Darren's House Of Unfinished Tank Models (enter if you dare...)

[The1971Show]

I tend to just use various bits in the Dremel, then buff out with Scoth-Brite, as it's much easier for me, but whatever gets the results you're after is good.

 

I'm going to tackle the Feifels like that now that you mention it, because I think that technique will work better on smaller parts. The thinning & bending technique works really well on fenders or stowage bins because the deeper the dent, you find that it displaces or deforms other areas of the part you're working on, which is the effect I'm after in those instances.

 

Darren

[The1971Show]

Another small update, I just finished the weld join between the upper and middle glacis plates:

 

 

The paint around the driver's visor is my attempt at a RAL 8000 blend... that's best described as a work in progress. At least in this photo I can blame the lighting for its peculiar shade of green.     

 

nice work so far!!!! nice little building setup/bench you have there. Also I'm digging your guitars there........gotta love a Fender Jaguar with some P90 soap box pickups. 

 

Thanks! It's a Jazzmaster though, but the bridge pickup is indeed a P90. I started taking proper guitar lessons back in January for the first time, I figured that after 20 years it was about time I moved beyond barre chords!

 

Darren

Edited April 8, 2016 by The1971Show

[The1971Show]

Sort of a non-update with the Tiger today - again, not much accomplished over the past week apart from losing one of the latches for the hull MG cover. I was debating whether to scratchbuild these or use the kit parts, and having examined the kit parts I felt that they could work as-is with a little thinning. And then... tweezer launch. So scratchbuilding it is, then.

 

I also received the second figure I intend to use with this build in the mail via High Calibre Miniatures, so this Alpine Miniatures guy will be seated in the commander's cupola:

 

 

And this guy from Evolution will be standing behind and to his right:

 

 

There will be suitable modifications to each uniform, natch.

 

However, I've been thinking about this model and the amount of time I've got before the next two local shows (TorCan on May 1st and the Oshawa AMPS weekender on May 27-28) The Tiger will be ready for neither of these, and it got me to thinking about the couple of built kits I've got which just need some painting and finishing. Specifically, to a Hetzer* which I started a good 15 years ago and tried to paint about three years ago. You can see the posts I made before I was ready to paint it here and here.

 

Last night I dug the kit out of its hiding spot on the Shelf Of Doom and started cleaning it off:

 

 

Pieces have come adrift over the years, but luckily they're things like tie-downs so they can be replaced easily. I had tried the Silly Putty technique for achieving a hard-edged camouflage pattern, but the lesson learned here was not to leave the Silly Putty in place for two years (!!!) You can see the staining on the green on either side of any dark yellow field on the hull. Anyway, I'm not happy with the contrast between the green and the yellow and will be completely repainting the model.

 

Darren

[The1971Show]

You could also say like fine aged whiskey, you only paint your models after a two year ageing.

 

Yeah, that's one way of looking at it! I'll be spraying new dark yellow and then painting the hardedge with Vallejo acrylics. Normally I would strip this whole thing down, but there's so much PE and extra detailing on this I don't want to have to spend another month just replacing lost detail. I figure a thin enough coat of green will sit nicely on top of this base coat of enamels (which, again, I feel won't be going anywhere soon considering how ineffective lacquer thinner was on it last night) Any inconsistencies between the two greens can be worked out or assimilated during the weathering process.

 

Darren

[dodgem37]

Nice bead.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[The1971Show]

OK, one quick update before the Game Of Thrones season premiere, and I hope you find it an informative one. After some problems in the past "winging it" while applying camouflage patterns freestyle, these days I try to map out the camouflage pattern and colour fields beforehand on paper. In this case, I'm following the pattern on the Hetzer captured by the British which now resides at the Bovington tank museum - post capture, it was photographed from a bunch of angles, and you can make out most of what's going on with a couple of big exceptions.

 

 

Granted, Crayola coloured pencils aren't exactly RAL-standard but you get the idea. Oddly, the Bovington Hetzer didn't have dark yellow stripes applied to the hull roof. I don't know why - it doesn't even look like anything other than green was applied to the hull roof but I'm taking a liberty with the brown. While I'm not specifically doing the Bovington vehicle, sometimes it's nice to find proof of a little oddity like this and just run with it.

 

Darren

[Martinnfb]

Just catching up.

Darren, some mighty fine work I can see here, mighty fine .....maniacal laughter diapering in the echoing distance...

[andromeda673]

nice progress so far, don't feel bad, I free hand camo..............9 out of 10 times, I get pretty darn close to what I was after. 

[The1971Show]

I'd like to change the title of this thread to "Darren's various ongoing armour builds" but I've not yet figured that out. I see other posters can do this - any hints?

 

I'm now onto a Jagdpanther G2, and it'll show off the 3d-printed tool clamps mastered by Eelke Warrink via Shapeways which are quite tasty.

 

Darren

[Martinnfb]

Darren's armoury

[LSP_K2]

I'd like to change the title of this thread to "Darren's various ongoing armour builds" but I've not yet figured that out. I see other posters can do this - any hints?

 

Darren

 

Go to the very first post, use full editor, and edit anyway you want.

[The1971Show]

Go to the very first post, use full editor, and edit anyway you want.

 

Thanks!

[LSP_K2]

Glad to help.