1946 Panther ~ Jnewboy Customs

[Jnewboy]

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

I added a lot of detail, decided to remove both fenders upfront, bent up the side skirt with my heat gun. Camo is next.

[Soeren]

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

I removed the guard at the top of the mantel, this tank will be to worn for that to have survived.

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

That guard was not present on all Panthers, so you would be good with this.

[Jnewboy]

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

I put on a basic pattern using the AK interactive 1945 paint set but was not all that impressed but instead of starting over I decided to make it disc camo. Now normally you should paint disc camo with hard edges with no fade between colors but this cam is just one layer on this tank and in the end will only be partially visible. I will make sure the questionable areas disappear.

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

I was really disappointed in the mask I used. As you can see it had a lack of adhesion allowing it to lift up during spraying and now there faded areas.

However again as you guys watch this process you will see that very little of it will show and I will be sure to only show the parts that came out good. This is the benefit of doing a tank like this. In 99% of models I would have started over. Disc camo looks great on surfaces that are flat and featureless. The next time I do it I will go back to my old way which is using different size circle stickers and put them on one by one! So fun!!

This tank is to be a February 1946 Panther so next is the winter coat!

[Jnewboy]

I went to SanDeigo on vacation for a week and when I came home I reread my last post and viewing the pictures I realized why no one responded!

I know many of you may have been scratching your head and wondering what I was going to do now?

Its ok, for many years I built models and when I would make mistakes I would really get angry at myself and totally redo something that really could have been fixed/hidden or touched up rather than starting over. So I learned how to fix issues and luckily this one that is easy to fix.

First off I repainted the turret,

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Looks much better and the areas that have issues will never be seen anyway.

This Panther will have all the extra armor it can get and so the turret will be protected by extra track links.

I make my own hooks!

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Need to paint the tracks and hooks then they will go on.

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

NEXT IS WINTER!

[c.rainford73]

Nice to see you back at it. San Diego is a beautiful place!

I see your repaint has helped. Very interesting so far....

[Jnewboy]

In this post you will see a lot of the tank start to take shape.

Im sorry that I miss things during the build that I don't document. I move quickly when I get a chance to sit at my work bench and even though I take pictures every few minutes I sometimes miss steps.

sanding tracks

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Paint tracks with grey mixed with alittle brown then coat the whole thing with track rust wash and then blot it off with a paper towel.

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

I noticed that I needed more diversity in the top front of the tank. between the gun mantel, the top plate there was to much red oxide color in one spot and so I decided to go back and fix this by changing the plate out above the crew to look like the raw steel look similar to the side plate.

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

The oxide primer needs to be faded and weathered a bit to give it a real look. so I spatter a little crusted rust enamel then quickly scrubbed it with odorless thinner. Do this over the whole surface but spatter the rust unevenly to give it a more real look.

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Paint tools and put them on but do not glue them on yet. they need to be in place to make the winter camo right but must be individually weathered latter so they will be removed after the winter camo.

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr



Im doing what is called "dragon tooth winter camo" It was rare but can be seen on tanks that spent a lot of time around the fortifications especially around tank obstacles known as dragon teeth. It could have been put on with a brush but realistically it was often applied with a broom, its just faster but messy, something I take into account when I paint. I must use a brush and I must not be too neat so I used a course old stiff brush,



I use washable mig paint as I will go back and remove and blur some of it.

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Be sure to tape off red oxide and the bare metal parts to not get any white on them.

I will do the turret tomorrow. then I will move on to the next major step. Anyone want to guess whats coming next??

[c.rainford73]

Jon this looks spectacular that winter white wash really makes it come to life

[Jnewboy]

Jon this looks spectacular that winter white wash really makes it come to life

Thanks my friend! I appreciate the feedback!

When it gets too quiet I start to ask myself why I'm taking the time to take pictures constantly!

[Jnewboy]

Not much today except some shots of the turret

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr

[c.rainford73]

Wow that really looks nice!