Academy 1/35 Jagdpanzer Hetzer

[Sancho Panzer]

Hi All,

 

here are are some shots of the Hetzer that I finished recently. I placed it onto a cobbled street scene base with a couple of piles of rubble and a lamp post to add some height. The commander figure is painted in WSS Camo colours as worn from 1944 onwards.

I made the wooden base from hardwood and chamfered the edges with a router to mirror the angular nature of the Hetzer. Feedback and comments are welcome.

 

thanks for looking,

 

Andrew 

 

 

[Lawrence Tierney]

Very nice. Shows well what a tiny little machine it really was.

 

Commander looks like he's thinking "how do I get out of this chicken sh!t outfit" 

[Bullbasket]

Excellent finish. Nice wok on the figure too.

 

John.

[Soeren]

Thanks for posting this fantastic build. Made me look for the kit and found it for 16$ shipped from Taiwan.

[Sancho Panzer]

Hi All,

 

thanks for your kind comments!

 

@Lawrence Tierney yes the Hetzer is tiny, and is a real contrast to some of the other German machines being produced at the same stage of the war. A great little tank destroyer, although apparently not very popular with the crews due to it being very cramped inside.

 

@Bullbasket thanks - I’m pleased with the way both the tank and the figure turned out.

 

@Soeren thank you! It was a great kit to build - no issues at all. I hope you enjoy your Hetzer too, and that’s a very good price!

 

Cheers,

 

Andrew 

[PlaStix]

That really is very impressive!! Fantastic paintwork, finish and display. Very well done! 

Kind regards,

Stix

[Sancho Panzer]

Hi @PlaStix,

 

thank you so much for your very kind comments, it is really appreciated😁

 

cheers, Andrew 

[Kev The Modeller]

Lovely build mate 

[JeroenS]

Great build, really nice base as well. It is indeed very small, how many crew does it take?

[Sancho Panzer]

Hi @JeroenS,

 

Thanks for your kind comments - there were 3 crew members, which given the small size and sloping armour must have made it a pretty unpleasant place to be,

 

Cheers,

 

Andrew

[Hairtrigger]

Excellent build.   

[Soeren]

Wasn

1 hour ago, Sancho Panzer said:

Hi @JeroenS,

 

Thanks for your kind comments - there were 3 crew members, which given the small size and sloping armour must have made it a pretty unpleasant place to be,

 

Cheers,

 

Andrew

Wasn't that four? Driver and loader plus gunner and commander?

[Sancho Panzer]

14 minutes ago, Soeren said:

 

Wasn't that four? Driver and loader plus gunner and commander?

Erm yes, a typo on my part.........there were four crew inside one of these; it must have been very claustrophobic.

[Soeren]

It must have been. Did you see the video on youtube of the Chieftain? It looks well contained in there. But sitting in a small car isnt much different maybe?

[JeroenS]

Hm... if the lack of space isn't claustrophobic, the apparent lack of access hatches will most likely do it for you. I wouldn't want to be the poor driver of this thing... Luckily I'm 6' 4" so I think they'll use up all the small guys first 🙂 

[Buzby061]

Great work on Hetzer, figure & base. 

 

Pete

[BerndM]

Excellent build and well presented.

You have nailed the ambush camo scheme.

[Sancho Panzer]

Hi @BerndM,

 

thanks - the camo scheme was quite a challenge and I made a few mistakes along the way. Overall I’m very happy with the way it turned out though,

 

cheers,

 

Andrew 

[Soeren]

Hmm. What would you say is/was wrong? What was your way to do the dots inside the patches?

[Sancho Panzer]

1 hour ago, Soeren said:

Hmm. What would you say is/was wrong? What was your way to do the dots inside the patches?

Hi @Soeren,

 

I initially sprayed the whole vehicle body with 'dunkelgelb' after the B&W shading and then applied the Academy kit masks directly onto the dunkelgelb without applying a layer of varnish or inter-coat clear. When I removed the remaining masks after spraying the brown and green it should have revealed the dunkelgelb patches although some of the masks removed the paint layers underneath all the way down to the bare plastic. I had to then cut new masks to repaint the dunkelgelb patches where this had happened. I now realise why leaving 24 hours for paint to dry, and using a coat of satin varnish - also with 24h drying time - before masking is recommended........

 

As for the dots inside the patches, this is quite complicated. I initially tried hand-painting dots on a couple of the patches after unmasking, although it was slow and just didn't look right. I also have an Alliance Modelworks PE disc-camo stencil, although this design is the slightly different Panther'disc camo pattern and the PE only really works on perfectly flat surfaces - I had already applied the tools, handles etc to the Hetzer which made this difficult.  As I have a Cricut 'Explore Air' stencil cutting machine that I use for custom airbrush stencils (for example the skull in my profile pic) , I decided to create a stencil that comprised a repeating pattern of the 'gaps' between discs of varying sizes. After a lot of Googling I found a good image of the 'Disc' camo pattern online and re-scaled it in an image editor application on a PC before converting it onto the right file format for the Cricut. I then used the Cricut to cut this stencil in an A4 sheet of 'Artool Ultra' flexible, self-adhesive airbrush mask . I then cut out exact shapes for each surface of the tank from this A4 sheet which was made easier by using the camo plans provided with the kit and masked off the entire vehicle using these. I then sprayed dunkelgelb over the green and brown patches, and green over the dunkelgelb patches. I already had the Cricut Explore so this was a viable option although I would have persevered with the hand-painting option if I didn't have the Cricut as they are expensive. I should add that Archer Transfers produce a 1/35 disc camo transfer set which is just the 'dots' that can be applied over the base colour patches - I bought a set from a seller in the US through eBay, although this didn't arrive until after I had already worked out my own solution with the Cricut. I'll use these on a future project.

 

Sorry for the long reply, although I hope that helps?

 

Cheers,

 

Andrew

[Karlj72]

On 3/16/2019 at 9:03 AM, Lawrence Tierney said:

Very nice. Shows well what a tiny little machine it really was.

 

Commander looks like he's thinking "how do I get out of this chicken sh!t outfit" 

Is that you Hudson lol

[Lawrence Tierney]

5 minutes ago, Karlj72 said:

Is that you Hudson lol

You'd better secure that sh!t

[Soeren]

1 hour ago, Sancho Panzer said:

Hi @Soeren,

 

I initially sprayed the whole vehicle body with 'dunkelgelb' after the B&W shading and then applied the Academy kit masks directly onto the dunkelgelb without applying a layer of varnish or inter-coat clear. When I removed the remaining masks after spraying the brown and green it should have revealed the dunkelgelb patches although some of the masks removed the paint layers underneath all the way down to the bare plastic. I had to then cut new masks to repaint the dunkelgelb patches where this had happened. I now realise why leaving 24 hours for paint to dry, and using a coat of satin varnish - also with 24h drying time - before masking is recommended........

 

As for the dots inside the patches, this is quite complicated. I initially tried hand-painting dots on a couple of the patches after unmasking, although it was slow and just didn't look right. I also have an Alliance Modelworks PE disc-camo stencil, although this design is the slightly different Panther'disc camo pattern and the PE only really works on perfectly flat surfaces - I had already applied the tools, handles etc to the Hetzer which made this difficult.  As I have a Cricut 'Explore Air' stencil cutting machine that I use for custom airbrush stencils (for example the skull in my profile pic) , I decided to create a stencil that comprised a repeating pattern of the 'gaps' between discs of varying sizes. After a lot of Googling I found a good image of the 'Disc' camo pattern online and re-scaled it in an image editor application on a PC before converting it onto the right file format for the Cricut. I then used the Cricut to cut this stencil in an A4 sheet of 'Artool Ultra' flexible, self-adhesive airbrush mask . I then cut out exact shapes for each surface of the tank from this A4 sheet which was made easier by using the camo plans provided with the kit and masked off the entire vehicle using these. I then sprayed dunkelgelb over the green and brown patches, and green over the dunkelgelb patches. I already had the Cricut Explore so this was a viable option although I would have persevered with the hand-painting option if I didn't have the Cricut as they are expensive. I should add that Archer Transfers produce a 1/35 disc camo transfer set which is just the 'dots' that can be applied over the base colour patches - I bought a set from a seller in the US through eBay, although this didn't arrive until after I had already worked out my own solution with the Cricut. I'll use these on a future project.

 

Sorry for the long reply, although I hope that helps?

 

Cheers,

 

Andrew

Thanks for this complete explanation. That is the reason why your approach looks so realistic, I guess your would have a hard time toing this free hand witha brush.

[Badder]

 

 

A brilliant Hetzer, with lovely, very slightly faded disc camo - I know how hard that dotty stuff is! I must say that the figure is beautifully sculpted/moulded by the designer/manufacturer and wonderfully painted by you. And I think the lamppost deserves a mention too.

 

May I be cheeky and suggest maybe a few propaganda posters/leaflets blowing across the road, or stuck to the lamppost?

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Sancho Panzer]

4 hours ago, Soeren said:

Thanks for this complete explanation. That is the reason why your approach looks so realistic, I guess your would have a hard time toing this free hand witha brush.

Hi @Soeren

 

Are you planning on the Ambush’ Camo scheme for your Hetzer?  If so, if you are able to PM me your postal address I can make another stencil and ship it to you. 

 

cheers,

 

 Andrew