Hello planeteers,
I started posting photos of this little rascal in my "
Bad Kitty" Panther build thread. I decided it needed a home of it's own, so I'm starting this thread to chronicle it, because I think it's going to be really nice little model.
I had no plans to build a Pz.II anytime soon, but I found this little turd of a kit at Hobby Lobby for 15 bones, so I thought what the heck. It really started as an idea to experiment with some weathering techniques on an inexpensive kit.
I think this is an older kit, but there is nothing noteworthy or spectacular about it. I don't know how accurate it is, but it is well engineered and goes together simply. I had the majority of the construction complete in an evening. The biggest drawback is the rubber band tracks, which from the onset I had planned on using, but I'm having second thoughts at this point.
It's TINY!!
I often plan to keep a model like this simple, build it OOTB, but my nature always overtakes me and I have to add extra detail in some way. On this little critter I did detail some weld seams using Testor's Liquid Cement. I found it worked best to just lay a bead of cement, let it sit for about 5 minutes, then texture the melted seams with broken-off #11 blade. I chamferred the sharp edges where I planned to lay a bead first, to give the cement a place to flow onto. Even with that I still had some spill-over onto the adjacent panels, but these sanded off OK once dry.
I'm planning on doing an Afrika Korps theme with this model, but I also want to try the salt/hairspray/chipped paint technique, and expand my airbrushing skills by experimenting with some color modulation.
I started by brush-painting/priming most of the model with Poly Scale Acrylic Empire Green, which when applied over the tan Tamiya plastic left a nice grayish-green hue. While brush-painting can destroy some detail, I like the texture it gives the finished model. It was not uncommon for field equipment back then to be painted with brushes or other random materials, so I think it lends to the realizm of the finished piece. Once I finally decided on a color scheme I knew I needed to darken the general color as well as provide some variation and prepare the base for the salt/chipped paint process. Instead of do an overall base I used the primer as a basecoat and then applied a reasonably heavy wash using artists oil paints and mineral spirits to reduce. I used 4 colors in varying amounts: Lamp Black, Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Sienna, and French Ultramarine Blue. The blue was included to indicate greasy areas, and was mixed with the black to hopefully achieve this look. The crimson and sienna are for rust obviously, but all colors were mixed with the black. The model was completely covered in washes, and then dabbed with a cloth to lighten some areas and elimiate pooling. I think it came out nicely and should make a good base.
I try to keep this updated. If anyone knows of a good set of individual link tracks for this model, please let me know (Tamiya 35009). Thanks for looking!
Dan
PS: I *%#!ING hate photobucket!!!!!
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