Hey everyone, I’ve learned a lot from these forums just lurking about and reading here and there… this is my first real build (apart from-snap togethers back in the day), I’m a freshman in high school with sports and the like going on, so no guarentees as to when this will actually be FINISHED… I’m approaching the first primer coat sometime soon (hopefully). Constructive criticism welcome. I’m not going after super hardcore realism here, just trying to build a good tank, some weather/damage to the fenders, etc. Thanks!
It’s a great kit so far, easy to get a good looking model for someone who doens’t have a lot of experience like me. I think from now on I’m going to be doing 1/35 scale for a while, the smoke grenade launchers on this thing were a bit too small for my liking [banghead]
Any Comments welcome!
PS Nex time I’ll take pictures in some better lighting… sheesh [:-^]
[#welcome] It’s always nice to see the younger generation building models. Heck, I somehow managed to through most of HS.
You picked a nice kit and if 1/48 was big in my day, I’d probably have scooped a bunch up. I vaguely recalled my friends Bandai Panther. Sweet kit. Problem was it was expensive compared to even Tamiya 1/35. So that’s all I’ve built since.
Anyway, glad to have you aboard and will be watching your progress.
Good luck with the model, lookin’ good already! You’ll find you learn pretty fast if you keep at it, I started three years ago when I was 13 (we won’t bring up the pictures from then[xx(]) and can now do a pretty decent job of anything. Keep it up!
Anyways, one question. I’m in the process of bending some of the fenders, I’ve already done most of it. I probably won’t do more, but just so I know for next time, what’s the best way to bend plastic? This Tamiya plastic is pretty hard compared to some other kits I’ve started like Revell Germany. I’ve tried hot water, it didn’t make it any easier to bend really. A lighter heats it up too much and the plastic starts to melt and turn in on itself, it’s hard to see from the pictures but on the side fenders I’ve got sitting next to the tank you can barely see what I’m talking about. Are other manufacturer’s plastics easier to bend using hot water than this? Is the Tamiya plastic easier to bend than I think and I’m just not using hot enough water?
It’s looking good. Most people wind up buying PhotoEtched metal replacement for fenders if they want to bend them. As you’ve found out, bending plastic is tricky at best.
BTW, we have a 1/48 armor gb going on at the GB section, perhaps you want to join and share your experience there too. There’s someone who is building the same kit right now.
Thanks for the info Waikong, I never even thought about PE fenders, seems like the logical thing to do now that you mention it. Oh well, I’ve already started with the plastic and it looks decent. I’ll go check out the GB right now.
Hey, looks like a great build so far… I ended up buying the Voyager PE set mostly for the metal fenders and exhaust shrouds (the tank I did didn’t even have spare tracks, so the spare turret track pieces are still unused…) Pics of mine are in the 48th GB thread… do you have any plans for paint yet?
I’m still deciding between one of the 2-Tone schemes, tank S33 from PZReg 2 or an overall Fieldgrau tank from sPzAbt 503. The 2-tone looks cooler, but I think for my first airbrushed work I’m gonna stick with one color.
What the heck, give the 2 tone a try! If it doesn’t work out, its pretty easy to airbrush over the paint job with a single color again.
I’m still learning with the Airbrush, but I finally feel ‘comfortable’ with it. One thing I’ve learned, is that the more I’m willing to try, the faster my skills improve. Its often the fear of messing up that keeps me from improving.
