Sd Kfz 182 Pz. Bef. Wg Tiger Ausf. B

A quick snapshot of another build in progress, yes another Kingtiger. My favourite German subject and over the years have built up an impressive collection of reference books and kits. As you tell in my blog , I have built a few as well. This is a Dragon kit the premium edition ,with the addition of the Griffon photo etch set which I think is the best on the market, superior to any other photo etch manufacture in reference to accuracy , instructions and ease of build. Tasca set , and some parts I robbed from a Dragon Tiger 1{6253}kit.

 All the fenders are soldered for strength and studded onto the body with brass rod. Styrene spacers under the photo etch were glued onto the side so there was no gap underneath.

All tools and accessories are separate in ease of painting and placement after camo applied. The exception is the fire extinguisher.

Used the Tamiya track hangers due to their strength and proper design , the Dragon ones are wimpy in comparison. Some texture using my Dremel, some dental bits and some Gunze surfacer. Still some work to do on the loaders hatch.

                                  Some resin addition's to the front light pilfered from my stash.

Top portion is not glued on , still some detail needed for the cable and painting underneath in the rear area under the engine vents.

                                               Casting numbers added from the Griffon set.

                                         Added detail to some of the tools , more still to do.

Cast texture added using Gunze surfacer and baking soda.

More updates on this build to come shortly.

 

Sd Kfz 251/3 Ausf D Late

Another update , some pictures of the AFV Club 251/3 which was a troublesome kit from the beginning. I have built both Tamiya and the Dragon kits and yes they had issues with measurements of scale, questionable interiors, or some fit issues but this was one of the poorer fitting kits I have built over the last couple of years. To top it off the Voyager photo etch set was used that had it's fit issues as well. So to say the least this kit was turning into a bit of a nightmare. Sounds funny but airbrush problems occurred and I was tempted many time to make a halftrack a missile in my "Man Cave ". Sometimes this hobby can be somewhat frustrating , but take a breath , put it down and work on something else.
Lots of research into this kit with the interior wiring for the radios and antennas. This is a very late model with the last production tracks { dragon }, Voyager , Lion Roar, and Verlinden photo etch, Hussar resin wheels, RB turned antennas, converted front suspension using AFV and Tamiya parts to have articulating steering.

Aber photo etch was used somewhat in the radio build , with some improvement made to the existing kit pieces.

 

 Paint was Model Master base with acrylic details and oil fading and chipping . Most of the weathering was done with Mig pastels and some filters.

Hope you all like my troublesome 251, feel free to comment .

The Beast is Done

I had a lot of fun with this monster , after extensive chipping, weathering, mudding it up with some experimentation with the AK weathering line.

 

  I used everything in my paint drawers , oils , acrylics, pigments and enamels, washes , tints and washes from all the following manufacture's: Mig, AK, Tamiya, Model Master ,Vallejo , and Cromacolor.

Hope you like the beast ,feel free to leave any comments and stay tune for more model madness.

Adding some Character To the Beast

Time for an update , man been too busy with spring. Got around to some weathering on the beast. Added some filters {oils}, chipping with acrylics , fading, and some added overall grime using some AK mud and earth effects. Lots to go , thought Id take a few shots and post.

Somewhat glossy coat still had due to the layers of Future between steps to protect what work has been done. If you screw up, easy to fix .After the multitude of layers the finish will flatten out, as mentioned these are only the first steps.

New Dio, Return of the "Great Chicken Hunter".

Finally finished this dio I have been working on and off for a considerable amount of time. Had most of the element finished last fall but some things just weren't up to my liking. I had to redo the tree and add some weathering to the King Tiger of 503 PZ Abt in Hungary , fall 1944. Dragon kit with zimmerite and Griffon model photo etch , modelkasten tracks, Warrior and New World Miniatures figures, Miniart Wagon , scratch built tree and ground work and Mantis critters.

 

 

 

 

 Played with my new camera and some editing features today, it will take some time , but I will redo a multitude of pictures in the near future. Any how here's my new dio ,

Cheers
Cary