Tamiya Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D

The images here show the Tamiya kit (can it be called a Tamiya kit?) fully painted. As mentioned in part 5, the base paint is Tamiya and sprayed on. All detail painting is using Humbrol enamels and/or oils. For those wanting to read more on the detail painting process, please see part 8 of my Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf. N thread, where I have described the steps I usually use. http://www.hobbybokhandeln.net/?p=3365

On the original thread on Armorama and feedback afterwards, many mentioned how they preferred the Tamiya over the Tristar kit and the finished result. In reality, both tanks are painted identically, at the same time and with the same colours. But what fools the eye or attracts the viewer, is colour contrast given with the stowage on the back hull. If images of both are placed side by side, it really shows what some stowage and colour contrast offers a finished model.

The basket is a PlusModels items (suitcase set P113). They are probably the finest resin casting I have ever seen. I added a wash and it disappeared … it ran inside the wicker-work!!!!!!!! That’s how good it is. There are eight such baskets of different sizes in the box and also a few suitcases with decals included for them. I really must recommend this set. 10/10. The jerry cans are from Italeri, the barrel from Tamiya, and the tarps are from Legend productions (I think!).

The last images show two crew members loading up. They are from the MiniArt set “German tank repair crew” (Kit # 35011). I usually update the figures with replacement resin heads, but neither Legends nor Hornet heads worked. They both are too small in comparison with the bulk of these MiniArt figures. I used two of the kit heads instead, and they are actually quite nice.

Tristar Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D

The images here show the Tristar kit fully painted. As mentioned in the previous post, the base paint is Tamiya and sprayed on. All detail painting is then made using Humbrol enamels and/or oils.

For those wanting to read more on the detail painting process, please see part 8 of my Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf. N thread, where I have described the steps I usually use.
http://www.hobbybokhandeln.net/?p=3365

These painting steps have evolved over the years, and I don’t stray much from them. Each step is quick and takes little effort, which suits the small windows of time I have in the evenings after work. It also allows a certain level of comfort and avoids unexpected and unwanted surprises from happening.

The tank commander figure is also from Tristar and is part of their “German Infantry Set Vol.1 Early” set (kit # 35016). I really like Tristar figures as the details are so fine and yet well defined. It makes painting them relatively easy. The stowage on the back hull is some jerry cans from Italeri, ammo boxes from Jaguar and some tarps made from Magic Sculpt.

Air brushing

Every modeller has certain tools that they could not do without, and for me one of them is the airbrush. In the beginning I used aerosol cans for the base colour and hand painted the rest. Although it got the job done, I never managed to get the effects I seen other modellers accomplish. After asking for advice at a local IPMS club meeting, the majority of responses promted the purcahse of an “Evolution” airbrush from Harder & Steenbeck.
It took some time to learn control, but with practise it became easier and allowed for more free-hand painting, as well as making the whole painting process quite enjoyable. For the majority of airbrushing work, I use Tamiya paints thinned with T-röd (red-coloured ethanol). They are available locally and easy to clean up, also using T-röd.

When using non-workable individual tracks, I prefer to assemble them on the model before painting. I like to have as much built as possible before painting begins. I use a shaft that screws into a pre-drilled hole in the hull bottom for holding the vehicle itself, and an empty toilet-roll tube cut to fit inside the turret. As the Tamiya model has a basic turret interior with basket, I couldn’t insert the toilet roll tube, so I taped it to the outside instead … both to hold and to protect the already painted interior.

I don’t normally prime models, but as the Tamiya kit had so many different coloured plastic and etch pieces, I gave it a light spray with an aerosol hobby primer from Biltema. This is as good as any of the much more expensive options from the popular paint manufacturers. Then I spray the whole bottom hull, running gear and exhaust with an earth-brown Tamiya mix. It is very important to get good coverage with this first coat. No plastic should remain visible. Less care is needed later and any misses will show this colour and it will appear to be dirt. The airbrush will be able to spray into every crevice and hard to see spot that would be visible.

The next stage is to prime the rest of the model with a hull-red primer mix. Between the road-wheels and the turrets are also sprayed with the same hull-red colour. I don’t worry too much about exact colours and don’t have any recipes for mixes. I just mix some colours until I get something that feels right. The side door has been left off the Tamiya model to paint separately as it will be left open to show the interior. The late cupola has also been kept separate to paint separately, to show it as a different hue of grey and hopefully give it the appearance of a replaced cupola.

The next stage is to paint the tyres. Keeping the air brush as close as possible to them, this works pretty well. I use each front tyre as a mask to spray the back tyre and not on the primer colour between them. Over spray is not a problem here as the hull will be painted grey afterwards and the tracks can be touched up with a brush.
Finally the panzer grey is sprayed on. The Hulls and turrets are completely covered, as are the wheel centres. When this has dried, I lighten this colour with some white and also thin it some more, and spray in the middle of all panels to fade them some. This allows the contours and details of the model to stand out and also give them some depth. This stage is repeated once or twice more until a nice pre-shading effect is achieved.

On Display.

It’s hard not to compare two different kits of the same model, and check them out, side by side when they are sitting there in front of you. The Tamiya kit definately stands out with all the contrasting colours and shiny etch that was used. But does this make it a better model?

No, not really. Detail wise, the Tristar kit is still much sharper in the finer details and finesse. Adding up what I paid for the Tamiya kit and the accessories used, it definitely cost more than the Tristar kit, even though there is a 30 year difference in productions dates. I had some other items not used, like Academy Panzer IV running gear and tracks, but my big break was getting the extra parts from Dragon kits. The magic tracks and fenders were a big lift for the model.

Another big factor, and one I consider more important, is that it took almost three times longer to build the Tamiya kit than it did for the Tristar kit. Yes it was fun and hopefully I learned something from the experience, but time is not something I have a lot of, so I really could not recommend buying an older kit and throw time and money at it, when a new and critically acclaimed kit is also available. One lesson learnt anyway!!

The Tamiya Kit (# 35015) vol.II

Next I used the some extra Dragon drive sprockets, magic tracks and fixed the upper hull in place. The tracks are slightly wider than those in the Tristar kit, and didn’t fit either Tristar or Dragon’s drive sprockets. I’m not sure what kits the Dragon parts came from, but the only way I could get them assembled was to file down some of the sprocket teeth. This is practically invisible, and weathering will make sure of that later.

The upper hull with new Dragon fenders was made so it slotted down on top of the Tamiya lower hull. A lot of dry fitting ensured this would happen. I also added some plastic strip to the inside of the lower hull to get a more secure adhesion. Extra care in steps like this pay dividends when placement was made after the tracks were added.

The remaining steps were pretty straight forward. I replaced the old Tamiya tools with better versions from their “on vehicle equipment” set. I used bits and pieces of the Eduard etch where necessary or when it improved the moulded plastic detail. Again, having just built the Tristar kit and having it in close range, allowed me line things up similarly.

The Tamiya cupola looks nothing like the Tristar version as it is lacking in so much in detail. I really did not want to use it. I looked around online and the only cupola I could find was a mid version by TMD. I made a search of my references to see if this cupola could work on an ausf.D tank, and in the Tanks In Detail book “Pz.Kpfw IV Ausf A to J” there was an image of a panzer IV turret with this cupola labelled as an ausf.D. I ordered the cupola immediately.

When showing the built images online, it was pointed out that the cupola was wrong and when looking through the Spielberger panzer IV book I found the same image labelled as an ausf.E. This confirmed my fears … it was a long shot anyway, but I decided to go ahead with it as it looked so much better than the Tamiya version. Maybe painting it ”newer” than the rest of the tank would indicate a replacement?

The Tamiya Kit (# 35096) vol.I

With the advent of all these new super kits, and the vast improvement of details, older kits really show their age and have become, more or less, redundant. And also retiring at the same time is the vast array of aftermarket parts that went with them. Over the last few years, I have sold off most of my older kits, only keeping those that are the only game in town, or those that I had bought AM parts for. In reality, looking around at auction sites, you cannot get near the price of a new kit for the older version plus several expensive aftermarket items.
I had been planning to build the Pz.Kpfw.IV ausf.D for a long time. As usual I never got around to it, but kept picking up bits and pieces to improve it. When the Tristar kit was released, I was going to off-load this kit, but decided to build it anyway and compare the two. Much of my inspiration over the years has been the fantastic conversions and super-detailed builds shown online and seen locally at shows. I had the parts so I needed to prove to myself I could do something (hopefully) similar. So make way for the second part of this build; another panzer IV D.

The base kit from Tamiya doesn’t look too bad when checking through the sprues. The biggest problems are that the dimensions are off, to allow for motorisation, and all the holes for switches and mounting screws are left on the lower hull. The sprues are labelled “Japan 1977”, so that means the kit weighs in at 33 years old!!! Its only when you compare details, parts for parts with the Tristar kit, and especially the small details that you see how much the moulding technology has evolved.

As mentioned previously, I had picked up quite a few bits´n´bobs to dress up this old timer. They included; Tamiya’s own Panzer IV ”on vehicle equipment”. A very handy little set if you have some older German kits in your possession to replace tools. A host of goodies left over from the Tristar build, as well as parts left over from a Dragon Panzer IV kit including the magic tracks, kindly given to me by a friend (thanks Oscar). Modelkasten Panzer IV wheel set that includes hubs for early, mid and late versions. Eduard and Tamiya’s own etch sets. The Tamiya set only has doors for the ventilation channels, some hand tools and 2 horse shoes. Tiger Model designs (TMD) Panzer IV rear plate and the Panzer III/IV cupola. The rear plate is meant for the later releases and does not fit properly and the cupola I bought because it was wrongly identified in a reference book. This cupola was used on the Ausf.E version. It still is a better proposition that the “thing” that is included in the Tamiya box. Last, but not least, some tow ropes from Eureka XX.

The heaviest of the re-working was made in first stages. The old back plate was straight down; therefore the detail was visibly out of scale. I added the TMD back plate, but this was designed more for later Tamiya models, so needed some re-working to fit. I cut off the bottom part and replaced it with plastic profiles. I used the Tristar kit as a reference.

Next stage was adding the wheels and running gear. The Modelkasten wheel set allows you to build early, mid and late wheels by choosing the relevant hubs. Early was chosen in this case. Clean up was very minimal and took no time at all, as did assembly, compared to the Tristar set. The Tristar kit contained 2 sets of idlers, so I was able to use the second set here. The TMD idler arms were both too short and too thin to accept the new idler wheels, so new arms were made from plastic sprue glued in place. Tristar also had two complete gear covers extra for the drive sprocket, but grafting these in place wasn’t so straight forward. The hull wall was moulded to accept the Tamiya version, so this had to be filled first. The Tamiya hull front then had to be built to match the gear covers, as the hull front was straight. Not enough bolts were available so I used some from calibre 35 on the covers.

I also cut off the Tamiya fenders and replaced them with the extra Dragon fenders. Dragon’s panzer IV D comes with two sets of fenders; one with location holes for the tools and one without location holes for those choosing to use brass clamps. The detail on the Dragon fenders is unbelievable … top and bottom, and so much better than the Eduard etch, as well as so much easier to work with! The upper hull is not fixed in place yet. The indy tracks will be added first before permanently fixing it in place.

The Tristar Kit (# 35015)

I have been asked several times about images and info of this older build, so I have resurrected the old Blog that originally appeared on Armorama about three years ago. I apologise for the grainy images in the early photos … I had a new camera at the time that was a disaster for close-up images. I don’t think I’ve ever shown any images of the finished scene, so they will be included this time around as well.

The panzer IV has to be my favourite tank from WW2, and judging by the amount of kits I have of the panzer IV or those built on this chassis, there is plenty of physical evidence for this feeling. Designed originally as an infantry-support tank, the panzer IV soon assumed the tank-fighting role of the increasingly obsolescent panzer III. It has the distinction of being the only German tank to remain in continuous production throughout the whole war, with over 8,800 produced between 1936 and 1945. Robust and reliable, it saw service in all combat theatres involving Germany and was used as the base for many other fighting vehicles, including tank destroyers and self-propelled guns. It is often known as the work-horse of the German army.

At the time this kit was first released, Tristar was in competition with Dragon, and two super kits were spawned of the ausf.D, with one from each company. Both kits had approximately 1000 parts, and some parts were as small as individual nuts and wing-nuts from both manufacturers. The kits were both loved and hated … moulding technology allowed for amazing new levels of details that yielded much joy for some, but they also meant long and complex builds, that alienated others.

This kit has since been discontinued and has been replaced by Kit # 023 “German Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf.D/Tauch”. Both the standard ausf.D and the tauch versions can be built from this new boxing. Some small fixes were also made like the hinges on the engine deck, but the biggest obstacle for some builders remain, in the flat panels that make up the bottom hull, instead of the more usual hull tub. Instead of using butt-joints, the edges are 45° and meant to fit seamlessly together. This would be difficult enough but because the bottom plate is slightly warped, it made this process quite difficult. I used James Tainton’s Blog on Planet Armor for reference and tips. Quite a few mistakes were also realised on the instructions, so Tristar issued a digital PDF with updates instructions on their homepage.

Getting the whole tub bottom together was a lot of work. Because of the warp on the bottom plate, I started by gluing at the front first and proceeded to the back as it dried and hardened. It came together quite well in the end. Some Mr. Surfacer 500 took care of any little gaps. Each boogie is a small model in its own right. Careful gluing allows this to articulate … which I did so that when the wheels are attached it could be levelled perfectly. I was surprised at the amount of clean up on this kit … almost every part needs a touch with the file somewhere ….. Fit wasn’t perfect for all parts either, so dry-fitting was a must. Sam Dwyer wrote … ”I’m firmly of the belief that Tristar blew their development budget on the suspension, and skimped on the moulds for the rest of the kit. My suspension sprues were great, but the hull and turret sprues were terrible, mould slip and lots of flash. I’m pretty disappointed with it really”. Its quite easy to believe this actually.

There was some flash on the inside of the tyres. Some have reported that the zero tolerance with extra paint is enough to split them. The slight flash on mines split two while assembling, so I filed the rest to be sure. Luckily I started with the back wheels, and these are not noticeable, as the cracks are now orientated towards the tracks at the bottom. Detail-wise, this kit is brilliant, and what lets it down is the amount of work to get it all together.

The tracks are handed, with the pins being a little longer on one side (the outside). Clean up was going well, until I noticed that 39 links on one side did not have the track guide horns hollowed out. As there are only a few extras, these had to cleaned out, starting with a pin-vise, and then shaping the rest with a scalpel. During assembly these tracks caused a lot of problems as the fit was so tight, I had to file and scrape about 20% of the horns to fit. The other side was problem free!!

Putting together the hull-top and the turret was straight forward. Same clean-up, and dry fitting takes care of the most. The intake/outtake grills instructions are not clear, so extra care is needed here. It is possible to assemble them to look completely different (you don’t want to know how I know this). There is also an issue with the rear engine access-hatch hinges, which are orientated backwards on the kit parts. These can be sliced off and orientated properly … but some stowage will hide this … I didn’t slice them off, as I thought it was too much bother, didn’t have reserve parts, and didn’t have the interest in re-making them from plastic profiles. Some stowage can always cover them as well. Tristar have 4 notches at the end of the barrel for some reason … these were filled and sanded flush again. Adding the final details and pioneer tools was pretty staright forward. That ends the Tristar build .. on what should have been a super build but was somewhat lessened by flash and sloppy instructions.

The Base – Vol.III

The rubble has been fixed to an insert which allows easier access to add details, both to the insert and to the wall. In the image above, the first steps of building up the rubble are made. I just used some bits and pieces from the spares box, bits of plastic profiles and more cork bricks. I placed a layer of white glue and spackle first using a small artist’s trowel. Then I placed the pieces into it. When dried I give it another going over with diluted white glue to make sure everything was firmly secured.

The cork walls were grouted using spackle and diluted white glue. I add a little dish washing liquid to the diluted white glue to make it easier to spread by removing some of the surface tension. Again the trowel came in very handy for this. As soon as the wall was “plastered”, I removed as much as possible in a scraping motion with the trowel. Then I removed the rest using a damp sponge. As well as removing the excess spackle the sponge also compacts the mixture into the gaps.

After removing as much spackle as possible from the ends, I used the sponge in a dabbing motion to both compact the remaining spackle, as well as give it some texture. When this dried, a lot of the texture effect disappeared so in future I would use a stiff-bristled brush for this effect. When I built the T34 base, I wasn’t completely happy with how the bombed ends of the wall looked, but this method gives a much better result, in my opinion. Maybe a mix of both methods for the next one?

I had to plaster the wall twice as the spackle shrinks some when dried, leaving small holes. I used the same method as described previously. When completely dried, I painted it with some thinned Mr. Surfacer 500 to prime it. I used some nail polish remover for thinning it. Then I fixed the pipes and cable details in place using superglue.
The image below shows the insert back in place. Unfortunately it has warped a little as the spackle dried and is higher at the small wall than I had planned, coming up to the level of the water valve. Not a big issue as these details are unimportant, but good to know for again, I´ll have to use something more stable for the insert base.

The Figures – Vol.I

I don’t know what it is that attracts me to build armor models … over aircraft, cars or anything else represented in plastic kit form, but in my vision of what a model should be … a base and figures are part of the package. Where the base offers a foundation that sets the scene and background, the figure(s) add life and scale, so that any viewer can relate with what is seen.

Originally I had decided on using two figures from Tamiya that were issued with their late Tiger I kit (# 89562). They were to be posed between the front of the Brummbär and the low wall. A visit from a friend and the conversation we had related to this, changed my original plans, and the new location of the figures went to the back hull.
The head was replaced with a resin one from Legends Productions that had better definition, and I drilled out his right sleeve and added a hand amputated from a Dragon figure. The Tamiya hand was nothing much better than a blob of plastic, and shows the age of these figures.

The Tamiya figure also had a squared-out area on the bottom of his right leg, where he could be naturally posed sitting on the edge of a turret or the edge of the wall … as I had originally planned on using him. As he was going to now stand on the back hull, I had to round-out this area. I used “Magic Sculpt” and formed the creases on his trousers after those already present. It was my first time to do a conversion of this kind, and I’m quite happy with the result.

The second figure is also from Legends Productions … kit # 3512 “German SS Tank Crew At Best”. This is not my spelling mistake and who am I to argue The almost-white resin is hard to photograph, but it’s also hard to clearly see details when cleaning and removing the casting plugs. Hi right arm had a pretty large plug and some of the fine ribbing on his woollen jumper was also removed when removing the plug. I dug it a little deeper with the scalpel blade and will paint it to show a small rip in the clothing. The detail on his cap was a little soft (or maybe not visible?), so I replaced it with a head from Hornet that I had removed the paint from previously.

The Base – Vol.II

With the polystyrene foam added to bulk up the base for rubble, I also needed to make sure the Brummbär conformed to it somehow. My solution was to insert two sections of cork so that the positioning would be fixed, even before the rubble was added. For the nearest side where the tracks are articulated, I built up the extra height first with cork, carved it slightly and filled out any gaps with magic sculpt. I had some of the two part putty left over, so I laid it out and pushed some panzer III/IV tracks in it to simulate where the Brummbär had just driven over the rubble. I then used some of the cut off polystyrene foam to build up around the track positions afterwards.

As the wall is quite a big empty area, I decided to add some details that might be found in an industrial type vacant building. Using left over bits and pieces from previous kits and various plastic rods and lengths, I made a water valve and pipe, and some sort of electrical box. I can’t really vouch for accuracy here, but they mostly hidden behind the model anyway.

Above are some close-ups of the details. All the nuts/bolts are resin items from Calibre 35. They are from sizes 0.8mm (#35051) and 1.1mm (#35049). There are 360 different bolt heads in both sets and are extremely handy when detailing dioramas. The details are temporarily placed for the photos with blue-tack, and will be fixed permanently when the wall is grouted.

The polystyrene foam was cut around these fixtures to conform and set back in place. Another advantage of the medium is that bits can be cut out so that further details can be sunk in it like barrels, jerry cans and any other bits and pieces you may have available. The next steps now are to grout the walls and add the rubble.

The Base – Vol.I

Usually a base should be planned in advance and details worked out. It’s also wise to let the scene decide the base size, rather than letting the base size decide the scene. Neither of these even entered the equation this time. I was having fun and decided to build a wall … try out another way of building it … compared to the method shown in the “T34 – Engine trouble” base. My thoughts gathered around trying to make a more natural damaged/broken end, rather than just gluing bricks randomly in, to fill the gap when using a foam-board skeleton.

Using the same 2mm thick cork, I decided the wall would be ~16mm wide. Rather than glue four rows of brick individually, I just used 16mm lengths, which would work as both inner and out face bricks (see first image). Then at the damaged ends, I could use four individual bricks again and fashion the damage more naturally. The individual bricks are 2-2.5mm wide. I left a gap between each brick approximately 0.5mm that will be filled with grout later.

After each layer, I needed a gap of 0.5mm as well. I had some cork taken from a cheap pin-board that worked perfectly for this. I cut lengths 13-14mm wide and placed them on the centre. This allows a gap between each row and will be hidden when grouted later (see second image).

I wanted the wall to act as a natural background to the Brummbär, so it had to be built high. I used UHU superglue gel to fix each cork brick and layer. This held everything well, and allowed me to proceed quickly (well as quickly as possible considering how many small pieces were being used). Every evening when finished, I brushed on plenty diluted latex (wood work) glue and let it soak in. This improves the adhesion and strength of the wall tremendously.
When built, I added some thin pieces of expanded polystyrene foam to build up the bulk on which the rubble will be added to later. This is so light and easy to cut; it is perfect for the job. For fixing this I use medium temperature hot glue for speed.

The Schurtzen

The last stage of this build sees the addition of the protective side-armour or schurtzen. These are stamped out from some very thin plastic material. Even though they are thin and look very fragile, they are quite rigid and hold their shape well.

When cutting these from their sprue, keep them in the correct order. Although the first and last look similar, they are not. As with most Tristar parts the tolerances are small and the fit is very exact.

I noticed this especially when placing them on the lower hangers. Even though I thought I had them lined up pretty straight, some positioned slightly high. I had to soften the joint of several of the lower hangers with thin cement and adjust their position. When I added the schurtzen, I left them in place over night so the lower hanger would cure in the correct position.

One thing I noticed … especially as the schurtzen are black … they tend to pick up a lot of dust. These will have to be cleaned and dust free before painting.

This was my first build in over six months, and even though it started slowly, I enjoyed it very much. Overall I would give this a very high rating as far as building and detail goes.
Next up is the base and figures that will accompany the Brummbär!

More Details

I went back to the start of the instructions again and added any details I missed or skipped over earlier. Having finished all the major assemblies in the previous steps, this was no problem at all.

I was enjoying the build at this stage as everything worked out so well. I added wiring to the front Bosch lights, the tail light and also to the antenna. As I have not included any interior details, the gunner’s sight has been glued to a length of plastic rod that will be fixed to the bottom on the inside after painting.

The long bar on each side for hanging the schurtzen is fixed in place by two plastic and two etch brackets on each side. The four etch pieces have to be folded but Tristar have included a little jig to aid the folding and to get the angles right.

Care needs to be taken when removing and cleaning the racks for the spare road wheels. They are moulded very thin and are easily damaged or broken. I broke one of them when I was removing it, but thankfully the joint is where the wheel sits and will not be seen. There are etched handles for the moulded plastic clamps and latches for the large stowage box, and considering all the fine parts and sharp details, this should be fun to paint.

Adding the Details

I now went around the “frame” and added the details, starting at step five. Overall this went pretty well … there were no real issues worth reporting. Some of the hatch doors needed a slight sanding to get in place as the fit is so snug.
There is a metal tow rope included in the kit, which is fitted through the three clamps on the transmission hatch. This is both stiff and thick and when halved, the two tow ropes will only fit through the clamps once. Instead I used tow ropes from Eureka XXL instead that were meant for the Hetzer and/or Marder III (Kit # ER-3535). This went around twice with no problems and looks more like the ropes as seen in reference images. The insertion holes in the resin pieces were not great so I cut them off and replaced them with slightly thicker plastic rod, that I drilled larger holes in. I needed a perfect fit after inserting the tow ropes on the transmission hatch.

Instead of using the etched chain supplied in the kit for the pistol port plugs I used some Tank Work Shop chain that is 40 links per inch. Even though it’s out of scale, I think it looks much better. Where the angled-front plates meet the side plates the joint is very visible. I checked some reference images but couldn’t see clearly if this was welded or bent in this area. I took the chance and added some weld seams. I scribed the line deeper and added welds with magic sculpt, making the weld patterns using a shaped hypodermic needle, as described by Lee Lloyd in his article “Scale welding” http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=220

The instructions for the left fender, only show the placement of the jack and Bosch light (not included in the image above). There are however two extra holes with no instructions of what is placed here. After some searching I found the extinguisher (part # B24) that has location points matching these holes. Some reference images show the extinguisher in this location, so I added it …. I felt it was better to have it here than have 2 small holes on the fenders.

After assembling the large exhaust, I drilled out the small pipe and thinned the sides some using my Dremel and a burr bit. I also roughened up the exhaust using the burr to add some texture. The instructions suggest placing the etched ventilation flaps (parts PE1-1 and PE1-2) in step five. These are better left off until the end as there are two triangular etch parts that must be placed first (parts PE2-2) that are first called for in step 12, and when folded sit under the flaps. Instead of using the etched wing-nuts supplied in the kit, I used resin ”single wing nuts (Germany)” from Bronco (kit # AB3501). Again slightly large, but easier to place and look better.

Upper hull and superstructure

The kit includes a full gun breech and its inner mountings, but no other internal details are provided. The new mid-production kit also includes these parts, as well as rounds, round-stowage racks, radios and some other small fighting-compartment details. Considering the size of the large hatches, the missing details and also the possibility that I might build the new kit as well, I decided to close everything up and skip the internal details supplied (steps 8-1 to 8-9).

Steps 5, 6 and 9 describe what is needed to complete the fenders, upper hull, superstructure and engine deck. To make sure everything lined up properly, I removed and cleaned-up all the major “frame” parts from these three steps, so they could be assembled at the same time. This would allow me to make adjustments if needed, before the cement had fully cured. Reviews have stated how important it is to make sure everything is lined up properly, so I decided it would be easier to do this without all the small details being in the way.

Fortunately everything slotted into place first time. Very little adjustment was needed, if any. Although I was cautious with the assembly, I have no regrets. Having the whole frame assembled without small details in the way, I could tidy up all joints as needed. Some joints were scribed deeper as well as the ends that showed flame-cut metal, so these details will be easier to highlight when painting.

If doing this again, I would also attach the front mud guards to the fenders before placing them. These were more difficult to place afterwards. I also found out (too late) from the PMMS review that there are two bullet splash-guards included in the kit but not called out in the instructions. The parts are identified as E23 and E24. It was also noted that “there are un-opened locating holes on the glacis undersides for the guards”. These should have been opened before fixing the glacis in place for correct location. The holes on the transmission hatch are already open.

The tracks.

The kit contains 3 sprues of 40cm tracks, which are handed. With only two attachment points for each link, a good pair of side-cutters makes quick work of these. All is needed then is a little scrape with a sharp blade to fully clean each track. On one side of each track link, the holding pin is more prominent, and this is the outside of the track. Make sure to keep left and right separate when cutting. There is some flash present in the holes on each side of the track teeth … some have more than others … some have none at all. I didn’t see any flash in the actual teeth.
The tracks clip together with the aid of small pins included in each casting, and holes in the corresponding side. This means assembling the tracks goes very fast, but they are not really strong enough to hold securely. They will need to be cemented.

The instructions state that 98 links should be used per side. Because my idler wheel is extended, I used 100 on one side and 101 on the other side. There are plenty reserves if needed. When I build the length, I make sure it’s straight by holding it against a straight edge of bass wood taped to my desk, and pushing it using the edge of a metal ruler. Then I liberally brush Model Master Liquid cement over the entire length. This cement is very viscous and evaporates quickly. The major advantage is that it doesn’t cure immediately. In fact you have up to an hour to place the tracks. I have seen where some guys actually spray paint the tracks done like this, before placement. I usually wait about 30 minutes. I start at the first road wheel, go around the drive sprocket, across the top and finally along the bottom. I let all the excess stay on top, which allows for some track sag to be built in.

To form the sag, I used to use marbles placed between each return roller, now I use a ball of modelling clay. The clay doesn’t roll off as easy and can be formed to suit each individual tank. I leave this over night so that the tracks are fully cured. The side with the articulated road wheels was made in two stages, and the same method was used to make sure the tracks had good contact with each road wheel at the bottom also.

Background.

Approximately 300 Brummbär were built, using the Pz.Kpfw IV chassis, to be used in the infantry fire-support roll. Although the majority were built on the later Ausf. G, H and J chassis, the initial version was built on the Ausf. E and F chassis, of which is the subject of this Tristar model (Kit # 35038 “German Sturmpanzer IV (Early) Sd.Kfz.166”).
Several reviews are already online … http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/tristar/tri35038.html and http://www.track-link.net/reviews/k1921 so there’s no need for me to take this any further.
One major fault is noted for this kit. While Tristar have included the correct 40cm track and enlarged drive sprockets, the tyres are the 75mm kind whereas they should be 90mm. As it was only the tyres that were widened, you have the choice of adding some 0.5mm card to the tyres to widen them, or sourcing Dragon or Tamiya wheels elsewhere, for a better scale appearance.
As others have already reviewed the kit, I’ll just concentrate on building it and point out any issues as I go along.

The kit.

As with most model tanks, the first stages are preparing the lower hull and running gear. This step is tedious at best. This kit included a tub for lower hull … a major improvement over the separate panels in the earlier Pz.Kpfw IV kits. A lot of parts are needed for the first two steps, so some organisation is needed to avoid mix-ups.

With some care, the boogies can be made workable as can be seen in the images above and below. Instructions were followed for these stages but you should be aware that the springs should be S15 on the left and S23 on the right side, and not S3-9 and S3-10 as shown in the instructions. The kit offers bent springs to replace the first two stations on each side, to allow the Brummbär to lean slightly nose-down at the front. I used them for novelty’s sake, but because I want to articulate the running gear, this is not noticed. The choice of springs is almost invisible when the wheels are in place anyway.

In step 2 there is an inserted image that shows the additions that should be added to the back plate. Part A17 is shown already attached in the diagram but not called out. See below.

The base – Painting.

I hadn’t realised it was so long since the last post in this blog. Over five months have disappeared since the last entry. Sometimes life gets in the way, and when free time is limited, a time-demanding hobby such as this, usually suffers. This painting stage was already done before I had my ”break”.

The base colours were sprayed on using Tamiya paints. Over this, individual brick colour was painted using various colours from Humbrol. The mortar colour was washed/painted in place. I just use colours that look right to me rather than using a fixed reference. This also means that I haven’t written down what actual colours used either.

The colours look quite bright and gaudy at the moment, but after filters and weathering this will be toned down. By filters, I mean spraying very diluted colours over the whole wall to tie the various brick colours together.

I marked on the base with a pencil, where the tank will eventually sit, and then added rubble randomly. Everything is fixed in place with diluted wood-working white glue. I used sand, some more cork bricks and some scribed plaster bricks from a previous scene. To this I added some burnt out jerry cans from MIG Productions and some “crushed and dented oil drums” from Reality in scale. More rubble will be added later when the T34 is in place.

Dags att släppa bromsarna.

Semestern är slut så dags att rulla igång med modellbyggandet igen.

Time to let go of the brakes.

The summer vacation is over so it is time to get the modelling rolling.

Jag mjukstartar med att bygga en huvudbromscylinder till min taxi. Ett hjul från en lastbil till modelljärnvägar och lite plaststrips monteras ihop till detta.

I start slowly with a brake master cylinder for my taxi. A wheel from a model railroad truck and some plastic strips were glued together.

Vädring, steg 3 och 4 och…

Jag ville ”bleka ur” hela modellen, så jag blandade till gröna och gredelina nyanser, aningen ljusare än grundfärgerna. för att få mera volym och variation passade jag på att skugga en del partier i samma veva.

Weathering Step 3 and 4 and…

I wanted to give the whole model a more faded look, so I mixed up some green and mauve tints, slightly lighter than the basic colours. for more volume and variation I also made some soft shadowing with dark brown mixes.

Nära nog…

Close enough…

Jag kluttade på oljefärgen, mixad med lite Liquin: Liquin ersätter den traditionella linoljan och gör färgen drygare, följsammare och snabbtorkande.

I dotted on the oils, cut with some Liquin: Liquin is a modern, great replacement for the traditional linseed oil, and extends the colour into great glazes, makes it smoother and greatly reduces drying time.

Sedan lade jag på ren bränd umbra runt detaljer jag ville framhäva mera. Efter en kvart eller så finjusterade jag skuggningarna med en ren, lätt fuktad pensel.

I then applied pure burnt umber around details I wanted to pop out some more. After 15 minutes or so, I adjusted the shadowing with a clean, lighly moistened brush.

Stöttor och stag var oftast rejält slitna, vilket syns på många bilder. I ett första steg lade jag på en mix av svart oljefärg och humbrol  No 11 silver med en bit av en hushållssvamp.

Struts and braces were most often very weathered, something that is seen in period photos. As a first step i applied a mix of black oils and Humbrol No 11 Silver with the help of a piece of a household sponge.

Nästa steg blir att ”knyta ihop” de flagade fläckarna med detaljerad penselmålning, för en mer realistiskt effekt.

Next step will be to detail handpaint on and between the chipping for a  more realistic looking effect.

Huvudstället monterades, resten av vädringen gör jag på plats.

Main gear mounted, the rest of the weathering will be done with it ”in situ”.

Däcken ska mattlackas, flera washes och lite pigment ska på.

Tires need to get some flat varnish, more washes and some pigments are still missing.

Börjar se ut som ett (mycket, mycket, mycket fult!) flygplan!

It’s starting to look like a (very, very, very ugly!) aircraft!

The three figures are slightly modified Presisers and they were painted with Vallejo paints.

Enjoy!

Cheers

Sven-Åke

This is a little 1/72 Panzer III from Revell that I have started to work on…

The vehicle was built pretty much out of the box with a few scratch built additions like the cargo rack in the rear. The stowage is a mix of sculpted blankets and bags in Green Stuff together with ready made resin boxes and a fuel drum. I also replaced the barrel with an aluminum one and added a copper towing cable.  The grilles over the airintakes was made from one of those pyramid shaped Lipton teabags which I cut to size and glued in place. I used thin styrene strips on top of the mesh to make it look a bit neater.

The painting started with doing the black basecoat and on top of that I airbrushed German Grey in various shades. Over the grey I airbrushed two coats of hairspray which I let dry. On top of that I applied a sand yellow mix which I airbrushed on using the cloud pattern technique which means more color in the center of armorplates and other flat surfaces and less color over edges and in places where shadows would fall.

After the sand color had dried a couple of minutes I started to make chips and scratches using a stiff cut down old paintbrush which I had moistened in water. Once the water reaches the hairbrush layer, it dissolves and makes the top layer of paint to crack and chip creating wear and tear just like it happens on a real vehicle.

Further weathering and detail painting of tools and stowage was done once the vehicle was placed on the base to ensure that the vehicle would blend in well against the colors of the base. For the weathering I used different shades of artist oils and pigments to make the tank even more dirty.

The base was done with wall filler and white glue and some fine sand. The bushes was made from steel wool that I airbrushed in a light sand color and the grass turfs are from Mini Natur. The camel skeleton that lies half buried in the sand was sculpted from Green Stuff and come copper wire.

Cheers

Sven-Åke

Vädring, steg 1

Dekalerna har skyddslackats, och det är dags att börja skita ner kärran! Först lade jag en svag oljewash över hela modellen. Jag valde att använda obränd umbra på alla ljust blågrå ytor. Färgklutten på bilden ovan blandades med lacknafta, ungefär halva koppen är lagom.

Weathering, Step 1

After giving the decals a protective clear varnish, it’s time to get dirty! I started with a weak oil wash on all surfaces, raw umber on the light blue-gray areas. The umber blob in the picture above was cut withwhite spirit, about half the glass filled.

 Jag testade styrkan på washen innan jag började appliceringen. som synes är soppan tunn.

I always test the strength of the wash before applying it to the model, keeping it rather weak.

Det är viktigt att hela tiden röra om washen, pigmenten separerar från naftan ganska fort.

I continually stirred the wash, as the pigments have a tendency to separate from the spirit.

Inget finlir här, jag blaskade på friskt som synes! Nu lät jag washen yttorka max 10 minuter.

No need for precision at this stage, as can be seen! I now let the wash set for no more than 10 minutes.

Rinnmärken och oönskade ansamlingar av färg togs nu bort, och washen fadades ut med en ren, lätt naftafuktad platt pensel. Ett fjäderlätt ”vispande” med penseln räcker. Med den här tekniken har man suverän kontroll över resultatet.

Running streaks and unwanted parts of the wash was now faded or removed with the help of a broad, flat brush, lightly moistened in spirits. A light ”fluttering” with the brush is enough, and great contol can be achieved.

 Nu fick oljefärgen sätta sig ordentligt, åtminstone 3-4 timmar.

I now let the oils set properly, at least 3-4 hours.

 Washen hade torkat, och det var dags för nästa steg.

The wash was now topdry, time to move on to the next step.

 Jag tillsatte nu en lika stor klick bränd umbra till den tidigare wash-mixen. Den här washen är det betydligt mera stuns i.

I added a similar size blob of burn umber to the original wash mix. There’s a lot more bite to this mix, as can be seen by the sample above (bottom dark brown sample).

Den här mixen lade jag på med en fin akvarellpensel. Jag stök den över alla detaljer jag ville framhäva. Jag behövde inte vara jätte-noggrann, korrigeringar gjordes på samma sätt som med den första washen: låt yttorka en stund, och slutkorrigera med en flat, ren pensel.

This mix was applied with a fine pointed water colour brush. I applied the wash over any details I wanedt to emphasize. No need to be too careful, corrections were made’the same way as with the first wash: let the wash dry some, and make adjustments with a flat, clean brush.

Det är en del att blaska på: nu luktade hela lägenheten lacknafta, urk.

Quite a lot of bluegray to cover: now the whole apartment reeked of white spirit, yuck.

Även dekalerna måste washas!

Don’t skip on weathering the decals, too!

Ser ganska najs ut?

Looking quite ok?

Vädring, steg 2

Jag använde samma wash jag rörde ihop i början, med obränd och bränd umbra. Eftersom den stått över natten började jag med att filtrera den genom ett kaffefilter.

Weathering, Step 2

I used the original wash of raw and burnt umber, saved from the day before. I started this session by filtering the wash through an ordinary coffee filter to get rid of any flakes or unpurities.

Till ovansidans gröna och gredelina ytor behövdes det ytterligare lite mera stuns i washen. Jag blandade i en rejäl klutt svart (ca 1,5 ggr de bruna kluttarna). Färgprovet näst längst ner ger ett hum om styrkan.

For the green and mauve areas, I needed a stronger wash. I mixed in some black (about 1,5 times bigger blob than the initial umber one). The samples above gives an idea of the strength needed.

Översiktsbild…

Overview…

Det ser kanske brutalt ut just nu, men effekterna kommer att tonas ner härnäst.

It might look a bit over the top right now, but the next step in the weathering process will be to tone down some of the effects.

Var är motorn?! Den ligger o skäms i en låda just nu, är jag rädd… jag blev inte nöjd med den, o vet inte riktigt hur jag ska lösa det… jag skulle ha byggt den out-of-the-box, mitt pucko!

Where’s the engine?! Well, it’s hiding out in my ”box of shame”… I failed bit time with it, and I’m not sure what to do about it right now… I should have just built it out-of-the-box, I’m an idiot!

Ovansida…

As above…

… och undersida!

… so below!

Filter 01

Här kommer en liten rackarns uppdatering på moduleringsprojektet, första artikeln här.
Jag har lagt ett rejält lager Vallejo klarlack över hela modellen, för att skydda målningsarbetet under slitage-fasen.

Filter 01

Here’s a small update to the modulation painting guide, started here.
A rather hefty application of Vallejo clear varnish was applied to protect the paint job from the weathering treatment.

Ett första filter i olja har lagts på över hela modellen. Cirka 5% bränd umbra, 5% svart och 90% lacknafta.
Nästa uppdatering blir det några tips o trix med ”oil dot” metoden.

An initial oil based filter consisting of 5% burnt umber, 5% black and 90% white spirit was evenly spread over the whole model.
Next installment in the article series, I’ll show some ”oil dot” tricks.

Here we proudly present all contestants in the armor classes from this year’s big national event, IPMS Open 2010. The numbers in the listings (XXp) indicates the total scores.

Foto: Marko Rouvinen, Lars Befring
Bildbehandling: Marko Rouvinen

Best-in-Show

42 – Ferrari F2008 Ungerns GP, Kimi Räikkönen, Robert Ahlfors, 1:20

Publikens pris

209 – Mit Musik geht alles besser – Narva 1944, JohanFohlin, 1:35

Yankee

169 – Skyraider måldragare, Robert Bergwall, 1:48

Bästa Scratch

144 – 155 mm ShKZ ZuZana, Glenn Persson, 1:35

Mickols minne (för ”krispaste” modell)

184 – Kryssaren Takao, Ulf Lundberg, 1:350

Storebrorspriset, Norge

247 – Green Haze, Atle Eriksen, 1:6

Storebrorspriset, Danmark

87 – Wessex HU5, Miklos Büte, 1:72

Storebrorspriset, Skåne

331 – Breguet 273, Erik Ahlström, 1:72

Chefens för Flygvapnet hederspris

154 – Tp 79, Lars Sandau

Svensk Flyghistorisk förenings pris

169 – Skyraider måldragare, Robert Bergwall, 1:48

Capital City Modelers pris ”Hjul och motorer”

349 – Schiffsratten, Ulf Blomgren

C4-open pris

163 – Gruvlok, Jan-Olov Näsman, 90 mm

Modell Göteborg pris

18 – Flygvapnet TP 85 (Caravelle), Mikael Forslund, 1:72

Airfix

60 – D.51 Deborah, Flesquieres, France , Nov 6 1988, Jonas Dahlberg, 1:72

Grevens Glue Galore favorit

20 – The Pigs of War, Sven-Åke Grufstedt, 1:72

Modell jag skulle vilja ha ha byggt om jag mot förmodan skulle fått nåt klart

18 – Flygvapnet TP 85 (Caravelle), Mikael Forslund, 1:72

Arsenalen pris

212 – M4 Sherman, Anders Isaksson, 1:35

Arsenalen pris 2

38 – T-34, Frekrik Strömgren, 1:35

Humorpriset

115 – Oooh, Vater, Philip Stenhammar, 1:35

Klätterpriset / Svettdroppen

5 flygplan – Lennart Muhr

 

Here we proudly present all contestants in the armor classes from this year’s big national event, IPMS Open 2010. The numbers in the listings (XXp) indicates the total scores.

Foto: Marko Rouvinen, Lars Befring
Bildbehandling: Marko Rouvinen

CA, Civila bilar, alla skalor, byggmetod A

Klassegrare – 345 – Lars Österlund, Lotus 72D, 86p

 

1. 345 – Lars Österlund, Lotus 72D, 86p, Klassegrare
2. 101 – Sören Strand, MW Augusta 500cc 1967 roadracer 8 (nutida Motop GP), 82p, Hedersomnämnande
3. 206 – Mattias Linde, Repsol Honda NSR500 ‘98, 77p
4. 324 – Mats Langueville, Cadillac 1950,71p

CB, Civila bilar, alla skalor, byggmetod B

Klassegrare – 42 – Robert Ahlfors, Ferrari F2008 Ungerns GP, Kimi Räikkönen, 95p

 

1. 42 – Robert Ahlfors, Ferrari F2008 Ungerns GP, Kimi Räikkönen, 95p, Klassegrare
2. 350 – Bengt Johansson, Moon shine hauler EPA-traktor, 89p, Hedersomnämnande
3. 259 – Björn Bäcklund, Talbot Lago T26, 69p
4. 258 – Björn Bäcklund, Alfa Romeo 158, 66p

DA, Båtar, alla skalor, alla typer. Byggmetod A

Klassegrare – 53 – Jonas Nyström, U-boot XUUC i Medelhavet, 91p

 

1. 53 – Jonas Nyström, U-boot XUUC i Medelhavet, 91p, Klassegrare
2. 336 – Stellan Englund, LCVP, US Navy, Tarawa 1943, 89p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 97 – Miklos Büte, Type-A Target, 87p, Hedersomnämnande
4. 244 – Marko Rouvinen, SLC ”Maiale”, 85p, Hedersomnämnande
5. 188 – Ulf Lundberg, USS Belleau Wood, 83p
6. 187 – Ulf Lundberg, USS San Diego, 76p
7. 189 – Ulf Lundberg, USS Monsse, 71p

DB, Båtar, alla skalor, alla typer. Byggmetod B & C

Klassegrare – 145 – Glenn Persson, H.M.S. Barham, 100p

 

1. 145 – Glenn Persson, H.M.S. Barham, 100p, Klassegrare
2. 184 – Ulf Lundberg, Kryssaren Takao, 95p, Hedersomnämnande
3. 185 – Ulf Lundberg, Jagaren Suzutsuki, 95p, Hedersomnämnande
4. 62 – Jonas Dahlberg, Wreck of the RMS Titanic, 89p
5. 54 – Jonas Dahlberg, Sinking of U-64, Tysk ubåt typ IXB, 88p
6. 186 – Ulf Lundberg, Japansk 17m Pinass, 86p

FA1, Figurer, större än 72 mm, byggmetod A

Klassegrare – 315 – Anders Kihlström, Japanese Imperial Navy Fighter Pilot WWII, 74p

 

1. 315 – Anders Kihlström, Japanese Imperial Navy Fighter Pilot WWII, 74p, Klassegrare
2. 248 – Atle Eriksen, Pirate Madagaskar 1720, 72p, Hedersomnämnande
3. 99 – Miklos Büte, Fallschirmjäger Crete 1942, 70p, Hedersomnämnande
4. 262 – Andreas Agensjö, Tysk jaktflygare från WWII, 64p
5. 137 – Niklas Jonsson, Tysk arméofficer i Ungern vintern 1944-45, 63p
6. 332 – Lisa Stråhle, Phoenix, 55p
7. 334 – Lisa Stråhle, Red dress, 53p

FB1, Figurer, större än 72 mm, byggmetod B & C

Klassegrare – 208 – Johan Fohlin, The Welder, 86p

 

1. 208 – Johan Fohlin, The Welder, 86p, Klassegrare
2. 313 – Anders Kihlström, U.S. Army CBR Dress ”Desert Shield”, 84p, Hedersomnämnande
3. 138 – Niklas Jonsson, Svensk operatör ur specialförband 2008 i Tchad, 66p

FA2, Figurer, mindre än 72 mm, byggmetod A

Klassegrare – 149 – Glenn Persson, Skottsk krigare 1297, 87p

 

1. 149 – Glenn Persson, Skottsk krigare 1297, 87p, Klassegrare
2. 98 – Miklos Büte, 5 Minutes Break, 78p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 130 – Håkan Mattisson, Pansarbefäl Normandie ‘44, 72p, Hedersomnämnande
4. 131 – Håkan Mattisson, LAH Officer, 67p
5. 132 – Håkan Mattisson, LAH Underofficer, 67p
6. 133 – Håkan Mattisson, LAH Panzergrenadier, 67p
7. 134 – Håkan Mattisson, LAH MG 42 Schutze, 67p

FB2, Figurer, mindre än 72 mm, byggmetod B

Klassegrare – 135 – Niklas Jonsson, Ksp skytt, Rhodesian light Infantry ca 1976, 81p

 

1. 135 – Niklas Jonsson, Ksp skytt, Rhodesian light Infantry ca 1976, 81p, Klassegrare
2. 311 – Anders Kihlström, Ahnamoth the Withering Storm, 77p, Hedersomnämnande
3. 136 – Niklas Jonsson, Israelisk Ksp skytt i Beirut 1984, 75p
4. 65 – Jonas Dahlberg, A wish for peace, Berlin, April 45, 71p
5. 104 – Magnus Granberg, Finlands sak är vår, 70p

T, Temasamlingar, alla skalor, alla typer, alla byggmetoder

Klassegrare – 190 – Ulf Lundberg, Utvecklingen av de tunga japanska kryssarna, 1:700, 44p

 

1. 190 – Ulf Lundberg, Utvecklingen av de tunga japanska kryssarna, 1:700, 44p, Klassegrare
2. 241 – Rickard Andersson, Colourful Drakens, 1:72, 40p, Hedersomnämnande
3. 327 – Göran Sebardt, Samtliga Svenska Jaktplan under 1920-talet, 1:72, 39p
4. 255 – Björn Bäcklund, Bradley, 1:72, 36p

X1, Diorama, skala 1/72 eller mindre alla typer

Klassegrare – 20 – Sven-Åke Grufstedt, The Pigs of War, 1:72, 108p

 

1. 20 – Sven-Åke Grufstedt, The Pigs of War, 1:72, 108p, Klassegrare
2. 57 – Jonas Dahlberg, Sinking of Blücher, Oslofjord, April 9, 1940, 1:700, 100p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 19 – Sven-Åke Grufstedt, The Fallen King, 1:72, 99p, Hedersomnämnande
4. 63 – Jonas Dahlberg, RMS Titanic, 1:1250, 93p
5. 346 – Christer Pettersson, Poltava, 1:72, 72p

X2, Diorama, skala 1/48 eller större, alla typer

Klassegrare – 209 – Johan Fohlin, Mit Musik geht alles besser – Narva 1944, 1:35, 129p

 

1. 209 – Johan Fohlin, Mit Musik geht alles besser – Narva 1944, 1:35, 129p, Klassegrare
2. 349 – Ulf Blomgren, Schiffsratten, 1:35, 125p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 168 – Mattias Larsson, Requiem, 1:35, 118p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
4. 56 – Jonas Dahlberg, Riksäpplet – Svenskt linjeskepp från 1660, 1:48, 108p, Hedersomnämnande
5. 58 – Jonas Dahlberg, Coming Home, Fleury-devant-Douaumont, Verdun Spring 1919, 1:35, 107p, Hedersomnämnande
6. 64 – Jonas Dahlberg, ”Visst nappar det” (Uffe, Stockholm, Augisti, 2008), 1:35, 104p
7. 143 – Glenn Persson, Tyskt kavalleri möte fransk kavalleristridsvagn, 1:35, 104p
8. 61 – Jonas Dahlberg, ”Morfar, titta!”, Poppelvägen, Sollentuna, 2006, 1:35, 99p
9. 59 – Jonas Dahlberg, Stellan goes ballistic!, Poppelvägen, Sollentuna 1979, 1:35, 94p
10. 66 – Jonas Dahlberg, ”Fair play!”, North Africa, 1952, 1:35, 94p
11. 142 – Niklas Jonsson, Karachev 1943, 1:35, 84p
12. 55 – Jonas Dahlberg, ”Za zdaróvja!”, Russia, October 1943, 1:35, 81p
13. 117 – Viktoria Stenhammar, ”På båren”, 1:35, 80p
14. 199 – Peter Johansson, Scheisse, 1:35, 80p
15. 15 – Mikael Forslund, P-35A ex J-9 nr 2161, 1:32, 66p
16. 165 – Jan-Olov Näsman, Släktträff, 1:32, 65p

Ö, Rymdfarkoster och övriga modeller, alla skalor, alla byggmetoder

Klassegrare – 223 – Dennis Andersson, Ogre Kingdom Bull raider, 79p

 

1. 223 – Dennis Andersson, Ogre Kingdom Bull raider, 79p, Klassegrare
2. 163 – Jan-Olov Näsman, Gruvlok, 72p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 314 – Anders Kihlström, Warrior of Chaos Standard Bearer, 62p, Hedersomnämnande
4. 309 – Anders Kihlström, Widowmaker, 57p
5. 257 – Björn Bäcklund, USS Eggerprise, 56p
6. 310 – Anders Kihlström, This is Sparta!!, 52p
7. 49 – Frank Laturnus, Container ship ”Bremen Express”, 51p
8. 312 – Anders Kihlström, Millenium Falcon, 45p

J, Juniorer

Klassegrare – 341 – Kayleigh Glackin, SAAB J-35J ”Draken”, 64p

 

1. 341 – Kayleigh Glackin, SAAB J-35J ”Draken”, 64p, Klassegrare
2. 301 – Filip Snell, Mig 29, 59p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 11 – Joel Rudander, Hawker Tempest Mk V, 57p, Hedersomnämnande
4. 353 – Tom Waligorski, Strv 122, 55p, Hedersomnämnande
5. 354 – Karolina Waligorska, Spitfire Mk. Vb, 54p, Hedersomnämnande
6. 355 – Karolina Waligorska, Spitfire Mk. I, 45p
7. 4 – Fredrik Strömgren, BR Crusader Mk I & II, 45p
8. 38 – Fredrik Strömgren, T-34/76 1943, 45p
9. 39 – Fredrik Strömgren, Tiger I, 44p
10. 70 – David Dahlberg, Sherman, 44p
11. 13 – Joel Rudander, Messerschmitt Bf-109 F-4, 42p
12. 348 – Sofia Fridsell, Toyota RAV 4, 37p
13. 347 – Sofia Fridsell, Messerschmitt Bf-109 E-4/trop, 34p
14. 12 – Joel Rudander, Sk 16, 33p
15. 69 – Erik Dahlberg, Mosquito, 33p
16. 68 – Erik Dahlberg, Slagskeppet Bismark, 29p
17. 71 – David Dahlberg, Flygplan utan propeller, 20p

U, Ungdomar, fordon och fartyg, alla skalor, alla byggmetoder

Klassegrare – 116 – Viktoria Stenhammar, ”Kaputt”, 76p

 

1. 116 – Viktoria Stenhammar, ”Kaputt”, 76p, Klassegrare
2. 194 – Tim Jonsson, T 34/76 ChtZ, 72p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 114 – Philip Stenhammar, ”The Wall, 71p, Hedersomnämnande
4. 195 – Tim Jonsson, KV-1, 70p, Hedersomnämnande
5. 120 – Viktoria Stenhammar, Engelska riddare, 68p
6. 122 – Viktoria Stenhammar, Fotsoldater, 66p
7. 121 – Viktoria Stenhammar, ”Blir det regn idag”, 62p
8. 119 – Viktoria Stenhammar, Vid porten, 60p
9. 112 – Philip Stenhammar, ”Hål i väggen”, 59p
10. 174 – Malte Nilsson, Winterwar, 55p
11. 113 – Philip Stenhammar, Rysska hörnet, 52p
12. 115 – Philip Stenhammar, Ooohh, Vater!!!, 51p

V, Varelser ur filmens och sagans värld

Klassegrare – 335 – Staffan Linder, Nosferatu, 80p

 

1. 335 – Staffan Linder, Nosferatu, 80p,Klassegrare
2. 247 – Atle Eriksen, Green Haze, 64p, Hedersomnämnande
3. 246 – Atle Eriksen, Joker Goon, 61p
4. 245 – Atle Eriksen, Wrong Scale, 58p
5. 147 – Glenn Persson, Terminator, 58p

This time I will show a couple of more weathering techniques to inspire you once again to do some really beat up and rusty vehicles. For this piece I have used the salt method together with the sponge method and I have also used some of the techniques that you find in my previous post. http://www.hobbybokhandeln.net/?p=5204

I start with a piece of plastic sheet in the size of 25 x 25 mm. First I give it a basecoat in a darker green color. Once the basecoat has dried I airbrush regular tap water to moisten the surface and while it is still wet I sprinkle salt over it. The salt sticks to the water and will act as masking for the next color. Take care when you do this because if you put on too much water the salt will start to melt and create unwanted effects.

Here I have airbrushed a lighter green color on top and once dry I take a larger soft brush dipped in water and start to remove the salt carefully. As I said earlier, the water melts the salt which is flushed away together with the color that was on the little grains of salt.

This is how it looks once the salt has been rinsed away. If you look closely you see some small halos here and there, these are remains of the salt and can be removed with some more water. If you compare this method of chipping with the hairspray method you get sligtly softer edges on the chips and it’s much more difficult to control where the chips should be but for making larger areas a little bit more interesting this is an easy and fast way to go.

And as on the cooking shows on TV, I pull this ready made Russian flavoured dish out of the oven. The finished piece has a few more techniques in it’s recepie and the most prominent one is the sponge technique which you can see in the white areas. This is also a way of doing random chips and it has a lot more control than the salt method which makes it easier to use. What I did was to tear of a little piece from a sponge which came in a box for a 54 mm figure. I dipped the sponge in some white Vallejo paint and dabbed it a few times on a paper towel  to remove some of the excess paint in the sponge. After that I started to ligthtly and carefully dab the surface of the plastic sheet. Since the sponge has a very irregular surface the sponge creates almost instant chips. The effect I was looking for was a more solid white with only a small number of chips I continued to dab the sponge until I reached the desired effect. The next step was to take the original base color (the dark green) and with a small paintbrush add a few larger chips here and there all over the surface. The final touches like the streaks and dirt was made with artist oils of various colors and the rust was made with pigments and Burnt Umber artist oils.

Well that’s it for now… I hope to see some very rusty wrecks from you soon!!!

Cheers

Sven-Åke 

I have realised that weathering nowdays is not all about realism and making stuff dirty and rusty, it has evolved almost into an art in itself with all the new techniques that are available to us  today.

I have no intention to make this into a turorial of any kind, I see it more as an inspirational piece from which you  can do your own experiments and magic. I will however explain a little about the techniques that I have used to create this, hmm, artwork?

First of all it might be in place to show the size of the thing before we go any further. I have adapted the techniques to suit the scale that I normally work in which is 1/72 but everything that I have done here works in any scale.

The picture below shows three of the teqchniques that I have been using.

A: Here I have used regular white glue which I brushed on and quickly after it was applied I stippled different shades of rust pigments into the wet glue. This gives a very good structural effect and works very well for mud aswell.

B: Artist oils can be used for many things like making fading effects, watermarks and streaks of all sorts. It can also be used to make a bit more 3D effects like the rust seen here. First I made some streaks with a carefully placed small blob of artist oil (Burnt Umber) which a faded downwards with a flat soft brush. After the faded streak was done I placed some irregular new blobs with the same color just where the streak start. Since the artist oil is so thick it will keep it’s shape once dry making this 3D texture.

C: This is perhaps the most complex effect of them all. The hairspray technique is a way of creating chipped and damaged paint and the technique which has been around for a few years have been used to great success among some of the very top modellers in the world. It’s quite simple to work with, all you need is a can of the cheapest hairspray from the supermarket, a few stiff old brushes, a sowing needle and other instruments to scrape and damage the paint with.

Step one is to lay down the first base color which I let dry for a while. It’s perhaps worth to mention that I have used Vallejo Air for this effect so the dryingtimes are quite short. Once the basecoat is dry I spray a good coat of hairspray over the basecolor. I find it easier to use the airbrush while spraying the hairspray so I normally spray from the hairspray can into a small jar or bottle so I can pour the liquid into my airbrush. Once the hairspray dries (which is quite fast) I spray on the second coat of paint on top of the hairspray layer. Once dry I take one of the stiff old brushes and dip it into some regular tap water and start to carefully scrub away at the top layer of paint. Once the water gets in between the top layer and the hairspray layer it dissolves the hairspray and you can with ease do chips and scrape marks and anything else by using different sharp tools or soft brushes.

I recommend that you try this technique on an old model or a piece of sheet plastic first just so you get the hang of how it works. The effect is very much dependant on many factors like how even the hairspray is applied, how thick the top layer of the paint is and to some extent how much time you have between applying the different layers. I’m not sure there is a 100% perfect recepie for the timing and thickness of the different layers so the trial and error method should be applied here with care…

Now all I can say beside Thanks for Watching is that you go and try these techniques for yourself and see if any of them suits your needs and style of weathering…

Oh, just a little update with some more detailed pictures of the techniques… I was in a bit of a rush when I did this piece so I there was not much thought behind the chips and choice of colors but I hope you get the general idea…

Cheers

Sven-Åke

Redo för vädring

De sista dekalerna har åkt på och all grundläggande detaljmålning är nu gjord.
Observera den delikata dekalen nere till höger, och de fantastiska nitdetaljerna!

Ready to Weather

 The final tiny decals have been placed and all the basic block painting done.
Note the tiny decal at the bottom right, and the exquisite rivet detal!

Sporrmeden (??) är ett litet konstverk i sig.

The tailskid is a small work of art by itself.

Skön ballongkänsla i huvudställets däck

Cool balloony look on the main landing gear tyres

Fjädringen (bungee cords) är delikat.

The bungee cords are immaculately rendered.

Torrpassning av höjd- och sidoroder. Det finns inte något egentligt behov att limma dessa, de sitter fint ändå. Eftersom jag vill göra roderlinorna, kommer jag dock att limma dom.

Dryfitting the rudder and elevator. There’s no absolute need to glue these, as the fit is so tight, but since I want to add the control lines I’ll glue them firmly in place.

Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken Parabellum LMG14/17 med Oigee sikte, monterad på sin trä-ring.

Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken Parabellum LMG14/17 with Oigee sight, monterad på sin trä-ring.mounted on its wooden ring.

Nog tusan bröt jag av hållaren under fotograferingen… men det är väl det modellbygge handlar om va: reparera sina misstag, haha!

Yep, of course I broke the bloody holder for the MG while shooting the pics… but hey, isn’t that what modelling is all about: repairing your mistakes, haha!

Here we proudly present all contestants in the armor classes from this year’s big national event, IPMS Open 2010. The numbers in the listings (XXp) indicates the total scores.

Foto: Marko Rouvinen, Lars Befring
Bildbehandling: Marko Rouvinen

BA1, Militära fordon, skala 1/72 eller mindre, byggmetod A

Klassegrare – 118 – Viktoria Stenhammar, Tysk Pzkv IV, 82p

 

1. 118 – Viktoria Stenhammar, Tysk Pzkv IV, 82p, Klassegrare
2. 171 – Joakim Hultman, FAI-M, 68p, Hedersomnämnande
3. 192 – Joakim Hultman, Leningrad self-propelled armoured railroad car, 64, Hedersomnämnande
4. 126 – Håkan Mattisson, Panzerjäger Tiger Ausf B ”Jagdtiger”, 60p
5. 107 – Magnus Granberg, T-26.1, 59p
6. 338 – Stellan Englund, Land Rover med släp, 58p
7. 106 – Magnus Granberg, BT-42, 57p
8. 44 – Torbjörn Svensson, Sturmgeschütz Ausf. G (Sd. Kzz 142/1), 56p
9. 34 – John Strömgren, JS-2 Stalin, 54p
10. 33 – John Strömgren, Sd Kfz 182 Kungstiger, 53p
11. 35 – John Strömgren, M4A3 VVSS, 47p
12. 31 – John Strömgren, Leopard 2A4, 34p
13. 32 – John Strömgren, Jagdpanzer IV L170, 27p

BB1, Militära fordon, skala 1/72 eller mindre, byggmetod B & C

Klassegrare – 146 – Glenn Persson, Pz. Kpfw III Ausf. L, 85p

 

1. 146 – Glenn Persson, Pz. Kpfw III Ausf. L, 85p, Klassegrare
2. 60 – Jonas Dahlberg, D.51 Deborah, Flesquieres, France , Nov 6 1988, 85p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 173 – Joakim Hultman, Mack AC ”Bulldog” typ HC3, 67p
4. 172 – Joakim Hultman, Valentine,66p

B2a, Militära fordon, skala 1/48 eller större, alla byggmetoder, artilleripjäser

Klassegrare – 176 – Andreas Ståhl, 7.5cm PAK 40 ( Late type), 90p

 

1. 176 – Andreas Ståhl, 7.5cm PAK 40 ( Late type), 90p, Klassegrare
2. 24 – Peter Halvar, Tysk Haubits s:K18 10,5 cm, 87p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 175 – Andreas Ståhl, 15cm s.FH 18 Operation Barbarossa 1941, 86p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
4. 353 – Bengt Johansson, Flak 43, 83p, Hedersomnämnande
5. 300 – Toni Canfora, Ordnance 2 pdr Gun, 78p
6. 45 – Torbjörn Svensson, German s.F.H 18 15cm Field Howitzer, 75p
7. 92 – Miklos Büte, M115 8in Howitzer, 74p
8. 330 – Erik Ahlström, 2 pdr ATK gun, 72p

BA2h, Militära fordon, skala 1/48 eller större, byggmetod A, hard-skin

Klassegrare – 123 – Håkan Mattisson, Panzer IV Ausf H (Sdkfz 161/2), 89p

 

1. 123 – Håkan Mattisson, Panzer IV Ausf H (Sdkfz 161/2), 89p, Klassegrare
2. 129 – Håkan Mattisson, Sturmpanzer IV ”Brummbär”, 88p, Hedersomnämnande
3. 95 – Miklos Büte, Marder III, 87p, Hedersomnämnande
4. 128 – Håkan Mattisson, FlakPanzer IV ”Wirbelwind”, 84p, Hedersomnämnande
5. 219 – Dennis Andersson, Flakpz 38 t, 84p, Hedersomnämnande
6. 91 – Miklos Büte, KV-II, 90 – Miklos Büte, Panther D, 81p
7. 90 – Miklos Büte, Panther D, 81p
8. 94 – Miklos Büte, LAV-150 Commando, 79p
9. 226 – Hans Göransson, Pzkfw VI Ausf B Königstiger, Sdkfz. 182, 79p
10. 127 – Håkan Mattisson, Stug III Ausf B, 78p
11. 26 – Lars Henåker, Sherman Firefly Vc, 72p
12. 105 – Magnus Granberg, Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Ausf. D, 70p
13. 108 – Magnus Granberg, Jagdpanther, 70p
14. 148 – Glenn Persson, BA 20, 67p

BA2s, Militära fordon, skala 1/48 eller större, byggmetod A, soft-skin

Klassegrare – 96 – Miklos Büte, Austin Tilly, 75p

 

1. 96 – Miklos Büte, Austin Tilly, 75p, Klassegrare
2. 250 – Dennis Andersson, Sdkfz 7/2 37 mm flak, 71p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 329 – Erik Ahlström, Zis-44, 68p, Hedersomnämnande
4. 77 – Mikael Kuokkanen, GMC 2½ Ton Truck, 55p
5. 243 – Marko Rouvinen, 4X4 Light Vehicle Type 95 Kurogane, 54p
6. 125 – Håkan Mattisson, DKW NZ 350 cc, 54p

BB2h, Militära fordon, skala 1/48 eller större, byggmetod B & C, hard-skin

Klassegrare – 266 – Tor Netterby, Sherman Mk III (M4A2) från 46th RTR i Italien 1943, 93p

 

1. 266 – Tor Netterby, Sherman Mk III (M4A2) från 46th RTR i Italien 1943, 93p, Klassegrare
2. 167 – Mattias Larsson, Steyr 1500 under op. Barbarossa -41, 91p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 351 – Bengt Johansson, Dingo, 90p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
4. 81 – Jesper Bardhamre, 1947 Panzerjäger 38(t) ”Hetzer” I.R, 89p, Hedersomnämnande
5. 144 – Glenn Persson, 155 mm ShKH Zuzana, 88p, Hedersomnämnande
6. 270 – Tor Netterby, Valentine Mk II från 45th RTR, 8th Armoured Division 1941, 87p, Hedersomnämnande
7. 298 – Toni Canfora, Sherman IC Firefly, 85p
8. 221 – Dennis Andersson, UE, Fransk vagn i tysk tjänst, 84p
9. 268 – Tor Netterby, Höstmanöver 1944 med Strv m/38, 84p
10. 124 – Håkan Mattisson, Strv 103B ”Stridsvagn S”, 83p
11. 265 – Tor Netterby, Rolls Royce Armoured Car, 83p
12. 29 – Thomas Wendel, Sturmgeschütz III Ausführung G, 83p
13. 212 – Anders Isaksson, M4 Sherman, 82p
14. 27 – Lars Henåker, Churchill Mk. IV, 82p
15. 72 – Rodolfo Tomada, Strv 103B, 79p
16. 166 – Mattias Larsson, Tiger I, s Pz. Abt. 502 Feb-43, 79p
17. 197 – Peter Johansson, Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf. J, 77p
18. 196 – Peter Johansson, M4 Sherman, 74p
19. 200 – Peter Johansson, 15cm Sturminfanterigeshütz 33 auf Pz III, 73p
20. 198 – Peter Johansson, Sturminfanterigeshütz 33B auf Pz III, 65p

BB2s, Militära fordon, skala 1/48, byggmetod B, soft-skin

Klassegrare – 73 – Rodolfo Tomada, JGSDF LAV, 82p

 

1. 73 – Rodolfo Tomada, JGSDF LAV, 82p, Klassegrare
2. 352 – Bengt Johansson, Land-Wasser-Schlepper, 75p, Hedersomnämnande
3. 28 – Lars Henåker, Opel Blitz med Flak38 , Normandie 1944, 72p
4. 328 – Erik Ahlström, Studebaker US6 + 122mm Haubits, 61p

Here we proudly present all contestants in the aircraft classes from this year’s big national event, IPMS Open 2010. The numbers in the listings (XXp) indicates the total scores.

Foto: Marko Rouvinen, Lars Befring
Bildbehandling: Marko Rouvinen

A1j Flygplan, skala 1/144, byggmetod A, jet och raket

Klassegrare – 170 – Robert Bergwall, Boeing 737-800 KLM PH-BXB, 70p

 

1. 170 – Robert Bergwall, Boeing 737-800 KLM PH-BXB, 70p Klasseger
2. 296 – Joakim Thylin, J35J Draken, 62p Hedersomnämnande
3. 177 – Niklas Knutzén, Airbus A321-200, 62p Hedersomnämnande
4. 272 – Joakim Thylin, AV8B Harrier II Plus, 60p
5. 297 – Joakim Thylin, J35F-1 Draken ”White Ghost”, 60p
6. 291 – Joakim Thylin, A-4F Skyhawk, 53p
7. 290 – Joakim Thylin, A-4E Skyhawk, 50p
8. 277 – Joakim Thylin, F-117A Nighthawk, 48p
9. 280 – Joakim Thylin, Mistsubishi T-2 Std Markings, 47p
10. 281 – Joakim Thylin, Mistsubishi T-2 Aneversity, 47p
11. 282 – Joakim Thylin, F-4J Phantom II Amigo, 46p
12. 283 – Joakim Thylin, F-4J Phantom II, 46p
13. 294 – Joakim Thylin, F-15C Eagle, 44p
14. 274 – Joakim Thylin, F-104J Starfighter, 42p
15. 275 – Joakim Thylin, F-104J Starfighter, 42p
16. 276 – Joakim Thylin, F-104J Starfighter, 41p
17. 256 – Björn Bäcklund, Lockheed F1-17, 39p
18. 278 – Joakim Thylin, Tornado IDS Marineflieger, 37p

AA1p Flygplan, skala 1/144, byggmetod A, propeller och glid

Klassegrare – 52 – Jonas Nyström, Ghost Fighter FM-2, 82p

 

1. 52 – Jonas Nyström, Ghost Fighter FM-2, 82p, Klassegrare
2. 273 – Joakim Thylin, UH-69J Rescuehawk, 72p
3. 284 – Joakim Thylin, MH-60G Pawehawk, 68p
4. 285 – Joakim Thylin, MH-60G Pawehawk ”Deserthawk”, 64p
5. 288 – Joakim Thylin, P-51D Mustang, 63p
6. 287 – Joakim Thylin, P-51C-11-NT, 60p
7. 289 – Joakim Thylin, P-51D Mustang, 60p
8. 286 – Joakim Thylin, P-51B Mustang, 58p
9. 279 – Joakim Thylin, AH-64D Longbow Apache, 55p
10. 292 – Joakim Thylin, FM-2 Wildcat,54p

A2h, Helikoptrar, skala 1/72, alla byggmetoder

Klassegrare – 87 – Miklos Büte, Wessex HU. 5, 73p

 

1. 87 – Miklos Büte, Wessex HU. 5, 73p, Klasseger
2. 339 – Stellan Englund, Bell UH-1B 117:th Aviation Company, Vietnam, 72p, Särskilt hedersomnämnande
3. 155 – Lars Sandau, Bell212, 25th Flight Belize, 56p,
4. 253 – Mathias Andersson, SH-60B Seahawk, 48p,

AA2j, Flygplan, skala 1/72, jet och raket, byggmetod A

Klassegrare – 156 – Rickard Malmborg, Me 262B-1a Nightfighter, 88p

 

1. 156 – Rickard Malmborg, Me 262B-1a Nightfighter, 88p , Klassegrare
2. 183 – Niklas Knutzén, A-7D Corsair, 84p,  Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 251 – Mathias Andersson, F-105G Thunderchief, 79p,  Hedersomnämnande
4. 263 – Oskar Blomberg, Mistel 5 (He 162A-2 + Arado E-377), 74p
5. 181 – Niklas Knutzén, F-16AM Fighting Falcon, 68p
6. 252 – Mathias Andersson, SR-71 Blackbird, 67p
7. 8 – Magnus Fridsell, Arado 234C-3/C-4, 65p
8. 182 – Niklas Knutzén, J 35J Draken ”Johan Gul”, 63p
9. 233 – Rickard Andersson, Sk 60 Team 60, 58p
10. 308 – Märta&Odd Romell,Saab 35 Draken med lite inspiration från en saga,26p

AA2p,Flygplan, skala 1/72, propeller och glid, byggmetod A

Klassegrare – 354 – Miklos Büte, Junkers Ju-87B Stuka, 77p

 

1. 354 – Miklos Büte, Junkers Ju-87B Stuka, 77p, Klassegrare
2. 178 – Niklas Knutzén, J26 Mustang, 74p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 1 – Magnus Fridsell, Messerschmitt Bf-109 F-2, 74p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
4. 85 – Miklos Büte, Fw-190 D9, 70p, Hedersomnämnande
5. 214 – Dennis Andersson, Vought F4U-1A Corsair, 70p, Hedersomnämnande
6. 4 – Magnus Fridsell, Spitfire Mk XIX, 68p
7. 240 – Rickard Andersson, J 2 Nieuport 29C-1, 68p
8. 2 – Magnus Fridsell, Dewoitine D.520, 67p
9. 103 – Sören Strand, Letov S 328 Slovakiska upproret 1944, 66p
10. 242 – Rickard Andersson, J 11 Fiat C.R. 42, 62p
11. 331 – Erik Ahlström, Breguet 273, 62p
12. 307 – Odd Romell, Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Ixc, 62p
13. 237 – Rickard Andersson, J 26 North American P-51D Mustang F16- Röd Cesar, 60p
14. 230 – Rickard Andersson, J 20 Reggiane Re 2000 Falcon 1 F10-31, 59p
15. 231 – Rickard Andersson, J 20 Reggiane Re 2000 Falcon 1 F10-25, 59p
16. 229 – Rickard Andersson, J 20 Reggiane Re 2000 Falcon 1 F10-53, 58p
17. 234 – Rickard Andersson, Vickers Viscount Falconair SE-CNK, 58p
18. 239 – Rickard Andersson, Sk 12 Focke Wulf Fw-44J Stieglitz, 57p
19. 236 – Rickard Andersson, S 31 Spitfire PR Mk. XIX F11-60, 56p
20. 232 – Rickard Andersson, J 20 Reggiane Re 2000 Falcon 1 F10-9, 56p
21. 164 – Jan-Olov Näsman, Nå´n gammal flygmaskin, 51p
22. 203 – Lennart Muhr, SAAB 91 Safir Sk50, 50p
23. 205 – Lennart Muhr, North American Mustang IV RAF,46p

AB2j, Flygplan, skala 1/72, jet och raket, byggmetod B

Klassegrare – 82 – Miklos Büte, F-16B Netz, 77p

 

1. 82 – Miklos Büte, F-16B Netz, 77p, Klassegrare
2. 153- Lars Sandau, Mig-15bis Fagot, 74p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 150 – Lars Sandau, Messerschmitt Me-262A-1a, 74p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
4. 227 – Rickard Andersson, J 35J Draken, 72p, Hedersomnämnande
5. 235 – Rickard Andersson, J 29B F22- vit Erik, 67p
6. 40 – Jacob de Maré, Tu-16 Badger Egypt Air Force 1973, 65p
7. 304 – Björn Eriksson, Saab A 21 R, 62p
8. 151 – Lars Sandau, AJSH37 Viggen från F10 Ängelholm, 61p
9. 10 – Magnus Fridsell, Gloster Meteor T.7, 61p
10. 7 – Magnus Fridsell, F-4K Phantom,60p
11. 18 – Mikael Forslund, Flygvapnet Tp 85 (85210) F8 72-73, 60p
12. 202 – Lennart Muhr, Boulton-Paul P111a, 58p
13. 9 – Magnus Fridsell, XF-10F Jaguar, 53p

AB2p, Flygplan, skala 1/72, propeller och glid, byggmetod B

Klassegrare – 89 – Miklos Büte, Hawker Typhoon Mk. IB, 80p

 

1. 89 – Miklos Büte, Hawker Typhoon Mk. IB, 80p, Klassegrare
2. 152 – Lars Sandau, Mig-3, 79p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 5 – Magnus Fridsell, Spitfire Mk IXc, 71p, Hedersomnämnande
4. 25 – Peter Halvar, Heinkel He-177 A-6, 70p, Hedersomnämnande
5. 238 – Rickard Andersson, Irbits J-12 SE-ALB, 63p
6. 3 – Magnus Fridsell, CAC Winjeel, 61p
7. 264 – Oskar Blomberg, Il-2m3 Stormovik, 61p
8. 201 – Lennart Muhr, Curtiss F11C-2 Goshawk, 59p
9. 51 – Jonas Nyström, Martin 167 Maryland, 57p
10. 295 – Joakim Thylin, Grumman FF-1, 57p
11. 154 – Lars Sandau, Tp79 nr 79008, 57p
12. 204 – Lennart Muhr, Vought Corsair IV Royal Navy, 52p
13. 191 – Joakim Hultman, Fokker Dr1, 39p

AA3j, Flygplan, skala 1/48, jet och raket, byggmetod A

Klassegrare – 84 – Miklos Büte, F-84G Thunderjet, 83p

 

1. 84 – Miklos Büte, F-84G Thunderjet, 83p, Klassegrare
2. 180 – Niklas Knutzén, F-16CJ Fighting Falcon Block 50, 78p, Hedersomnämnande
3. 79 – Per-Erik Hedberg, TF-104G Från danska flygvapnet, 72p
4. 21 – Peter Halvar, A-10 Thunderbolt, 67p
5. 340 – Stellan Englund,Fi-103, ”Vergeltungswaffe Eins”,61p

AA3p, Flygplan, skala 1/48, propeller och glid, byggmetod A

Klassegrare – 261 – Andreas Agensjö, Bell P-39Q Airacobra, 86p

 

1. 261 – Andreas Agensjö, Bell P-39Q Airacobra, 86p, Klassegrare
2. 86 – Miklos Büte, P-39Q Airacobra, 82p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 302 – Mattias Käck, A6M2b Zero, 82p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
4. 321 – Mikael Nergård, P-47D Razorback, 78p Hedersomnämnande
5. 260 – Andreas Agensjö, Curtiss P-40M Warhawk, Soviet AF, 76p
6. 215 – Dennis Andersson, Bell P-39 Aircobra, 74p
7. 88 – Miklos Büte, Fiat CR. 42, 70p
8. 217 – Dennis Andersson, Grumman Wildcat, 67p
9. 325 – Bengt Olsson, Hawker Typhoon Mk. IB, 64p
10. 224 – Fredric Nordström, Supermarine Spitfire Vb, 57p
11. 267 – Tor Netterby, J 26 vit ”David” från F 16,52p

AB3j, Flygplan skala 1/48, jet och raket, byggmetod B

Klassegrare – 316 – Joakim Persson, F-16C, 87p

 

1. 316 – Joakim Persson, F-16C, 87p, Klassegrare
2. 78 – Per-Erik Hedberg, Saab J35A Draken ”Petter 52″ F16 Uppsala, 81p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 337 – Stellan Englund, Focke-Wulf Ta-183N-1 ”Huckebein”, 81p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
4. 23 – Peter Halvar, Mig-29UB, 79p, Hedersomnämnande
5. 271 – Mikael Nergård, F-16A, 76p
6. 76 – Mikael Kuokkanen, Lockheed F-104N Starfighter, 75p
7. 109 – Stefan Eriksson, J 35J Draken 35518 ”Johan 11″, 74p
8. 80 – Per-Erik Hedberg, Tornado GR1 ”Gulf Killer” Operation Desert Storm -91, 73p
9. 75 – Mikael Kuokkanen, SEPECAT Jaguar GR. 1A, 72p
10. 110 – Stefan Eriksson, Lockheed F-104C Starfighter 0-60938 ”SHOW ME”, 72p
11. 41 – Jacob de Maré, Mirage IVA,60p

AB3p, Flygplan, i skala 1/48, propeller och glid, byggmetod B

Klassegrare – 318 – Joakim Persson, P-47 Thunderbolt, 93p

 

1. 318 – Joakim Persson, P-47 Thunderbolt, 93p, Klassegrare
2. 169 – Robert Bergwall, AD-4W Skyraider, 92p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 343 – Lars Österlund, P-47 Thunderbolt, 92p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
4. 317 – Joakim Persson, Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-3, 88p, Hedersomnämnande
5. 320 – Joakim Persson, A6 M5 Zero, 87p, Hedersomnämnande
6. 43 – Robert Ahlfors, Fiat G.50 Finska flygvapnet 1941, 86p, Hedersomnämnande
7. 319 – Joakim Persson, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-9, 84p
8. 74 – Mikael Kuokkanen, Potez 63-11, 75p
9. 50 – Jonas Nyström, Arsenal VG-33, 66p
10. 111 – Stefan Eriksson, Vought F4U-5 Corsair Buno: 121862 ”6″, 65p
11. 326 – Bengt Olsson, Bristol Bulldog, 64p

A4p, Flygplan, i skala 1/32 eller större, propeller och glid, alla byggmetoder

Klassegrare – 342 – Lars Österlund, Nakajima Ki 84 Frank, 77p

 

1. 342 – Lars Österlund, Nakajima Ki 84 Frank, 77p, Klassegrare
2. 22 – Peter Halvar, Bf-109 E-11./JG52 Fw Herbert Bishhoff Aug. 1940, 77p, Särskilt Hedersomnämnande
3. 333 – Mats Stråhle, A-24B Banshee, 73p, Hedersomnämnande
4. 17 – Mikael Forslund, Brewster Buffalo Finska flygvapnet mars 1940, 67p
5. 220 – Dennis Andersson, Stuka Junkers Ju 87B, 66p
6. 16 – Mikael Forslund, J 9 nr 2109,57p

AC2, Flygplan, skala 1/72, byggmetod C

Klassegrare – 254 – Björn Bäcklund, Svenska Marinens Helikopter 4E, 1:72, 74p

 

1. 254 – Björn Bäcklund, Svenska Marinens Helikopter 4E, 1:72, 74p, Klassegrare
2. 303 – Björn Eriksson, Saab J 21B, 1:72, 63p
3. 228 – Rickard Andersson, Pou-du-Ciel (Flygande Loppan), 1:72, 57p

Modulerings-skoj i 1/35

Jag fortsätter leka med färg-modulering. Modellen är en 1/35 s.gl. Pkw Steyer Typ 1500A Kommandeurwagen, fabrikat Tamiya. En riktig gammal goding, den här modellen.

Modulation Fun in 1/35

My adventures in modulation painting continues with this s.gl. Pkw Steyer Typ 1500A Kommandeurwagen from Tamiya, scale 1/35. Great old kit, this!

Modellen grundades först med airbrushen i jordbruna toner (undersida av chassi), svart, samt mörka och ljusa gråtoner.

The model was first given basic airbrush coats of earth tones (underside of chassis), black, dark and light grey tones. 

Jag blandade till riktigt ljusa grå toner och penselmålade bensindunk-hållare, hjulnaven, dörrlister, konvojlykta, dragkrok och gångjärnen till skuffen. Kapellet målades i tre-fyra olika bruna toner.

I mixed up some very light grey tones and handbrushed the jerry can holders, wheeel hubs, convoy light, towbar, door framing and trunk hinges. The canvas was painted 3-4 different brown colours.

 Framtill målade jag skyddsgrillens och kofångarens ovansidor, Notek-lampan, huvlåset och det två luckorna(?) ovanpå motorhuven med samma ljusgrå kulör.

Up front I painted the upper parts of the fender and grille protection, Notek lamp, engine hood lock and the two hatches (?) the same light grey colour.

Dörrarnas insidor, liksom sätena, var läderklädda i de här lite bekvämare stabsbilarna. Dörrarna fick en omgång oljefärg för att simulera läder. sätena ska få samma behandling, men i ljusare nyanser

The doors insides, as the seats, were leather clad in these more posh  staff cars. The doors were overpainted with oils to simulate leather. The seats will get the same treatment, but a bit lighter brown.

 Instrumentpanelen och spakar ska grundmålas, sen får modellen ett skyddande klarlackslager innan fortsättning följer…

The instrument panel and the different levers need some base colours, and then I’ll give the whole model a clear protective coat.
To be continued…

Modulation Painting

Tänkte jag skulle leka lite med ”Modulation Painting” tekniker! Modulation Painting är ett ovanligt trassligt begrepp, men det går ut på att man försöker lyfta fram förebildens former och intressanta detaljer genom att måla modellens individuella paneler osv i avvikande nyanser. Det hela tonas sedan ner med filter, washes och så vidare. Försökskanin får bli den här lille 1/72 rackarn från ICM, en Sd.Kfz 222.
Jag började med att grunda hela modellen svart.

Modulation Painting

 I’m going to try out some different ”Modulation Painting” effects. Modulation Painting is a very ambigous and vague name for a bunch of rather easy to learn techniques. It’s all about setting focus on interesting forms and details on the model, by varying the colours and hues. The quite stark effects are then toned down and  blended in with the help of filters, washes and so on. I’m using this little Sd.Kfz 222 in 1/72 scale from the Ukrainian maker ICM.
I started by priming the whole kit black.

Ljusa, tunna lager av sandgult airbrushades ovanifrån och försiktigt ner mot sidorna

Light coats of sand yellow was airbrushed from above and down the sides.

Kraftigare sandgul färg varvades med den bleka tonen.

A stronger hue of sand yellow was airbrushed, going back and forth between the weak and strong colour mix.

Ett svagt filter bränd umbra, och efter det en starkare wash umbra. Sen ren gulockra och vit oljefärg för att ge en blekt effekt och korrigera grundfärgen.

A weak burnt umber filter, and on that a stronger umber wash. Then pure yellow ochre and white oils to fade and correct the tones.

 Tillbaka till airbrushen, fler ljusa toner.

Back to the airbrush, and more light tones of desert yellow.

Modellen är inte helt korrekt, jag har schabblat bort en del verktyg. Typiskt mig…

The model is not really correct, I’ve  lost some tools and stuff. Typical me…

Stor är den inte!
Fortsättning följer…

It ain’t big!
To be continued…

Here’s my next update on the Downhill Dilemma diorama that I’m working on. This time I will be concentrating on the little Staghound which is a nice little kit from RPM. It’s perhaps not up to the standards of manufacturers like Dragon or Revell and it requires quite a lot of scratch built parts to make it look acceptable but after some hard work making the kit parts fit and some extra detailing  it turned into a nice representation of the vehicle.

Here you can see that I have used various items to detail the vehicle. There’s Evergreen strips and tubes of various sizes, there are ready made resin boxes and backpacks, there’s also some 0.2 mm lead wire in some places for ropes and last but not least there’s some bags and tarps made from Green Stuff which is a two component sculpting compound which is very easy to work with. For the tarps in the front end of the vehicle (the white ones) I used thin tissue paper that was dipped in a mix of white glue and water and then pushed into place on the vehicle.

The first step of the painting process is to paint the whole vehicle black. This layer of black will act both as a primer and a preshade for the colors applied in the later stages. It might feel a little scary to paint the vehicle with everything in place like I have done here. Some people chose to paint their models in sections like the turret, wheels and stowage as separate pieces and after the painting is done they assemble it. I do it like this since I’m more confident with the paintbrush than I am with the glue so it’s just my way of avoiding gluestains on my paintjob…

Next step is to paint a darker green using something called the cloudpattern technique which basically means that you spray more paint in the center of armorplates, hatches and other open areas and spray less paint in areas close to edges and in places where shadows would fall. With this technique you get much more depth and contrast in your model and when viewed from a couple of meters it still looks like a 3 dimensional object and not flat as it can do if there’s very little shadows on the model.

Here I have mixed some skin color with the dark green and continue the painting using the cloudpattern technique to further brighten up the vehicle. I aways try to reach a color at the end of this process that is slightly brighter than what the final color of the model would be because later there will be washes that will darken the color slightly.

This is the last step before the weathering were I paint all the details with a paintbrush. For this step I use various Vallejo paints. I always try to make some of the details stick out more by using some ”in your face” colors to create a bit more life in the model.

This is how it looks after the first ”dirt wash”. The wash is based on turpentine and artist oils and You can now see how everything got a lot darker and more messy and grimy. I have also worked a bit with pigments in the lower regions of the vehicle to create a more dirty look.

Some further weathering and enhancements of the contrasts were made before the model was placed on the base. What remains now is some correctional painting and perhaps a few more details and of course some figures and it will be finished.

Cheers

Sven-Åke

 Mera dekalering

Jag jobbade vidare med dekalerna. Kroppsidorna var inga problem med sina relativt släta ytor.

More Decalling

I struggled along with the decalling job. Markings on fuselage sides posed no problems, with mostly flat surfaces.

Övervingen är enorm, liksom dekalerna! Korsen måste kapas/klippas eftersom de fortsätter ut på skevrodren. Det är inte helt lätt att få dekalerna på plats. Jag lade på Micro sol dekalvätska i flera omgångar, prickade hål på luftbubblor och blåste med hårtork på dom för att tämja rackarna.

 The upper wing is huge, as are the decals! The crosses need to be cut, as one ”arm” continues out onto the aileron. It’s quite tricky to get the dacals to conform to the corrugated surfaces. I applied several coats of Micro Sol, punched air traps, more Sol, and I also applied a hairdrier set on hot to tuck them down.

Färggränsen mellan över/undersida var så här ruffigt målat på orginalen!

The demarcation line between top/bottom-surfaces was very roughly painted on the original machines!

Klarlack ock dekaler

Jag klarlackade hela modellen med Vallejo Model Color 510 Gloss Varnish. Den förtunnades med 50% vatten och ett par droppar retarder samt vätmedel och airbrushades på med en bamsig 0,6mm nål i airbrushen. Att spraya med en så pass grov nål  kan liknas vid att spraya med burk, fast med total kontroll. Man kan lägga ett rejält vått, väl täckande lager blanklack, en förutsättning för att få en bra blank yta.

Clear Varnish and Decals

I airbrushed the whole model with Vallejo Model Color 510 Gloss Varnish. This was thinned with 50% water, and a couple of drops of retarder and flow enhancer. I used a fat 0,6mm needle in the airbrush for this, as it’s kinda like working with a spray can, but with control. You can get a good wet layer, absolutely necesserary for a good gloss finish.

 Till dekalarbetet använde jag Micro Set och micro Sol för att få dekalerna att forma sig efter de knepiga korrugerade ytorna. Varmt vatten, en svamp, trasa, kniv och sax behövs också, liksom penslar och tandpetare för att rikta in dekalerna.

For the decalling I used Micro Set and Micro Set decal solutions to tame the decals into the tricky corrugated surfaces. Hot water, sponge, rag, shrp knife and good scissors are also helpful, as are brushes and toothpicks to gently position the decals.

 Dekalerna är STORA!

The decals are HUGE!

 En massa småkrafs har grundmålats.

Lots of smaller parts base painted.

Lite pansar-style  ”modulation painting”: jag markerade några intressanta delar med en intensivare grön färg. Även sömmarna markerades med en bruten färg.

Some  ”modulation painting”, popular among armour painters: i treated some intresting parts and panels with a more intense version of the basic green. The stitching detail was also picked out this way.

IPMS OPEN 2010

En första laddning bilder, håll tillgodo!

IPMS OPEN 2010

First batch of images from this years event!

 

Tant Gredelin

Mera airbrushpill: äntligen har jag fått på de malva/gredelinfärgade camouflagefälten. Jag mixade en blandning av Vallejo Game Color 014 Warlord Purple, Air Color 001 White och ett stänk Air Color 088 French Blue, och rätt nöjd med tonen.

Mauve-ing Along

 More airbrush work: at last I got the mauve part done. I mixed Vallejo Game Color 014 Warlord Purple, Air Color 001 White and just a hint of Air Color 088 French Blue. Looks quite ok to me.

 Huvudstället torrpassat. rodret ska få en omgång vitt till.

Main landing gear dryfitted. The rudder needs another coat of white.

 Jag flytspacklade de mindre lyckade skarvarna på kroppen, och slipade med 600/1000 våtslippapper. Passade på att doodla lite med airbrushen också

After giving the noot so clean seams on the fuselage a thin coat of Mr Surfacer 1000 I sanded them with 600/1000 grade wet-n-dry paper. Did some doodling with the airbrush too

Efter att ha följt de lärda diskussionerna på The Aerodrome och främst übermeister Dan San Abbots upptäckter, bestämde jag mig för att göra någon slags hybrid-variant på målningen. Pansarbaljans undersida målades först i en dope-ton (Vallejo Model Air 027 Light Brown.

Closely following the interesting discussions over at The Aerodrome, and most of all übermeister Dan San Abbots discoveries, I decided on some sort of hybrid on those finds. The armoured tub underside was first painted in a linen dope colour (Vallejo Model Air 027 Light Brown).

 Hela undersidan täcktes sedan med 046 Pale Grey Blue, men mycket tunnare över baljan. Effekten ska förstärkas under vädringsmomentet.

The whole fuselage underside was the covered with 046 Pale Grey Blue, although a lot thinner on the armoured tub. The effect will be enhanced when weathering begins.

 Efter någon halvtimma maskade jag av de ljusgrå partierna undertill (ivrig att få det här klart!). Sen på med grönt och malva.

After 30 minutes or so I masked off the underside (eager to get this done!), and spraying commenced with the green and mauve.

 Här är en bild på kvällens övningar, torrpassat.

Here’s a pic of tonight’s excercise, dryfitted.

En bild till. Gonatt!

One more pic. Good night!

 Målraka

Grundmålningen av exteriören har påbörjats. Vingarnas undersidor airbrushade jag med en ljust gråblå färg (Vallejo model Air 046 Pale Grey Blue), ovansidorna fick en laddning Model Air 006 Cam. Light Green, och ovanpå det 006 blandat med ganska mycket vitt. Jag lade på färgerna flammig, ett så kallat ”cloud pattern”. Redan i det här stadiet påbörjas alltså vädringen och blekningen.

Home Stretch

I’ve started the exterior base painting. The wing undersides were airbrushed with a light bluish grey colour (Vallejo Model Air 046 Pale Grey Blue), the upper surfaces were painted with Model Air 006 Cam. Light Green, and on top of that some 006 lightened with plenty of white. I applied the colours randomly, in a cloud pattern. This way, I’ve already started the weathering and fading.

 Stöttor och stag var målade i en mörkare grön färg på förebilden. Vallejo Model Air 011 Tank Green verkar vara en bra matchning. Däcken målades ljust grå, och hjulsidorna vita.

Struts and braces were painted in a darker green colour on the actual aircraft. Vallejo Model Air 011 Tank Green seems like a good match. The tyres were painted light grey, and the wheel discs white.

Här är flera stag, fena med vitmålat sidoroder, stabilisator och höjdroder grundade. Nu ska kroppen slipas om och få samma behandling, och slutligen ska det kluriga malva/gredelinfärgade camouflaget på. Vi ses snart igen!

Here are more struts, the fin and rudder, stabilizer and elevators painted. Now it’s time to re-sand the fuselage and give it the same type of coat, and finally get that elusive mauve cammo on. See you soon!

Weathering Workshop!

Lördagen den 20/3 kl. 14.00 håller vi en ny workshop i konsten att få en modell att se verklighetstroget sliten ut.
Stellan Englund visar steg för steg hur man gör bland annat filter, washes, pinwashes, rost och vattenrinningar.

Ta med dig en egen, grundmålad modell och prova på! Vi hjälper dig och ger allehanda råd.

Antal deltagare är begränsat till åtta personer.Beräknad tid för workshopen ca 3 timmar.

Anmäl dig här! Du kan också ringa in din anmälan på tel. 08-654 84 55, eller i butiken.

Mer specifik info om vad du kan ha med dig till workshopen:
Omonterad flygkropp, alternativt ett fartygsskrov,bilkaross eller över-/underdel på stridsvagn. Det är bäst om den är ytmålad och blanklackad!
En mycket fin pensel, en bredare rund samt en bred flat pensel (du kan även köpa dessa hos oss innan workshopen).
Vi ser till att det finns färg, lösningsmedel och så vidare!

Väl mött!
/Stellan, Marko o Hasse

The title ”Downhill Dilemma – Now we won’t make in time for afternoon tea” is just a workingtitle but right now it feels good enough. Later during the build I might change it depending on which direction the whole thing takes…

First I made the hillside using a Oasis block which is something florists use to keep flowers moist. It is very easy to cut and form. Once I had the correct shape of the hillside I wrapped it in thin plastic card. 

Next I use my mix of white glue and wall filler to create the surface of the hillside. To this mix I have added some small rocks and some sand to make the structure more rough.

Before the mix of white glue and wall filler has dried I sprinkle some more rocks and my trusted dried soil from the flowerpot. I spray the whole thing with some water the help the white glue bind the soil and rocks.

The next step is adding small sticks and other bits and pieces which I have found in the soil from the flowerpot. Told you it was a goldmine didn’t I? After the sticks and branches are in place i take some dried oregano which I crush between my fingers and sprinkle on top of the groundwork to simulate leaves. Another spray with the water and it is ready to dry.

This it how it looks after an hour with the airbrush using various brown Vallejo Air colors. The plastic card gets a matt black coat and the wooden base gets my standard mix of turpentine and Burnt Umber artist oils.

The whole process has taken roughly three hours not counting the time to photograph it and edit the pictures in the computer so you’ll have to agree that this way of doing dioramas is pretty fast…

This is the final layout of the scene, there will of course be figures and some green bushes to liven the thing up a bit but the main idea that was in my head has been visualized pretty close to how I imagined it…

Cheers and thanks for looking!

Sven-Åke

Now I have added some details to my diorama and I have also started to correct some of the colors on the wall and on the grass. Im far from done with this part but it seems that it is moving along at a good pace so in a week or so I will be able to start on the vehicle and figures.

The tools are the first details that I have added and they are made from brass wire, plastic sheet and hairs from an old paintbrush. Pretty tricky stuff to glue them on straight…

I have also added a tree that is from Sweetwater Scenery and started it’s life as a 1/35 scale tree which I have been cutting off branches and used for three or four dioramas. Turns out quite well in this small scale…

Small turfs of grass from MiniNatur has also been added to create more volume and life to the grass.

Below you’ll find pictures of the diorama base and how it looks right now, enjoy.

Sven-Åke

 Paint it Black

Precis som i sköna Stones-låten! Jag blev sugen på att testa Stellans teknik att grunda med svart. Jag använde Citadels Chaos Black på sprayburk, suverän täckning och silkeslen yta.
Till min glädje blev de korrigerade, korrugerade skevrodren kanonbra, knappts synligt att jag lagt till 5mm, eller hur?

Paint it Black

Just like in the classic Rolling Stones song! I wanted to try Stellans priming technique, using black as the base colour. I used Citadel’s Chaos Black rattle can: excellent covering properties, and silky smooth surface.
I’m glad to say that the corrected, corrugated ailerons turned out great, my added 5mm are hardly visible, yeah?

 Det enda som behöver fixas till är sömmen på ryggåsen. I och med att det är en mix av styren och spackel, kan det som här bli en synbar söm, trots att det är helt slätt. Jag får slipa ner, stryka på ett lager  Mr Surfacer 1000 och slipa igen.

The only that needs fixing is the spinal seam. Because the seam is a mix of styrene and putty, the different materials shine through even though it’s all perfectly smooth. Sanding down, brushing on a thin layer of Mr Surfacer and sanding again will take care of that.

Ett sista tips: Primer på burk sprider sig! Se så rent o fint det är där jag lade ut tidningar som skydd… min fru kommer döda mig!

One last advice: Primer on can spreads real well! See how clean it is where I spread out papers for protection… my wife will kill me!

The base – Part 3.

The wall and road areas were grouted over a few evenings. Each part had to be grouted twice, as the original mix shrunk a lot when dry. The grout mix was spackle, thinned white glue and a little washing-up liquid to help with surface tension. An artist’s oils-knife was used to first mix and then place the grout, and to work it into the crevices between the cork bricks.
Before completely drying, a dampened sponge was used to wipe away any excess grout, and also to ensure that there was definition between the cork stones. This also helps tighten the grout into the seams in the cork.

When dry, the walls were painted with Mr. Surfacer 500, diluted with acetone. This makes it easier to see the finished surface, and any rough bits can be cut off with a sharp knife and/or sanded. It also primes the base ready for painting. Cork and spackle tend to suck in paint, so this step has so many advantages, it is really worthwhile doing.

At this point I’m caught in two minds … do I add all the debris now and paint, or do I paint and add debris afterwards? I’ll probably go with the later, as it will make painting easier.

Again, the T34 and both figures are placed to get an idea of what space is available, and where the debris will be spread. The damaged barrel is from Reality in Scale and the damaged jerry cans are from MIG Productions, as are both figures. At last the end is in sight of this project. The goal is to get it finished for IPMS Sweden in mid March.

This post is part two of the diorama construction where as part one described the making of the wall sections.

The base is covered in a mixture of wall filler and white glue which is applied with an old brush. There will not be a lot of difference in height in this diorama so I apply the mix evenly except for the area where the wall sections will be placed where i add a thicker layer. The wall sections are pushed down into the mix and positioned carefully. With a flat soft brush I massage the mix up against the lower parts of the wall so the transition from wall to ground will be as smooth as possible.

Once the mix of wall filler and white glue has hardened I brush on a mix of water and white glue on those areas that will have grass. The grass I use for this is regular static grass of different lengths. I usually start with the longer grass and sprinkle it on top of the parts which have the glue and then I turn it upside down and knock on the bottom of the base so all the excess grass falls off. Directly after I do the same procedure with the shorter grass. The reason for using the shorter grass for the second run is that the shorter fibres finds it’s way in between the longer grass fibres and creates a fuller and thicker grass. At this point the whole thing looks like something the cat dragged in but no worries, it will get even worse

The rest of the areas gets the water and white glue mix brushed on and dried soil from a flowerpot is sprinkled all over in the same manner as with the grass. The soil from a flowerpot is really nice to work with because it contains very fine particles and also lots of other interesting bits and pieces that can be very usefull for diorama making. To make the soil really hard I drip the glue mix over the soil which sucks up the mix and once dry it will be hard as a rock. Now this really looks bad with the colors of the grass and soil making me almost sick to my stomach…  Well, just a little bit of patience and the next step can begin.

Now I’m starting to feel a little better. Gone are the extreme colors of the grass and soil and instead I have a softer more natural look which is more pleasing to the eye. I have used the airbrush together with different brown and yellow and green shades of Vallejo Air to smooth thing out. The wall suffered from some overspray but I will leave that alone for now. As you can see some bushes have been added against the wall and something that is supposed to look like grapevines behind the wall…

With this work done I have put down the basic groundwork for the diorama. Now a lot of effort will go into the finetuning of the colors and adding little details here and there. There’s also the decision of what kind of vehicle that will be displayed on the base and chosing figures will also be a tad difficult if there’s going to be some sense in the story I want to tell with this diorama…

Well that’s it for now, see you soon…

Sven-Åke

Here’s how I made it:

1. I cut some lengths of balsa wood to the measurements I needed.

2. Using an old brush I added white glue to the balsa wood.

3. The rocks from the aquarium was sprinkled over the glue soaked balsa. Since the rocks are pretty big they needed a bit of help to get into the right place and cover the entire piece of wood. I used a small brush to move around the rocks.

4. The next step was to take some wall filler and mix it with water to get a smooth slush that was liberally brushed over the rocks and pushed into the cracks between them. After the whole thing was covered I gently brushed of the excess filler to reveal some of the rocks.

5. Larger and flatter stones was put on top of the wall. White glue was again used for this step.

6. After the wall section had dried I airbrushed the top stones in a brown color and the rest in a lighter brown / grey shade. Depending on the final look of the wall you can use any color you like basically. I chose these colors since they will blend in well with the rest of the diorama.

7. A skin color from Andrea was drybrushed over the rocks to make some of the rocks stand out.

8. A mix of the Andera skin color and black was used as a wash which was flooded over the wall to create depth.

Well that’s how I created my first wall. It’s far from perfect and I will probably do a few more sections just for practice so I can get comfortable with it. Once the walls are in place on the base further weathering will be done with some pigments to blend the wall in with the rest of the groundwork. I will also pick out a few of the rocks in slightly different colors to create more life in the wall but for now I will leave it as it is.

I should perhaps mention that the scale I have done these walls for is 1/72 but if larger pieces of wood and larger stones and rocks is used this will probably work in any scale…

Sven-Åke

The base – Part 2.

Building each brick individually takes time and patience, but it’s no worse than building individual tracks for tanks. Little effort and not much thought are needed. However, to complete the ends of the piece, and to show some “natural” bomb damage, took a lot more thought. I contemplated just gluing stones and sand randomly, but as these walls were built with brick, I wanted it to show brick, something like how the ends of MiniArt buildings are portrayed. I come to the conclusion that sculpting the ends would be the easiest way to achieve the “finish” I was after.

For this I used Magic Sculpt. It’s a two-part putty that is blended together and gives approximately one hour of working time. Using tools dampened with water, it is easy to work the putty into whatever form is required. While still soft, I formed brick shapes and filled up the open ends of the walls. I had planned to place more of the cork bricks into the soft putty to help with the bombed-texture, but they didn’t sit properly. When the putty hardened, I glued the cork bricks in place with more of the white glue instead. These can now be grouted to fill them out, along with the faces of the wall.

The cobblestones were made pretty much like the bricks of the wall were. Individual cork bricks were cut up measuring 2 x 4 x 8mm. Each brick was glued in place using thinned carpenters glue. Lines were drawn on the cork base to keep them straight, and a few more evenings were spent placing the cork stones.

The main wall assembly was designed so it could be kept separate to ease grouting later. But the remaining wall had also to be shown. I made a simple little piece and placed it in line with the main wall piece, and then filled in behind with more bricks. The two pieces will be joined properly when the main wall element is fixed in place.

The image above shows the built base from behind with just enough detail to keep it interesting. The image below shows the T34 in place, so the viewer has an idea of the scale of the wall. I built the wall and base over a 2-week period, which is a lot of time when there’s not too much to spare, but the big advantage is originality and not just another bought item.

These are my two latest dioramas:

First up is The Fallen King

The diorama shows a King Tiger that has stalled due to lack of fuel. The tank commander has ordered the two soldiers to go and fetch some fuel but due to the fact that they only have a bicycle and a wheelbarrow the mission has taken quite some time since the terrain is pretty rough so once they are back they are greeted by a very annoyed tank commander.

And the Second one is The Pigs of War

This diorama shows four hungry crewmembers from a Sherman tank trying to set up for a tasty lunch. Being American and raised on a farm, the only ”real” way to catch a pig is by doing it the old fashioned way with a rope and some luck. The diorama does not tell if they caught the pig or not so they might have had a great meal or perhaps the pigs escaped and the crew was left with their canned beans… You decide the outcome of this story…

The size of the base on these dioramas is 150mm x 100mm so you can see that they are real space-savers and makes it possible to have many many different ones on the shelves.

Hope you like them!

Sven-Åke

The base – Part 1.

I’ve used the same basic-base idea as was used in the previous panzer III ausf. N scene. A square photo frame was built up with some 2mm balsa sheet. As I need a slightly larger ground surface this time, I added the balsa to the outside of the only frame I had available.

The inside of the balsa was built up with expanded polystyrene as used in packaging of electrical items. A sheet of cork was used to top it off. This has the advantages of having something more solid than the polystyrene to attach the cobblestones to, and also provides a flat base for the T34. There’s nothing worse than floating tracks on a vehicle that’s supposed to weigh in excess of 30 tons.

I needed a background to the tank and something that wouldn’t be overpowered by the T34. I decided on some city wall to give an urban Russian feel. Rather than just some flat wall, I wanted to add some architecture, and have used the cork method as made popular by Carlos Elias Llop. Sandwiching more polystyrene between poster-card sheets, and building up some details using poster card and cork sheet, made up the bulk of the wall. Hot glue was used for this for speed.

Individual cork bricks were cut up measuring 2 x 3 x 6mm. Each brick was glued in place using thinned carpenters glue. The wall section will be kept separate to the base to ease grouting later, when filling in between each stone. The corkboard/polystyrene skeleton was cut roughly to imitate bomb damage.

I have been admiring the work of Carlos for many years on Armorama, and the details used here are ideas I have ”borrowed” from some of his buildings. More than 1000 bricks in total were used to build the wall.

Plastgudarna

Ibland kan det vara som att Plastgudarna säger till en: ”Nää, du ska inte lyckas med den här modellen, lilla människa”. Det här projektet har verkligen varit så, det har gått troll i allt!
Först tog mattmonstret (se bild ovan) den ena motorstödet. Det är lugnt tänkte jag, jag har ju ett till, bara o kopiera! Då försvann det andra stödet, plus ena zig-zag-formade rörstödet, häpp.
Vid dekaleringen av cockpit ”råkade” jag sätta min feta tumme på en instrumentdekal (eftersom jag var så ivrig att dra kablage och glömde att jag just dränkt dekalen i MicroSol.) Snor blev det av den dekalen, bara att måla instrumentet istället.
Jag brukar hetta upp fotoetsbälten för att få dom mjuka o fina: fotoetsen i kitet är täckt av nån slags skyddslack, och den blev VARM, så pass att bältet förvandlades till… aska! Scratcha nytt!

Gods of Plastic

On some projects, it’s like the gods are saying:” Nooo, we’re not letting you succeed with this one, pathetic little human being”. This is one of those projects, trolls around every corner!
It started with the Carpet Monster (see pic above) eating one of the engine supports. That’s cool, I’ll just have to make a copy from the second support, thought I. And ”poof” went the other support. Totally AVOL, together with one of the zig-zag tubular supports.
While decalling the cockpit I ”happened to” put my big fat thumb right on a newly MicroSol’ed instrument decal (too eager to mount some cabling nearby). Decal turned into goo of course, and I had to resort to handpainting the bugger.
I usually heat up photoetched seatbelts to make them soft and nice. On this kit, that’s a baaaad idea (use low heat!): the photoetch is covered in some sort of protective laquer that REALLY heats up. So much that the belt actually turned into… ashes! Make a new one…

När sånt här händer får man antingen bara ignorera och gå på, eller slänga modellen åt fanders. Jag valde det förra, envis och sparsam smålänning som jag är.
Jag fortsatte fixa till de för korta skevroderen efter en välbehövlig långsemester. Undersidan ribbade jag med plasticardtråd.

In a situation like this you either just ignore the setbacks and get on with it, or you toss the kit down the bin. I choose the former, being both stubborn and cheap
I continued the aileron work after a well needed long break. the underside was profiled with plastic rod.

Mr. Surfacer lades på i flera omgångar för attfå mjukare övergångar mellan ribborna.

Mr. Surfacer was applied in several layers to smoothen the profile of the ribs.

Här är resultatet: på ovansidan ser det riktigt bra ut, undersidan duger. Hey, det är ju undersidan!

And here’s the sesult: the upper part looks really decent, the lower one will do. Hey, it’s the underside, for god’s sake!

Nästan allt är klart för slutmålning. Men jag måste få till motorluckorna så de kan målas samtidigt med övriga modellen. Motorstöden måste också fixas, så jag får en uppfattning om hur mycket av motorn och kåporna kommer att synas med ena motorluckan öppen. Luckornas förstärkningar ska genomborras och ett par stag ska till på dom också.

The build is almost ready for final painting. I want to paint the engine covers at the same time as everything else, so these will have to be detailed first. I also should fix new engine supports now, so I can estimate just how much of the engine and covers will be visible with one engine cover in the open position.

Hålen borrades upp med fem olika dimensioner på  borren, det minsta 0,2mm.

Holes were drilled with 5 different gauge drills, the smallest being 0,2mm.

Björn Bäcklund gjöt upp en kopia av ett av sina motorstöd (tusen tack!!), med vars hjälp jag kunde göra ett par nya i plasticard.

Björn Bäcklund did a resin copy of one of the supports from his kit (thanks, mate!), from this I could make a couple of new copies in plasticard.

En sista finpustning och det är dags för stora målarddagen…

Just some final sanding and it’s painting time !