Jagdpanzer IV(A) - Dragon - Finished - 2/14/16

[SMJmodeler]

afvfan: Your weathering so far is VERY effective!  It makes her look like a heavy and tired old beast.  With all the damage I could see why she would feel that way!  

What do you have in mind with all that soot on the lower rear port side of the hull?  Is that exhaust soot or a burn scar?  It'll be fun to watch that come together.

Great work!

[afvfan]

Thanks Andy, Noname, and Anthony. It's starting to get the overall look I'm wanting.

Wes - So far, it's been pretty simple (I know, that's such a relativistic term). The beginning of the weathering was actually started when the base paint was laid down, allowing the preshading to do it's job. After decaling, the first streaking was done using oils. This was followed by an oil pin wash to bring out details. Finally, I added some light rusting in the appropriate areas (doesn't show to well in the pics), and worked a bit on the details of the damaged area on the left rear. The wheels have also been painted with a pin wash applied. The next step will be another clear coat to protect the work already done before I start the next stage.

SMJ - "heavy and tired old beast"... Gee, that sounds like I'm painting a self portrait. The area you asked about is a burn scar, at least that's what I'm hoping it looks like when I'm done.

[wbill76]

Good to see you still making progress on this one Bob. Definitely has seen some hard miles!

[afvfan]

Thanks Bill. Oh yeah, there's been progress, albeit a bit slower than I'd like.

[afvfan]

Added a bit more weathering to the beast and got the wheels mounted. Her's a quick look at it now:



This, and the next, picture show the damaged area on the left rear. I was working on the idea that a small charge, like a rifle grenade, hit the idler, taking it out. Since the idlers are free wheeling gravity would have caused it to settle in the damage up position shown. I'm still refining the damaged area, but it's close to finished.




I did a fair amount of chipping on the rear deck to give the impression of the wear caused by troops riding on the back.



Currently I'm working on removing the EPMs on the track links. At the same time I want to get the exhausts finished and mounted.

More to come....

[wbill76]

Nice touch with the idler Bob, gives it some individuality!

[Leon]

Nice work on the weathering Bob! I like your idea on the damaged idler wheel.

[afvfan]

Thanks guys!

[dierk]

Niiiiiice! Like the damaged idler! The rest of it isn't bad either

[wouter]

Oh my, now that's something I really like to see. Great weathering there Bob!

Cheers

[afvfan]

"The rest of it isn't bad either" - Gee, thanks Dierk for the solid vote of confidence.

Appreciate it, Wouter

[dupes]

Dang. This is looking really good!

[TRM]

Well done on the damage Bob! You'll feel it when you hit your mark. Looking like you're almost there!! Keep it going buddy, she's a beauty!!

[dierk]

"Gee, thanks Dierk for the solid vote of confidence." You're more than welcome After living more than half my life in Britain the occasional understatement may slip out here and there The American equivalent of 'not bad' is 'awesome'

[SMJmodeler]

afvfan: WOW!, that battle damage depicted by the burnt hull and damaged idler wheel came out really nice.  The idler damage "justifies" the amount of burn...well done.  Thinking out the gravity rotation, nice attention to detail. The additional weathering is also bringing this all together.

I'm not so convinced about the wear you're depicting by troops riding on the back.  You may want to consider worn paint finishes, exposed /worn edges and dirt built-up/ streaking versus chipping.  The chipping you've depicted looks more like tool (impact), general wear from opening & closing (dropping) the engine compartments and flaking paint from rust creeping in underneath it.

Food for thought...

[afvfan]

Thanks Dupes and T. It is starting to come together. There's still some fine tuning to do before the dirt and dust are added.

Dierk -

SMJ - Great, inciteful comment. I'm of the same mind on the rear deck weathering. After looking at the picture a few times, there are some changes that are going to have to be done.

[SMJmodeler]

afvfan: Here's a few pic's from one of my early builds that might give you some ideas for that deck.  I wanted to depict: The whitewash being completely removed from the deck and worn-off on the angled area where their boots would slide down, worn metal where the guys would sit on the upper-back of the hull.  Bare metal on the fenders where they would be stepping on and off.  Bare metal on edges and grab bars where they would place their hands, etc...  The final touch was the snow/ mud & wet areas added from their messy boots...oh, and a bit of rust from all that exposed metal never hurts!  I hope this is helpful.

[ironhand6]

outstanding, I mean just amazing!  The battle damage is spot on. I think the allies would have very little that could punch a hole in this thing, so taking out the track is a great way to take it out of the fight.

[ironhand6]

Yikes! SMJ, I had to grab a blanket after looking at your Dio! Brrrr. cold. What did you use to make such convincing metal effects? Do you have a link to this build?

[SMJmodeler]

ironhand6: Thank you.  Coincidentally, FSM published an article I wrote for this build just last month (February 2016).  

[dupes]

Feb 2, 2016 9:56:04 GMT -5 SMJmodeler said:

Coincidentally, FSM published an article I wrote for this build just last month (February 2016).  

It only took them eight years? Timely!

[afvfan]

Steve - Nice artistic vignette, though the vehicle, while well done, is bit over-worn for my tastes (but that's another discussion all together). Thanks for posting it. To be honest, I've probably overdid mine considering the production schedule. The JP IV(A) was only made the last 7 months of the war at a rate of about 35 a month. With the attrition rate of German tanks at that time, between breakdowns and combat casualties, I doubt very many of them saw more than 3 months active service.

Ironhand6 - Appreciate the comment. Actually, while they had pretty good frontal armor, the sides and rear were not as protected (side armor was only about 30mm). We had a number of things that could take one of these out from those angles, including the M9 and M9A1 HEAT rifle grenades, given a solid hit.

To get a good idea of armor thickness Google "Jagdpanzer IV(A) Saumur Museum images". This is the only surviving example of the tank left in the world - unless someone has one in their basement. It took a few frontal hits cracking the superstructure wide open.

You know what they say Dupes, good things come to he who waits.

[afvfan]

A short update here. I started fitting the tracks. Here's the right side in progress:



The upper section is still drying. I've noted the front and rear breaks in the track so they can be removed to be painted. You can also see that I've left the outside return wheels off to facilitate getting them off after the sag has been set. I've run into the problem of sometimes not having enough clearance in the past on some kits with the wheels in place.

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I painted and added the exhaust stacks, though there still some weathering to do on them. The one on the left has been beat up a bit to show blast damage.



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Here's the engine deck, as it looks now, with most of the tools in place. As with the exhaust, there's still some fine tuning to do.



The biggest problem I've run into here is the placement of the spare wheels. Supposedly, they go against the back wall held in place by the four posts. Though the posts were located per the instructions, the space isn't wide enough for the wheels to fit .... I'll just relocate them elsewhere, or leave them off all together.

[ironhand6]

wow, I always thought these things were rolling fortresses. so the massive superstructure was just to house the gun?

[afvfan]

You may be thinking of the Jagdtiger. It's got a similar profile, but is based on the Tiger II chassis and is 45 tons heavier.

[wbill76]

Making good progress Bob! Shame about the spare wheel situation...maybe you can fit one instead of the pair?

The irony of all the Jagd designs was the heavy frontal armor always came at the expense of the sides. That and since they had no turret they took less time to build and were cheaper!

[dierk]

Or just weather the bejesus out of the mounting rods and leave the spare wheels off alltogether? Anywhoo, looks the canine's danglies Bob!

[afvfan]

Feb 5, 2016 11:22:19 GMT -5 wbill76 said:

Making good progress Bob! Shame about the spare wheel situation...maybe you can fit one instead of the pair?

Bill - I don't know if I can mount single wheels. I've always assumed they were connected pairs, like the Mk III's. I don't think I've ever seen a picture of a MK IV sporting single replacements.

Thanks Dierk, I'll figure out something. I actually made a construction mistake that's liable to help rectify the situation.

[Leon]

Awesome work on the weathering Bob! Hope you can get the spare wheels sorted.

[wing_nut]

Good points made both sides but can't deny... Boy howdy looks nice.