Dragon StuG III Ausf. F/8 Late Production With a Twist!

[tobias5555]

Good update.

[wbill76]

Jul 30, 2014 18:21:58 GMT -5 Teabone said:

Looking good as always Bill you are another of those good painter guys.  I have the same observation about oil and the slow drying time.  I have always been afraid of the enamels drying and not blending well before I'm finished, do you always use enamel?

Bones

Thanks Bones! I typically will use enamels for my dot filters. I lay out the bottles and brushes so I can add the dots quickly, work in small sections at a time, and have developed a pretty solid method as a result. Did take some practice and each build is going to be a little different depending on the surfaces/paint colors but that's pretty much all there is to it.

[wbill76]

DF, hope that didn't give you any nightmares!

Rob, thanks for the comments and support, almost home with this one.

T, bestest best FUN, couldn't agree more!

Tobias, thanks for the comments as well.

[wbill76]

Next step in the weathering process is the pin wash to bring out the details. I used a highly thinned mix of MM enamel Burnt Umber and a fine point 10/0 brush to apply it. Then used the same brush and some clean thinner and cleaned up the excess, fine tuned it here and there, etc. Takes some time to pull it off but worth it.





Will let that sit overnight and check it with 'fresh eyes' to see if there's any additional points/adjustments that need attention before moving on to the pigment weathering.

[Leon]

Dot filters and pin wash look great Bill.Very nice subtle tones.

[DeafStuG]

Nice weathering so looks good.

[TRM]

Right at the finish line!! Looking sweet as usual!!!

[Teabone]

Jul 31, 2014 12:39:51 GMT -5 wbill76 said:

Jul 30, 2014 18:21:58 GMT -5 Teabone said:

Looking good as always Bill you are another of those good painter guys.  I have the same observation about oil and the slow drying time.  I have always been afraid of the enamels drying and not blending well before I'm finished, do you always use enamel?

Bones

Thanks Bones! I typically will use enamels for my dot filters. I lay out the bottles and brushes so I can add the dots quickly, work in small sections at a time, and have developed a pretty solid method as a result. Did take some practice and each build is going to be a little different depending on the surfaces/paint colors but that's pretty much all there is to it.

Thanks for the feed back, I have learned some time back that if one can avoid pressure on things he does life is far less complicated so for me the slow drying oil paints are a better deal since they are extremely forgiving on the drying time and I have several lifetime supply's of oil paint.  When I was first learning the weathering tricks I went to the art store and after looking at the small tubes of oil paints and thinking I would use them up really fast I bought the BIG tubes only to find a very small dab of oil paint goes a loooong way.

Bones

[wbill76]

Thanks Leon, Jeremy, and T! Today should, hopefully, see it all finished. Fingers crossed.

Bones, I hear you there. I have some tubes of oil paints that I bought as well (small ones though) that have barely been touched. The oils do provide a longer working time but require greater care in the amounts you use and how you blend them, so trade-offs are always going to be there one way or the other. Pick your poison!

[wbill76]

Got all the pigment weathering done today. The first step was to seal in all the previous weathering work with some Testors MM Lusterles Flat in the spray can.



I used Mig Productions Gulf War Sand and applied it as a wet mixture first to the lower hull and suspension. Adding a drop of liquid dish washing soap to ordinary tap water breaks the surface tension and allows it to flow easily. Left to air dry, it looks like a mess at first but this is just a foundation.



Using stiff bristled brushes to remove the excess, further adjustments were done with some dry q-tips as well to get the look I was after.



The tracks received the same wet pigment treatment followed by stiff brushes. One of the advantages of workable tracks is the flexibility in weathering prior to installation.



Tracks were then installed to both sides and the sprockets and idlers permanently glued in place to create the necessary sag/tension on both sides.





Just a few small details remain before this one is all done!

[Leon]

Great job on the pigments Bill.Almost home on this one.

[TRM]

Just awesome seeing the sneakers get on to this one Bill!! Well done on the weathering!!

[wouter]

very nice work there Bill, glad to see her shoes fitted

Cheers

[wbill76]

Thanks Leon! Today should see the finishing touches done for sure.

T, sneakers on, ready to sprint across the desert! Just watch out for the coyotes...

Wouts, thanks for stopping by and for the comments as well.

[wbill76]

One of the last remaining details that I deliberately left to the very end was the tow cables. The Dragon kit supplies some braided steel wire for this but it's extremely stiff/stubborn to work with. I replaced it with my go-to substitute, crochet rope/thread.



This stuff is very cheap at any Michael's/Hobby Lobby and a single roll will last a very, very long time. It's also handy for tie-down ropes for stowage. For tow cables, I cut a long length from the spool and then dip it into some Future so it will stiffen and take paint better. It also prevents any 'fuzzing' of the line as well. Once it dries, simply cut to the length needed, in this case 110mm per cable, and attach with CA glue to the cable ends.

Since the cables don't have any real clamps at the loop end, only the 'guides' on the sponson sides, the cables always appear sloppy in the reference photos of these vehicles, so I used the thread's flexibility to my advantage and draped the cables accordingly before carefully gluing them down in the sponson guides. That's why these were saved to the very end, so they could interact properly with all the other stuff on the fenders.





Once in place, the cables were lightly dusted with pigments to blend them in with the rest of the vehicle. The final little detail was the install of the rear Notek convoy light, this was provided in the kit as a clear cylinder that I painted with Tamiya Clear Smoke and installed into its holder on the rear fender. Then it was time for the walk-arounds to make sure I hadn't missed anything or make any last minute adjustments.

[TRM]

Very nice Bill!! Well done all around! Like the cable supplies!! Great alternative!! I hear the harbor master calling!!

[wbill76]

Aug 2, 2014 16:59:04 GMT -5 TRM said:

Very nice Bill!! Well done all around! Like the cable supplies!! Great alternative!! I hear the harbor master calling!!

Sure hope they don't have to send the Shore Patrol out! Thanks for following along T.

[bigjohn]

Nice work Bill. Nice job on the cables as well!

[wbill76]

Thanks BJ! Cables were an exercise in patience but definitely worth it.

[deafpanzer]

STUNNING StuG you got there!!! Great substitute using the thread instead of those stiff nasty looking cables from Dragon! You know how much I enjoy DAK subjects and this is something you should be proud of this build....

[wbill76]

Aug 2, 2014 23:39:36 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

STUNNING StuG you got there!!! Great substitute using the thread instead of those stiff nasty looking cables from Dragon! You know how much I enjoy DAK subjects and this is something you should be proud of this build....

Thanks Andy! I know you've got a soft spot for the DAK, no question there... . I still don't know why Dragon continues to supply the stiff steel wire...or even more so why they insist on providing it as a tightly wrapped circle that gives it even more spring/tension. I suppose it's a cheap thing to get/supply so they just toss it in to add 'value' to the overall kit I suppose.

[Leon]

Really like your idea on the tow cables Bill.They look great.

[wbill76]

Thanks Leon! It's been my go-to method for tow cables for a while now and works great for smaller diameter stuff. Larger cables like what you see on Panthers or Tigers of course would need something a little more robust.

[afvfan]

Nice job, Bill.

[Tojo72]

Another great build Bill, good tip on the cables

Sent from my SM-N900V using proboards

[wbill76]

Thanks Bob and Anthony! Had a lot of fun working with this little 'special' vehicle.

[elco]

Looking nice and subtile here Bill, very nice build with good balanced weathering!

[wbill76]

Thanks Elco!

[armorguy]

I already commented on FB and I'll do the same here !

Subtle and well balanced, 11/10 !

Best regards ! AG.

[wbill76]

Thanks AG! I'll take an 11 any day!