UPDATE: My Three 1/72 scale WIP Pzkpfw 700's WARNING! Lots of pics!

Modeling Subjects Armor
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Well, I’ve gotten a bit further on these so I decided to post more pics of how they are coming along. I’m building a Pzkpfw 753(r), a Pzkpfw 753(r) with 75mm KwK40 Gun, and a Pzkpfw 754. These are all captured KV I and II’s that were converted and used by the Germans.

While assembling the turrets, I ran across a small problem on the turret of the Pzkpfw 753(r) with 75mm gun. [B)][oops] The top mantlet hood needed to be notched before being glued to the Turret. This pic shows how I notched it before gluing in place:

This Pic shows the three finished turrets for my three 700-Series Panzers:

After that, I mounted the indy tracks on the lower hulls and tried to get a bit of ‘sag’ on the upper tracks. I was semi-successful. [sigh] This photo doesn’t show the sag too well, but this one and the one above prove that I’m building all three at once! [:-^][:-,] [:D]

Sorry for the poor appearance of that photo. It was right on the edge of my camera’s capability. [V]

This next shot shows what these little guys look like when I test-fit the turrets and top hulls to the bottom hulls.

Next, I painted the lower hulls and tracks. Here’s where you can see better what my attempts at track sag look like:

While they were drying, I painted the top hulls and turrets, and the next day I re-fit them together to show you this:

As you can see, I decided to paint them all a dark green, because generally most Russian tanks of this type were painted straight green. I plan on painting the Pzkpfw 753(r) with 75mm gun and the Pzkpfw 754(r) each in a different camouflage pattern that the Germans may have used, while keeping the early Pzkpfw 753(r) in a solid dark green. My next photos will show this once get them painted.

Again, I apologize to those on slow connections for all the pics. [:I][B)] (I have a slow connection too!) That’s why I put the warning in the Subject Line so you’ll know it’s gonna be a bit of a wait. I tend to take a bunch of photos now and then while building until I get to where I planned to before resting for the day. Then I have all these Progress Pics that I like to show everyone.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy ‘building along with me’! I’ll have the camo pictures up in a day or two. [:D]

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Duke, it’s all very impressive and coming along really well. One question though… The Germans may not have had all captured Russian tanks re-painted, but I’d have thought the modifications made to the vehicles would bring in different colors and/or tones. For instance, the new cuppolas and the German gun added to the 753(r) would have had little chances of being of the same shade of green than the rest of the vehicles…? Unless, of course, the Germans had found stocks of Topside Green…

What do you think?

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I agree dj. I was going to repaint the cupolas and the KwK 40 gun in a different color green on these guys once I got to the detail/camo painting stage. In these photos, I just did a basic Basecoat for now.

Thanks for bringing that up. That is a good point that I was also thinking about while building these little guys. You know what they say: Great Minds think alike!

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I’m glad you feel the same way. Did not want to sound too critical. You obviously are a pretty good modeler, Duke. I have lots of admiration for your work.

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Great job so far, Duke. Thats quite a collection you got there. And thanks for posting a warning for us with not-so-fast connections.

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Thank you DJ! That means alot coming from a modeler of your caliber.

You’re welcome Allan. I know how it is myself, havinig a slow connection. I’ll try to always post a warning when I include three or more pics in my post.

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Duke :
those r looking great !
nothing like assembly line building, efficient & so much easier 2 do in
small scale (all 3 fit on the worktable at the same time !)…
r those PST or zvezda kits ?
nice work, my friend !
my KV-T tow tractor is almost done, but i may have 2 put it on hold 4 a bit…
gotta finish the dio base 4 the ersatz & got a lot of work ahead of me 4 the
sherman group build project.
i need more hands or more hours in a day, i think…
maybe if i give up sleeping entirely ??? [;)]
frosty[:)]

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Good looking tanks, Duke…and nice pictures as well.

Can’t wait to see the German camo applications!

Reagrds, Dan

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Looks like the production line has been busy lately. LOl. Great progress Duke.

You Braillers are very fast builders.

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Nice family group build you have going there Duke!

Looking good so far, keep us updated!

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Now that’s what I call a tank assembly line! You might be onto something there. Thanks for sharing Duke.

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Thanks for the comments frosty! These are PST kits, I haven’t built any from Zvesta I believe.

I’m looking forward to seeing pics of your projects too. But don’t give up sleeping, I tried that! When you wake up, you might not recognize the kit you were building in your sleep! [:o)]

Thanks to everyone else who posted comments. [^] I’ll be working on the camo patterns today, I think. I just have to see what color combination I want to use. Pics will be up when they’re done!

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looking forward to seeing that, Duke…

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Those are looking real good Duke! Nice trio you got going on there.

Eric