Welcome 2012!

Hello All!

A few pics of the Russian 45mm AT gun and crew...

I have also been working on a few more teams (Reduced Squads, LMGs and Reserve) for the con in Vancouver in March/April.

Again I based the gun on the long side of the base as this seems better to display the crew.

I will be building a few ammo crates and spare rounds to surround the gun as well as building a bit of a sandbag/brick wall for the crew to shelter behind. Again, this would not fit on the base if positioned on the short end.

I got a positive reinforcement of my choice of Soviet helmet color as a 1942 Soviet helmet I recently purchased showed up in the mail yesterday. Its a great addition to my collection but the wifes keeps asking if I am raising an army...

Displayed are the Soviet 1941 SSh-40 - all original, a Q62 Quist Model 35 - with repo liner repainted, a 1942 Canadian Brodie - all original, a 1943 Canadian Brodie with net - all original, and a ET68 Eisenhüttenwerke repo with repo liner repainted, missing is my 1944 Mk III Turtle with the high chinstrap attachment rivets, currently awaiting repainting...and no...I don't play with the 'barbies'!

Cheers!

Troy

Merry Christmas All!

Hey All!

Just a small post to wish everyone a great Christmas or whatever you may celebrate this season.

I finished up the ATR teams and am just finishing up the 45mm AT gun...

Used a grey (German Grey 995) instead of black to paint the ATRs and highlighted with gun metal. I think I will go a tad lighter next time - say Dark Bluegrey 867. A few painters work I have seen use light grey for metal (WPB and Crac des Chevaliers) and I like the look but don't want to go too light.

Had to make a few late-production corrections, specifically recarving the capped gunners face (huge flash) and the helmeted SMG figure right hand. It was an enormous paw with these really long fingers that just looked mutated even when painted.

Pretty happy with the way these turned out especially the helmeted team. Their faces really came together well but when I originally posed up and glued them down, you couldn't even see either one! I broke them free and reposed to show more of the face.

Cheers!

Troy

Panzer IIIG Decalled and finished.

Hey All.

Finished up the Panzer IIIG with some decals and a bit more grass, dust and mud.

I also did a final extremely light coat with a  dusty color on the tops of panels and upper surfaces as well at the running gear with the airbrush. Try not to overdo this as it will hide all your hard work!!

After adding more grass, I drybrushed it a tan color to make it stand out more. I like this grass / mud effect and will be using it on most new tracked projects.

 I finished up the decals with a few stains and mud to blend them in. I suppose I should have decalled first - weathered second. Turned out ok but next time - stick to the 'Plan'!

Next up, the Soviet support weapons!

Cheers!

Troy

Panzer III Weathered

Hey All!

Added some chipping and mud (to cover a few of the issues with the wheels) and I think I am ready for decals...

I tried not to overdo the mud effects. Its easy to try to make it look too realistic and end up covering all your earlier work.

Uploaded a small youtube video, not sure about the focus but here it is...



Cheers!

Troy

Panzer III First Look.

Hey All!

Slapped a coat of paint on the PzIII and the ATG yesterday and have started the weathering process.

The 45mm ATG is really a great mini. Detail is above average and it paints up well. My only issue is the spoked wire wheels but this would be a tough one to model. I base coated it in Vallejo 72067 (game color) and highlighted by adding 857 golden olive and a bit of white.

I changed up companies when base-coating the Panzer. I used Tamiya Acrylic XF-63 German Grey (lighted with white) as I have found that it has much better 'stick' than Vallejo. For general painting and detail/shadow/highlight work, I find Tamiya has too short a work time and so use Vallejo for pretty much everything else. 

I think I have the scale issues worked out with the tow cable; I use a smaller gauge wire for the cable and use a larger gauge for the loops.

While painting the Panzer, I sometimes have to leave well enough alone as I tends to overpaint things. One issue I have with Vallejo paints is that they tend to change both color and intensity once dry so you have to compensate for this by test painting swatches and using brighter colors. I usually paint and re-paint highlight and shadows until I am happy with the look but I could eliminate a lot of this if I just take the plunge and lighten the crap out of the color to begin with!

I like the way that the turret bulge turned out. It is my first attempt to use epoxy to scratchbuild and it worked slick! I went a bit over the top with the rust but I was thinking that the Panzer IIIG would have sat out most of the winter 1940-41 until the Soviet invasion so ...meh!  As this is an early war Panzer III in Russia, I wanted to keep the the kit minimalistic but I decided to add a few more items. I scratchbuilt a pail out of aluminum rod and wire and also a ammo box.

There is SO much room for improvement with the running gear on BF panzers! I really tried to paint both the details and highlights but due to the rough modelling of the wheels, you can only do so much...there is really no symmetry. Some wheels have 6 others 7 holes, unevenly spaced. I am still pretty bummed out by the running gear but overall and happy with the look so far. I will be adding mud to the running gear to cover the imperfections.

Cheers!

Troy