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Meng Panther A Second Try (with zimmerit)


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Seems like lots of Panthers being built so I picked up that Meng Panther A Late yesterday for a second attempt now that I know what not to do and what

to watch for on this kit.

 

I'm trying that Meng Panther A again only this time I didn't put the poly caps inside the wheels so they are easy to remove without breaking the

swing arms like I did on the first kit.  The wheels fit fine without the caps and will just get glued in place eventually.

 

The Meng tracks are so hard to clean up with 7 sprue attachments per link so I chucked them and replaced them with a set of Friulmodel

Panther tracks.  Looks much better and lots less work.

 

I'm also going to try applying zimmerit using Elmer's Wood Filler and the Tamiya zimmerit tools.  I tried the Trumpeter roller zimmerit tool

but that didn't work as the wood filler kept lifting and plugging up the roller.  Clean up the roller with water then get too much water on the wood

filler and it ends up a gooey mess.  This time I'll let it sit for a few minutes then try the Tamiya rake.  Never could do zimmerit but I'll try again.

 

Here it is this morning with the tracks and wheels in place and the rest of the pieces just taped together for now.

 

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Edited by BlackMax12
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I'm going to follow this to if you don't mind. :popcorn:

I've never tried recreating zim before so ill be taking a keen interest in that and who doesn't like a Panther?

Very brave/masochistic having a second attempt, I remember the first one!:angry:

Good luck.

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Thanks guys.

 

Yes it's a new kit as the one from January ended up in the big blue bin out back

 

Playing around with zimmerit.  Here's some really beat up zimmerit on the turret.  I think it rates a do-over

but I'm still learning and this is actually pretty tricky.  Wonder if a coat of primer first would help the wood filler to stick better as

it seems to peel off quite readily when trying to scribe the pattern.

 

FFflY8T.jpgiicizql.jpgaMoqusT.jpgQFBAiOb.jpg

 

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Zimmerit looks fine to me. Most Panthers had damage showing in the Zimmerit coating where it had been knocked off through wear and tear or battle damage.

 

  Roger

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Thanks Richard

 

Thanks Hamden

 

Here it is this morning after the 4th and last attempt on the turret.  The sides don't look too bad but the mantlet needs more work and the hull

side needs a redo.  Not sure why I decided to apply zimmerit as it's not a fun job and my skills are really lacking.  Oh well, a little water and it's

just like new for a re-start.

 

hgQWAXF.jpgc9xA7uv.jpgpV0fq5Q.jpg

 

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To me it looks good, have never tried doing this have you done some on a test piece and then painted it to see what it would look like :hmmm:

 

Regards

Richard 

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Hi Richard

 

I tried some on a piece of Evergreen sheet but I didn't paint it.  The hard part is getting the right thickness applied as if it's too thick it

just balls up and comes off.  If it's too thin then the rake doesn't leave any marks.  The other thing is 2 drops of water are too much as the

wood filler gets really runny and all you can do is clean it off and start over.  I didn't want to try putty which might have worked better because when

(not if) I screw up this wood filler washes right off and putty would be lots tougher to remove.

 

It's the first time I've worked at applying zimmerit for more than the 10 minutes I tried years ago and I certainly can appreciate the fantastic job

some folks have done on various models.  From this experiment now I can say I'll probably never try this again. ATAK makes some great looking

resin sheets like the set I used on that 1/16 King Tiger and that's the way to go, especially for 1/35 scale.

 

Lloyd

 

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Zim looking good from here.:yes: 

Just a thought but if the wood filler is sliding off  how about a light primer coat on the plastic first or a quick once over with a fine grade sand paper?

(Great for ideas after the event!:think:)

Great work and good luck.

 

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I guess you will.be more happy once ir is painted. Now you just see a 3d mess that will be only 2d once paint is on ;)

But that convinces me to go aftermarket zim most of the time. Although I find the two products I tried in 1/35 not too convincing. Which is Eduard etch and Tamiya stickers. The Tamiya stickers look even more toy like.

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Thanks Jasper

 

Yes I thought about priming it after the first one or two attempts but then didn't bother.  The plastic is really smooth and the wood filler

doesn't stick too well. If you let it dry a little too long so it sticks better then you can't scribe the lines so it's sort of a Catch-22. Good thing 

is some water and an old toothbrush and you have a clean slate to start over.

 

Lloyd

 

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Hi Soeren

 

Yes the ATAK resin zimmerit for my 1/16 King Tiger was fantastic and they do make lots of zimmerit sheets for 1/35 vehicles so my next (if ever)

zimmerit job will probably not involve wood filler and putty rakes.

 

It does look 3d before paint all right, there's lots of places I had to attempt to patch as there wasn't enough with the initial coat or

the rake just piled it up and left a bare spot.  With the attempted patching it looks more uneven and 3d like, hope that doesn't change

to much under paint as I sort of like it.

 

Today I'm going to try to do the rear plate, should be fun to apply zimmerit to the big storage boxes on each side of the plate and then try to work

around where the exhaust and the rest of the stuff attaches.  Got a dish of water and a toothbrush on standby alert.

 

Take care,

Lloyd

 

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butter icing.. thats what it reminds me of ;-) and its 1,000,000x better thank I could do (I used Eduard PE zim on my StuG - only time i have tried it)

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