Maxidad Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 So here are the box n sprue shots: Not great photos, I know, but you get the general idea. It looks like a pretty easy build. Can't vouch for its accuracy, as I know even less about tanks, than I do about aircraft. So these were taken on Sunday evening, and on Monday evening I built this far... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxidad Posted February 2, 2010 Author Share Posted February 2, 2010 And last night, I had got so far... Main body: Sponsons: Fuel tank: It's gone to together pretty easily so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxidad Posted February 8, 2010 Author Share Posted February 8, 2010 Bloody, kit-supplied tracks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blimp Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 problem ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 (edited) Bloody, kit-supplied tracks!! There are resin ones out there. see link I put in Mikes wish post for another Anyway, after all it IS A Female Tank, you surely never expected it to be happy being shod first time out Edited February 8, 2010 by TonyT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Tango Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 There are resin ones out there. see link I put in Mikes wish post for anotherAnyway, after all it IS A Female Tank, you surely never expected it to be happy being shod first time out No they drag you round all the shops, then take you back to the first shop they went in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxidad Posted February 8, 2010 Author Share Posted February 8, 2010 OK, I am an "armour virgin". So what is the correct way of getting the tracks glued and on the model? Do you bond the sections first, then pull the tracks over the sprockets? Or put the tracks, with the last joint unbonded, into place and then bond the last joint? It could just be that the tracks are a bit cold and stiff being sat out in the garage most of the time. It's just the weld between track section is particualry obvious and seem very unflexible. Pictures later. There are resin ones out there. see link I put in Mikes wish post for anotherAnyway, after all it IS A Female Tank, you surely never expected it to be happy being shod first time out Sorry, can't find that post... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smuts Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Hi, looks good so far I'd recommend a set of Accurate Armour resin tracks for this one I've got the male & the kit tracks are awful, tried some glue & they just wouldn't have it, one thing though the guns on the female are better then the male they're elliptical in shape. Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Ogilvie Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Am building the 'Male' version atm - using the Accurate Armour tracks as they really are a vast improvement! http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=43462 Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 (edited) Found it for you, from this thread http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=42892 Linky you want is http://www.panzershop.cz/inshop/scripts/pr...ist.asp?first=1 Scroll down though is a full conversion. Though not aufait as to how you sex a tank, so could be for either. Edited February 8, 2010 by TonyT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxidad Posted February 8, 2010 Author Share Posted February 8, 2010 Thanks to Smuts, 32Sig and Tont. So if I go for the Acc Armour resin, that would mean cutting every link, right? I see elsewhere that they cost £17. That may be a deciding factor. I am afraid to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzby061 Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 The Accurate Armour tracks come in strips for the long sections (will have to trim to length) & individual links for round the corners. I got some for my Mk IV & they look a damn sight better than the kit's tracks. I know what you mean about buying a set of tracks that cost almost as much as the kit, I thought long & hard before digging into my sporran! Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancieT Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Having built an Emhar MlIV and using the tracks supplied, and with a Whippet still to be built I definately will be using resin tracks this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxidad Posted February 12, 2010 Author Share Posted February 12, 2010 Having built an Emhar MlIV and using the tracks supplied, and with a Whippet still to be built I definately will be using resin tracks this time. They sound great, but 17 quid! Sorry but modelling is a hobby for me, not a way of life. I will see what I can do with the kit-supplied tracks. Thanks anyway, for your advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blimp Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 (edited) mud , mud mud mud mud , mud , mud - early operations were real bogfests . usually so much that only the ridges of the shoes were visible they had to carry extra self extractors it was so bad - 'unditching' beams , fascines , 'spuds' and modified tracks . tanks were just battering rams . the top brass , with it's old fixed mentality forgot their glorious cavalry , that would win the war , had to wade through it all too . not that there could be a machinegun about . . . . . Edited February 12, 2010 by blimp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxidad Posted February 12, 2010 Author Share Posted February 12, 2010 mud , mud mud mud mud , mud , mud - early operations were real bogfests . usually so much that only the ridges of the shoes were visible they had to carry extra self extractors it was so bad - 'unditching' beams , fascines , 'spuds' and modified tracks Indeed T. This might well be the first model I put onto a base and give it a good old spattering!! That should hide a multitude of sins. So here it is naked, sans tracks, sans paint: Oh and no "roof rack" on yet. It looks a little delicate so I might leave it to near the end of the build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smuts Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Hi, looks good to me nice to see some early armour as well, & they never look overdone covered in mud due to the terrible conditions they fought in. Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 The "roof rack" or Fascine Rail is quite delicate, but I managed to paint mine without knocking it off (too many times). The weakest points are the butt-joints, so you might want to considering pinning them with some fine brass wire - I know I would if I was building another one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxidad Posted March 9, 2010 Author Share Posted March 9, 2010 Thanks Smuts and Mike. It's coming along. I didn't have any problems so far, but as you say the rail might require some strengthening. It is now painted - the colour guide is vague, so I pre-shaded, and sprayed all over Hu155 Matt Olive drab, with a light overspray mid brown (forget which shade). To my eye it looks OK, though I am a bit at a loss how to chip/weather it. I will certainly try in some way to get some rust stains on it, and then muddy it up. Any suggestions as to which medium I should use for mud? The decals are also on, but have silvered a bit, despite 4 coats of Klear. Piccies later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Most of these tanks were 1-use disposable, as attrition was high through either enemy action, terminal bogging down or mechanical failure leading to capture... I put a bit of weathering of the paint finish on mine during the airbrushing process, added a couple of Mig filters to harmonise the color, then gloss coated it and put some Mig dark wash around panel lines and rivets. After that I just did a little fading with some oils, and added some paint chips with dark grey Vallejo and a fine brush. The tracks were airbrushed Vallejo Tracks Primer, then given a treatment of artists' pencil on the high points. I didn't bother adding any mud, as it would have hidden all the detail. I believe that in action, the tanks soon got muddy up to their half way mark, and got accretions of mud on top of the weapons panniers and even on top of the guns, both from shell fire and the action of the track shedding mud as they went over the top. I've got a few pictures of tanks post action, and they're a right mess! I might put some more effort into weathering when I do my Mk.V, but I hope those pointers help a bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxidad Posted March 10, 2010 Author Share Posted March 10, 2010 Most of these tanks were 1-use disposable, Pity about the crew... Thanks for your weathering tips. I don't have any Mig products. It's weathering powders right? I have some couple of chalk pastels I sometimes use - I was thinking of mixing these with "something" (water?, thinners?, alcohol?, Klear?) to make a muddy sludge for mud spattering and general griminess. Am I off the mark here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 Pity about the crew...Thanks for your weathering tips. I don't have any Mig products. It's weathering powders right? I have some couple of chalk pastels I sometimes use - I was thinking of mixing these with "something" (water?, thinners?, alcohol?, Klear?) to make a muddy sludge for mud spattering and general griminess. Am I off the mark here? No, I suspect you're not far off. I've heard people using chalk pastels with thinners to make mud, along with very fine sand & sometimes acrylic gel if you decide to thin with water instead. Have a fiddle, and see how you get on. The washes are enamel based liquids though, which you could probably replicate yourself with some thinners & a daub of enamel paint of the correct color. Filters are an even thinner mix so that you lay down almost no color at all, just subtly toning the base color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisITA Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 Pity about the crew... Not really, most got out and enjoyed a nice long walk home once the action had moved elsewhere, or if the Germans were still somewhat 'local' they surrendered. I believe casualties were relatively light and the tanks were relatively easy to put out of action by driving into the wrong shell hole, knocking of a track, mechanical breakdown etc; things that don't involve shelles penetrating the hull. The two biggest dangers to the crew were fumes from having the engine in the same open compartment as the crew, and 'splash' caused by non-penetrating impacts. Essentially this is where shells and even MGs hitting the ouside warm up the armour through transferrence of kinetic energy, then successive hits cause small flakes of red hot metal to come off the inside of the armour and fly around the inside of the tank. This is why WWI tank crews wore chainmail masks As for weathering, Mike is of course spot on. I use good quality artists chalk pastels and grind them up for pigments. They work out a lot cheaper and I find they stick to the model better, and retain their colour better when matted down later on. To apply them I dilute them with Humbrol enamel thinners. Don't use water, you can end up with a watercolour effect that stays when dry and you can see that its been applied with a brush. The less thinner to powder, the thicker the 'mud' for a nive variation in tone I let the bulk of it dry, then dust once or twice with different tones, finally I apply Klear selectively with a small brush for wet dark bits Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 (edited) mix some acrylic artists paint with some talc and plaster that on, or use salt or the like for coarser some with fine brush hair mixed in for grass Edited March 12, 2010 by TonyT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxidad Posted March 19, 2010 Author Share Posted March 19, 2010 Just saw the last two posts; both of which are very interesting - thanks a lot guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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