Testors Italeri Marder III H, Child of Doom Save

[stikpusher]

One of my Children of Doom… this kit was started ages ago, then sidelined, probably for moving



damaged by a marauding cat who jumped onto the shelf of doom and sent many tumbling to the table below



pulled out and partially repaired, then sidelined again…. recently I resumed working on the replacement indy link tracks,



and today I finished one side! Woohoo!



I’ve got the other side partially assembled, so possibly I may get the other side don’t in a day or two…

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it…

[deafpanzer]

The tracks look great! You can do it! And please don't forget to train your cat not to mess with your kits again.

[stikpusher]

Thanks Andy! I see the light at the end of the tunnel! Now I just need to focus for one more day or two on the tracks…

Oh yeah, we haven’t had a cat in years. And won’t be getting another … they don’t last too long around here with all the coyotes and bobcats.

[chromdome35]

This looks great, it always feels good to make progress on a shelf queen.

We have 4 cats; however, they avoid my bench 99% of the time. I've trained them to stay away from my desk with a squirt bottle of water. My biggest issue with pets is the hair.

[stikpusher]

Thanks Chrome. Yes, getting those shelf queens cleared out is wonderful! One at a time… 
 
I’ll stick with dogs for now… 😉 (btw, the damage to the kit box in the oldest photo was done by a previous dog of ours long ago… damaged some kit parts as well that I was able to repair)🤬

[406 Silverado]

This one looks like a fun one to follow Carlos. I do Ltd know if I could ever deal with a cat in the house very well so my hat goes off to you. I hear you on the harsh environments for cats. The coyotes would get all of ours. We had one give our Lab a fight for his money and that dog was the neighborhood “big dawg”. Scrappy little critters.

[stikpusher]

Thanks Joe. I want to get this one done soon. It’s way overdue. Once I get the tracks done, the rest should flow quickly.

[Tobi]

Light at the end of the tunnel? Be careful that it is no train!
Really a nice build so far, though the kit is definitely showing its age.

[stikpusher]

Jun 23, 2023 0:43:55 GMT -5 Tobi said:

Light at the end of the tunnel? Be careful that it is no train!
Really a nice build so far, though the kit is definitely showing its age.

Thanks Tobi. Nope, not a train. My mojo has flowed for this project and I'm flowing with it. 
The kit sure is showing its age. Italeri left the interior quite vacant, although with the gun installed, that's not overly apparent unless one really looks. I have some parts coming in to address that. Gotta love those eBay "special offer" discounts with free shipping... 

[armornutii]

   Mice to see care pit into an old kit. Someday I will catch that bug. Looks goos Carlos.
   Cats are dangerous, however so are English Labs...those tails are weapons of mass destruction, worse when they figure out how to do surgical strikes.

[stikpusher]

Jun 23, 2023 15:24:51 GMT -5 armornutii said:

   Mice to see care pit into an old kit. Someday I will catch that bug. Looks goos Carlos.
   Cats are dangerous, however so are English Labs...those tails are weapons of mass destruction, worse when they figure out how to do surgical strikes.

Funny things these old kits. I am quite happy improving them, as I am building a well engineered new tool kit, OOB. But I do get turned off a bit with some of the over engineered new tool kits that are way too complicated for my tastes. 
And yeah I know what you mean about a Lab’s tail… we had a Golden for many years and his tail needed a “beware of rotor” sign when he was near my shelves that were in range of his destructor.  But he was a very good dog once he grew out of his puppy impulsiveness.

[stikpusher]

Left side track completed this morning.



The rest should go more quickly now.

[406 Silverado]

Jun 23, 2023 15:24:51 GMT -5 armornutii said:

   Mice to see care pit into an old kit. Someday I will catch that bug. Looks goos Carlos.
   Cats are dangerous, however so are English Labs...those tails are weapons of mass destruction, worse when they figure out how to do surgical strikes.

I can tell you all about that. I've gotta put my dang hand over my midsection when ours walks by so I don't get wacked in the crotch by that baseball bat of a tail. It only takes once to learn.

[406 Silverado]

Jun 23, 2023 22:22:19 GMT -5 stikpusher said:

Left side track completed this morning.



The rest should go more quickly now.

Good job on those tracks Carlos!! Looks like they've got a good natural "lay" to them. Looking forward to more bro.

[stikpusher]

More coming soon Joe.... And thanks!

[Medicman71]

It's looking great Stik!

[stikpusher]

Thanks Mike. It’s moving along quickly now

Yesterday I started adding some stowage- spare tracks, onto the fenders and glacis plate. I also painted the floorboards in primer red, which was supposed to be a standard practice on German AFVs.





Today I got the hull camouflage colors on, based upon multiple photos of this vehicle that I’ve found online. The colors were applied with a brush and rather roughly on the real thing.





I have to paint up the OVM tools now and get them installed, paint up the muffler, spare tracks, and whatever else I can to fill the time while I wait for the fighting compartment drivetrain goodies to arrive…

[m1keh]

Looking good! I enjoy watching these old kits getting some love. Remember they are a link in the chain that got model kits to where they are today. Love it Stik you are doing this kit proud!

[stikpusher]

Thanks m1keh. Yeah, I do enjoy these older kits. More so when I don’t find what they’re missing. 😉

[406 Silverado]

You're moving along quickly as you said in one of your previous posts here. She's coming together rather well at that. It's funny how we put something off for a while and then come back to it with a totally different mindset how things just seem to "flow". Lookin' good so far Carlos.

[stikpusher]

Thanks Joe. The biggest hang up on this was the tracks. Doing those indy link tracks is time consuming and repetitive clean up work... particularly these older Dragon tracks. But two things happened recently. One I am now active in a couple model clubs here, so to fill time at meetings, working on such tasks is perfect for the longer runs of the tracks and the short curved sections around the sprockets and idlers. And two, I finally had proper cabinets installed in my garage, and all my stash is now out of various storage boxes and bins. I have all the started "shelf queens" in one area, so I can get at them easily to concentrate on one at a time while I'm at pause points with any current projects.

[Tobi]

That camo job looks spot on. There are too many airbrushed patterns in the modeling scene IMO, so something like this is always an eye catcher

[stikpusher]

Thanks Tobi. I agree about all the airbrushed schemes, particularly with white wash. That stuff was put on sloppy, and many modelers get that stuff looking too smooth and sprayed on. Besides, it kinda fun to do those field applied schemes that were done with a brush, mop, rag, or whatever was at hand...

I have found several b&w photos plus this great color photo of the actual vehicle to use as a guide for my painting.

[Tobi]

Jun 27, 2023 13:53:37 GMT -5 stikpusher said:

Thanks Tobi. I agree about all the airbrushed schemes, particularly with white wash. That stuff was put on sloppy, and many modelers get that stuff looking too smooth and sprayed on. Besides, it kinda fun to do those field applied schemes that were done with a brush, mop, rag, or whatever was at hand...

I have found several b&w photos plus this great color photo of the actual vehicle to use as a guide for my painting.

Funny thing Carlos, I wrote almost the same words at another occasion not too long ago. Sometimes it was even only bare hands. I'd go even so far to say spray guns were the exception, not the rule.
That's an iconic picture I didn't have in my mind at first, but now that you pointed it out it's obvious.

[406 Silverado]

Jun 27, 2023 11:10:38 GMT -5 stikpusher said:

Thanks Joe. The biggest hang up on this was the tracks. Doing those indy link tracks is time consuming and repetitive clean up work... particularly these older Dragon tracks. But two things happened recently. One I am now active in a couple model clubs here, so to fill time at meetings, working on such tasks is perfect for the longer runs of the tracks and the short curved sections around the sprockets and idlers. And two, I finally had proper cabinets installed in my garage, and all my stash is now out of various storage boxes and bins. I have all the started "shelf queens" in one area, so I can get at them easily to concentrate on one at a time while I'm at pause points with any current projects.

Man that's great that you can organize your in progress/ previously started builds like that Carlos. That picture that you posted must be the most clear older photo I've ever seen and it proves your point about the paint application very well. Looking forward to more on this one bud.

[Tobi]

Jun 28, 2023 6:17:33 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Jun 27, 2023 11:10:38 GMT -5 stikpusher said:

Thanks Joe. The biggest hang up on this was the tracks. Doing those indy link tracks is time consuming and repetitive clean up work... particularly these older Dragon tracks. But two things happened recently. One I am now active in a couple model clubs here, so to fill time at meetings, working on such tasks is perfect for the longer runs of the tracks and the short curved sections around the sprockets and idlers. And two, I finally had proper cabinets installed in my garage, and all my stash is now out of various storage boxes and bins. I have all the started "shelf queens" in one area, so I can get at them easily to concentrate on one at a time while I'm at pause points with any current projects.

Man that's great that you can organize your in progress/ previously started builds like that Carlos. That picture that you posted must be the most clear older photo I've ever seen and it proves your point about the paint application very well. Looking forward to more on this one bud.

There is a whole series of color pictures from Life Magazine that are this quality. Beat up Tiger and Pz.IV from Tunisia in a crispness and with colors, you would think the pics were taken only yesterday.

[stikpusher]

Yeah, between the Life archives, the IWM collection, and other online sources, there are lots of actual WWII original color photos to be found on the net. I HATE all the computer colorized stuff out there. Those range from decent to horribly done...

[moparmadness]

Growing up in the 80’s, seemed like there was a span of time where everyone was focusing on Sherman’s. Kits, accessories, conversions, etc. I liked a Sherman every so often but it was like hearing the same song 8 times a day… eventually, you’ll get sick of it. Finding these Italeri kits in Testors boxes here in the states was like finding a good nugget for German armor fanatics. I think I may have peed a little when I saw the Elefant or Puma on the shelf! 😄 Anyhow, this is looking great man!!

[moparmadness]

Jun 28, 2023 12:01:03 GMT -5 stikpusher said:

Yeah, between the Life archives, the IWM collection, and other online sources, there are lots of actual WWII original color photos to be found on the net. I HATE all the computer colorized stuff out there. Those range from decent to horribly done...

Agreed. At some point, choosing shades and bases is left to the discretion of the individual converting the frames and whether or not they really know what Dunkelgelb looks like. 😀

[Tobi]

Jun 28, 2023 20:18:24 GMT -5 moparmadness said:

Jun 28, 2023 12:01:03 GMT -5 stikpusher said:

Yeah, between the Life archives, the IWM collection, and other online sources, there are lots of actual WWII original color photos to be found on the net. I HATE all the computer colorized stuff out there. Those range from decent to horribly done...

Agreed. At some point, choosing shades and bases is left to the discretion of the individual converting the frames and whether or not they really know what Dunkelgelb looks like. 😀

My feeling is we'll never know exactly what Dunkelgelb looked like. Surviving paint chips are so many different tones (aging aside) and also the RAL Institute nowadays doesn't know what was the formulation of the color. Also there were at least three different official shades at different times: Pre-war Dunkelgelb, Dunkelgelb n.M. and Dunkelgelb RAL7028.

It's an endless field, but some people won't stop claiming they have the insight.