Panzerjaeger IV and V. Jagdpanzer, Stug IV and Jagdpanther

[echen]

A little more progress this afternoon.

I cut down the Firefly barrel, drilled the ends and fitted a location pin to the mantlet end. It needs tidying up but is getting there.

At least it looks better than the very tapered barrel supplied - or it will do when finished.

And I painted some tyres.

Not my favourite part of building armour but someone's got to do it...................

Found I've generated a bit of a problem for myself. The drive sprocket + AM tracks leaves very little, if any, clearance under the fenders. Initially I thought I might just remove the front section but it carries the front schurzen support so I'll just have to try and mount the running gear with the hull and fittings as they are. 

(I've since read the destructions.  The running gear is supposed to be be built BEFORE the top of the hull gets attached - so I've done it again and got ahead of myself! )

I think this might prove a bit more of a pain than I'd hoped - but not so much of a pain as a certain St*l*t* XIX Cannon not a million miles from here.

Edited February 9, 2022 by echen

[Jasper dog]

I always thought that was part of the game, take a straight forward kit and then make it awkward....

Probably something I'd do, I nearly always leave the tracks and running gear off till the end too!

Clever idea with the barrel too btw.

[Bullbasket]

Nice work with the barrel. It'll look fine once you've blended that in with some Milliput.

 

John.

[Lazy Modeller]

Try a round stamp from rubber instead...

Cheers

LM

[echen]

On 12/3/2021 at 8:05 AM, Jasper dog said:

Always struck me as a strange thing to do, struggling for men, resources and time yet they decide to go for a bizarre over lapping disk camo instead of a straightforward freehand two/three tone pattern...

Been thinking about the complicated, time consuming disc cam.

Lets say we're a hard pressed JP crew facing enormous numbers of hostile armour. The first shot counts whoever gets it off before the opposition. If you can remain hidden until you're guaranteed that first shot kill the pressure is on to engineer that scenario.

Lets say a cam expert with shed-loads of experience comes and tells you there's a new Wehrmacht directive that, in your neck of the woods, a newly devised disc cam will help achieve the above and might make the difference between you making it home or a Sherman/Cromwell/T34 crew making it home instead. The blokes that devise these schemes aren't the end user or the implementers. If someone thinks it'll save their life maybe they might spend valuable and rare rest time repainting the JP.

Just a thought.

[SleeperService]

I think we need a Group Build for those of us who make problems for ourselves. 12 months should be enough.

 

Your brush painting looks a look better than the decal and a bit more practice will see you improving further.

 

In my experience track/mudguard clearance is often an issue due to the kit parts being many times thicker than the real thing scaled down. I use either thick foil or drink can aluminium to make replacements making a rubbing of surface detail with normal foil which I stick down with 2-part epoxy. For this model scraping the undersides back may work better. I also fit the tracks and wheels last thing before I deal with side skirts or similar.

 

That rear piece is strange almost as if the idler mount section is upside down....

[echen]

3 minutes ago, SleeperService said:

For this model scraping the undersides back may work better. I also fit the tracks and wheels last thing before I deal with side skirts or similar.

Fortunately it looks like I'll get away with fitting the inner halves of the road wheels, sticking the tracks to the sprockets then adding outer road wheels and return rollers.

As you suggest the schurzen can go on last once I've finalised how I'm going to do it. Plan at present is to use some PE offcuts to make brackets for the back of each section so I can hang as many as looks appropriate.

[echen]

1 hour ago, SleeperService said:

12 months should be enough.

I think, maybe, in my case I might need a decade.............................

[echen]

Having decided against decals I decided to experiment some more with application of the disc cam.

From a distance this doesn't look too horrendous...........................

but from up close!

I tried a green CD marker pen. Jury is out at present as to whether to pursue it or rub down and re-paint with a brush in the correct colours instead of relying on a wash to tone this down a lot.

Edited January 12, 2023 by echen

[echen]

Not sure how much longer this will live.

 

 

Whether it is worth trying to tidy it up or consign it to the WPB where I'm beginning to think it belongs. 🥴

[Keeff]

Interesting camo scheme @echenand a bit of a conundrum. 

The kit itself looks good .... apart from the original tracks .... and you're doing a nice job, including the paint.

 

I've watched Plastix video .... and found it useful 👍 

 

Keith 😁 

[echen]

Thanks @Keeff. Seems we have different perspectives on this build. I must confess to being very disappointed with it but in view of your encouraging comments I will see what I can beat out of it. I have some am tracks and some scratched schurzen that might help it a little. I think the cam is perhaps a bit too "gappy" so addressing that might the first step.

[Muchmirth]

Nice one Echen, I like the camo scheme. I didn’t realise you were working on this one. 
All the best,

Paul

[echen]

26 minutes ago, Muchmirth said:

I didn’t realise you were working on this one. 

It's more like labouring! One step forward and four back. Just about everything has been a problem with it - but thanks for your encouragement @Muchmirth.

[echen]

Or I could just restore the gun barrel, the left hand MG port and cover the thing in Zim..........................................

[Stef N.]

Just my opinion,so tell me to sod off if you want, but what I think would help is thicker bands of green and red-brown, but don't mingle the colours as much. Say a band of green and a block of red-brown along side it. Also bring the dots closer together so a smaller part of the background shows through.

 

 

This first one I think you are heading in the right direction just thicker bands, less background.👍

 

Hopefully that makes sense.

[echen]

1 hour ago, Stef N. said:

what I think would help is thicker bands of green and red-brown, but don't mingle the colours as much. Say a band of green and a block of red-brown along side it. Also bring the dots closer together so a smaller part of the background shows through.

Sounds good, mate. Thanks @Stef N.. If I bottle the zim or, even if I add it, your pattern sounds like it would work better than the current gappy version. I'll have a poke about the internet and see if I can find some illustrations.

[echen]

First step

Rotbraun to follow

[echen]

I rather suspect this is going to get some zim!

#

 

 

Or a flying lesson in the direction of the nearest dustbin.

[echen]

I think I must be distantly related to Tommy Cooper

 

No Cam again - just like that!

[Stef N.]

Blimey, that was drastic action.😲

 

Would masking, like MD did on his Hetzer, be of any use or is it too small to be able to faff about with masks?

 

 

[echen]

@Stef N.Brush painted stripes next time..................................

Brush painted disc cam is beyond me!

[Bullbasket]

14 hours ago, echen said:

Brush painted disc cam is beyond me!

In another thread on a similar type of vehicle, someone else was going to do a painted disc cammo, and the way that they were going to approach it was to cut the point off of a cocktail stick and dip that in the paint. Might be worth considering.

 

John.

[Old pro]

What paints are you using? There is a very good product called clean slate, that will strip acrylics, made by VMS works beautifully and gives you.. well a clean slate to start again, plus it is reusable if you strain it.

[echen]

21 minutes ago, Old pro said:

What paints are you using?

@Old pro Mix of Humbrol and Vallejo. I'm rapidly losing interest in this kit so I'll probably just bodge it some more til it is done - and see what it looks like in the end.