1/48 Tamiya Panther D

[dupes]

That being the case, what other detailing can you get yourself in trouble with...? 🤨

[stikpusher]

Jun 8, 2023 13:26:58 GMT -5 dupes said:

That being the case, what other detailing can you get yourself in trouble with...? 🤨

oh the exhaust pipes could be replaced with metal tubing.. turned metal gun barrels… twisted wire for tow cables… 😏

[dupes]

Hahaha...get on all of this, Boyd!

[bbrowniii]

Jun 8, 2023 14:30:14 GMT -5 dupes said:

Hahaha...get on all of this, Boyd!

Shut up you two!!

🤣

[406 Silverado]

Jun 8, 2023 18:01:33 GMT -5 bbrowniii said:

Jun 8, 2023 14:30:14 GMT -5 dupes said:

Hahaha...get on all of this, Boyd!

Shut up you two!!

🤣

Let's not forget the engine and engine wiring!!

[dupes]

Yeah, Boyd is in trouble now. 😆

[406 Silverado]

Jun 9, 2023 17:48:51 GMT -5 dupes said:

Yeah, Boyd is in trouble now. 😆

And he's got the benefit of us cheering him on the whole way.

[stikpusher]

Jun 9, 2023 17:47:21 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Jun 8, 2023 18:01:33 GMT -5 bbrowniii said:

Shut up you two!!

🤣

Let's not forget the engine and engine wiring!!

[bbrowniii]

Savages.

[bbrowniii]

OK, sooooo... despite the verbal abuse being heaped upon me, I have managed some progress on the Panther.

First, the tube for the cleaning rods. I should have known this was inevitable, but... when I put it together with the brass in the middle section and the plastic for the ends, it just looked wrong to me. So... out came the old razor saw and:



Then a bit of fiddling with the pieces and some super glue, a bit of trial and error, and some filing and:





It ain't perfect, and will need some clean up when it's time for painting, but I am happy overall.

Next, I spent a bit of time on the turret:





And now, I shall go to bed, silently sobbing at the pressure being piled upon me by the ruthless savages in this group build... all because I wanted to dent up my cleaning rod tube. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[406 Silverado]

Jun 9, 2023 21:38:40 GMT -5 bbrowniii said:

Savages.

I tried to envision your response and I don't think that there's anything that you could have said that would have been more funny than that post! I frickin' laughed my off at that!! MAN that was funny!!!


The progress being made on this build is nothing short of brilliant Boyd. This is some GOOD stuff dude.

[bbrowniii]

Jun 9, 2023 22:01:59 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Jun 9, 2023 21:38:40 GMT -5 bbrowniii said:

Savages.

I tried to envision your response and I don't think that there's anything that you could have said that would have been more funny than that post! I frickin' laughed my off at that!! MAN that was funny!!!


The progress being made on this build is nothing short of brilliant Boyd. This is some GOOD stuff dude.

Thanks man! I'm really enjoying this build. These Tamiya 1/48 kits are fun!

[chromdome35]

The cleaning rod tube looks great! You should scratch the other tools so they look as good, you know you want to.

[406 Silverado]

Jun 10, 2023 7:36:11 GMT -5 chromdome35 said:

The cleaning rod tube looks great! You should scratch the other tools so they look as good, you know you want to.

Oh man.....this just keeps getting better and better.

[bbrowniii]

Jun 10, 2023 7:36:11 GMT -5 chromdome35 said:

The cleaning rod tube looks great! You should scratch the other tools so they look as good, you know you want to.

You guys are killing me....

[bbrowniii]

OK, some more progress today... and my first major "gripe" with this Tamiya kit.

First the progress - built up the turret.

Now, do any of you know that guy on social media (from Wisconsin I think - judging by his accent), that does the "What, no waaaay... for f@&ks sake" videos?

Well, I was that guy today. When I saw how the three turret sides went together, I questioned Tamiya's wisdom for casting them as individual pieces. I had a "What, no waaaay are these going to fit together cleanly".

And, dang it, I was dead wrong. Hats of to Tamiya for the way they engineered these so it's virtually impossible to not get a good fit:



Then it was on to the gun and mantlet:



Here is where the problem lies. The mantlet has a cast texture to it. However, (I'm not sure how well you can see it in the pic), on both sides - around the co-ax MG and around the periscopes, there are two circles in the plastic (ejector pins? They are pretty big so not sure what they actually are). The circles themselves are slightly raised and, within them, the cast texture is completely different from the rest of the mantlet.



So, out come the sanding sticks. My plan is to sand it smooth and to apply thinned tamiya putty to recreate the cast texture. I'll admit to being a little apprehensive - I've done this before (with limited success) in 1/35th. I hope I can make it subtle enough in 1/48th.

[deafpanzer]

+1 karma for your courage to upgrade the cleaning tube with a metal tube! That's something I have been thinking about doing the same for my current build since it comes in two halves. YUK! Why can't all makers stop making halves now with better tooling machines out there?!?!?

I had no idea that Tamiya used die cast hulls back then too so thanks for your response earlier.

[reserve]

As alternative to putty you could try softening the plastic by brushing on some LPC and stippling it with a stiff brush. When dry brush a light coat of LPC to knock down the fuzzies that will occur and presto cast texture

[bbrowniii]

Jun 10, 2023 16:40:53 GMT -5 reserve said:

As alternative to putty you could try softening the plastic by brushing on some LPC and stippling it with a stiff brush. When dry brush a light coat of LPC to knock down the fuzzies that will occur and presto cast texture

Hmmmm.... might try that route...

Thanks!

[dupes]

I'm amazed how differently Tamiya engineered the D and G turrets. Like, not even close to the same! I was wondering what those cylindrical parts were for...I didn't use those.

[bbrowniii]

Jun 10, 2023 21:10:22 GMT -5 dupes said:

I'm amazed how differently Tamiya engineered the D and G turrets. Like, not even close to the same! I was wondering what those cylindrical parts were for...I didn't use those.

The cylindrical parts connecting the turret roof to the floor? Those are all molded as a single piece (as part of the roof). It really made that assembly very easy.

What's the G turret assembly like?

[406 Silverado]

Jun 11, 2023 5:16:15 GMT -5 bbrowniii said:

Jun 10, 2023 21:10:22 GMT -5 dupes said:

I'm amazed how differently Tamiya engineered the D and G turrets. Like, not even close to the same! I was wondering what those cylindrical parts were for...I didn't use those.

The cylindrical parts connecting the turret roof to the floor? Those are all molded as a single piece (as part of the roof). It really made that assembly very easy.

What's the G turret assembly like?

Been missing these nifty updates on this one. Got any more for us?

[bbrowniii]

Yes!

It's been a busy couple weeks, but I'm headed to the bench now and plan to take some pics to update the group on where I am in the build!

[406 Silverado]

Jun 24, 2023 20:23:16 GMT -5 bbrowniii said:

Yes!

It's been a busy couple weeks, but I'm headed to the bench now and plan to take some pics to update the group on where I am in the build!

YESSSS! Lookin' forward to it Boyd.

[bbrowniii]

Alrighty

Sorry for my prolonged silence. It's been busy and I had a bit of a slump in my modeling, but I'm (hopefully) back to it.

A couple of updates:

First, I did the technique that Reserve suggested and used Tamiya extra thin, spread on the mantlet, then went over it with a brush. The one I used was semi-soft, and the effect I got was very satisfying:



Next I decided to add a little more unnecessary details in the from of the ignition wires for the smoke grenade dischargers:





And lastly, I'm wrapping up the tracks (hehe... see what I did there... wrapping... hehe....)

You can see the one assembled unit from the right side of the tank, and the left side in progress:



The tape is there just as a precaution. Everything is glued together.

Before I go, I'll also confess that, when I had a bit of a dip in enthusiasm, I picked up another one of the Tamiya 1/48 kits and threw it together in a day. Got me right back on track:





Hopefully, both of these will hit the paint booth together this week.

[406 Silverado]

That's a pretty neat technique with the mantlet Boyd and the ignition wires to the smoke grenades is a nice touch as well. All of this on a 1/48 scale build at that. I've been known to put alot of details into a 1/48 aircraft build but it's rare that I see this much detail in an armor build.

Tamiya really has it going on with these small scale kits as that armored car built up pretty dang nicely OOB.

[Joe Rix]

Excellent progress Boyd. Your wheel and track technique seems to have worked very well. Although I have some Quick Tracks for my Panther, I am noting your technique for my future 1/48 builds. Loe the wiring on the smoke generators. I'm still on the fence whether I am going all out on the texturing but yours looks great. The armored car is choice bro.

[stikpusher]

Great touch on the wiring for the smoke mortars! And a fine idea to do a single day build project with the Mk.IV British Armoured Car. Just the thing to refresh your spirits. I wish that Tamiya would upscale that kit into 1/35.

[Leon]

Nice progress Boyd!

[dupes]

"Unnecessary details". I love it!

I'm a bit behind, obviously. Attempting to catch up...we'll see how that goes.