Pz.III Ausf.H - COMPLETED! (04.01.14):

[Hinksy]

Cheers guys

I've been pretty busy for the last couple of days so haven't got as much done on this Panzer as I'd hoped - I had wanted to break out the airbrush this weekend but there's no rush I suppose!

Anyway, the turret is complete and it looks okay. I'm going to fit the tools onto the Fenders tomorrow then sort the roadwheels and start painting!

The tracks will be Friuls but they need ordering first so will go on later.

I haven't tried the painting with tools on the build before but as I find the job of painting the tools off the tank messy and fiddly I think it's time to give this method a try.

I've also got that Archer Dry Transfer Swastika Aerial Recognition flag to go on the rear deck - I'll mount that on a tinfoil backing and it will sit over the moulded tow cable. It will definately add a nice splash of colour!

Sorry there's not more to show but progress is progress!







Thanks for looking guys - update tomorow,

Ben

[bbd468]

Hiya Brother Ben! Hey, progress is a good thing no matter the amount.....looks good ta me!   Ben i always paint my tools on the Tank. Where ever possible, even on the smallest of spots, ill cut paper in small pieces and slip under the tools to protect the tank when painting them. if i cant slip paper under ill either be real careful or lay a piece of Tamiya tape along side as close as possible.....so far so good!

Cheers my friend,
Gary

[Hinksy]

Dec 21, 2013 16:24:02 GMT -5 bbd468 said:

Hiya Brother Ben! Hey, progress is a good thing no matter the amount.....looks good ta me!   Ben i always paint my tools on the Tank. Where ever possible, even on the smallest of spots, ill cut paper in small pieces and slip under the tools to protect the tank when painting them. if i cant slip paper under ill either be real careful or lay a piece of Tamiya tape along side as close as possible.....so far so good!

Cheers my friend,
Gary

Cheers brother Gary!

That's the plan - plenty of masking and I've got some nice thin tracing paper for the tight spots. It will definately be a helluva lot easier than painting them off the tank which always get messy.

More tomorrow!

Cheers matey,

Ben

[Deleted]

Lookin good Ben!

[Deleted]

smart looking model like this

[Hinksy]

Dec 22, 2013 2:39:36 GMT -5 @snipersmudge said:

smart looking model like this

Thanks Smudge

As much as I like the big-barrelled German beasts of late WWII my real passion lays in the small early war Panzer I's/II's/III's etc.

I've had a lot of fun building up my Pz.III collection and the Pz.I A was a particularly interesting build. Tamiya recent Pz.II was again a lovely kit.

Next up will be Dragon's Zimmed KT with Henschel Turret - what a way to start a new year!

www.dragon-models.com/d-m-item.asp?pid=DRA6303&fb_action_ids=10200350965056148&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B10150856704540930%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.likes%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

I'll complete the assembly of the Pz.III today and over the week I'll get her primed and painted. I have bought AK's Colour Modulation set to try on this which should be fun!

Who can believe it's bleedin' Christmas this week? On Wednesday! I must up my game this year and tackle the PE head-on and learn how to paint figures - good figures!

Ben

[ceresvesta.]

Nice u/d Ben! no rush bro, We arn't in this building thing
to go fast!....Xcept for Gary 'the rocket' Boggs. He is a real roadster hehe.

[Hinksy]

Dec 22, 2013 7:28:12 GMT -5 ceresvesta. said:

Nice u/d Ben! no rush bro, We arn't in this building thing
to go fast!....Xcept for Gary 'the rocket' Boggs. He is a real roadster hehe.

Cheers CV,

I've just finished clipping the tools off the sprues and am now cleaning them up to the highest possible standard as I'm going to try painting all the tools in-situ on the vehicle.

Roadwheel clean-up to follow which I'll mount and fix in place with Blu-Tack whilst I assemble the Friuls then onto paint and Friul blackening and weathering!

Sounds like a plan lads?

Ben

[ceresvesta.]

Sounds great Ben!! KT is a superb kit! got to get my hands on one of those.

Me like fruilzzzzzz

Phil.

[Tojo72]

Nice job so far Ben on the III

you will enjoy that KT,very enjoyable build,and a nice palette for techniques,I myself will build the Dragon BOB King Tiger # 6254 next,look forward to following yours

[wbill76]

Rolling right along with this one Ben.

[Hinksy]

Cheers guys,

Just a quick one fellas - the tools are in place so I'll at least have a crack at painting with tools on for a change.

I think everything is done now (assembly wise) so apart from the road wheels and a bit of cleanup and gap filling we'll get the airbrush fired up asap!

Overall it's not been a bad build. Instructions are up to the usual Dragon standard and pretty busy. A few bits just don't want to fit properly and required slight surgery and the 2 x plastic Conduit runs for the headlights are fiited correctly BUT are about a good 3mm too short? Easily sorted but why the short conduit in the first place?

I'm still waiting for the Archer Dry Transfer Aerial Recognition Swastika flag - as it's coming from the States I suppose the Christmas post will delay it a bit.

So here we go - it's not my tidiest of work as I'm a bit rusty but she'll scrub up ok!



Note the short Conduit:









Thanks for looking guys,

Have a great Christmas everyone!

Ben

[wbill76]

Moving right along Ben! Looks like you've got a couple of gaps at the turret front on either side near the weld beads. A little putty work there and some careful sanding will set it right. Looking forward to seeing the results of your 'on-board' tool painting effort.

[Hinksy]

Dec 23, 2013 11:33:28 GMT -5 wbill76 said:

Moving right along Ben! Looks like you've got a couple of gaps at the turret front on either side near the weld beads. A little putty work there and some careful sanding will set it right. Looking forward to seeing the results of your 'on-board' tool painting effort.

Hey Bill,

Thanks for dropping by!

It was actually noticing the gaps in the turret on the last update photos that prompted me to say a bit of filling was required. They'll fill and sand nicely.

My Archer Aerial Recognition Flags arrived today (Dry Transfer) so I'm looking forwards to having a go at making a couple of tinfoil flags to sit on the tow cable - I'm yet to try anything like this.



The on board tools should, in theory, be a lot easier to paint? The moulded clasps will already be painted from the basecoat application and the paper masking method should work well.

I've taken a break today but will get this thing basecoated and well underway this week!

Cheers buddy,

Ben

[Hinksy]

Hi guys,

I decided to do the honourable thing and set aside the modelling for the few days over Christmas to do the whole family thing so I decided to get my butt back into gear and pulled out the Pz.III H earlier on and thought about getting it wrapping it up over the next week or two.

I haven't fitted the road wheels yet but have prepped them. I'd wanted to build the 1 Pz.Div tank option so duly built the Drives and Idlers to do the job. It was a good job I hadn't fitted the Drives and Idlers because the Drive Sprocket option I'd chosen were for the narrow 36cm wide track - I hadn't even given it a thought! I duly made up the 40cm wide Drives.

You may say 'why didn't you stick with the narrow Drives'? Well I would but as I'm determined to use Friuls on only my 'bigger' builds this year I had to use the kit Friuls which were, you've guessed it, 40cm wide!

The odd thing is the optional width Drive sprockets are just that - optional. There is no reference made to them being different widths so a lot of modellers out there, particularly ones new the hobby would have been badly caught out by this and would have had quite a job removing the incorrect narrow Drive Sprockets

The two optional sprockets:



Anyway; All road wheels, Drives, Idlers and return rollers are assembled so this weekend I'll be looking to get her primed with a CM basecoat laid down and and decide how best to do the tracks. I prefer to assemble Magics off my builds as painting them is so much neater and easier.

Dry fitted running gear:



I'm thinking of trying a different method to my usual one for assembling Magics (I usually do it in one run) - start the run at 12 o'clock on the front drive and take the run anti-clockwise forward and back round under the road wheels round to 12 o'clock on the rear idler. I'll assemble a second run to run across the return rollers and join the two track ends up

Update tomorrow!

Cheers guys,

Ben

[wbill76]

Just out of curiosity Ben, are the sprockets truly narrower or just the different styles? I ask because the earlier 'style' of sprocket continued in use even after the switch to 40cm tracks but just had a spacer added to it to allow it to fit the now-wider tracks in use. This was done before they switched over to a different style of sprocket that was standardized as the 40cm sprocket. From your pic it does look like they are narrower which would be a knock against Dragon for not pointing that out...not that it's all that unusual as they most likely just took the narrower sprocket from their Pz III E and F kits and tossed it in the box for this one.

[Hinksy]

Dec 27, 2013 20:56:05 GMT -5 wbill76 said:

Just out of curiosity Ben, are the sprockets truly narrower or just the different styles? I ask because the earlier 'style' of sprocket continued in use even after the switch to 40cm tracks but just had a spacer added to it to allow it to fit the now-wider tracks in use. This was done before they switched over to a different style of sprocket that was standardized as the 40cm sprocket. From your pic it does look like they are narrower which would be a knock against Dragon for not pointing that out...not that it's all that unusual as they most likely just took the narrower sprocket from their Pz III E and F kits and tossed it in the box for this one.

Hi Bill,

Oh its definately narrower Bill. I have a handful of 36cm Friuls from my ancient StuG III A build and they dropped on it perfectly.

Looking at the instructions there's the usual PE parts that sandwich inbetween the Iders but nothing for the Drive Sprockets!

Not a problem (luckily) but I did want to show the build sporting the very early running gear - I still could but I'd have to fork out more £££'s on Friuls and I'm pretty skint at the moment - my Christmas money will be buying Friuls for my Tiger II and the plan was to use the kit Magics on this Pz.III.

Cheers buddy,

Ben

[bbd468]

Hey Brother Ben, Build is lookin great! Im also diggin the Archer transfers. I have an off brand from Europe and the Swastika has to be put together from 2 pieces, i guess they cant sell in their country with the flag complete.

[Hinksy]

Hi guys,

Cheers for looking in Gary! I'm going to have a go at that Swastika flag tonight hopefully. I ordered mine direct from the U.S. and they came in one piece. I don't think the Germans are too happy seeing Swastikas and doing a 'Hitler Salute' in the centre of Berlin (for example) will get you Jail time! Not sure how much mind you

Anyway, just a quickie update:

All the road wheels are assembled and the Drives Sprockets, Idler Wheels and Return Rollers are good to go. Nothing is fitted yet.

Following the annoying optional width Drive Sprockets and only one size link included I've been forced to mix and match the idlers and Drive Wheels. I had wanted to depict a very early Pz.III with the punched hole type idlers and drives but seeing as the idlers are fully assembles and use a chunk of the parts for the other type, later 'spoked' idler I have the early type punched hole idlers and the front large spoked drive sprockets. Ideally I should swap the rear Idlers over but like I say the parts required are in use on the current Idlers. Ahh well - the crew obviously had to do a quick 'swap-over' job

Onto the build: The gaps on the turret have been filled, the wheels primed and now mounted on the Quick-Wheel spray mask for Pz.III wheels.

The whole caboodle has been primed with Mr. Primer Surfacer 1000.

I'll be busting out the Panzer Grey Colour Modulation kit tomorrow and will be making as much progress as I can this coming week whilst I'm still signed off work.

So far, so good - progress is coming on well:















Oh - I got this book, as recommended to me by several MSC'ers - talk about a great read! I can't wait for my next StuG III build!



Update tomorrow - with paint on top

Ben

[ceresvesta.]

Lookin mighty fine Ben! This PZ III Rocks!

[Hinksy]

Dec 28, 2013 14:37:22 GMT -5 ceresvesta. said:

Lookin mighty fine Ben! This PZ III Rocks!

Cheers CV!

It's starting to take shape - that's for sure

First Painting update tomorrow!

Ben

[bbd468]

Ben, i completely agree with all your comments on Vallejo primer. Your experience with it mirrors mine to a tee! To each his own i reckon. I have never used Mr.surfacer from a can, but my nephew uses it and he loves it. He is the person that got me into modeling and taught me so much. I used to use Tamiya Grey in rattle can before i got my first airbrush and that is good stuff right there.

Im lookin forward to the color bro.

[Hinksy]

Hi guys,

It's been a productive afternoon!

I'll keep this update simple as I want to watch a film shortly!

I primed the Panzer yesterday evening and after lunch today I decided to try something different and instead of pre-shading, which imo will be totally lost under all the modulation layers I instead gave the whole thing a light basecoat of Flat Black Vallejo Model Air.

I used the AK Panzer Grey CM kit for the first time on this one. I didn't use the 'shadow' which is step one for the pre-shade. Not needed as the whole thing was black anyway.

So, started with the Dark Base, then the Base, then comes the Light Base and finally the Highlights with the final step being the Shine which I added to boltheads, raised areas and other areas that would stand out. It makes for a good 'chipping' colour for use on Panzer Grey too!

One hiccup - there must have been something on a small area of a rear hatch which the paint didn't take to very well but that area will be covered by stowage etc. I did clean the model before I primed it last night so I'm assuming it was a nasty print on the primed surface?

Finally, I made up one of them Archer Dry Transfer Decals to use an aerial recognition flag which will be draped over the moulded tow cable on the rear deck. It has a tinfoil centre so will crease up nicely when the time comes to fic it in place.















Cheers guys - thanks for looking!

I'm slowly getting the hand of this modulation lark - the Flag worked well too

Have a good fellas,

Ben

[wbill76]

Looks like the grey set is working just fine for you Ben, ought to make for a good foundation for the weathering stages to come. Flag looks the part as well on the rear deck.

[deafpanzer]

Superb MC work! Like you, I rarely use all six bottles... 4 bottles at most. I would dry brush the lightest shade on highest points and details to make them pop more. Love the flag! I should get one of those...

[Hinksy]

Dec 30, 2013 8:54:21 GMT -5 wbill76 said:

Looks like the grey set is working just fine for you Ben, ought to make for a good foundation for the weathering stages to come. Flag looks the part as well on the rear deck.

Thanks Bill and Andy,

>Andy: I put a light coat of Model Air Flat Black on top of the primer layer so I didn't need to use the #1 'Shadow' bottle and like you said the final #6 'Shine' final bottle was just applied to raised areas with a small brush. That Shine colour makes for a good chiping shade too (imo).

Re. the flag: just be careful when slipping the reverse side in as I chose the wrong one and one side has a backwards Swastika on it! No worries as it's not being used as a proper 'flag' so the incorrect side is unseen but you need to do both sides really as I want a couple of corners to be curled up like the wind has caught it and onviously you need to be able to see the red underneath where it's lifting at the corners.

>Bill: I know you don't use the 'CM method' as a rule matey but you know I greatly value your input on all of my work - either 'in progress' or 'completed'!

This was the second time I've tried the AK Colour Modulation kit - the last attempt was when I built that Pz.III M c/w Wading Muffler. That was painted in DY and after painting this Pz.III H using the Dunkelgrau Modulation kit I've decided that modulating Pz. Grey is a lot easier than Modulating Dunkelgelb - or perhaps the grey just looks more pleasing to the eye?

I'm not too sure which way to go with this build? It's an early 1941 Panzer III so in theory wouldn't have seen a massive amount of action - but that doesn't mean that the little action it has seen has been brutal and taken it's toll i.e. busted fenders and anti-tank gun strikes?

I'm thinking that my last few builds have either been battered war-weary old soldiers or mucky, mud-smeared swamp monsters!

I reckon a few bits of light chipping and light pigments with rusty/watery streaking will do it but it will make a nice change to have a will presented build with some decent stowage.

Suggestions, anyone? What would you like to see?

Cheers guys,

Ben

[losboz]

Hi Ben

I like a well worn AFV and find it quite a challenge not to 'slightly' damage any one of my builds so I have promised myself my next tank will be in 'tip top' shape

I vote a 'clean and well looked after' example although i'll wager you wont be able to help ya self with a wee bit of 'battle damage'

Los

[wbill76]

These vehicles were brand new in 1941, so if you're showing that time period, they wouldn't necessarily have seen a lot of hard miles just yet but having said that, the Russian Front took a toll very quickly on vehicles and equipment. A nice 'summer Barbarossa' setting would be perfect for it to go with that Air Recog flag IMHO Ben.

[Hinksy]

Thanks guys,

An early 'Barbarossa' setting would be good for this. So, Russia and Summer? Lots of DUST!

Thanks again lads,


Ben

[bbd468]

Hiya Ben, Paint job looks nice bro, I like Bill's & Los idea of a newish Pz., fresh on the front with a week er two under its belt.