You betcha!! And you even used it correctly as a noun. [Y][Y] Now if you had said that you were practicing frugalism, … then all bets are off. [;)]
Don
Ernest,
Hmmm, I can’t say I could say for sure what might’ve been the problem you had there with the cement? Did you press the links together after gluing them? I usually use a straight-edge ruler to press them all down into each other, and the let them sit. for a while to bond. I"m pretty liberal with how much glue I use.
The only thing that I can think of is that maybe the new “Magic” tracks indeed are of a different plastic type? I will let you knwo if I encounter any problems in the next build where I use them.
Talk about an EYE for detail and an “EE” for EXTRA EFFORT! My hat off to you![D]
Hey Dave, thanks for taking a look at my onceuponatime OOB build! Yeah, with the detail and accuracy of newer kits, its hard to build an older kit straight OOB! I’m very glad you found something useful from the blog!
Karl, to be honest I didn’t really push the first set of links against each other very much, just used a ruler to push them down against the flat surface, but I did push them on the second set and had much less problems. However I also used Tenax and Tamiya cement to help create a better bond…not sure which helped more, the cement or the snugging of the links? I’ve got another set of Magic Tracks I’ll be using soon, so I’ll see if the Testors still works with a little “snuggling”!
Ibuild, thanks for your kind words! The ‘extra effort’ was NOT what I intended when I started building it, but you know how these builds take on a life of its own!
I don’t have much of an update on this post. Today was my only day off work so I was super busy with chores and stuff. I managed to get some primer on and shoot it with a basecoat of Tamiya Acrylics: 60% Panzer Grey, 40% Light Grey, 10% Medium Blue. Normally I just use straight Panzer Grey, but I wanted to try a lighter basecoat to start off…all the washes and filters have a tendency to darken the basecoat.
Primer:
Basecoat. Removed the tracks, idler and return rollers and sprayed separately.
I forgot to set my white balance on this pic so it looks a bit lighter than it really is. Hopefully tomorrow I can start with some shading and highlighting!
Always good to see the gray make an appearance Ernest, any progress is good progress! [B]
Has it really been almost a month since my last update?? [:S] I guess that’s what happens when you get sidetracked and when work takes over your life. [:(]
Right after Thanksgiving I stopped working on the Pz. IV to do a quick 48 hr build for stikpusher’s Weekend Madness GB, which was a lot of fun! But since then I’ve been making very slow progress with the old Tamiya kit. Working 6 days a week, 12 hrs a day sure takes its toll, but I’m finally coming down the home stretch.
I tried to do some color modulation with the panzer grey base coat, but it looks like I still need some practice with the technique. After that I painted the details with Vallejo acrylics and painted the wood with oil paints. A few thin coats of Future to get a nice gloss base for decals and washes was applied next. I used decals from a Dragon Pz.IV Ausf.C kit. The turret numbers required 3 applications of Solvaset to get them to snug down over the details. Unfortunately the Solvaset puckered the paint around the number and when I tried to gently sand the blemish I went down to the primer, so I decided to wait until the flat coat was applied until I tried to correct it. I used two washes: first was an overall applicaton of ProModeler’s Dark Mud wash, which is water based. I followed this with a detail pin wash of MIG Enamel Dark Wash. Finally I gave it a few light coats of Vallejo Model Air Matte Varnish to seal it up and eliminate the gloss.
Instead of several individual photos I put them all together in one pic, with some text to help explain what I did. I apologize for the changes in background colors and lighting. I’ve been experimenting with different backgrounds, lighting and camera settings to get better pictures. I’ve pretty much got everything figured out…I think!!
The roadwheels, sprockets, Idlers and return rollers were treated the same as the hull and turret.
The tracks were first painted a black/brown color with Tamiya acrylics and then given an overspray of Tamiya Dark Earth (enamel) from a spray can. I think I’ll give them a very dark wash next and see if they’ll be read for weathering.
I’m hoping to complete this one by year’s end!
That’s looking great. And I like the idea of putting all those pics in one, its a good way to see the process.
Going away from the model a touch, I do like the background in the last two, taking better pics is something I have been trying to work on, and backgrounds is a big part if it.
Agreed, that is looking really good, Ernest, and I like how how you’ve showed the transition of the panzer grey colour through that single comparison photo.
Question on the Pro Modeller wash - did you wipe any of it off after it dried?
regards,
Jack
Thanks Bish! For years I’ve been using just poster paper for my background, hence the bright blue and white backgrounds. Both of these had a tendency to throw off the colors of the models I built, probably because of the high contrast. I finally invested in a roll of actual photographic background paper in light blue (as recommended for miniatures). But getting the light blue background color to show up correctly required changing some camera settings: changing the white balance from “Auto” to “Preset” for each photo session (which I never used to do) and changing the Metering from “Spot” to “Matrix” did wonders for the whole color balance! I didn’t do that in the second to the last photo, but I think I finally got it right in the last photo!
Jack, yes I wiped off most of the wash from the upper hull and turret, less on the lower hull and even less around the suspension. The gloss coat made it pretty easy. I’ve used the wash on tank models without a gloss coat and found that it noticeably darkened the paint , which I didn’t want with this model. Glad you liked the transition photo and the build!
Before I move on I need to fix this boo-boo on the turret! Anyone have any advice on the best way to approach this? I accidentally sanded down to the primer when I tried to remove the blemish caused by the Solvaset. Should I try to fill the area first BEFORE sanding again or just try to blend primer and paint while sanding. I’ve got some pretty fine sandpaper…finer than 2000 grit. I just don’t want to ruin the areas were the markings are.
Not sure how to best fix that turret blemish. Not just the sanding, but getting the colours and washes laid down without creating an edge with the numbers in close proximity like that, hmmmm…
If it were me, I’d try painting in those two bright spots, and then hope the sanding will blend everything together.
regards,
Jack
Or… you could make it part of the weathering of the vehicle. Paint it to look like a gouge in the armor, maybe?
Moving right along with this one Ernest! The turret gouge is a tricky problem to solve, you could probably get away with a spot touchup and very careful blending back into the rest of the paint then re-weather that area to blend further. Hope you can get this one done in 2013!
Thanks guys! I followed Jack’s and Bill’s suggestions and just painted in the gouges with a few coats of gray paint, allowed to totally cure, and then very slowly and gently sanded it smooth with some very fine grit sandpaper. I don’t actually know what grade it was, finer than 2000 grit for sure. Then I airbrushed the area with matching paint and blended it all together. When that was all done I noticed another area above that was affected by my earlier heavy-handed sanding, but its only noticeable under bright lights and at a certain angle, so I left well enough alone.
With that done, its time to turn my attention to finalizing the weathering. Next up: filters, pigments, streaking and rusting (muffler still unpainted).
Nice fix there Ernest! You’d never know it had a problem before. [;)]
That looks great, Ernest! I can’t see any evidence of a problem there either! YOu won’t even see that under the weathering. 
Thanks Bill and Karl! I was a bit worried at first, but its all good now!
Before I start any major weathering I wanted to take care of some stuff first:
-
Fix a couple of boo-boos - knocked off a couple of half-wing nuts and broke one of the lifting hooks on the turret (really…I TRY to be gentle [:P]). These were easy to replace.
-
Applied MIG Dark Brown filter to the lower hull and Grey filter to the upper hull and turret. However, I didn’t really like the look after the Grey filter was applied…it lightened the grey, not darkened it like I expected. I may not use this MIG product again.
- Painted the main muffler with LifeColor acrylics using their Rust set. Started with the lightest rust color and applied progressively darker rust colors, all in thin coats to allow the colors underneath to show through. In the first photo I applied the two lightest colors and then added dots of dark brown to represent the mottling effect of the heated exhaust. Then I applied the darker rust colors over that. The spots almost disappear, but you can still see them if you look carefully. After the acrylic paint was dry I applied a couple of dark washes and then MIG Black Smoke pigment at the exhaust tube.
Because the smaller traverse muffler wasn’t used as much I didn’t want to rust up the entire muffler. For this I used MIG Rust pigments. I reversed the color application process, starting with the darkest rust pigment and ending with the lightest. The pigments were applied dry and very lightly, building up the colors. I saturated the pigments with paint thinner to set them and then finalized with the same dark wash I used for the main muffler and Black Smoke pigment for the tube.
I’m going to add just a little bit of chipping before I hit it with an oil dot application. Then a bit of touch up on the tools, paint the rear lights and dust the whole thing with pigments before I add the wheels and tracks.
Very gooood!
I liked the gray color filters and the rust in the muffler.
Turned better than mine.
Good morning.
Ernest, she’s coming along nicely. Details look great, really impressed with that cover on the gun cleaning rod, looks just like cloth/canvas. That in progress shot of the spotted muffler would of looked interesting too.
regards,
Jack
She’s beautiful. The detailing is outstanding. That rust and soot on the exhaust is gorgeous!
Very cool! I can honestly say your exhaust is one of the best one’s I have seen done yet.
Brian