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Marder IIIM


Ian

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Weird the random thoughts that occur to you and were you are when it happens, right ? -  sitting at the traffic lights in-town this lunchtime and realised that in forty-eight years of building plastic models, I have NEVER completed a German WWII vehicle, not once, been pretty close, but never actually finished one.


ZoRnL7B.jpg


So… time to change that, I think. I bought Tamiya’s Marder IIIM (35255) a couple of weeks ago, and have made myself a promise… this time I’m going to finish what I start.

Please stick with me as this could take a while, but this time, this time I’m going ‘all the way’.



Ian.

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I have one of these in the stash Ian........but after just finishing a "Wespe", I'm keeping with non open topped AFV's for a while...:S. They are a fun to build, but you really need to figure out the build and painting process before you start.......inside first and complete with chipping and weathering. I made a couple of errors that next time I'll remember not to repeat.

 

There's also some nice PE set's for this one.

 

Looking forward to you starting......:yes:

 

Simon.

Edited by Redcoat2966
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Interesting project, but you might want to change your tag as people will be wondering where they can get hold of a 1/25th scale Marder lll.

 

John.

Edited by Bullbasket
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10 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

Interesting project, but you might want to change your tag as people will be wondering where they can get hold of a 1/25th scale Marder lll.

 

John.

👍

...and done - sausage fingers, John ! - unfortunately juggling work with the 'little stormtroopers' being off school for two weeks on Spring Break, which means any meaningful bench-time is both rare and illusive just now.

 

Ian.

 

 

 

Edited by Ian
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Ok, going to break this down in to two or three posts as quite a lot has happened (in sort bursts). After assembly I left the major sub-assemblies and  component parts of the fighting compartment off the hull so I could paint and weather them.

 

Prep'd with 'NATO' black:

 

UDucCZi.jpg

 

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Then mixed my own Dunkelgelb (roughly, 60% Tamiya 'Dark Yellow', 25% 'Buff', 15% 'Chromate Yellow'):

 

t96kJM4.jpg

 

C8G11pD.jpg

 

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Chipping with (again) my own mix of Tamiya's, incidentally the same mix I use for the basic tank tracks colour.

 

4LP4W4K.jpg

 

UIzWi6t.jpg

 

B14bezd.jpg

 

 

 

More in a minute.

 

Ian.

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The next thing was two light coats of Johnsons Klear / Future / Pledge which changed the tone a little but was needed to help with the washes. I started with Flory's 'Dark Dirt' which I simply worked into all the corners & recesses were all the cr*p, oil and general filth would be [naturally] pushed.:

 

PUwHzf5.jpg

 

oOhwP4f.jpg

 

Later-on I also carefully added a pin wash just to enhance the shadows around the numerous raised bolts, shelves and especially the breech mechanism of the gun. Unfortunately when I took the photos, I completely forgot to take one of the gun, so you're going to have to use your imagination !

 

 

 

Next I mixed some white, brown & ochre oil paint to make a light buff tone which I dry-brushed into the top third of the shields to lighten the tone and try to simulate where the sun & weather would have 'bleached' those areas. Couple of jobs before attaching the gun, storage, storage bins, shields etc. I placed a few dots of Raw Umber oil paint with a cocktail stick and drag them to simulate rust streaks from the major chips. And lastly a good dusting of the horizontal surfaces with a couple of different Mig pigments to make it properly dusty, dirty workplace.

 

XyivCIO.jpg

 

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As this is written, the shields are all in-situ, and I'm ready to mask off the fighting compartment ready for priming, pre-shading and painting the hull. Busy weekend coming-up, and the little stormtroopers are off school for another week yet, so once again any progress will be' 'evenings only' and therefore slow and rare. Ahh well, it's just modelling and not brain-surgery. Thanks as ever for the comments, please feel free to criticise or question. Have a great weekend everyone.

 

Ian.

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11 hours ago, Ian said:

  

XkzhRNA.jpg

 

 

Tut. I just knew I'd been doing it wrong!

Note to self: Do NOT paint the whole thing white then try to spray the black bits.

 

 

Great work Ian. LOVE the heavy chipping on the gun and in the fighting compartment. I'm still unconvinced by pre-shading, but yours does at least show through in places.

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. I think it's going to be a cracker!

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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1 hour ago, Badder said:

 

Note to self: Do NOT paint the whole thing white then try to spray the black bits.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

I don't pre-shade with straight black and white, matey as IMHO they're too stark, I use NATO Black and Deck Tan which pretty much gives me the effects I'm after.

* * *

 

Looking for some ideas and opinions please folks (yes I know everyone has one and I may be opening a flood-gate)... I'm not too experienced with the enamel filter method, I know what it is, I know how it can be applied and I know what the idea behind it is. So, I have in the past achieved the same blending & harmonizing of basic tones by simply adding a tiny drop of paint into a clear coat and spraying overall.

 

Any thoughts as to the 'advantage' of the filter method... Really would like to get your feedback and experiences. Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

Ian.

Edited by Ian
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Not been able to keep up with threads lately....but wanted to say all looking nice....I especially like the gun breach areas. I like the idea of the cocktail stick to create a scratch....have to give that a go in the future.

 

I agree with you on the B&W effect.....it resulted in as you say a too stark effect......I'm actually  moving to a clean main top coat and airbrushing the shadows after and using filters etc to create the modulation. I think also it depends on the main colour of the vehicle and method chosen. I tend to paint tones at least 25% lighter than specified. They darken over the painting process....start with a correct tone and it ends up way too dark.

 

Overall, a really nice piece and looking forward to the end point.

 

Simon.

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Simon, chipping was done using the 'sponge method' and using the same colour that I use as a base coat when I paint the tracks (Tamiya NATO Black, Hull Red & a 'touch' of Gunmetal). the light chips are again Tamiya - Deck Tan straight from the jar. Scratches were done with either a toothpick or 00 brush aided by strong coffee ! 

 

 

Ian.

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