Dragon Pz. IV Ausf. G Kharkhov (18.05.13):

[wbill76]

Sag looks just right to me Ben, you don't want it too loose as then the track could've been thrown.

[deafpanzer]

Tracks look SPOT ON! Can't wait to see WW on it...

[Hinksy]

May 4, 2013 17:41:15 GMT -5 wbill76 said:

Sag looks just right to me Ben, you don't want it too loose as then the track could've been thrown.

Cheers Bill and Andy,

Due to the problems mentioned yesterday it really set me back so today will be spent finishing off the remaining Friul Run and will be sorting out a few bits like masking off the vision blocks again and getting the Jack on as I want that in place when I do the whitewash. The plan had been to finish the Friuls yesterday giving me today and tomorrow to get the w/wash done but the best laid plans usually end up in the bin!

The plan is to do the whitewash tomorrow now - it's Bank Holiday Monday here tomorrow so I'll be able to get the whole job done (in theory)!

I'll post a couple of photos of the build with completed Friuls on later.

Thanks guys,

Ben

[Hinksy]

Hi guys,

Nearly there with the second run of Friuls but re the the camera problem I've been out and bought a memory card for my Dad's Camera which is much better than mine and much better than the one that I used yesterday which was supposed to be my backup! It was awful!

I still need to do some fine tuning with the settings but it's a massive improvement.









Tracks will be on later and the vehicle will be whitewashed tomorrow.

Update later!

Ben

[Hinksy]

Hi fellas,

This weekends been a big let down - I had hoped to be whitewashing today BUT with various delays over the weekend and the builders starting work on my parents new kitchen today INSTEAD of tomorrow as planned meant no power and no access to the kitchen table which becomes my main work bench at the weekends. This ruled out any live sockets in the workshop where my spray booth is set up or access to water.

DAMMIT!

So. not to be beaten, I've jigged the Winterketten around a bit using the little bench in the back garden as a work area - it's been a lovely warm day too so it wasn't all bad.

I've trimmed off all the tools that I'll be using for the build and have cleaned them up and replaced the rear 'hooks' that hold the Tow Cable with 0.5mm Brass rod as I snapped one of the plastic ones whilst installing the Friuls.

The Winterketten are all done now and are fitted but are not yet treated with the Black Track Solution. They certainly do the job!

Oh, I found my spare phone that has the excellent camera on it (remember it went missing on Saturday and I was gutted) and took these showing my completed build - minus a whitewash and tools. The only thing that looks a bit iffy is the RHS view where two of the road wheels sit high, obviously from where I messed up early on in the build and had to butcher the suspension to get things right. I'll get it sorted. One of the photos shows the side stowage bin with a wheel and Jerry Can. That's how I'm going to have her looking.

Fingers crossed - whitewash next Saturday!













Sorry I haven't got more to show you but not far to go now!

Ben

[wbill76]

Sounds like you turned a negative into a positive with completing the 2nd track run Ben, making good progress on this one. Nice little swap out there with the jerry can for the spare wheel, gives it some character.

[Leon]

Simply put Ben,that is looking fantastic.

[bbd468]

Hey Ben, shes lookin fine brother! I was gonna build A Tiger for a campaign group build on armorama soon, but after watching your Pz.IV build im really starting to rethink it and im leaning more to build my Dragon Pz.IV F2(G). Since i just finished a Tiger for my nephew i think it makes sense to build the Pz.IV.....Ya think Ben?

Gary

[Hinksy]

May 6, 2013 19:32:14 GMT -5 bbd468 said:

Hey Ben, shes lookin fine brother! I was gonna build A Tiger for a campaign group build on armorama soon, but after watching your Pz.IV build im really starting to rethink it and im leaning more to build my Dragon Pz.IV F2(G). Since i just finished a Tiger for my nephew i think it makes sense to build the Pz.IV.....Ya think Ben?

Gary

Cheers Bill, Leon and Gary - thanks for the great comments,

I'd really hoped to have a nice whitewash to show you guys but this weekend turned into a real slow one with all them problems

No power for the airbrush compressor was painful!

Gary - this is my first Pz.IV and I must say they make for excellent builds - that F2(G) looks like a stunning kit too. Go for it!

The W/Ketten Friuls really do look the part and like Bill Said, that little stowage box needed a spare Jerry Can in there! Makes all the difference!

Thanks again fellas - I'll be trying my hardest to get the w/wash done this weekend now

Ben

[dupes]

Mmmmmm...winterketten. Looks awesome! Gotta love panzer IVs.

[Hinksy]

May 7, 2013 9:01:03 GMT -5 dupes said:

Mmmmmm...winterketten. Looks awesome! Gotta love panzer IVs.

Cheers Dupes

[Hinksy]

Hi guys,

I thought I'd pop in and let you know what's happening here as evidently the going is slow!

If you read back a few posts you'll notice I've mentioned a new kitchen being fitted here at home. It's nearly done now but at a big cost - no kitchen table aka workbench and no power in the workshop where my spraybooth is set up I can't go any further

The GREAT news is the kitchen will be complete by next Thursday at the latest I worked a night shift last night as a training shift 10pm-6am AND am working from home tomorrow so tbh wouldn't have got much done this weekend anyway. What I will be doing during my shift tomorrow is getting all the tools snipped from sprues and cleaned up. I have next weekend totally free and have the 21st off work too so I'm hoping to have things wrapped up with this build by the end of the month at the latest.

I'm still not 100% on what to build next - my Bronco Comet or my newly purchased Dragon Jagdpanther with Zim?

So - big update next weekend and I promise that you will see a whitewashed Pz.IV!

Ben

[deafpanzer]

Looking forward to it! So are you telling me that your parents are expanding their kitchen to make room for your bench? LOL Take your time... we will be here!

[Deleted]

Nice work so far and those tracks look ace.

[Hinksy]

May 13, 2013 11:36:39 GMT -5 @snipersmudge said:

Nice work so far and those tracks look ace.

Cheers Smudge,

She's coming on really nice matey. I'd have had her finished a few weeks back by now BUT having the building work done around the house has made things VERY difficult

I've been very slow this year so far - I've only built the Elefant and have this 75% complete Pz. IV. The new kitchen being fitted and the power cut to the workshop where my spray booth is has stopped me doing anything except assemble Friuls in the last 3 weeks.

The kitchen is due to be completed this week though and this weekend is free and all mine so lots of time to get the whitewash and tools sorted plus I have next Tuesday off on holiday which will give me time to treat the Friuls! Sorted!

I'd like to get this Pz.IV complete by the end of the month then it's Jagdpanther time!

Ben

[Hinksy]

Okay,

Things have NOT gone well - at all.

The attempted whitewash failed miserably. Having done lots of research into the AK Worn Effects stuff I thought I was well armed to do this W/Wash today BUT it seems not. It doesn't seem to give you much space to play around - you are very limited and if you only want a worn effect w/wash it dries so quickly so unless you want to go for a full-on chipping effect this stuff doesn't seem to be great (for me anyway). Next time I try a whitewash I'll be trying the wbill method of basecoating it white and adding the basecoat colour over the top!

The turret looked okay so I've kept that as it has the RB Barrel. I'm not proud of myself and expect a telling off from my peers on here but in a fit of blind rage the said Pz.IV hull was launched at a wall in the workshop and stamped on. Damn. I've spent two months working on this bloody tank and perhaps in hindsight I should have kept to a simple Grey scheme but how do you learn if you sit in your comfort zone for the rest of your modelling life? I'm normally a chilled out guy so it takes a lot to get me this angry!

Something happened - I'm presuming it's my fault - but when I moved to W/Washing the main hull I started LIGHTLY scraping at various points and to my horror not only did the whitewash start scraping off, the basecoat did too, and the PRIMER COAT too!

The tank was painted with Vallejo Model Air colours, the w/wash was Tamiya Flat White thinned with normal Tamiya Thinner and the basecoat was that hull red coloured Vallejo Airbrush thinner. Before priming I wiped the build over but didn't wash it - possibly a mistake. I noticed the paint chipping down to the bare plastic yesterday when I removed the Friuls where I had to give it some stick to free them and the fender was scraped. Ideas?

So, not really wanting to go into this whole sorry affair any more there are plus points. I've learnt stuff, I have two nicely assembled Winterketen Friul runs and all the tools etc too. I'm eager to start a new build straight away so I'll be starting the Jagdpanther tomorrow.

Sorry you didn't get to see her whitewashed guys - onwards and upwards and a big Jagpanther build to sooth the pain!

Dammit!

Ben

[vw8243]

Sorry for your loss Hinksy ,did you protect your base coat and primer wit a varnish or clear?.

leo

[deafpanzer]

Sorry about this. Maybe Tamiya thinner was too powerful? I am not sure what happened. I usually use MM Lacquer Flat Clear out of its rattle can to protect the base... two coats. It needs a coat of something not in acrylic so it will act like a shield against water.

[Hinksy]

May 18, 2013 11:50:46 GMT -5 vw8243 said:

Sorry for your loss Hinksy ,did you protect your base coat and primer wit a varnish or clear?.

leo

Hi Leo,

It's ok mate. I've recovered now and after having a good look at my new Jagdpanther which I'm going to start tomorrow I'm feeling better

I primed and basecoated then added a Satin Coat I then added decals and then added a Flat coat to seal it up and give a good tooth for the w/wash.

I think there was grease or something left on the plastic that wasn't washed off - perhaps from my hands no doubt? I'll be washing this JP for definate! I'll be giving it a bloody shower! LOL!

I can't believe it's nearly June and I've only completed one build this year! Time to step up!

Ben

[Hinksy]

May 18, 2013 11:55:16 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Sorry about this. Maybe Tamiya thinner was too powerful? I am not sure what happened. I usually use MM Lacquer Flat Clear out of its rattle can to protect the base... two coats. It needs a coat of something not in acrylic so it will act like a shield against water.

Hmmmm,

Not sure Andy - I'm not going to worry about it anymore now, it's giving me a headache! LOL! All I know is that a) I didn't do something right with this AK stuff and b) my plastic was contaminated and wasn't cleaned prior to primer. My fault all round

Erm, I'll be creating a new thread shortly - a new JP blog! LOL!

Cheers mate,

Ben

[TRM]

Hey Ben, sorry to hear about the mishap. Odd because the Worn Effects from AK is fairly straight forward. Clear coat your work, let dry thoroughly. Apply a liberal coat of chipping fluid, let dry and WW. Some warm water, not soaked...damp, wet the area and wait a few seconds and then chip. The amount of chipping fluid (or in some cases hairspray)correlates directly to the amount of chipping desired. Thinner coat of chipping fluid, there is a little less chipping...same goes for the hairspray tech.

Wild card....if you wait too long, like a day or two, before chipping or finishing chipping you will have a more difficult time removing the paint on top. If the clear coat is down and with well coverage then you can try and use a little Tamiya thinner mixed 50/50 with water to help the process.

All might not be lost! Depending on whether or not you can fix the "unpainted areas", you can still apply a second WW...mapping. If you have removed way too much of the WW than you wanted, you can map another coat or two with a shade lighter and darker of the WW. This will give depth to the WW itself and allow you to gain the WW back. You will, however, want to clear coat before going forward with this.

Just some thoughts! Pop up a pic and let's see...there is ALWAYS a way to fix something!!

[Hinksy]

Sorry TRM,

I think you must have missed the part where I wrote about throwing the build at the wall and stamping on it! Seriously!

I watched the video on you tube and did loads of homework on using AK's stuff - I did it as you say but it was going wrong big time but the whole primer coat coming away from the base plastic was what was really concerning! I've never seen anything like it!

Obviously I really regret that now but it's done - I've saved all the tools and Friuls of course so all is not lost/ The Friuls will be perfect for one of the three Pz.III's in my stash!

Live and learn!

Ben

[TRM]

Yeah, that sounds about right ...me not catching that other part. Good job saving the tracks. Good luck on the next one.

[Hinksy]

LOL!

The tracks weren't fitted and are still awaiting blackening - the tools are very nice so I'm halfway there already when I get round to sorting another Pz.IV build!

I never lose my temper like that but today really got to me and I turned Incredible Hulk and threw an entire tank through the air!

Ben

[Tojo72]

Sorry Ben,it's tough to lose a build.

[elco]

What a bummer, always sucks when something like this happens.. I always use vallejo for the whitewash, but is strange that everything came of.

I know the feeling of wreck the damn thing but it motivates to make a beter build! Good luck with the next one!

[wbill76]

Well at least you were able to salvage some things off it for use in a future project Ben. As a thought for the future, when you're trying something new, you may want to 'test' it out first on a sheet of styrene or similar before committing to a whole model. Could potentially save another Hulk moment. Look forward to seeing the JP project to soothe the pain.

[deafpanzer]

Perhaps you should save it for a future potential wrecked panzer project. You have seen how the guys have done with them here...

Looking forward to your JP WIP... gonna look for it now.

[bbd468]

Ben my man, I do feel for ya. Im so sorry to hear about the Pz.IV meeting its demise against a wall, but ya took it to another level when ya stomped on it. Ya musta been one angry dude! . My next build is gonna be my Pz.IV F2(G) and ill build it in memory and honor to the fallen (Thrown) F2 ya lost.

I must say, ya picked a SWEET kit to make up for your loss. I also have the JP kit your gonna build and will follow close. Good luck brother Ben.

Gary

[TRM]

May 18, 2013 22:58:14 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Perhaps you should save it for a future potential wrecked panzer project. You have seen how the guys have done with them here...

Looking forward to your JP WIP... gonna look for it now.

Pretty much sums it up....pull it out, wash off the coffee grounds and that nasty banana peels and CALL ME!!! You know you want to do it!!!