HL Panther G customization diary

[jeff1101]

Updates 03/09/13 - Completing the detailing of the turret

I finally completed the detailing of the turret. First I added fine weld lines on the back where the turret's curved side plates meet the rear plate.


I then added fine weld lines on:
the 3 socket mounts for the jib boom.


bracket for the orterkompass (reference http://www.panther1944.de/en/sdkfz-171- ... mpass.html)


Blast shield for the turret ventilator. Here you can see I used a fine needle to scribe the weld marks on the putty.


I even added weld lines for the machine gun ring where it is welded to the tops of the cupola's periscope housing


Finished article. I purposely darkened this shot to highlight the contrast so you can see the welds clearly.

[jeff1101]

Updates cont'd - Preparing turret for primer

Since the turret is already completed, I thought I would start the turret on the primer paint. Ideally I would prime everything in one go but since I had some more work to do on the hull and also I wanted to see how the turret looked after application of primer I decided to go ahead with the turret first.

Here I cleaned the turret using foam soaked in some soap and water to remove the dust that have accumulated since I bought this (over a year ago ) It will also remove the finger oils from me endlessly handling it over the course of the build. Careful not to soak the electronics.


Let it dry for several hours and then I went through it with magnifying glass and removed any trace of lint, hair or cotton fibers that remain stuck after the wash. If the tank had no electronic parts I wouldn't even need to do this as I can dunk the whole turret in soapy water.

[brooksy]

this whole build has been awesome, thanks for sharing

brooksy.

[jeff1101]

Updates 5/10/13 - Odds and Ends

I also bought some Tamiya paints in preparation for painting. If you have any comments please feel free as all of this is first time for me.

For pre-shading and modulation color, I bought some Flat black and Dark Gray. I plan to mix them in 50/50 ratio.


To simulate Red Oxide primer color I plan to mix Flat Red and Red Brown. I don't know the ratio yet but will just mix it to taste during the painting itself.


For the Rot Braun camo color, Tamiya's Red Brown is too 'brown' for me so I plan on using Hull Red. I bought this first as I plan to use this as the base color.


I also printed some panther line drawings so I can map out my camo scheme before I start it on the real thing. (the pdf came from here http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=3436).

[jeff1101]

Updates cont'd - Priming the turret

You never know how anxious one can be especially if doing something for the first time. There is simply no previous experience or memory one can rely on to assuage you that the steps your are doing is correct. You just read and read the works of others and hope for the best.

With that in mind I started my first 'experiment' in painting the turret. This will give me good practice time once I started priming the rest of the tank.

I used Tamiya light grey primer sprayed straight from the can


For general masks I used this Tack-It. I couldn't find any Blu-Tac but the seller says it should be the same.


Before painting I masked off areas not to be painted. The turret MG hole was plugged with a small piece of paper.


I masked the turret gunner sight with Blu-Tac.


The turret interior works were masked using Blu-Tac and a sheet of plastic.



Cupola periscopes were plugged with balled pieces of paper.


And then finally spray the turret. I just followed the rules for spraying I read up on here.
- Don't spray too close.
- Don't start and End your spray on the model being sprayed itself. Always Start/End the spray outside the area you intend to spray.
- Don't get impatient and spray heavily in one go. Use light sprays but several coats, allowing paint to dry between coats.

For the turret I used 4 coats with 3 coats for the bottom and sides and an extra coat for the top of the turret. This pic was taken when I stopped on the 1st coat. As you can see the primer was sprayed thinly here and you can still see the original dark grey of the tank showing through in places.


The nice thing about thin sprays and lots of coats is you can examine the painted surface in between coats and check for mistakes and hopefully adjust your painting on the next coat. Here I was able to find a tiny piece of lint and remove it before applying the next coat. Removing things such as this after it is painted can mar or damage the surface as you pull if off.

[jeff1101]

Updates cont'd - Priming the turret - Part 2

After the paint has dried I removed the masks and was quite pleased with the results. Hurray! the turret looks new again!



A bit of the cast texture was lost in the front of the mantlet. I should have exaggerated it more when i applied Mr. Surfacer before but I can live with it. (Lesson learned)


However the weld detail was preserved pretty well.

[maxmekker]

You are setting the bar really high with this build man. Cant wait to see what you do with the paint.

I'm working on my JP wheels, and for the primer red I went from hull red to flat red. Hull red became to dark after a wash, and If I want to I mix a very thin mix of hull red and thinner and go over flat red on the wheel to brake it up a bit .

I also tried out the AK chipping fluid on the wheels. I tried using it on my king tiger , but On such large surface I think maybe the sponge and small brush for chipping is better

I also went from thinning with the x20 to the laquer thinner from tamiya. I feel it gives even better flow and 'bite' to the surface I spray on .

[jeff1101]

Updates - 3/17/13 - Build continues - Detailing the front fenders

Looking at the Aber fender PE kit, I noticed the Panther front fender has a lot more detail. For one thing there is a hinged flap that is raised to gain access to the front tow shackles. These flaps are raised to prevent the front fenders from getting damaged by the movement of the C hooks when it (attached to the tow ropes) are attached to the tow shackles and the tank is ... well towed.

Here it is in the Aber instruction sheet


I decided I want to add this detail to the tank as well but not using the Aber PE front fenders.
I freed part 21L from the sheet and shaped the flap.


I won't be using it, just a template for measuring the size of the flap. I am going to model the right fender with the flap missing.


Here I noticed my earlier cut was way too small so drilled new holes to make it bigger. Here you can also notice I glued part 11 in the instruction sheet.


Here is the right fender with the flap cut off to the correct size.


I then attached the hinge part 12. (see instruction sheet photo)


For the left fender I did the same but since I modeled the flap attached, I used the flap PE as a guide to scribe the flap panel line in the fender.


Since the flap is not missing here I attached the top and bottom hinge part.

[jeff1101]

Updates cont'd - Detailing the fire extinguisher bracket

I thought I'd also add the detail in the fire extinguisher bracket. These are the parts that secures the top and bottom of the fire extinguisher so it doesn't move when attached.

I used a mix of styrene and metal sheets to scratch build the parts.




And here it is with the fire extinguisher attached.

[jeff1101]

Updates cont'd - Detailing the rear fuel cap

I wasn't satisfied with the way I puttied the fuel cap as it was still showing the patch work I did underneath so for good measure I painted it with Mr. Surfacer and sanded it up a bit.

I then cut the needle of the syringe I used as a flux (for the solder) applicator.


I measured the center of the fuel cap and used the cut off needle to score a hole.



I then cut square shaped CD sticker and put a mark for the four corner holes in the fuel cap. I used the sticker as a guide for making the holes.




finally I added the square plastic sheet off center of the fuel cap.