Unless I find anything to the contrary, I’m painting it green and then apply a series of oil washes to grunge it up. Thanks again for digging that up for me. [:)]
np espins1… glad I could help with something 
So since today is my day off woohoo I actually have the WHOLE day to work on my 3 kits. I also reorginzed my desk/build area to make building more pleasent. It looks pretty good for only having a small space. One major prob is that I am not allowed to paint inside… however… some resent news told to me yesterday may be a way to get around that issue haha… after having my car stolen, I was told I have to move out of the room I am renting. I jsut moved in 4 months ago and jsut finally got settled. Got all my tools/suplies orginzed and ready to start building, now I have to prepare to move yet again. This year started out so well… haha
Anyways… here is the pic of my new work station…
Also on the lowe chassis, there are what looks liek giant injection holes or whatever… the circular holes that usually need to be filled… not sure if they should be filled or not… or are they supposed to be there.
I soooo need to do the same thing with my modeling area, it’s a disaster right now. I have waaay too many things going on in my den what with all the computers, guitar stuff, modeling stuff, bills etc.
This ejector pin marks should be ok unless it has an interior which you’re planning on showing and they’ll be seen.
Edited 1-10-07
It is a capital letter on all of them, changed to post to correct it (thanks Hermisminiatures! [bow])
Here is a higher resolution scan of “Büffel”. I haven’t been able to track one down of “Falke”. It’s hard to see, but the B is a capital B on Büffel. You may have to experiment with zooming in and out on that picture as it stands out better with certain views. I would assume Falke was done in the same font, so to speak, although Tiger and Puma from the other platoon have a different lettering style than Büffel.
It may be hard to find a photo of “falke” for the simple reason that Albert Ernst only had it in combat for 3 days before it was disabled by Russian artillery and then blown up in a brave and daring mission on foot to prevent the Russians from repairing and using it. I don’t know how long he had “Falke” before they entered combat. Either way, I can find no photographic evidence of it.
I would imagine that “Falke” looked very much like “Buffel” in terms of the winter white wash over the dark yellow base coat, with there being a lack of white paint where “Buffel” is painted on the side etc. So I think it’s safe to say the camo and white wash would be the same. From that point we could have the “Falke” decal made in the same style/font as “Buffel” and we have a good shot of being as accurate as possible, given the lack of a photo.
Notice on “Puma” that the whitewash goes completely over the side, with Puma painted on over it. I’m not sure what color the fill in color on each of the letters.
“Tiger” is painted on this one, although the whitewash was painted around the name.
Wow…what great information Scott, and thanks for sharing it. I stated earlier that I’ve ordered both Panzer Aces I and II. Yesterday I ordered a book by author Karl Kollatz
called Leutnant Albert Ernst. Der "Tiger von Witebsk". It’s in German but I think the pictures might be in English [:)] I also ordered a few others - Strumartillerie, Self-propelled Guns and Flak Tank, 2 different Panzer Battles titles by F. W. Von Mellenthin, and something called PANZER TRACTS # 7-3 - Panzerjaeger (7.5 cm Pak 40…) by Jentz, Thomas L & Hilary L. Doyle.
Hopefully there’ll be more details or maybe some additional pictures that will be useful for our modelling effort.
Maybe it’s just me, but doesn’t the “Puma” lettering in that photo look like something from 1960s pop art?
Larry
Although it’s not as easy to see, the lettering of Tiger is similar. I don’t think we’ll be so lucky as to find a color photograph, I’d be curious to see what color filled in the letters.
Sounds like you picked up some nice books! You’ll have to fill us in on them and let us know how they are. [:)]
That is most certainly a capital B in the name of the Nashorn “Buffel”. If you look closely you can see the grey spot that is the center of the upper loop of the letter. Also it looks like the word is painted over the dark yellow in the same color or one very close to the color of the whitewash. Somewhere between dark yellow and white. It for sure isn’t black outline letters like the other two.
I am now going to ask a dumb question. So it’s fair game to laugh at it.
Question - Why are the names “Puma” and “Tiger” spelled in English on the German AFVs? Maybe they’re spelled the same in German and English. But if not…it makes me wonder.
Larry
doh! I can’t believe I didn’t notice that! I had done a really high res scan at home, and zoomed in and I guess it just washed out when I was looking at it, as it’s so fine. Good catch Hermisminiatures! Thanks! [bow]
Tiger in German is “Tiger” and Puma is “Puma” [;)] Although Puma can also refer to a mountain lion or cougar, which are pretty much the same.
Here’s a cross ref for the Buffel picture. The caption for the photo also indicates a capital B in the name.
http://ostpanzer.asty.ru/topics/sp_guns/nashorn/images2.html
This website has a lot of photos I’ve not seen before. Might be old hat to you guys thoush.
Larry
Anyone know how to read this language? It’s at the ostpnazer.asty.ru website. I think 519 is Albert’s ?
Schwere Heeres Panzerjager Abteilung 519
1 июня 1943 г. на основе личного состава «Arbeitstab Hoppe» было сформировано подразделение WK.III, переформированное 25 августа 1943 г. в s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt. 519. Личный состав нового батальона приступил к освоению самоходных противотанковых артиллерийских установок «Hornisse». Последнюю самоходку «Hornisse» 519-й батальон получил в ноябре 1943 г., после чего его отправили на Восточный фронт. Здесь s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt. 519 вошел в состав 3-й танковой армии группы армий «Центр». Вместе с 21-м танковым полком 20-й панцердивизни батальон в декабре 1943 г. - январе 1944 г.г. отражал многочисленные атаки советских войск в направлении Витебска. В январе 1944 г. фронт на этом участке стабилизировался. Всю весну и первую половину лета стояло затишье, которое было прервано 22 июня мощным наступлением Красной Армии в Белоруссии - началась знаменитая операция «Багратион». Советские войска сбили с позиций VI армейский корпус, остатки 3-й танковой армии вермахта были приданы 4-й армии. В жестоких боях с 22 по 30 июня «Насхорны» 519-го батальона уничтожили 112 советских танков. 1 июля 1944 г. то, что осталось от s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt. 519 вошло в состав танковой боевой группы «Хоппе». 4 июля группу «Хоппе» вновь передали в 3-ю танковую армию. В составе танковой боевой группы имелось 15 самоходок «Nashorn» и семь штурмовых орудий. Группа «Хоппе» действовала в составе 212-й пехотной дивизии. Согласно рапортам к 15 июля в группе «Хоппе» не осталось ни одной самоходной противотанковой артиллерийской установки «Nashorn». Личный состав s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt. 519 был выведен в резерв 3-й танковой армии. В конце августа людей отправили в Милау для переучивания на «Ягдпантеры».
Larry
Thanks for the link Larry. I sometimes wish I knew Russian and Polish as there are some great websites out there with pictures that I haven’t seen in western books and websites. [:P]
If I’m posting too much, or doing it improperly…let me know and I’ll follow proper procedure. But I had to add this… according to that website, there’s one more 519 Hornisse/Nashorn that is identified with a name - Pommern.
Larry
You’re fine Larry, keep it coming. The more discussion and information sharing we do the better! [:D]
At the time of the actions around Vitebsk, Albert Ernst commanded the 1st company, of the 519th Schwerer Panzerjäger Abteilung, which consisted of Falke (Falcon), Buzzard and Eagle (Adler). When Ernst’s Falke was knocked out, it was replaced by Büffel.
According to what I could find online Pommern belonged to the headquarters company of the 519th Schwere Panzerjäger Abteilung.
Larry-try this
http://www.google.com/language_tools
Use the Translate box-copy and paste the Russian text in, select the Russian to English in the drop down box and hit translate.
That worked surprisingly well. Thanks a lot Bob ! This is the first text material I’ve found on the web so far that hasn’t been a copy of the information on every other website.
Best Regards,
Larry
The translate feature on Goodle is pretty cool. The Russian one is still in BETA and there are words that don’t translate yet. It also has a tough time with grammar as it translates literally, but the results are still very good and you can usually figure out what they’re saying. Really cool actually. [8D]
These guys have some really great decal sets, several for the Panther A, D and G. They cover units such as Das Reich, Panzer Lehr, Herman Goering and SS Wiking and a few others. I’m impressed with these sets, they seem well researched and accurate and have gotten very good reviews.
I know psychoblue 23 scored a set for his Panther, so some of you may want to check them out. All the German armor decal sets are on the bottom half of the Decals and Prints page.
I agree espins1! I just rec’d my Panzer IV H&J set and its awesome! Markings for 17 different vehicles with paint schemes! I just hope I don’t have problems with the decals on zimmerit! If not I’ll probably get a set for my Tamiya Panther G.