I’ve been working on this model a few times now and then, first model with zimmerit and cami looks good, decals are from a hanomag and the road wheels are Its just about done, thought it will need to be weathered (it was intended for a dio) however the camo is unsatisfied, thought this is the second model with camo, (Hezter was first) I was thinking of trying again the dot filiter thecnique thought I’m worried that it will go wrong as the hezter did.
The turret wil remained two pieces until the figures are in place. This is one of my favorite model and I was hoping that it could be submitited to a contest very soon.
Well, to be honest, it’s awfully shiny! I see orange peel type paint too–you’re rither spraying too far from the model, or not thinning your paint enough?
What paint exactly are you using? The colors look a bit off to me, but I realize it may be the camera?
The wheels and gun are nicely painted; but you need to dullcoat it, and lay off the Future, if that’s what made it so shiny…some washes of raw umber would really go a long way toward bringing the detail into focus too.
I New I needed to add more flat base with that futur coat.
I’ve use Tamiya Acylic on this build, and there it a wash of Raw umber on the road wheels, but i was afraid that it mit ruined the look if I wash the top of the tank.
Great job on the zimmerit for your first attempt. I still haven’t built up the nerve to try that on my tanks yet, ha!
Will both open hatches have figures? If you’re going to enter this in a contest, make sure there is something to look at inside the tank if the hatches are open. Judges are real picky about that.
Definitely your work is improving but I agree with Doog on the paintjob. You should try thinning your paints a bit more and practice spraying in multiple light coats rather than one very heavy coat.
One thing to consider about your composition is that if the Flak vierling is in action, there’s no way either the driver or radio op would be exposed. The concussion of the firing cannon would crush their skulls. I concur about the paint work.
I agree with T26E4, The driver would not be using field glasses and probably wouldn’t be an officer. More likely a NCO. The figure would be better placed near the gunners’ position directing the gunner. I would imagine that the driver and radio operator would also serve as part of the flak team while in firing position, so the hatches could possibly be open, but they wouldn’t have to be. Those quad 20’s had to eat the ammunition. But that would be a blast firing one!
Get some Testors Dullcote laquer at the hobby store and forget about trying to use Flat Base. For anything. It’s the worst product in this hobby despite its proponents here. Hardly a month goes by that someone on one board or another doesn’t post of a ruined model from misusing this poorly labeled product. Dullcote thins with regular hardware store thinner and leaves a nice dead flat finish.
Another thing that will hurt you in judging are pin ejector marks, those circles you can see on th inside of the gun supports in the close up picture.
A couple of things the judges will pick you up on in competition. First, there’s a very visible seam line, with gaps, all around the middle of the turret. Second, the road wheel tyres could be a little more neatly painted - they should be of equal width all round. With practice and care, this can be done if you paint the wheels after they’ve been assembled onto the model:
but you may find it easier to do if you paint them off the vehicle.
If the judges are awarding marks for scale accuracy, as well as quality of modelling, then they may note that the tyres are too dark a colour - German tyres in WW2 were made from artificial rubber, which was distinctly lighter than the very dark grey of natural rubber tyres. Also, do you know for certain that Wirbelwinds actually carried Zimmerit? I wouldn’t have thought they would have got close enough to the front line for Ivan to have stuck a magnetic anti-tank charge on one. Apologies if you’re working from a photo of an actual vehicle.
Some good advice, but I can confirm for you that they did carry zimm as most of these vehicles were constructed from “re-manufactured” hulls sent back from the front for repair, so most already had zimm on the hulls/chassis…
In all fairness, T-Rex did indicate that the turret top hasn’t been glued on yet as the gun crew figures are yet to be added.
Regarding the Zim, I seem to recall reading that many Wirbelwinds were built on existing or rebuilt chassis which may well have carried Zim in their original incarnations.
T-Rex,
I believe the Zimmerit would also be applied to the hull sides below the fender line and to the rear panel.
Take a little more time applying your camo colours and watch your coverage - there are spots (eg. beside the brake access panel vents, edges of engine bay doors) which have masked your spray pattern so that the base colour still shows.
It also appears that your tracks may be backwards.
Thanks for that, Manstein - I did wonder about ‘pre-owned’ Pz. IV chassis being used for Wirbelwinds. In that case, it would have been better if Zimm had been added to the lower hull, especially the front and sides, since these would be the areas where it would be easiset for Ivan to stick his mine.
On a Pz.IV, the left-hand tracks pointed backwards on the lower run (ie the tracks in contact with the ground) and forward on the right-hand one. On the model, they’re pointing backwards on both.
I must confess to not having noticed that the turret halves had yet to be cemented together. I think if I’d been doing it, I’d have cemented the turret halves togehter, and cleaned up the seam, before painting. Much more like hard work to restore the paint job around the seam than it would be to shoe-horn the crew figures into position.
The tensioned upper track runs are OK, BTW. While many Pz.IVs had slight sag on their upper runs, all the piccies of Wirbelwinds I’ve been able to find have them taunt. Track sag is often overdone Pz.IV models, anyway. Seems like half the models you see would, in real life, have shed a track the first corner they came to!
You could well be right - I’ve just looked at several photos, and they do seem to be both pointing in the same direction, pointing forward on both sides on the bottom run. I relied on the instructions for several Dragon 1/35 Pz. IVs and Pz.IV variants, all of which show the tracks pointing in one direction on one side, the other on the other. Nobody’s picked them up on this in any review I’ve read.
In which case, the tracks are on the wrong way round on both sides of T-Rex’s model, and on the LHS on mine. [:I]
It isn’t something normally pointed out in reviews regarding installation of tracks because they are individual links, but yes the tracks on the Pz III and IV (and all German vehicles for that matter) always aligned the same way. There are such things as “handed” tracks in regards to the different pins on the outer vs. inner joints but the tracks faced the same directions. Otherwise you’d have a rough ride with one side constantly pulling differently than the other.
I’ve check my refference, and the Wibelwind was a late armor so it has zimmerit, only problem with it is the material I’ve use is very weak.
Did some work on it, added some asseriories, fix the camo, flip the track (good think it was a old tamiya kit with the one piece rubber track) and them made it sage like the reall thing.
Yes there is going to be a figure in the haches, the radio operation, but he’s not wearing the camo oufit, so he’s stays black, and don’t worry about the crew placement, the original diorama idea was the flakpanzer crew coming in to exame there kill, a unsuspecting Willy jeep.
I don’t know if it will make it to the contest, its less than a week, but there not much to do but weathering (hopefully that will blend in more the camo) I’ll be useing wbiil76 dot fittler thecnique from May’s issue, thanks bill.
It looks like you got the technique down on the zim, good work, I’ve yet to get up the courage to try it. I’ve started painting and installing my road wheels until the end. They end up getting better coverage makes them much much easier to paint and on most models its not a huge deal to make it one on the last steps. I’m not anywhere near the caliber of builder as most on this site but I’ve never used future and probably won’t. I’ve never seen a shiney tank, clear acrylic is not that exspensive for when I need to lay down decals or protect my paint for weathering. but your model looks good! I like the subject
If you haven’t used it before, I’d suggest trying any new techniques on a junker before applying it to a build you’re planning to enter in a contest. It’s better to get a feel for it and make any mistakes (and learn how to deal with them) on a test subject so you know how it’s going to work on a “live” build.
Indeed you are right Phill, in fact the last time I’ve try it on a model was the hezter and look what happen.
And to think that this build was also going to the contest.[xx(]
Anyways I’ve partice on a few scrap model (old model that just look terrible) and some results are good, but will it work on this one. I hope so, or else i’ll never make it to the contest.
It seems that you are out of time so it might be better to defer entering your model into a contest until such time that you are completely ready. If you rush working on your model now you will most probably end up with a not so presentable entry. May I suggest that you relax and take your time. Spend time in improving your skills and doing some research so that you will be able to come up with better models.
And try to enjoy the building process. This is a hobby, afterall. Moreoften than not, modelers are able to work better (and produce greater results) when not under stress or the urgency of deadlines.
