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Completed: Unofficial Armor Group Build


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Where are you headed with your -113, C5? Present-day, or perhaps old-school REFORGER times? Canadian or perhaps Bundeswehr? That kit is awesome for USAREUR and REFORGER units in the 1980s, but is frankly one of the best ways to go for any -113!

Edited by Fishwelding
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Hey that '113' is moving along very well :bandhead2: ! The interior looks great. I built a Tamiya M113 years ago as a Vietnam era machine and really enjoyed it (it has since gone to the scale armor scrap heap). I might need to pick up another one after seeing your build.

I love this thread...makes me want an "ARCarmor" web site :beer4: !

Regards,

Don

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Those who build World War II German models, or those that have an interest in them, I was wondering if we could talk Zimmerit. All of my World War II German AFV and soft skins have been done without zimmerit. Essentially, I have specifically chosen versions of German tanks and such that did not use this paste, or that had some versions use it while others did not, so-as-to avoid applying it myself (i.e. early Panzer IV's and Tigers, or late Panthers). However, I am sitting here looking at my Dragon Jagdpanther and think that it is high time that I try to tackle this zimmerit thing. I know of quite a few armor modelers who have used Squadron white/green putty to fashion the anti-magnetic mine paste, while others have used PE and Cavalier resin zimmerit designed for the different kits out there. I see that Cavalier makes the Dragon Jagdpanther zimmerit, but at close to $20 (excluding the shipping) it seems a tad steep. I stumbled across this stuff called “Zimm-it-rite†by RJ Products and was wondering if anyone had ever used it before (it is on the very bottom of the page in the link provided)?

http://www.rjproducts.com/Catalogs/R_and_J...J_Products.html

I also see that there are various zimmerit tools out there to get the different patterns. Has anyone ever used any of these tools in the past that could recommend any? For my Jagdpanther, I will need the waffle type pattern.

So, how do you do your zimmerit?

Regards,

Don

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Well some people are racing on so I thought it time to put up my starting shot.

Having digitized a load of National Service photos from the mid 50s, for the Father of a friend of mine, I felt there were some good shots that would make a nice little diorama. So here is the start of my Daimler Mk1 armoured car entry for the build. It is the Acurate Armour kit, picked up at Telford last year, together with a resin cast figure for the man himself taking a break leaning against his car.

cheers

Grant

pic_1.jpg

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Last night I completed the 2nd most annoying and tedious part of my t-34/85 Berlin... the roadwheels! Have gotten through to about step 5 or 6 (of about 10 I think) and still have the terrifying individual track links ahead of me....

I know that lots and lots of Armor expert modellers claim they don't paint anything until the thing is completely assembled... but I just cannot bring myself to follow that! Must be my aircraft modeller roots?

Trying to decide if I want to leave the roadwheels off until it is more assembled for painting... dunno. Will probably spend much of tonight gluing tiny fiddly-bits to the hull. Maybe start the PE 'bedsprings' too.

Also working mentally on how dirty to make it... I know that by the time T-34s got to Berlin, none were factory fresh anymore, and the couple photos of the bedspring ones look just raunchy... so it might be a filthy thing.

BTW - is anyone has any good photo refs for t-34/85s around the Berlin period esp any with those anti-panzerfaust bedsprings, please share??? Thanks!

tracy

edit - sorry for the odd typos. posted while i was trying to figure out how to connect Jeni's new Vista laptop to our current network for file xfer... making me crazy!

Edited by Clumber
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...Trying to decide if I want to leave the roadwheels off until it is more assembled for painting...

Also working mentally on how dirty to make it... I know that by the time T-34s got to Berlin, none were factory fresh anymore, and the couple photos of the bedspring ones look just raunchy... so it might be a filthy thing.

BTW - is anyone has any good photo refs for t-34/85s around the Berlin period esp any witht hose anti-panzerfaust bedsprings, please share??? THanks!

tracy

Tracy,

I have a couple of pictures of the T-34/85, but only one showing the use of bedsprings (not sure how much help it is?):

T-34bedsprings.jpg

A couple of the '72/85's' in Berlin:

T-34Berlin2.jpg

T-34Berlin.jpg

Also, I am not sure if you have seen these builds before, they might have some o.k. info for you?:

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/revi...agon/dr6266.htm

http://cs.finescale.com/forums/741538/ShowPost.aspx

Links to some walkaround type photo's:

http://www.peachmountain.com/5star/US_Army...T3485_tank.aspx

http://www.andreaslarka.net/ps245007/ps245007.html

A great source of info on the different turrets used on the T-34/85 is found here:

http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/russia/rpt34/rpt34.htm

Hyperscale Series (some good reading IMHO):

http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/t3485bg...ying%20Features

http://204.50.25.179/features00/t34-85bg.html

With regards the road wheels, each armor modeler that I have ever come across has some subtle differences in how they go about constructing their armor kits. I tend to leave off the road wheels until after the tank has been painted, and most often I even weather the lower hull before attaching the road wheels and tread (easier to reach without the wheels and track in the way). Again, this is just my personal preference. This allows you to paint and weather the road wheels and even the track separately, treating them as separate kits if you will. One thing is for sure, I do not miss the days of the “rubberâ€, or elastic band type tracks in the least…paint always fell off those darn things :cheers: !

As far as the T-34/85’s (indeed most Soviet WWII tanks) that were in operation around the time of the fall of Berlin goes, they were dirty, dented, rusty, with a hodgepodge of paint/camo schemes (some even in plain old primer color)…you name it! So you can go to town with the weathering…besides it’s good practice for aircraft kits :D !

Hope this was of some help!

Regards,

Don

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BTW - is anyone has any good photo refs for t-34/85s around the Berlin period esp any witht hose anti-panzerfaust bedsprings, please share??? THanks!

There was recently a very detailed WIP thread on armorama on this very kit

here

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There was recently a very detailed WIP thread on armorama on this very kit

here

He is the same guy who was/is on the FSM forums in the link I provided in my previous post:

http://cs.finescale.com/forums/741538/ShowPost.aspx

So if anyone reads both...they will probably sound and look familiar fairly soon into your read :crying2: !

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Thanks to everyone for the kind words so far. There are some great looking builds coming along, looks like this group build will be a sucess.

A quick update for today. 2 evenings and half a bottle of Tamiya XF-1 later ....

blackpanther.jpg

"I see a grey tank and I want it painted blank"

The turret is cemented, but the hull and cupola are just dry fitted for now. Its funny how the flash shows all the bits I missed. I still have to add the headlight, so I have time to touch up the bare parts.

Cheers,

Matt

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Wow nice work on the Panther and the M113 guys :worship: ! Looking good. I am stuck digging through books on my M-84...those smoke launchers on the turret are driving me bonkers :nanner: ! I am starting to hate this all resin turret... :nanner:

Regards,

Don

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ok, all done except weathering (this weekends project). Will work on the crew and troops as well. One note, The track on this kit is too small. Had to perform some magic to get them to work. will order some new track and replace it later down the road. I had some AFV track, but it is the wrong footprint for what I was doing.

If you see something I missed, let me know!!! :wub:

enjoy

ray

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ok, turns out its too cold out to do what I needed to do today, so i got the 113 finished. ;) Taking input and reviews.

Taking suggestions on the next project.

1. Skif MTLB.

2. ACA Warrior.

3. Trump JGSDF Command Car

4. Trump Rocket Launcher.

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enjoy

ray

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Nice M113, I wish I had your productivity, I think I'de still be stuck fiddling over the interior :beer4:

So, I was able to sneak off the the LHS (only a 2 hour round trip), and grab some paints. Previously for German armour I've use PollyScale, as their dark yellow was a nicer colour than the Tamiya,.I found the Tamiya to be on the 'green' side. (not that I'm an expert, just what pleases my eye). Since then I've had a change of heart. Using Liquitex Airbrush Medium as my thinner, I can now paint Tamiya all day long, very thin, very low pressures. Plus, it appears that Tamiya has remade their Dark Yellow, so its not as green.

Anyways, here's my attempt at getting colour over the black base. Pictures aren't much, I've never tried to shoot and spray at the same time, and the light in basement isn't much.

Initial black hull.

HullPaint1.jpg

First very thin coat of yellow, misted on at low pressure and from about 12 inches away.

HullPaint2.jpg

Second thin coat of yellow, misted on a little closer. This is the 'dark' shade.

HullPaint3.jpg

Now we start to build up the colour to shade in the crevises and angles.

HullPaint4.jpg

Finally, another light mist to tone it back a bit.

HullPaint5.jpg

Here are the road wheels following the same technique, a couple of mist coats followed by a freehanded buildup around the smooth part.

wheelpaint.jpg

Its an interesting technique for a single colour. I'm not sure how well this going to work with a complex camoflage.

The camoflage pattern will be broad alternating red/green stripes, seperated by thin yellow stripes.

Its not representing any particular Panther, but different than my last one.

So the first step was to rough out the yellow stripes.

UpHullPaint1.jpg

And then fill then in further. I decided to also lay down a good mist coat of yellow, so that I didn't have to worry about 100% perfect coverage when I do the green and brown. it also allowed me to get into all the ventilators and airintakes.

UpHullPaint2.jpg

The next step will be to attach the upper and lower hulls, attach all the engine deck screens, and tidy up the yellow prior to the rest of the camoflage.

Thanks for looking,

Matt

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ok, turns out its too cold out to do what I needed to do today, so i got the 113 finished...

Awesome -113! I presume the soldiers who've been loitering in the background are to be displayed with it? Lawrence Goh's magnificent Echelon line has a sheet of modern subdued uniform patches, including some for the Big Red One. These are printed by Microscale. (Verlinden's ancient sheet has 'em, too, but not very many as I recall).

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Awesome -113! I presume the soldiers who've been loitering in the background are to be displayed with it? Lawrence Goh's magnificent Echelon line has a sheet of modern subdued uniform patches, including some for the Big Red One. These are printed by Microscale. (Verlinden's ancient sheet has 'em, too, but not very many as I recall).

thanks, will be ordering some ASAP!!!

ray

Good work everyone else!!!! Lets see how many we can get done before this is over!!! :(

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Awesome -113! I presume the soldiers who've been loitering in the background are to be displayed with it? Lawrence Goh's magnificent Echelon line has a sheet of modern subdued uniform patches, including some for the Big Red One. These are printed by Microscale. (Verlinden's ancient sheet has 'em, too, but not very many as I recall).

Ok, after a quick scan on the net, any one know where I can get a sheet or two of those decals? Man I would use them up quick like!!!

Ray

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Ok, after a quick scan on the net, any one know where I can get a sheet or two of those decals? Man I would use them up quick like!!!

Ray

Googling "Echelon decals" brought up several places that carry the line in general, but this set appears to be hard to find. Echelon's own site lists these as 'low in stock,' so clearly they are popular. I have several times ordered directly from Echelon, and have received the decals in perfect condition, and a reasonable amount of time, given their long distance.

And incidently, if you ever want high visibility patches, Archer Transfers sells a marvelous line of dry transfer patches and uniform graphics for US, British, and german World War II forces. These patches might be useful for the postwar era, but I see that they have no subdued patches available right now.

Edited by Fishwelding
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Well I finely managed to unpack enough of my modeling stuff after our move to start on my first armor project in about 25 years. :)

I've also had a change of plans with regard to which project I'll do first. I initially intended to start with a Sdkfz/ 20mm flakverling, however after inspecting the kit I felt perhaps I might start with something a little simpler.

So for my first project I selected the new Tamyia 1/48 M26 Pershing U.S.M.C Korea, 1950. An appropriate beginning for me since as a former ground pounding grunt I have a certain affinity for Marine Corps heavy armor.

Ok, on to the kit. I found this kit to be excellent.

m26pershing1.jpg

The detail is up to Tamiya's usual standard. Even the texture of the pitted steel armor is reproduced.

The hull is provided in cast metal, which gives the tank a heavy feel.

m26pershing2.jpg

m26pershing3.jpg

m26pershing4.jpg

However I do not like the way Tamiya has reproduced the gun barrel. I would have preferred a metal barrel as opposed to the cast metal hull they provided. The focus point on any tank is the gun. Oh well, you can't have everything.

m26pershing5.jpg

Overall an excellent kit and I am looking forward to getting started. I have no reference for this tank. I am planning on representing a tank from B company, 1st tank battalion, Inchon, Korea, 1950. Any info on this subject would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark

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