Nenad Ilijic

Nice work Cesar. I like your painting. Would like to achieve something similar with my next build (King Tiger 332). How did you do it? Freehanded? Do you have a photo just after camo was painted? Cheers, Nenad

Another beauty Stix. Brilliant work all around. Cheers, Nenad

Great work! Nenad

Hello everyone, This is my take on the most feared German tank of the North African campaign, Panzer IV 'Special'. It was the first attempt to mount KwK 40 L/43 anti-tank gun to the tank, and although it was Panzer III that was intended to fight other tanks on the battlefield, Panzer IV was selected to be equipped with KwK 40 L/43 due to the bigger diameter of the turret ring. It was mounted on Panzer IV Ausf. F, and to distinguish it from the short-barreled version of Ausf. F that was equipped with 7.5 cm KwK L/24, this one was called F2. It was soon renamed to Ausf. G, but it will remain F2 for a few more months, to avoid already existing contracts with factories for Panzer IV F production. So basically, Ausf. F2 and Ausf. G is the same tank. There is no clear distinction between them, although at least among the modelers' community, an earlier version of Ausf. G, with a ball-shaped muzzle break and the presence of observation visors on the sides of the turret, is considered to be an Ausf F2. Panzer IV 'Special' first appeared in North Africa in May 1942, when 9 tanks were delivered to Deutsche Afrika Korps. Their first action was Operation Venezia, which was the prelude to the Battle of Gazala. These tanks were rushed into battle straight from the docks, thus most of them appear without any unit markings on photographs. Until July 1942, there were only 2 'Specials' left. A few more deliveries took place before October, so there were 30 of them present at the Second Battle of El Alamein. This model should represent F2, one of those tanks that fought at El Alamein. This one belonged to the 21st Panzer Division, tank number 215, although, it is visible on the photos that it was renumbered and its previous number was 411. I was not able to find out why it was renumbered. The tank was abandoned during the battle and captured by the British. I didn't find out what happened with its crew. The border Model kit number BT-004 is absolutely fantastic! One of my favorites builds so far. Easy to build and yet, the details are great. Perfect balance IMO. I've seen some complaints on the Internet that the kit is more suited for Ausf. G and that is true, although the changes required to make it F2 are really not a big deal, basically rearranging tools on the fenders and removing a few features. Also, some changes were needed in order to accurately represent this particular vehicle, such as adding jerrycan holders, additional toolbox, etc. but really nothing major. The only issue I had with the kit are the tracks. They are link-and-length tracks, and one section of the tracks that run down from the idler wheels has no sag at all. Pitty because the rest of the tracks looks great. It seems that this tank was painted in RAL 8020. There are no signs of a disruptive pattern though. I painted it with an MRP version of 8020. It looks quite convincing to me, although it lost some of its purple tone once I applied dust pigments over it, making it look more like a Light Stone. Stowage is mostly Value Gear, except sandbags which I molded using Miluput. Additional toolbox attached to the left side and spare wheel holders are scratch-built. And here's the real thing: Thanks for watching and thanks for the feedback. Cheers, Nenad

Great work Stef. I like how the camouflage turned out. Very realistic.

Thank you, Vytautas for your kind words. How are you these days, haven't heard from you for quite some time? Thank you Roberto.

Nicely done Simon. You did a great job with Caunter scheme. Cheers!

Stunning work! It looks like 1/35. Cheers, Nenad

Impressive work! And just the right amount of weathering. Cheers, Nenad

Fantastic looking model Maddoxx. Amazing work. Everything turned out great, but I like the figure and the stowage the most. Cheers, Nenad

Thank you Cesar. Thank you Ed.

Great progress with this one Wayne. The stowage looks fantastic. Cheers, Nenad

Fantastic progress so far Maddoxx, I really like what you did. Looking forward to seeing it in RFI. I built Gecko's A9 some time ago, and enjoyed it a lot, one of my favorite projects. Cheers, Nenad

Thank you, Wayne. Glad to hear from you, haven't seen you around for quite a while. Hope all is ok. @SimonT, @BerndM thank you, guys. Cheers, Nenad

Great story, thanks for sharing. And great work with refurbishments. Cheers, Nenad

Excellent work! The painting and weathering look great. Overpainted areas give the model some character. Cheers, Nenad

Have no idea, but it looks great! Cheers, Nenad

Fantastic work NIK. Really like the weathering. Nenad

Great work Stef. Whitewash turned out great. Nenad

Thank you Toryu, you are very kind.

Thank you John. My favorite German tank as well. Thank you Rob. Yeah, even though the detailing is not on the same level as Dragon and similar kits, I enjoy building Tamiya very much and I think that they can be turned into great models with much less effort than many other kits. The only things I dislike are rubber tracks (I hate them), predrilled holes on the fenders, because if you want to rearrange tools you have to fill the corrugated surface, which is not fun, and tool clamps, which I usually replace with PE. Thank you Nanond. It's MRP213, Mr.Paint version of Green Brown RAL 8000. I think it's pretty accurate, although I prefer Gunze H402, which is my favorite version of RAL8000. I think that MRP is more accurate compared to the color chart though, while Gunze version has a bit more faded look. Thank you. I'm just following the instructions I got from the fellow modeler @diablo rsv from this forum. The key is adequate lighting I would say, in my case, I am using a lightbox. @Stef N., @Keeff, @FrancisGL, @echen, @IanC, @Yg Models, @Maddoxx77, @Slackbladder, @Gary Brantley, @Pete Robin, @Watto thank you all for your kind words. Cheers, Nenad

Hello folks, While building my Tiger 112 of the s.Pz.Abt.501 a few months ago, I ran into a few interesting photos of Panzer III Ausf. Ns that were assigned to the same battalion in a supporting role. Having this Tamiya kit on the shelf for far too long, and a need for relaxing build after my Ark Model adventure, I decided to build Tiger's little buddy. The first elements of the battalion arrived in Africa in Bizerte on November 1942, and until the end of the year, there were 12 Tiger Is and 16 Panzer III Ausf. Ns. Its first combat engagement was the Battle of Tebourba. Ausf. Ns 75mm short-barreled guns were excellent infantry support weapons, and their speed and reliability rendered effective assistance to the high-maintenance Tigers. They were mostly firing high explosive rounds against the infantry and soft targets, making them a great addition to the heavy battalions. They were also used occasionally for resonance roles. This model should represent the first company tank no. 124, but is rather inspired but photos of a few different Panzer III Ausf. Ns from an s.Pz.Abt.501 battalion. The build was straightforward, as one should expect from a Tamiya kit. The only additions are Master Club tracks, a wooden box on the fender specific to s.Pz.Abt.501, jerry can rack (Def Model) and various stowage items, mostly Value Gear and Reality in Scale. Also, rearranged fender items a bit to match the photos. The model was painted with MRP RAL 8000. Although it should be expected that those tanks should be painted in RAL 8020, it seems that both Tigers and Pz IIIs of this battalion were painted in RAL 8000. These tanks were not used for too long, so I wanted to keep weathering subtle. Mostly weathered with Mig's pigments (a combination of a few earth and sand tones). Here are some additional detail shots: I couldn't find DAK tropical helmets anywhere to buy so I bought 3D models and printed them. I didn't have decals for them though, I'll add them once I have them. I really like those Master Club tracks. They are a bit stiff and those resin pins are PITA, but the details are fantastic. And here it is with his buddy: And these are some real-life shots. This one is from the Battle of Tebourba: And one more: Thanks for watching and for your feedback. Cheers, Nenad

Printed those pitch helmets I found on Cults3d. They turned out quite nice: Cheers. Nenad

Thank you, guys. It seems that this tank was captured and transported somewhere after the El Alamein battle: More info here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/missinglynx/panzer-iv-g-215-t333770.html If you know any additional info about the fate of this tank and its crew, such as when it was delivered, when and where it was captured, etc. please let me know. Cheers, Nenad

@Muchmirth, @Tom W., @edjbartos. @Solexman, @Ratch thank you all for your kind words. Cheers, Nenad