So, I had 3 or 4 boxed kits lying around half-started, waiting some 15-20 years to be dealt with.
One of those is an old Tamiya Marder 2 kit but first I had to buy everything new again, brushes, paints, compressor, putty…, since I had quit modelling for a few years.
I thougth this one would be the easiest of the bunch and boy… was I wrong!
Nothing fits, ejector marks everywhere, random holes, not so much detail, all for a kit I’d hope it’d be straight from the box.
The good old Tamiya kit. It was released in 1971. First tried to convert one from Tamiyas kit their Panzer 2 in 1970, then the kit of the Marder came out. Was over joyed, I was 20 years old.
You will see a lot of their ejector pin holes will be covered, the others a simple to sand out. The work you have done looks good. It a small part of modeling. Fun, right. The newer DML kit is better, but possibly not available any more. I have built them both, a few times, you’ll like it.
That’s a good old kit! I did one back in the 80’s. First armor kit that I used my then new Badger 350 airbrush on. It’s still one of my better builds on the shelf, 33 or so years later.
Thank you!
This kit is fighting me all the way to the end.
Today after priming with black I was going to spray the innards with Vallejo dark yellow and the paint globbed up on the kit like over thinned paint.
And now I’m screwed two fold. This is the eye-dropper airbrush ready Vallejo paint wich I cannot underthin and the stores are closed under lockdown.
Gotta wait for mail order…
Will start the Wespe, next in line.
I had the same experience with AK Interactive acrylics. They really gummed up my brush. I later found out that I was using an uncompatible thinner for thinning the paint. I wish that the paint manufacturers would start to include instructions for using their products.
If your not using the same brand thinner and paint with acrylics, try mixing them in a safe place first and see how they interact together before trying to shoot them thru your airbrush. I have several little metal cups for that purpose.
I didn’t thin out the paint at all. Just shoke it well and assumed it was ready for airbrushing. Looked thin and the tin said “Airbrush” on it.
It even smelled really great!!! Ahahahhahaah!
In retrospective I should’ve open the thing and mix with a brush handle or something.
Oh well, Tamiya paints are on the way now, at least I know how those work.
I have very, very, very old Gunze and Life Color acrylics wich after mixing brush just fine, but those are all RLM LW colors. BTW, this is my current AB, old Badger given by my father, I gess this is as old as the kit itself:
Got to buy a decent compressor too. I just started the Wespe kit wile I wait for stuff to arrive.
I stopped using factory/company paint thinners. I use alcohol to thin them down to the consistency of skim milk. It works well for me. Good luck, I like the models you’re putting together.
Progress has been slow, I’m learning modeling all over again and trying out old airbrushes I found at my folks home. Head seals were toast from compression and air was passing to the cups and was experiencing lots of paint spater (thinning is still black magic to me too…). “Fixed” them by crafting rubber seals until teflon ones arrive.
No problem, this is all fun stuff. Probably will get a Steenbeck for birthday, soon [:D]
Hey Pedro. You’re doing great work. Even after years of modelling experience painting remains a dark art for me. I also have the same Badger airbrush and there is nothing wrong with it that some skill on my part wouldn’t fix!!
I’ve messed up the decals on these two. They will now be hidden in the recently inaugurated Shell of Doom until I have enough patience to sand the top coat and replace the silvered decals.
I must emphasize that it’s all good fun, live and learn, just started a 39H Geshutzwagen from Trumpeter (marvelous kit), got a nice little stach of kits for the next months and even started my youngest on a 109 too
Is this the kit with the winking eyed pirate decal? If so, I remember enjoying building the kit way back in the 1980s. Straight out of the box, tan/sand spray from a rattle can, and a pseudo camouflage paint scheme and it sat on a shelf in my room for ages before being tossed in a box in pieces.
