Pete's Place

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pmskaar
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Re: Pete's Place

Post by pmskaar »

Here are a few pictures of my recently completed Bergepanther D by 2D6. I have included a couple pictures with it next to a GHQ Panther for comparison.
Overall the model is very nice. It is just a tiny bit shorter in length than the GHQ Panther model. I admit that overall I like the GHQ model a bit better due to crispness of the details but the 2D6 model compares well and I will use it with my GHQ models. The price is good and you can buy them singly if you are inclined.

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Hoth_902
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Re: Pete's Place

Post by Hoth_902 »

Ok, so your Bergepanther D is awesome as is all your stuff. Looks amazing.

As for your response on paint scheme, I saw the same things as it relates to tanks coming from Africa. The limited I have read and the 1/35 scale model kits, I deduced that Africa had a mix of Vehicles painted in a desert tan color, can't remember the German name, and the Dark Yellow. So I would think any battles fought around that time period would be a mix. As for the erra, I am modeling Eastern front battles, because that is all my group really wants to play. So I like to do something different than the normal paint jobs, so I am going down the route of a mix of Dark Yellow and some tri-color camo. Thanks for all your input.
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pmskaar
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Re: Pete's Place

Post by pmskaar »

Thank you very much, Hoth!

The Germans had 2 sand different sand colors for North Africa as the base color for their vehicles. The first was in 1941 after their arrival in North Africa. This was RAL 8000 sometimes known as Grunbraun. Around March 1942, a new, lighter sand color was used, RAL 8020 sometimes known as Gelbbraun. And of course there is good old Dunkelgelb. I am not sure if any Dunkelgelb painted vehicles ended up in North Africa or not.

Here are color swatches of each I have pulled off the internet just for comparison.

1. Dunkelgelb - RAL 7028

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2. Grunbraun - RAL 8000

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3. Gelbbraun - RAL 8020

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Here is a picture of 2 of my North African Panzer IIIs. One has the darker RAL 8000 and the other has the lighter RAL 8020.

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Hoth_902
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Re: Pete's Place

Post by Hoth_902 »

Pete,

As requested, here is some of what I am working on. Right off the batt, I now know that I painted my tigers the wrong color for Afrika.... I used Dunkelgelb..

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Also, the lighting is washing the color out. I used model masters Dunkelgelb..

Here is my PZIVHs.. they are not camo'ed and need a lot of detail work still to be done.

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Next on the list is my Panthers Gs.
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Jagpanthers
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and finally some PAK 40s.

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Definitely a work in progress with plenty of work to still be done. I want to do some in a camo color and some will stay just Dark Yellow. Also want to do a wash after sealing with a gloss clear coat and apply decals. All are dark Yellow from Mr. Color. They are a way better Dark Yellow under the correct lighting.. Of which I have not learned the best lighting to take pictures with...
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pmskaar
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Re: Pete's Place

Post by pmskaar »

Great stuff so far, Hoth! Of course, with the Tigers, you could just paint them as is and they would be fine for the Russian Front. Most people won't know or care if you use them for North Africa as well.

I have 5 Tigers that I painted for the 501st Pz. Abt. in North Africa. I have 10 more that I will be painting up to represent the 503rd in Russian in 1943 around the time of Kursk. I need to get another set of tactical numbers of the black with white outline variety. It seems that a lot of 503rd's Tigers at that time had the number on the back of the turret as well. Some also had extra crosses as well. Many pictures I have seen of those Tigers have many of them in overall Dunkelgelb but a few show some green camo as well. I am still looking into this.

The newer GHQ Pz IVH is a nice model overall and I have some to be painted. I thought the angle on the forward turret schurzen is a bit too sharp and that the drive sprocket does not have teeth which were pretty prominent.

Will you be putting a wash on your models? This is something I do and it helps bring out the detail even better. You mentioned you used Model Master Paints on these. My experience has been that Model Master paints did not react well with my turpentine based wash. It may work okay with some of the other commercial washes out there. If you decide to do this, you might want to experiment on a piece you are not too attached to.

Thanks very much for posting your pictures here. It was great to see what you have been working on.

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Re: Pete's Place

Post by Hoth_902 »

Thanks Pete, I really appreciate your evaluation. Though the lighting making the colors look off, I am happy with the work so far. I need to spend more time on them. As for the Tigers, I know most people don't care, but I struggle with the how much I care. I am trying to teach myself that I should not be striving for the level of accuracy and quality that I may not be ready for. My current group would be happy if I just slapped a base coat on it and maybe painted the treads and called it a day. My stupid engineering brain wants the pain to be accurate and the quality to be somewhere north than I may be capable of. Its a curse sometimes.

I think I have to spend more effort to research the markings. I was not going to put as much effort into painting actual units. I was going to just get the markings for the right time period and do several companies with those markings...

If you have not done so, please post your tigers.

Yea, I like the PZIVHs, but I have not dug into the details as much to realize that some of the features are wrong.

As for washes, yes I will be putting a wash on. A friend did explain the risks of the different type of solutions. I think how this will play out, is that I will finish the model and use an enamel Gloss Clear Coat. Then I will apply an acrylic wash over that, mostly so it gets into the details and not an overall dirty look. Although I love how yours stuff comes out. Then I will apply decals on the gloss clear coat. Finally I will put another gloss clear coat and then seal it with an enamel dull coat.
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pmskaar
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Re: Pete's Place

Post by pmskaar »

Thanks very much again, Hoth! Per your request, here are a few pictures of my North Africa Tigers of the 501st Pz. Abt.. I have also included a couple pictures of the Panzer III Ns which were used for support.

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Hoth_902
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Re: Pete's Place

Post by Hoth_902 »

Pete,

Once again, beautiful work and thanks for adding the PZIIIs. Please put up more stuff, it inspires me to get back to it.
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redleg
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Re: Pete's Place

Post by redleg »

Nice work guys! Pete, your tanks in the desert almost look like a photograph of a real tank!
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pmskaar
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Re: Pete's Place

Post by pmskaar »

Thank you very much, Hoth and Redleg! If they look almost real in the photos then I am very happy for that. I try to make these tiny little vehicles look as realistic as I can.

Hoth_902
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Re: Pete's Place

Post by Hoth_902 »

Pete,
Quick question, among all the other quick questions. How do you deal with mold lines. I try to shave them down with an exacto Knife where I can and then sand them, if that is possible, but what do you do?
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pmskaar
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Re: Pete's Place

Post by pmskaar »

Hi Hoth

Mold lines. I use a sharp #11 Hobby blade to carefully remove most of the lines . I try not to remove anything that isn't supposed to be removed of course.
Sometimes I use a file especially for those little nubs and other things that need to be smoothed down.

If the mold lines run along a flat surface, such as the schurzen on some German tanks, I will use some fine steel wool to smooth things out after scraping. Be sure to wash the model after this to make sure any "lint" left over from the steel wool is gone.

After I prime the model, I check again to make sure I haven't missed anything and even then I may notice something that should have been cleaned. I will determine at that time if it is worth it to fix or just leave it if it is almost unnoticeable.

Occasionally, you may actually have a mold shift on a model. This is where the 2 halves of the mold did not line up. If it looks really bad, I will send the part in to GHQ for replacement. This does not happen very often but it does happen.

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Re: Pete's Place

Post by Hoth_902 »

I have the same approach for mold lines. Never used a file but definitely the knife.

On the topic of Mold Shift. The PZIVH and the Panther with side skirts both had mold shift in a big way. I see this alot on the M1 Abrams as well. Do you always send them back for replacement? The only time I have submitted a complaint is for excessive flash that could not be cleaned up or for soft barrels. If I sent things back for Mold Shift, I think it would cost GHQ alot. I think the condition is found more on the modern stuff and less on the WWII.
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pmskaar
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Re: Pete's Place

Post by pmskaar »

Hi Hoth

It depends on how bad. I can detect some minor shifts that are fine with me. Certain models seem to have more issues with mold shift than others. I try not to trouble GHQ too much as I know they are on pretty tight margins.

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Re: Pete's Place

Post by Hoth_902 »

Pete,

Yea, I am the same way. It really depends on how bad. I tend to shave down the mold slip lines. Some have been pretty bad and I have lost some panel lines in the process. If I am camouflaging something, it will hide some oopsies. As for bothering GHQ, I have tried to limit that as well. I know that there profit margin is pretty tight.


I have to say I love there customer service. Better than any company I have ever dealt with. I had some recon vehicles that had tons of issues with flash.. They looked at the mold and then decided it was so bad that they would make new molds.. Sent me some of the cleanest vehicles I have ever seen. They were so sweet.
Quantity has a Quality all its own.

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