Dragon JP c/w Zim-Final Photos (28.07.13):

[wbill76]

Moving along nicely Ben, looking forward to seeing how that bin turns out. As for your question on the cover for the front of the ball mount, this was a cover to seal up that port when the vehicle was in transit and the gun removed. It's not included in the kit as a part that I'm aware of.

[Hinksy]

Jun 22, 2013 16:33:16 GMT -5 wbill76 said:

Moving along nicely Ben, looking forward to seeing how that bin turns out. As for your question on the cover for the front of the ball mount, this was a cover to seal up that port when the vehicle was in transit and the gun removed. It's not included in the kit as a part that I'm aware of.

Cheers Bill,

A buddy of mine (Craig Hiscock) who built a cracking version of this kit on MilMod added this port cover on a chain and it looked excellent - it made for a nice little addition.

Luckily I'd not had that Oil stain on too long so I've managed to remove the stuff below the spent shell hatch witha bit of thinner. Good job I tried now as it probably wouldn't budge by tomorrow morning!

The bin, if done properly, will make a nice touch - I've got to decide weather to use AK's Chipping stuff or stick with some good old tried and tested HS!

Cheers Bill,

Ben

[Deleted]

the jagd is looking very nice like the weathering so far

[Tojo72]

Nice work Ben,weathering is just right

[ceresvesta.]

I love your style bro! Very nice weathering!
Tony, thanks for the intel.

Phil.

[Hinksy]

Hi guys,

Yeah - whooping a$$ on this baby now! Moving along nicely - I'm very keen to get started on that Bronco Pz.II D of mine and get the Panzer Grey flying. There's no way I'm going to rush this build but I'm stepping up a gear seeing as I'm limited to weekend work only.

So, washes, filters, streaking effects and oil stains are on. Chipping is done and that MIG Mud that I have (fine texture) has been applied along the lower walls and under the Fenders etc. and given a light wash of AK's Brown for Dark Yellow.

Wheels are painted and just need the side walss of the middle sets painted with some buffable Stainless Gunze to show some wear. The Friuls are ready to drop straight on following a tidy up and track wash. Pigments on the usual places and some more work on the rusty Mufflers should see her looking good.

All that leaves is the fiddly annoying bits like making up the tiny tow cable that loops round the holder on the RHS and sorting a DECENT tow cable to run from the front tool rack of the vehicle round to sit in the holder at the rear. I've had the kit cable hanging in the workshop with a 0.5ib weight looped to the bottom of it since I started this build now yet it's still like a coiled spring when undone. I think I'll have to buy one of the Lion Roar cable sets with the super-soft metal cable. Oh - and there's still the adjustments to be made to allow the spare track links to be hung on the holders - I reckon I'm about 80% done

Bayonet - There's some new WIP photos tomorrow - the last one is my first piece of 'Militaria'. It's a Polish Mauser bayonet made by 'Perkun' given to my Dad by his buddy for my Dad to give to me. It's a great bit of kit. I've found a website dedicated to 'Perkun' Bayonets and I think it's an M1924 - I've checked the measurements and it's a perfect match - the scabbard is spot on too. It's obviously seen some use nut hasn't got a hint of rust on the whole thing! www.old-smithy.info/bayonets/Polish%20Mausers.htm I'm pretty sure it would have pre-dated WWII and have seen use around the late thirties - more research to be done The M1924 bayonet was made to fit the Mauser M1898 rifle and carbine and the carbine Mosin M1891/98/25.









Mig Mud:













Bayonet:



I hope you like her so far guys - with some decent shoes on this beast should look great

Have a good week y'all!

Ben

[deafpanzer]

Catching up here... still on the road trip! That's nice looking bayonet! It almost look like my German bayonet...

Your JP is looking great too!!! Excellent work applying dark washes! It made the Zimm pop!

[bbd468]

Hiya Ben, she's lookin awesome my man! Cant wait to see them tracks on it. Nice Bayonet! Who's givin ya a hard time, ya gonna have to STICK-em!

[Deleted]

Great mud and general muck, most impressive

[Hinksy]

Jun 27, 2013 13:26:15 GMT -5 @snipersmudge said:

Great mud and general muck, most impressive

Cheers guys,

The Bayonet is a beauty. It might be Polish made but used by the Germans. On the link there are names of rifles it would have been used on so I'll check that out.

The MIG mud is BRILLIANT! It can be applied in really small areas with a small brush or whatever you see fit to suit your needs as it's so soft and not stodgy.

It totally kicks the butt of that Tamiya Mud - try it.

I was worried that I'd overcooked the pin washes and general wash and made it too dark but now it's dried it's looking like I causgt it just right. I used AK's Brown Wash for Dark Yellow but it was REALLY dark! I should have tried thinning it down a bit but luckily I tried it on the Fenders and found that a wide brush dipped in the wash then the bristles pushed against the inside neck of the bottle to drain the excess worked best so it wasn't flooding the JP..

I'm working from home covering the emergency phone tomorrow afternoon 2pm-10pm but that should give me enough time to fit the wheels and dry brush the bolt heads and show some exposed metal on the rims and hopefully get the Friuls sorted too.

On Sunday I'll be finishing off and making the final detailing stuff. I know I lost the kit sledgehammer but I've found a nice one in the spares bin which I'll paint up and put on the rear deck. There's the spare tracks too that need to go on the holders.

Finally - the tow cable! I'm sick of trying to use the awful Dragon wire which is so damn twisted even after having the weight hanging from the end of it after 4 weeks! It's better but still not good enough to use - someone suggested annealing it?

Anyway - I bought two packs of Karaya cable and it's amazing as it's easily shaped and straightened. Resin eyelets are supplied but I'll just use the kit ones which are better. I also bought a pack of that Lion Roar cable that you slide the collar over and wrap the wire around the eyelet to make a perfect tow cable

Question - what do you guys do about painting your metal tow cables as these are a dull copper colour? Standard primer and paint?

Thanks again guys - update tomorrow! Another two weekends will see her done.

Ben

[ceresvesta.]

Superb MUDification   Keep this up hinksy!!

[Hinksy]

Hiya fellas,

Saturday update time!

I'm about done now - I'm soooo close!

I usually use Vallejos Matt Varnish through the airbrush but this time I tried that can of Model Master Flat/Dullcoat from the rattlecan. Really impressed - it's really toned it down, much better results with anything that I can get with Vallejos Acrylic Gloss

I was going to have spare tracks on the hangers on one side but they were a real PITA so I've simply took the easy option and fitted two spare links and have just left the others with the pins in place - it looks okay though so all good.

Road wheels are on now. I've taken the excellent Prismacolour Silver Graphite pencil to show wear, especially on the midle wheels.

I gave up trying to straighten out that colied Dragon tow cable wire and used the Karaya Wire that I ordered. It's so easy to work with. The pictures below show it as it will be fitted - I'm going to paint it up shortly.

Tomorrow I'll fit the Friuls and add the pigments along with a bit of air shot through a brush loaded with AK Earth Effects

I'm off work next Wednesday so I'll do the finishing touches then and I'll arrange to go to Godfather Dave's house to do some proper completed photos using his super-amazing set up

I'm still undecided on adding an antennae or not?

Photos:



















I hope you like her so far lads - She'll look killer with some Friuls on!

Update tomorrow,

Ben

[wbill76]

Making good progress here Ben. The wheels look sharp and she's rounding the final turn, almost done! Just don't forget to detail the periscopes and sighting scopes for the gunner and commander. My vote is always 'yes' for an antenna as it make the vehicle look like it's in service IMHO. As for your trials with the DML wire, I can never understand why they supply it as steel wire in the first place and then in the second insist on coiling it in the packaging so that it has so much tension in it that it's very tough to work with. Annealing steel wire requires some VERY high temps and I'm sure you're much happier with the copper replacement.

[Hinksy]

Cheers Bill,

That Karaya wire is soooo much better - for £4 you get a fair bit too and they do a helluva lot of different diameter wire too with markings saying idealy what Tank is should be on. Resin Eyelets included too.

Sorry if I'm being a total dumbass or have just missed something but can you (or anyone else) expand on the sighting scope/Periscope detailing? I've painted the lenses which were masked off during spraying - should I be adding something else or is this a simple reference to my rubbish attempt at painting these tiny areas AFTER the DY was on?

Obviously I should have painted the lenses first and then masked and fitted them! Live and learn!

Friuls will be on shortly - update later. Just need to add a track wash and pigments.

Cheers buddy,

Ben

[Hinksy]

Hi fellas,

Well, I think she's about done? Friuls have had a simple AK Track Wash brushed over them and a file gently rubbed over the raised areas - each side needed one link removing and they dropped straight on.

I've painted the tow cable with Gunze Steel and the eyelet with a basic DY. I'll detail all that up on my day off this week and rub dome pigment in and use a graphite pencil to highlight the curved cable going around the eyelet leaving the inner eyelet in DY.

I've had a look at my cabinet and it's obvious that if I fit an Antennae I'll lose a good 2" of cabinet space and will mean that I'll have to lose a shelf BUT I've decided that if I snip of the bit on the antennae base and drill a small hole one of my RB antennae will drop into there nicely for display and photos and can then be removed for sticking in the cabinet.

Godfather Dave won't be around this week nor next weekend so I'll have to wait until until the 16th to get some decent 'job done' photos to wrap up this thread with.

In the meantime as soon as I've sorted the outstanding bits on the JP I'll be starting work on my next WIP - Bronco's Pz.II Ausf.D1

I've not built a Bronco kit before and it will be nice to go and build an early war Panzer again. The kit was picked up for a respectable price as were the RB barrels and Friuls. It's a lovely looking kit and the glossy magazine type instructions are really good.

Photos (sorry for the poor quality):











Nice shiny new kit:





Thanks for looking guys,

If you can think of anything that I need to do that I've overlooked please, give me a shout!

Have a good week everyone,

Ben

[wbill76]

Jun 30, 2013 8:11:39 GMT -5 Hinksy said:

Cheers Bill,

Sorry if I'm being a total dumbass or have just missed something but can you (or anyone else) expand on the sighting scope/Periscope detailing? I've painted the lenses which were masked off during spraying - should I be adding something else or is this a simple reference to my rubbish attempt at painting these tiny areas AFTER the DY was on? Obviously I should have painted the lenses first and then masked and fitted them! Live and learn!

Cheers buddy,

Ben

Sorry, the pics show up dark on my monitor and as a result it looked like you hadn't detailed them. For the future, especially when they are clear parts, if you paint a little bit of sliver on the backside before painting the full scope bodies, the faces will show up much better later on after finishing. If they are standard styrene, well there's not much more you can do about them under that scenario!

[Hinksy]

Thanks Bill,

I was worried that I'd missed something out!

Thanks for the tip too - I'll try that next time I using clear parts.

Also I only used Vallejo Model Colour Periscope Blue. Thinking back to my doomed Pz.IV I remember using Tamiya Clear Green on the lenses prior to assembly and that worked really well so I'll try that again.

I'm trying to focus more on these little details that make a big difference.

I'll see what I can do with this Bronco Pz.II!

The JP looks great in the cabinet. A couple more things to do along with the tow cable detailing and the final photos at Dave's and I'll call her done!

I'll start the Bronco kit next weekend now or, if I have time, on my day off this week. It will be nice to make a change from Dragon stuff!

Have a good week buddy,

Ben

[Deleted]

Great work there Ben looks very nice indeed.

[Tojo72]

Nice job on this one for sure

[deafpanzer]

Looking real good! I haven't built or even bought a Bronco kit but I won't be surprised if I buy one soon because they have releasing great kits lately. It will be fun to follow your build on this one!

[Leon]

Awesome job on the JP Ben.Thumbs up fella.

[Hinksy]

Thanks guys,

You've put a smile on my face - great comments! Really appreciated

All that's left to do is the final weathering on that spare track hanging from the back, detailing and fitting that tow cable and some light pigments.

I'm off work tomorrow so I'll be doing that then and, if I have time, I'll make a start on the yummy looking Bronco kit

As previously mentioned Godfather Dave and his amazing camera set up are on holiday and the final 'end of blog' photos won't be taken until next weekend - I'll get them posted to round this build off when they are done.

Overall, what a great kit! Instructions are great - I noticed one little mistake but it was obvious.

I'm really glad you like her lads, I look into my cabinet now and can really see me work getting so much better over the last 12 months. Build rate has slowed but quality has massively improved!

Final photos to come and new blog will be started either tomorrow or this weekend.

Take care,

Ben

[Hinksy]

Hi lads,

Well, the Jagdpanther is complete and is definately among on of my better builds - I've had a lot of fun building this! What a great kit!

Everything is done now apart from the final photos which Dave will be taking and I'll be posting next weekend. I've just finished the tow cable and dry-brushed a few areas.

I'll make a start on the Bronco Pz.II D tomorrow - I'm looking forward to that one!

I'll get the photos of this JP taken and posted to wrap up this thread.

Thanks for all your your help on this build everyone!

















Really pleased with this one. It's going to be interesting building a Bronco kit!

New blog starts tomorrow

Ben

[bbd468]

Ben, this is an outstanding build my man! Definitely gonna have to move my kit up the "To Do" list. Well done Ben....Bravo!!!

[Hinksy]

Jul 6, 2013 13:30:54 GMT -5 bbd468 said:

Ben, this is an outstanding build my man! Definitely gonna have to move my kit up the "To Do" list. Well done Ben....Bravo!!!

Thankyou kind Sir!

If you have this in your stash get it on the bench!

I'm really pleased with this one - I'm looking forward to getting the decent photos done!

Ben

[Tojo72]

Nice job on this one Ben

[wbill76]

JP came out looking good Ben, now on to the II-D!

[deafpanzer]

Congrats!!! Looking very fine! I can't wait to build mine one day...

[Hinksy]

Hiya fellas,

As promised I've got the final photos done - I like to get a blog completed with some good photos, I haven't got a set up to take photos like these.

I wasn't going to bother with fitting antennae but I did and it really looks a lot better imo. I also let the tow cable drape over the rear of the JP - I cut the wire too short and it didn't look right stretched across the rear deck.

I really hope you like here. She's definately one of my best pieces of work so far (again, imo)

I'd love to hear any feedback/comments on this build!

Final photos:

















Thanks for looking guys,

I hope you like her - I'm onto my Pz.III Ausf.M build now!

Ben

[Leon]

Congrats on another fine looking build Ben .One to be really proud of.