Revell 1/76 Jagdpanther

[echen]

I had been away from modelling for a number of years but on retirement I thought I'd have another go..........................

Previously I focused on 1/35th armour but space and finance now preclude this so I've bought 1/76 and 1/72 whenever I find them cheaper.

Here's one that's been on the bench for months.

I have no pics of the early stages but got it to the following.

I was a bit disappointed with the tracks so I stuck them to the tops of the road-wheels, only to find a wide gap opened.

Which I tried to plug with a sliver of carved wood. It didn't really work so on to plan B. 

Milliput and Humbrol brown acrylic.....................

 

I suspect some mud will be required after the camouflage is finished.

Bearing in mind this is my first post any suggestions or advice from all the experts on progress welcome - even if it's not complimentary!

Having seen some of the fantastic work by fellow modellers I'm painfully aware I have shed-loads to learn.

 

Time for some camouflage. Looks a bit of a mess so far but, aiming at soft-edged patches without an air brush, I add the patch then wash round it with thinners. The camera is very unforgiving.........

But I'll work on it to see what I can achieve.

Hopefully the mess can get cleared up, perhaps with some mud?

Edited October 29, 2020 by echen
Progress?

[echen]

Non-airbrush "sprayed" camouflage doesn't seem to be working. so it's back to hard-edged patches.

My Humbrol red-brown is like treacle, even after thinning......................................

A little dry-brushed gunmetal on the tracks

 

That muzzle brake needs attention, but then so does most of the model.

To be continued, hopefully.......................

[Courageous]

Welcome back to the fold Echen. I can't image doing camo like yours with a brush, one of the main reasons that I kept away from German armour.

IMHO, I think too much emphasis has been put on feathering the paint demarcations in this scale. I know that they used airbrushes to do paint work and that would give you a feathered edge but viewed at scale distance, how much of a 'feather' would you actually see?

 

Stuart

[Jasper dog]

A soft edge is pretty difficult without an airbrush but you've saved it going for a hard edge, either would suit a JP.

Tracks have come out well, next time perhaps have the gap on the bottom though, still better than having the tight from the top of drive wheel to idler. Some rubber tracks will stretch with a little persuasion. 

Perhaps a dark wash to settle in the panel lines and detail, can be done with a cheap set of water colours.

 

Best bet is to keep reading and looking at builds, all scales and genres, to get ideas, try out and use the methods that suit you best.

 

Atb

Darryl 

[Niall]

German camouflage was not sprayed on but with red-brown and green applied in the field by the crew to match local terrain, with whatever brushes they could get hold of.

 

On painting tracks, rust should be used very sparingly on operational vehicles as vibration and the abrasive action of soil, stones and sand will remove it as it forms.

[spruecutter96]

11 minutes ago, Niall said:

German camouflage was not sprayed on but with red-brown and green applied in the field by the crew to match local terrain, with whatever brushes they could get hold of.

 

On painting tracks, rust should be used very sparingly on operational vehicles as vibration and the abrasive action of soil, stones and sand will remove it as it forms.

Not wanting to be a pedant, but the first sentence is not entirely true. I have seen wartime photos of a German tanker using a large air-brush to apply a camo-scheme in the field. I think the man was painting a King Tiger. The photo's caption said that the air-brush was powered from the vehicle's compressed air system (I have no idea if this was true or not). How common this practice was, again, I do not know. 

 

Having said that, many camo-schemes were applied with great haste by the crews, using whatever tools were to hand at the time (rags, mops, even a broom on some occasions, from what I've read). The Germans created a painting-standard for everything they produced during the war, but how closely the regulations were adhered to in combat-conditions is highly debatable.  

 

Chris. 

[echen]

Thank you to Stuart, Darryl, Niall and Chris for your helpful comments.

With regard to the colour scheme application the book Tiger I and Tiger II by Anthony Tucker-Jones outlines the painting process for German armour as including brushes, brooms, rags or a vehicle compressor driven spray to paint the vehicles. The paint was supplied as an olive green and red-brown paste, soluble in water (or petrol if there was enough about, which there probably wasn't) which, in time got broken up or washed off the bodywork by the weather. Sometimes it was factory applied, others in the field and in a hurry so rarely standard; although SS units sometimes aimed at consistent patterns.

My aim is that my tracks are going to be muddy rather than rusty; hopefully this will develop once my planned ambush pattern camo is complete.

 

Should I gloss coat, add decals and pin wash the details before a matt coat and then final weathering with mud?

[Jasper dog]

8 hours ago, echen said:

Thank you to Stuart, Darryl, Niall and Chris for your helpful comments.

With regard to the colour scheme application the book Tiger I and Tiger II by Anthony Tucker-Jones outlines the painting process for German armour as including brushes, brooms, rags or a vehicle compressor driven spray to paint the vehicles. The paint was supplied as an olive green and red-brown paste, soluble in water (or petrol if there was enough about, which there probably wasn't) which, in time got broken up or washed off the bodywork by the weather. Sometimes it was factory applied, others in the field and in a hurry so rarely standard; although SS units sometimes aimed at consistent patterns.

My aim is that my tracks are going to be muddy rather than rusty; hopefully this will develop once my planned ambush pattern camo is complete.

 

Should I gloss coat, add decals and pin wash the details before a matt coat and then final weathering with mud?

Absolutely right, the paint came as a paste and could be mixed with petrol, water etc and applied via brush, rag (if desperate,  never seen a pic) or sprayed. 

 

Yes gloss coat, add decals, seal with another gloss coat to avoid damaging decals and then pin wash /weather , once happy seal again this time matt.

 

Atb

Darryl 

[echen]

Next steps.

Ambush camouflage and some gunmetal inside the muzzle brake.

 

Maybe a bit too "busy" in places?

 

Attempt at painting inside the air vents on the engine deck. Should have waited for the gloss coat and made the wash thicker.

And a bit too thin in others?

Tried to drill the exhaust pipes but my smallest drill (0.5mm) was a) too big and b) kept skidding off the edge so I painted them matt black.

Once the paint is dry I'll gloss overall and add decals.

[Jasper dog]

Looking better,  the ambush scheme does exactly what it should. As you say, maybe a little busy but does the job!

Nice work

Darryl 

[echen]

Gloss coat, decals and a second gloss coat applied.

 

Started a pin-wash but it seems a) too light and b) it's not flowing as anticipated..............

 

 

It just looks very grubby - even without the planned mud etc.

 

 

I feel a final matt coat and some mud on the horizon, along with some pioneer tools, and leave it at that, unless there's something better I can do to retrieve it.

I think, maybe, the multi-coats of paint it took to get coverage have filled the panel lines and other recessed detail leaving little scope for the pin-wash to flow anywhere......................

[echen]

On 7/20/2020 at 3:42 PM, Jasper dog said:

Looking better,  the ambush scheme does exactly what it should. As you say, maybe a little busy but does the job!

Nice work

Darryl 

Thanks for the encouragement, Darryl. Must admit I was beginning to think about giving up on this.

 

Then I remembered I once used a 0.5mm ink pen to denote some panel lines on an aircraft model. I wonder.............................?

 

 

 

[Jasper dog]

A dark paint, used as a wash, carefully and specifically applied, and allowed to partially dry can be carefully removed with a cotton bud/tissue etc moistened with thinner leaving a residue in the panel line.

But... if you've used an acrylic varnish use a enamel based paint for the wash or vice-versa. Don't use acrylics on acrylics. 

 

(A cheap set of water colours can be quite good for this and forgiving, keep the paint on the thick side to make it stay where you need it, allow to dry for a numbers of mins and then wipe away the excess).

 

As ever practice on something first before applying to your model.

[echen]

Tried the 0.5mm pen...........................

 

And on a part-finished Airfix 1/76 Cromwell.

 

The pen method seemed like a good idea at the time and it sort of half worked in some places - but definitely not in others.......................

Looks like the dark colour wash and the cotton bud/tissue wipe method is very imminent.

I'll have to go with the experts in future...........................

Thanks again for the advice.

[echen]

Fortunately it seems the ink is adjustable with a bit of effort, a cotton bud and some water......................

 

The markings are getting a little less pronounced, more scrubbing required..........................

[Jasper dog]

It's a learning game, everyone has there own preferred techniques, it's about what works for you and keep trying new ones too.

 

Cromwell is looking good.

 

Atb

[echen]

remedial action on the panel lines.

 

Revell black-green brush painted to lines, allowed almost to dry and wiped off where not wanted as far as possible.

 

 

Thanks to Darryl for the method.

The JP is beginning to get there methinks.

Next a little tidying, a matt coat and some mud.

[Jasper dog]

Looking the part, matt coat etc should finish it off nicely. 

 

Cheers 

[echen]

Couldn't get my head round a gloss Jagdpanther; it looked so incongruous!

Releif!

Matt finish looks much better.

Now for the mud...........................................

[scoopey]

I too am an old modeller returning since 1/16 does not allow and spare space lol!

On the subject of tracks, unless a trackguard hides the top (Airfix Churchill Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!) then I do the joint at the bottom and add a wire staple.
Zvedza takes a most unusual approach and use tags in the middle of the tracks and at the ends. A pair of road wheels with a hidden pin then locks the ends together and pulls down the tracks floating above the road wheels.
 

[echen]

Thanks Scoopey. I've got the Zvezda T34/85 and SU100 amongst my ongoing builds. The track system seems to work quite well so long as care is taken with bending them. Found too that enlarging fitting holes/reducing axles and cementing parts is better than the "snap fit" on these kits. Testing parts' fit is very unforgiving because you can't get them apart again.

Edited August 1, 2020 by echen
typo

[echen]

Mud kit.

 

Add some brown acrylic paint then sprinkle the mud.

 

Shake off the excess and await for it to dry ready for the next layer...........................

[echen]

Mud

I first tried this method on my SU100.

The SU100 must have been operating during autumn 1944 through the rasputitsa.

The paint is matt enamel dark earth because the SU100 tracks are plastic. I used acrylic on the JP because I vaguely recall that enamels and vinyl/rubber model tank tracks disagree with each other and you wind up with a blob of shrivelled material where the tracks used to be.

[echen]

A little more progress.

 

Vision blocks painted in and some more mud on the running gear and lower hull

 

Last touches to the mud, some pioneer tools, some final tidying and then I think it'll be my first RFI........................................

[crowe]

For a realistic droop on tracks drill through the Hull both sides at the lowest curve of the droop and insert a piece of thin rigid piano wire. Clip the wire length to hold the droop down and nestle between the track links