PACHYDERM PACKS A PUNCH. FINISHED?PHOTO HEAVY p22

[Badder]

22 hours ago, Prop Duster said:

Sd.Kfz.164 !  by golly, I think I got it!  That is much improved name ( yeah, I went all the way back to page one to check-Wheew what I won't do to further my renown as  an acur-mate  mulder)

In all seriousness, the work is spectacular I especially like the treatment of the sprocket wheel very nice.  The one thing I noticed, due to the extreme close up I'm sure, is that the axle ends of the road wheels seem to be "too clean". Please  take this with a bag of Sodium chloride, if further weathering is expected to take care of this .

Speaking of salt which leads to food which leads to Fig Roll and that question. Yes we have a cookie called Fig Newton which are a cookie filled with fig paste. and as it would happen here in California we have actual Fig Trees, from which we get the afore mentioned figs (I love how nature works) So though we are far apart geography we can unite in cutting sprue, sniffing the heady fumes of Extra Thin and munching on a fig cookie.

  Cheers  

Well I never!

Yep, those are fig rolls. I have heard of Fig Newtons, but assumed they were something different. Thanks for the enlightenment. I eat a pack a day, used as a sugar boost if my readings get too low.! I steer clear of sniffing glue though, constructing my models indoors while I am outside sticking my hands in through the window.

 

As for the 'axle ends' being too clean, yes, they are. But I haven't put the' hub caps' on the wheels yet. No, no, don't feel like an idiot, please. Really, don't! I couldn't tell you what the

'hub caps on a '55 Chevy Station Wigwamwagon look like, so I wouldn't know if they were fitted or not.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Badder

[Robert Stuart]

22 hours ago, Prop Duster said:

The one thing I noticed, due to the extreme close up I'm sure, is that the axle ends of the road wheels seem to be "too clean".

9 minutes ago, Badder said:

As for the 'axle ends' being too clean, yes, they are. But I haven't put the' hub caps' on the wheels yet.

Or he may be referring to the suspension units - but I'm sure you have plans for those.

As usual, you are doing great work

[Badder]

1 hour ago, Robert Stuart said:

Or he may be referring to the suspension units - but I'm sure you have plans for those.

As usual, you are doing great work

Thanks Robert,

I'm sure he means the axle ends though. As for my muddy hull, and suspension units.  I'm having second thoughts. I think I may have overdone it with the mud.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Badder]

Return rollers. Daler and Rowney Black Acrylic Ink over MIG dunkelgelb.

Nothing wrong with them. ..... except maybe a bit dark.

 

Road wheels..,,,

 

Hmmmm... messy. But at least those 'too clean' axle ends are covered now! (soz Prop Duster!)

 

Wheels, rollers, idlers dry-fitted and under a flash....

 

Under daylight....

 

Aside from the touching up required on the rollers and road wheel rubber, I'm not happy with the overall darkness of the hull sides, suspension units, road wheels and return rollers.

I've test fitted the tracks again, and with them being extra wide, they throw all of the aforementioned into deep shadow. IT'S ALL VERY DARK IN THERE!

 

While I ponder over what, if anything, to do about the darkness, I will 'take a break' and do these instead:

I did some checking on the interweb and I believe these King Tiger 88mm shells are the same as was used by the Nashorn.

I have yet to get them out of the packet and compare them to the kit's shells.....

 

TFL

Badder

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Badder

[Robert Stuart]

This was on Flickr ...

 

The mud does depend where your Nashorn was serving ...
https://www.google.com/search?q=russian+mud+wwII&client=firefox-b&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXzsn6w97fAhVp2OAKHcu7A7YQ_AUIDigB&biw=1417&bih=949#imgrc=_

 

[PlaStix]

Hi Badder. Your paintwork, weathering AND MUD is all looking excellent. Very realistic effects again! 

Kind regards,

Stix

[Badder]

 

 

24 minutes ago, Robert Stuart said:

This was on Flickr ...

 

The mud does depend where your Nashorn was serving ...
https://www.google.com/search?q=russian+mud+wwII&client=firefox-b&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXzsn6w97fAhVp2OAKHcu7A7YQ_AUIDigB&biw=1417&bih=949#imgrc=_

 

Hi again, Robert.

 

Thanks for the photos.

 

My Nashorn will be on the Eastern Front, not sure if it will be depicted during an advance or a retreat, but I am planning on using my Pit Stop diorama for it. That will depict a thaw after snow, with remaining snow, puddles and mud.

 

Whilst I am happy to show my Nashorn in a very muddy state, I've come to the conclusion that my 'doubt' is caused by the amount of mud on the sides of the hull. There isn't a single area free of mud.... and if you look at the photo you shared, even that Pz has bare, unmuddied areas on the hull. Another thing I've realised, is that Winterketten, being broader, will act as a bit of a barrier to splashes.

 

So, you've helped settle the matter. I am going to remove some of the mud from the hull sides and expose the underlying dark yellow.

 

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Robert Stuart]

You could just make some of your mud lighter in tone - in the Pz III imagee, there are a range of tone values, some of which may represent drier patches (near rear idler), and others much wetter (wheels and idler).

OK, I'll stop harping now

[Badder]

3 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

You could just make some of your mud lighter in tone - in the Pz III imagee, there are a range of tone values, some of which may represent drier patches (near rear idler), and others much wetter (wheels and idler).

OK, I'll stop harping now

Or I could 'frostificate' some of the mud......

The problem though, is the 100 percent coverage with mud. I really need to leave some clean armour plate down there.

 

I shall try my 'scrubbing back' technique. That might work.

 

Rearguards

Badder

 

[Badder]

The Nashorn employed the same gun as the Elefant, King Tiger and Jagdpanther: the Pak43/1 and used the same 8.8cm L/71 AP and HE shells.

That's as far as I can tell from interwebby searches. Tamiya though state that the Nashorn used regulation Pzgr 39-1 AP shells with an option for High Velocity Armour Piercing shells. Maybe the nomenclature changed at some point?

 

Whatever, I could find no brass AM ammo for the Nashorn on the interwebby, but I did find Tamiya's brass 88mm ammo for the KT.

It looked to be the same as the ammo in the Nashorn kit and was described as being 8.8cm L,71 rounds , so I took the risk and ordered some.

 

Checking them against the kit's ammo, they are indeed the same length and - barring only tiny differences which may be down to Tamiya inaccuracies - type. 

 

The brass shells then: The empty cases being hollow, unlike the kit's cases which have a flat undetailed end

 

Up against the kit's shells:

There is no difference in width - the shine and shadow on the brass makes them look thinner.

 

And in the shell cabinets (racks)

 

Now I just have to paint them.

 

TFL

Badder

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Badder

[the South African]

Now this is why I love watching you work! The mud around the bottom of the hull looks real sharpish and the brass bits is going to make the whole of the insides pop big time! 

 

Regards:

Shaun 

[Badder]

 

1 hour ago, the South African said:

Now this is why I love watching you work! The mud around the bottom of the hull looks real sharpish and the brass bits is going to make the whole of the insides pop big time! 

 

Regards:

Shaun 

Hi Shaun,

Thank you.

If I was forced to purchase only ONE after-market product, it would have to be the brass shells. The kit's shells aren't as good as they could be - especially the empty cases which are actually full of nothing but more plastic - solid, flat ended and demanding that they be drilled out, or thrown in the bin. Plus, I find brass-coloured acryic paint a bit temperamental: hard to get an even and perfect finish. I find it hard enough to paint one shell case perfectly, let alone duplicate that look for all 16.

 

As for the mud, I've been getting lots of positive comments and praise about it from members, and I thank everyone,  yourself included. It's honestly very humbling.

 

 

However............ the mud..........

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Badder]

Often I am not happy with my work.

Often, I am happy with my work.

Sometimes people praise something I've done.

Often, I am grateful and humbled by that praise,

Sometimes though, I get praise for something I don't like.

And this is one of those cases.

 

The mud.

Mud, mud, glorious mud,

Much too much mud, muddily mud.

Mud on the bottom, mud on the sides,

Mud it is everywhere, mud in my eyes,

 

Well, I did try removing some of the mud by rubbing it back with a stiff wet brush, but my mud mix was far too resilient. I gave up on that idea. The only way to remove it would be to scrape it off with a scalpel, or sand it down - neither of which I was prepared to do.

 

My only option then, was to repaint the hull in such a way as to disguise some of the mud - make it look less visible.

So I gave everything a going over with the dunkelgelb, lightening the appearance of the hull massively. If the mud of Russia just happened to be dunkelgelb in colour, then this would have solved the whole problem, but I couldn't be so brazen.

 

I am now applying targetted washes to pick out those areas of mud I wish to 'keep'

 

 

 

 

I am already much happier with how this is looking.....

 

TFL

Badder

 

 

Edited January 10, 2019 by Badder

[Badder]

I'm going to apply more targetted dark washes, but will hold back on the final washes untill I've finished the tracks and have test-fitted them again. I want to see how the tracks and their shadow interact with the lighter colours of the hull before I apply those washes. I don't want to make the mistake of going too far again.

 

 

 

 

So, I've given the tracks a few sprays with water-diluted Tamiya Dark Iron XF-84.

And have JUST THIS MOMENT realised that I haven't add the Ice Sprigs.

I'll do them next then....

 

TFL

Badder

 

[Badder]

That's better!

 

 

I did appreciate all of the 'likes' my mud received previously, but ultimately I wasn't happy with it.

I hope you lot find my new mud an improvement. I say 'new'. It's exactly the same mud with some extra effects on top - another of my 'evolutions.'

With regards to the mud on the hull, I reckon I need only apply mid-tonal washes for the most part and limit the darker washes to the areas between the suspension units. But it's a case of doing them in small increments and judging the results.

 

With regards to the tracks, I'm going to remove one link. That will give me the amount of sag shown in the first photo of this post.

 

 

Yes, I know. You needn't say it.....

 

 

I've removed the one link from each track length and am now adding the Ice Spugs.

The tracks will be painted up to look 'clean'.

I won't be dirtying them up until the end of the project- and then only slightly. I will be saving the 'full monty' for when it gets to sit in a diorama.

 

TFL

Badder
 

 

 

 

[the South African]

I rather liked the mud..... That having been said:South africa is not a particularly muddy place but occasionally it does rain NAY pour. I can remember very well having presented a gunnery course in 2000 and it poured then. The tb that was utilised was on a rocky ridge overlooking the range and we could not get tent pins into the ground before the rain started we resorted to cordless drills to get the pins in. 

 

Two days into the course it started raining and a day in I trudged litterally knee deep in the mud. Ratels became stuck when firing on the move ammo was drenched and links rusty causing immense problems with the defa's. 

 

The mud cacked on so badly that the gearbox protection plates were blocked and we could not get under the vehicles to clean it. We proceeded with much troubles to complete the course and when everything dried out had to break the mud free from said vehicles using hands rubber hammers tyre levers etc. I do not have any pictures unfortunately but remember it vividly as being one of my worst times in the army. 

 

The point I am trying to make here is that armored vehicles tend to get mud caked on EXTREMELY thick in every conceiveable and uncomfortable place imaginable and if we had such a struggle in good old dark africa I can not even begin to imagine how bad it must be during a winter thaw nay Russian winter thaw. 

 

I personally think that your depiction is spot on but it is dependant on personal taste and even if you end up painting the mud bright martian purple I believe it will still look good. 

 

Regards:

Shaun 

[Hewy]

Looking superb badder

[PlaStix]

That really is looking the business Badder! The mud effect seems to work superbly. And those tracks! They are beautifully detailed!

Kind regards,

Stix

[Badder]

7 hours ago, the South African said:

I rather liked the mud..... That having been said:South africa is not a particularly muddy place but occasionally it does rain NAY pour. I can remember very well having presented a gunnery course in 2000 and it poured then. The tb that was utilised was on a rocky ridge overlooking the range and we could not get tent pins into the ground before the rain started we resorted to cordless drills to get the pins in. 

 

Two days into the course it started raining and a day in I trudged litterally knee deep in the mud. Ratels became stuck when firing on the move ammo was drenched and links rusty causing immense problems with the defa's. 

 

The mud cacked on so badly that the gearbox protection plates were blocked and we could not get under the vehicles to clean it. We proceeded with much troubles to complete the course and when everything dried out had to break the mud free from said vehicles using hands rubber hammers tyre levers etc. I do not have any pictures unfortunately but remember it vividly as being one of my worst times in the army. 

 

The point I am trying to make here is that armored vehicles tend to get mud caked on EXTREMELY thick in every conceiveable and uncomfortable place imaginable and if we had such a struggle in good old dark africa I can not even begin to imagine how bad it must be during a winter thaw nay Russian winter thaw. 

 

I personally think that your depiction is spot on but it is dependant on personal taste and even if you end up painting the mud bright martian purple I believe it will still look good. 

 

Regards:

Shaun 

Hi Shaun,

I was in the T.A. (Territorial Army) and drove a Fox armoured recon vehicle. I remember being on exercise on Salisbury Plain, which despite being chalkland, got extremely 'muddy'. Well, it was more like liquid concrete TBH. The Fox was a 4 wheeled vehicle with quite a large ground clearance, but I bottomed out near the bottom of a very steep slope and got stuck. We dismounted to have a look at the situation, and silly me slipped into another rut and ended up doing a waterslide jobby, on my back, feet first, for the remainder of the slope and into a deep puddle of chalk slurry.

No, no, of course no one laughed. Guffawed, yes, but not laughed.

 

Luckily, they didn't have mobile phones (or more specifically, cameras) back then.

But yes, 'mud' can get everywhere, and it did.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

[Badder]

7 hours ago, Hewy said:

Looking superb badder

Thanks Glynn,

Hopefully it will look a bit better by the end of today.

 

Rearguiards,

Badder

[Badder]

47 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

That really is looking the business Badder! The mud effect seems to work superbly. And those tracks! They are beautifully detailed!

Kind regards,

Stixfg

Thanks Stix,

I've said it before, but I could pick your work out from an Identity Parade in an instant. Beautiful  work, with a distinctive style.

When I returned the hobby I had to learn about acrylics, gloss and matt varnishes, and  'modern' techniques, I've done over half a dozen models since returning. each one slightly better than the previous one.

My first 'success' was, in my opinion, the Sherman I did for the last STGB, It was a 'messy' beast. The Nashorn seems to be going the same way, and I am wondering if I might have found my style.    

As for the Friuls, I am hooked.

I don't think I can ever use rubber bands again.

 

ONE THING WITH FRIULS AND SIMILAR....

IF YOU'RE GOING TO REMOVE A LINK, IT'S TEN TIMES EASIER TO REMOVE A LINK FROM ONE END THAN IT IS THE OTHER. ASK ME HOW I KNOW!      

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

                                                                                                                                                                      

[Prop Duster]

Badder' What Ho?  Great progress! The reworking of paint, tracks, road wheel "hub caps", brass shells;  I like you, was conflicted about the sheer amount of mud. I too must agree with the "it looks fine/cool/good/etc. group.  But that said, now with you ministrations, the current look is top drawer.  The Brass Band  Shells, are without doubt well worth the effort and expense; they're just magnificent additions. So I must  say I have once again been most impressed with you skill to take a "mistake"-ha!- and find a new path to a better result.

 

I feel I would remiss if  I  don't return to my previous comment (which you translated correctly) about the  …"axle ends of the road wheels seem to be "too clean"...." . As A flighty-thing muddler, I often misidentify parts.  So, I wanted to make sure I had not scared the minds of any other readers.   To wit I rendered this, hopefully, clarifying illustration

 

 

Off to me warm milk and Fig Newtons née Rolls,

Model On! Oh Mighty Prince of Plastic and the Lesser Parts😄

[FrancisGL]

As commented by a mate, very good adaptation to the problems, to choose a different way to change something that we are not comfortable with.

Cheers Badder 👍

[Badder]

 

 

@Prop DusterHi Steve,

I am loving your graphic for clarifying the locations of the axle ends. Thanks for that. Without your dedication to this forum - no doubt you sacrificed a morning's work=out on Muscle Beach in order to get the graphic components together - many in this particular forum might have thought that the axle ends are 1, not on the axles, 2, Not on the ends of the axles.

 

I jest of course. The good people of this STGB are an intelligent lot. They know which way up their 'Ice Sprogs' go.

Says me, who for the past day or so has been removing his Ice Spregs and refitting them the right way up!

Luckily, the Friuls have way more track links and Ice Spergs than is stated on the packaging, so no ruination occurred.

 

Anyway, that's why I haven't been on here for a day or two.

I am just about to repaint the tracks now that they are fully assembled. (The paint rubbed off the high spots during all of the handling)

 

Hopefully I'll have the hull and wheels and tracks done (And fitted)  by the end of this weekend.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

ps. Am I right in saying there's a town in the U.S. called 'Fig Newton'?

Edited January 11, 2019 by Badder

[Badder]

 

4 hours ago, FrancisGL said:

As commented by a mate, very good adaptation to the problems, to choose a different way to change something that we are not comfortable with.

Cheers Badder 👍

Hi Francis,

I think changing/repainting stuff comes from my first ventures into model-making when I was a teenager. I couldn't afford to buy lots of kits, so if I didn't like how a model was going paint-wise, I'd repaint it. And repaint it again, and again until I was happy - pretty much like you've been doing with your old models, though I'd repaint mine within hours, not leave it for years!

 

 

In the same way, I realised my 'Ice Sprigs' were upside down. I could have left them, and most people wouldn't have noticed. But I WOULD HAVE KNOWN.

I had to put them right.

 

Rearguards,

Badder