Yet another Quarter-scale workhorse - Finished

[bull-nut]

I have noticed many Pz IV H's in quarter-scale in this GB, but not found any J's yet, so having one in the stash, I figured I may as well resolve that apparent oversight. This is Tamiya's older moulding, with the die-cast lower hull.

 

Just a placeholder post at the moment, work will commence once the Matilda has been finished over in KUTA XI

[PlaStix]

Hi bull-nut and welcome to the GB. I have one of these in the stash so I will be very intersted to see it in progress. 

Kind regards,

Stix

[bull-nut]

Thanks @PlaStix, I notice that you have this kit on the go as well, it's looking good so far.

 

So rather a lot later than planned, real life has been getting in the way again, but I have managed to get a reasonable amount of progress done over several short sessions this month. Say what you will about Tamiya's 1/48 AFV's, they do go together quickly, the following has taken only a little more that 4 hours work in total.

 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Just to show that this meets the 25% rule,

 

Work began by constructing the wheels and sprockets, as normal, and then moved onto the front and rear hull plates. these, along with the suspension components, were attached to the metal hull with common CA glue,

 

This was followed by sliding on the wheels and gluing them and the tracks together into separate sub-assemblies from the hull, during which time the carpet monster tried its hardest to eat several of the road wheels, to the point where I actually built up one of the hull mounted spares and drilled it for the axle, before the beast gave it up!

 

Work then proceeded with the upper hull, no issues here, standard Tamiya fair, however I do have an RB replacement MG34 barrel on the way to replace the bow MG. The kit part looks a little fragile for my tastes.

 

The upper and lower hulls are just sitting together at this point, for the purposes of the photo.

 

The turret came next of course, and I have opted to model the left side hatches open, this will later be occupied by a crewmen taking part in ammunition replenishment, likewise the corresponding Shurtzen doors will be modelled open (I may have to scratch replacements for the kit parts from thin sheet), hence why the turret Shurtzen panels are still separate.

 

 

The observant among you will notice that the hull Shurtzen rails are absent, though the hangers are in place. This will be remedied later this week when I build up the overlapping hull plates, though I am torn between using solid sheet, or fine mesh for these.

 

Anyway, all of the above sub-assemblies are now in a primer coat that is drying, so I hope to get some base colour on them tomorrow.

[PlaStix]

Glad to see you have been making progress and looking very good too. It is a nice kit isn't it? I'm thoroughly enjoying making mine.

Kind regards,

Stix

[bull-nut]

@PlaStix Thank you. Yes, it's a lovely kit, but then I'm yet to find a 1/48 vehicle from big T that doesn't go together well. Shame about the sponson gaps, though with the skirts and tracks on, I don't suppose much will be visible under there, even if someone does go looking. It's not like it's a Sherman, is it?.

 

Busy emptying the eldest sprogs bedroom to decorate at the moment, but I hope to break out the airbrush in a few hours.

 

Edit: So busy clearing the room and typing this that I a: forgot to hit the post button, and b: missed the postie with the RB barrel for the bow MG. sorted now 👍

[bull-nut]

Rather productive day was had today, quite apart from the DIY.

 

Hobby stuff began with spraying all of the upper sections with XF58 Olive Green

 

I then used blu-tac blobs to mask off the green patches.

 

I have now sprayed XF60 over all remaining surfaces and running gear. That's drying so more pics tomorrow.

[PlaStix]

Hi Bull-nut. I'm looking forward to seeing how your paintwork turned out.

It was all looking great when last seen.

Kind regards,

Stix 

[bull-nut]

@PlaStix: Delays owing to real life again, easy enough finding time to work on the model, less so time to update this thread.

 

Masks came off of the hull and turret giving this result, I then touched in the spare wheel tyres with Citadel Stormvermin fur:

 

Turret schurzen got the same treatment and tactical number decals snugged down with Decalfix:

 

Running gear tyres were painted with the same Citadel acrylic as the spares, while all of the track links and spares got a mix of Dark Iron and Flat Brown

 

I then turned to the side schurzen. after toying with the idea of scratching together some mesh examples, I settled for the traditional solid panels. Cut from 1/4mm plasticard, I overlapped them on some double sided tape and glued the seams with Tamiya Extra Thin. The edges are a little uneven, but I'll put it down to rushed production at the factory.

 

I then fitted the kit rails to the back side of the plates

 

I still need to fit the stays to the back of the plates, that'll be tomorrows job and then they'll be ready for paint.

 

Finally for now, I put together a few crewmembers and some AP rounds and crates from Tamiya's vehicle maintenance set

 

The uniform coveralls/headgear are painted with Vallejo German grey, with a Nuln Oil wash over the top, the rest have been painted with a variety of acrylics.

[bull-nut]

Sorry about the double post here, but I promise it's worth it.

Today was spent painting in ancillary details, including the on vehicle tools, Vallejo german grey for the bare metal, citadel Rhinox Hide for the Bakelite handles and MG34 stock. I also hang most of the turret schurzen panels, leaving out the left side hinged sections, more on those later. The interior of the turret and hatches, and the fabric wad on the end of the cleaning rods, received a coat of Ushabti Bone, while the wooden tool handles and jacking block got Tallarn Sand followed by a wash of Reikland Fleshshade. You will notice that I also mounted the turret MG, and hull front spare track stowage.

 

Also, I forgot to mention yesterday, that the hull MG was mounted, though I used an RB models brass piece, rather than the delicate plastic kit part. I may yet get another and replace the pintle mount barrel at a later date.

 

The exhaust silencer got a coat of Model Mates normal shade Rust effect, I'll add soot later.

 

I also put a fourth crewman together to hang out of the side hatch, and painted the ammo crates in XF60, followed by an overall wash sepia wash.

 

Finally to those schurzen doors, I cut blanks from 1/4mm plasticard, added the flange to the front section with a thin strip of the same, and then added the interior catches with a combination of thin strip, and parts shaved from the kit parts.

 

The catches don't show up too well in this pic, it'll look clearer with paint on.

These need priming ready for paint, and I need to get some mud on the hull sides so that I can get the tracks on at some point. The spare track will soon get a touch of the same rust medium as the silencer, just a lot less liberally.

[PlaStix]

Excellent progress bull-nut. It all looks to be progressing beautifully and the figures should really bring it to life! 

Kind regards,

Stix

[bull-nut]

More progress, The schurzen got its coat of XF60, blotches were masked the same way as the hull, I painted one replacement panel with a branching pattern in red-brown for a little visual interest. You may also notice that one of the panels is now separate, I noticed during a trial fit that it would interfere with the ammo loading, so I figured the crew would have removed the offending panel for the duration.

 

The hull and turret has been given some light sponge chipping and some fresh scratches with an HB pencil. Unfortunately they don't show very well in the pics, but I assure you they are there. The exhaust got some black pigments over the aperture, while the muzzle brake was sponged with black paint, which again doesn't show up very well.

Also the open schurzen doors were added using the molded hinges from the kit parts and small drops of CA glue. taking care to get them the correct way around. I'm fairly sure I got it right.

 

Finally for today, I muddied up the hull side, lower glacis, road wheels, and rear of the track run with a thinned mix of Citadel Stirland Mud texture paint, static grass and some sand and earth pigments.

 

Matt coat and dust next I think

[bull-nut]

I sprayed a dust coat of Tamiya Buff in a random manner over the whole model, followed by an overall flat coat. I followed this by adding some branches to a number of points around the hull and turret. These were made from dried plant stems, to which I added Woodland scenic light green coarse turf, and burnt grass fine turf, adhered with spray adhesive and sealed with Humbrol matt varnish rattle can. As a final touch, I added a loader figure to the open hatches, after painting the Waffenfarbe with citadel acrylics.

 

 

And for completeness, here's a shot of the model with the crew and accessories in place.

 

 

I'll call this finished. No base as yet, I don't have time before the end of the GB, so that will be put down for a later project. More pics in the Gallery thread. Thanks to @PlaStix and @vppelt68 for hosting, and to all who commented.

[PlaStix]

Hi bull-nut. Great to see you have got this into the Gallery. It has turned out beautifully and the figures and foliage really bring it to life. I hope you do get to do a base because it will make a great vignette! Very well done! 

Kind regards,

Stix