 20 years and still don’t have the hang of it, but they just don’t seem right without. Go for it.
Hi guys, here’s the progress after the third build day, 37 more parts used (total 147):
That’s about it, she’s up against the paint barrier, so she joins the lineup waiting for colour. I’ve no idea when this heatwave will be over, so it could be a while before there’s an update. Probably the first job will be to paint the exhausts/mufflers for six tank models in one go, and move them all along.
I might pull the Italeri Jagdpanzer IV/L-70 with AM and review where I was on that one, it might be a productive one to fiddle with in the meantime – I’ll keep you posted.
Cheers, Mike/TB379
PS: remaining top hatches will go on after painting, and I’ll be getting an etch set for the grills. The only modification I’ve made is the driver’s visor, which was simply a hole – I studied photos and other builds and it seems there was something there, it’s hard to tell what but I made the decision to blank it off with what would be either an armoured visor or a transparency, it can be finished as either.
Good progress Mike. I have 3 queueing up for some cooler weather myself.
Cheers
Tony
TB: your JP’s coming along nicely.
Hello gang just wanted to jump in and you know I’m still here and should be jumping into my academy stg-4 within the next few day. Ill be posting the unboxing and cleaning things up and maybe some trial fitting. Ill have some ketching up to do a few you took off with a bang. And some nice work it is. 
Mike: Your Jagdkitty looks really nice! I know what you mean with heat waves. We had a horribly hot summer this year (37-38° Celsius in Vienna for days)…
