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Winter Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.L - Dragon 1/35 - FINISHED and in the RFI section


PlaStix

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11 hours ago, Gremlin56 said:

Looking forward to your "Winter wash" job Stix, this is probably more suitable for "hairy stick" work than an airbrush (takes mental note: try a Winter paint-job sometime soon).

;)

I'm looking forward to it with a little trepidation - but we'll see how it goes in the long run. Still got a bit to do before I start the whitewash - for example I realised yesterday that I need to get the decals applied before I do any more weathering.

 

On 09/11/2017 at 17:54, Blaubar said:

This little cutie is falling together nicely. It is all looking so nice, clean and perfect. I might need to take some classes, any spare appointments available :D?^^ I feel so non-German with my 0.0% order and tidiness during my projects once comparing my stuff with what all you cool people out here are doing.

Always a pleasure to look into your build here.

Thanks

Hi Blaubar. You are too kind, but thank you very much. I do try to be reasonably tidy when I'm modelling but it doesn’t always work that way. As I mentioned above I will try and make a video to show how I do my brush painting but if you check on YouTube there are already quite a few videos with modellers demonstrating their techniques.

 

On 09/11/2017 at 20:16, clive_t said:

Still can't get my head around the smoothness of the paintwork - I can't even get it to that standard with an air brush!:worthy:

 

Thank you very much Clive but I have seen your paintwork on your current Anti Tank Gun which looks superb!

21 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Just catching up Stix and everything is up to your usual very high standard.

The paint work looks very good indeed and I am really looking forward to seeing how the whitewash turns out, I have a bit of a soft spot for winter camo as you know.

Hi Craig and thank you. Yes I do know your liking for winter camo and how well you do it. :worthy:

 

21 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Looking at the first picture Stix, I thought you had finished and done some black and white pictures.

Hi Ozzy and thank you very much.

 

This morning didn’t start well - I seemed to be having one of those days where whatever could go wrong, went wrong - and this was before I'd started any modelling! I decided, therefore, not to risk doing anything that required any degree of concentration or ability with plastic!

 

The first simple job I decided to do was to get the tyres on the wheels weathered. For this I used a wash of very thinned Revell's acrylic Gunship Grey. Once dried I used the same paint but I dry-brushed it onto the outer edge to recreate the wear against the tracks. Once this was dry I cut the outer wheels from their sprues, tidied them up and glued these to the inner wheels which are still on the sprues:

407D8654-F094-4811-91F4-844DF1824435

 

62120C8F-F53D-4E02-9812-71C73ACF7750

 

Next I painted the inside of the lower hull with thinned Revell's Anthracite. I decided to do this because of wanting to have a few of the hatches open - I don't want any light areas to show up inside. I then glued on the front section of the upper hull:

E5C21072-3244-4599-9869-E5E7E99FB5D5

 

Finally today I did some more work on the rust effects on the exhaust sections:

5D6C728B-0C5A-4802-A403-A0D87EA35C65

 

Tomorrow - if I have a better start to the day - I may get the decals cut out and affixed plus start the weathering on the sides of the lower hull.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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Hi Stix.

 

Shame about the bad start to the day. Having the A.M.A.P.B. raid your house always throws a spanner in the works. :crying:

All looking good though! I particularly like the look of exhaust boxes.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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18 hours ago, Gremlin56 said:

Very impressive  rust work on the exhausts Stix, :yes:

Hi Julian. Thank you for your comments. I've been experimenting with Vallejo's Rust Texture weathering effect liquid. I've only just picked some up recently and I don’t think I've quite got the hang of it yet but it's getting there.

 

18 hours ago, Badder said:

Hi Stix.

Shame about the bad start to the day. Having the A.M.A.P.B. raid your house always throws a spanner in the works. :crying:

All looking good though! I particularly like the look of exhaust boxes.

Rearguards,

Badder

Hi Badder. Yes I usually enjoy Saturday mornings but yesterday's just wasn't going my way - but I got some useful modelling done if nothing exciting.

Go on then........what does A.M.A.P.B. stand for? I know I'm going to regret this........

Searching in Google gave me the Ankara Metropolitan Area Planning Bureau - and they didn't turn up yesterday.

Thank you for your comments.

 

Not had much chance to work on this today (too much household stuff) but I have got all the decals on and sealed on with matt varnish. There weren’t that many of them but, where I could, I cut as close to the design as possible to help prevent silvering:

32156960-CD98-4550-B87B-B8F20B8F2134

 

I may get chance a bit later to do some more.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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3 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Go on then........what does A.M.A.P.B. stand for? I know I'm going to regret this........

Searching in Google gave me the Ankara Metropolitan Area Planning Bureau - and they didn't turn up yesterday.

Airbrush Manufacturers Against Paint Brushes.

 

I though you might work that out.:guitar:

 

Tidy decal work Stix. I am surprised you apply them at this stage TBH, what with the assembly, whitewash and weathering to come. Are you going to mask them or what?

 

Reargaurds

Badder

.

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Aye up Stix.

Hope you and Mrs Stix are both well.

Thats a great job all round. The paint work makes it look like its made of steel not plastic! Really looking forward to seeing more of this. 👍

 

Kind regards

 

Steve

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18 hours ago, Badder said:

Airbrush Manufacturers Against Paint Brushes.

I though you might work that out.:guitar:

Tidy decal work Stix. I am surprised you apply them at this stage TBH, what with the assembly, whitewash and weathering to come. Are you going to mask them or what?

Reargaurds

Badder

Nope....didn't get that one at all..........I think you may have thought you were dealing with someone who was intelligent.

Thank you for your comments Badder and no the decals wont be masked. I want the weathering to look like these were in place before the weathering happened - so it will be done over these. Some of the weathering I have in mind may be done before assembly - but I haven't finalised my plans for it yet.

 

18 hours ago, fatfingers said:

Aye up Stix.

Hope you and Mrs Stix are both well.

Thats a great job all round. The paint work makes it look like its made of steel not plastic! Really looking forward to seeing more of this. 👍

Kind regards

Steve

Hi Steve. Yes Mrs P and I are well, thank you and we hope you are too. And thank you very much for your comments - you are very kind as always.

 

I did get back to do some work on this project later in the evening yesterday but didn't take any photos. I was only adding some base weathering to the sides of the lower hull - basically in the areas I won't be able to get at once the wheels and track are in place. Most of the work centred around adding the impression of chipping to those areas where paint may get scratched or rubbed away. As I'm not sure about the whitewash on these areas I'm not too sure of any weathering I'm going to add. The Dragon instructions, and indeed the artwork on the box, seem to suggest the sides of the lower hull were not whitewashed - or it's all worn away. Early on I found some photos online of what I think is this Pz.III and it looked decidedly whitewash free behind the tracks but that could just be the lighting. Of course I didn't save a link to the photos and cannot find them now - I will keep looking before I add whitewash paint...........or not.

 

If anyone knows of any photos of this particular tank I would be most grateful.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

   

 

 

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Nice work on that tank. I wonder though, if a whitewash behind the tracks on the side of the lower hull would be of use in RL anyways. That Panzer wasn't too high and in the snow and mud only part of the lower hull would have been visible from afar. Also, the mud and snow crusts would make a camo on their own.

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Some crews whitewashed the lower hull and wheels, some did the wheels but not the lower hull, some didn't do the wheels or the lower hull. It was all down to choice. (as you know)

 

I can't find photos of your particular tank, so if it were me, I'd follow the suggested painting suggestions.

 

However, I have seen film footage of Pz III's that had no winter camo below, but the wheels, suspension and lower hulls were caked in ice, snow and frost. So whilst they didn't have whitewash down there, they were predominantly white anyway.

So, for a winter camouflaged PzIII, I'd go for a lower hull, wheels and suspension caked with snow/ice/frost. No one would be able to tell whether it was whitewashed or not, until the thaw.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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On 13/11/2017 at 11:31, clive_t said:

Hi Stix, great job. Re Photos, I find that searching Pinterest can often yield great photos of one's chosen subject. It's great for collating them by subject too.

Hi Clive and thank you. I do use Pinterest occasionally - perhaps not as much as I should - I will definitely have to have a proper go with it. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

On 13/11/2017 at 11:49, Soeren said:

Nice work on that tank. I wonder though, if a whitewash behind the tracks on the side of the lower hull would be of use in RL anyways. That Panzer wasn't too high and in the snow and mud only part of the lower hull would have been visible from afar. Also, the mud and snow crusts would make a camo on their own.

Hi Soeren and thank you for your comments. That is a fair point about the lower sides of the hull - I think i will take that route with them - just a matter now of deciding how to do it! :frantic:

 

On 13/11/2017 at 13:11, Badder said:

Some crews whitewashed the lower hull and wheels, some did the wheels but not the lower hull, some didn't do the wheels or the lower hull. It was all down to choice. (as you know)

I can't find photos of your particular tank, so if it were me, I'd follow the suggested painting suggestions.

However, I have seen film footage of Pz III's that had no winter camo below, but the wheels, suspension and lower hulls were caked in ice, snow and frost. So whilst they didn't have whitewash down there, they were predominantly white anyway.

So, for a winter camouflaged PzIII, I'd go for a lower hull, wheels and suspension caked with snow/ice/frost. No one would be able to tell whether it was whitewashed or not, until the thaw.

Rearguards,

Badder

Hi Badder and thank you for your thoughtful reply. That all sounds like a plan - now as long as I can work out how to do the plan I'll be sorted! Thank you again.

 

It's a shame it's only Tuesday and I won't get time to do more on this until the weekend :cry:

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

 

Edit - just noticed - this is my 10,000th post!!! Wow! I am sorry for the amount of drivel everyone has had to put up with!!

Stix

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On 14/11/2017 at 20:22, Ozzy said:

Looking sharp Stix, congrats on your 10,000 post ! I hope you've opened a new tin of paint to celebrate? 

Thank you Ozzy! I decided to open two! You only reach your first 10,000 once! :cheers:

 

Only a brief morning update - not had as much time as usual. The start of some weathering done on the sides of the lower hull - a little less subtle than usual because I reckon a lot of this will be hidden under dirt and snow!

426431CB-3173-439D-A9E4-2DECFAD68358

 

C6437A3C-E643-41FE-AFC1-747EF08A6AED

 

I also decided I needed to get some mundane work done so I cleaned a few more ejection pin marks off a few of the tracks and glued some together - I only need to do the top runs for both sides now:

CD12A2B5-3E1A-4D26-9F5F-10E9FDDDF9FA

 

More later if I get time.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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1 hour ago, PlaStix said:

Thank you Ozzy! I decided to open two! You only reach your first 10,000 once! :cheers:

Good man, I hope you didn't get to giddy on the fumes?

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Now that Telford is out of the way, and I'm back home in the peace and quiet of the countryside, I can get back to catching up on various builds. This one has come along in leaps and bounds and is looking really good Stix. As always, your brush work is superb.

 

John.

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Thise tracks looks good, hope you planning some overhangs on the top run. You can also remove few of those extension packs now the links as they had a tendency to snap quite easily. 

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On 18/11/2017 at 12:47, Ozzy said:

Good man, I hope you didn't get to giddy on the fumes?

Got to remember I use acrylic paints so not so much......:hypnotised:

 

On 18/11/2017 at 13:05, Blaubar said:

Congrats to the 10k mark! Always interesting stuff coming our way via your keyboard (or touchscreen). Keep those posts coming.

:penguin:

Thank you Blaubar......you are too kind! 

 

On 18/11/2017 at 15:09, Badder said:

I like the look of those tracks Stix.

And I'd like to congratulate you on 10,026 posts.;)

Reaguards,

Badder

Cheers Badder - the tracks are okay - just time consuming in terms of removing the ejection pin marks.

And thank you, although it’s now 10,030 ;)

 

12 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

Now that Telford is out of the way, and I'm back home in the peace and quiet of the countryside, I can get back to catching up on various builds. This one has come along in leaps and bounds and is looking really good Stix. As always, your brush work is superb.

John.

Hi John - hope you had a good time at Telford. Thank you very much for your kind comments 

 

9 hours ago, Kris B said:

Thise tracks looks good, hope you planning some overhangs on the top run. You can also remove few of those extension packs now the links as they had a tendency to snap quite easily. 

Hi Kris and thank you. Having seen your stunning winter Pz.IV in the RFI section, trimming and bending some of the Winterketten on mine will be in order.

 

9 hours ago, FrancisGL said:

A work plan-tracks very well structured, certainly can not fail, they will be perfect when they are complete ...:popcorn:

Cheers Stix :bye:

Hi Francis and thank you for your comments. I'm hoping you are right about this idea for the tracks in sections - hopefully I will get around to starting painting and weathering them next weekend.

 

This morning I started the next weathering stages on the sides of the lower hull. My way of working is to try and get the basic weathering on these areas done before adding the running gear and tracks - for ease of access really. So first this morning was some very, very thinned Humbrol Dark Earth applied with a soft stippling brush to the lower areas. Then some Mig European Mud was applied with the end of a cocktail stick:

9C66B401-206F-43AE-AC18-BFB48C02106C

 

5D2BE803-7059-4A4B-BB08-4B4FB53E1419

 

Next I decided to risk my first experiment with a snow product - this one:

4A746CE3-CF63-4E33-83ED-5ABE033B89C0

 

Like with the mud I tried working out where a light snow accumulation might get stuck either by being kicked up from the ground or dropping from the tracks. It's mostly make it up as I went along! :

FAF54E76-D72D-42A4-BC41-8318CDCFB852

 

F36FF710-6A16-4C11-A75C-80DFDA436C52

 

Then a quick test fit of the drive sprocket and idler:

09C58CF8-A2F6-4D8E-A015-BEB7A51351F2

 

23D929B5-FE9C-497E-BD70-F8A9D5E9B677

 

Some snow added to the latter:

27E3CA6B-8B34-44D0-BF25-A8ECDAD293BC

 

CD6CE82C-E4BB-4A72-806B-8F8F4A15FBD8

 

Then a similar weathering process on the wheels:

6CDA8E2E-29CE-4C68-9D29-D44158D9D070

 

.....before adding them to the lower hull:

CCD21786-35D2-4B6B-947C-231772ECDA84

 

BDFD6782-4EC9-4CB4-AC3F-2EBDA3F443DE

 

So a fairly productive weekend's worth of modelling. Next week I'll work on the tracks.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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It's not easy, adding snow to a vehicle.

You first have to decide how cold the temperatures are, and how deep the snow is. Both have an influence over where and how the snow and ice gathers on the vehicle. And if you go for a lot of accumulation you end up hiding all of your diligent building and careful painting.

I don't envy you having to make those choices!

When I did my 'winter StuG' I watched a lot of WWII footage of tanks on the Eastern Front for reference. I would be surprised if you haven't done the same, so I look forward to seeing which path you take.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

 

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