Taigen ( Fancy Heng Long ) Panther G

[PainlessWolf]

4th Day work turned out to be fairly light. Some minor sanding prep and paint on last night's assemblies. It does take a light touch to keep from blowing your tiny hooks and chains all over creation when painting them. I could have brushed them or left them together and sprayed but that would have taken a lot of moving them around. It turned out to be simpler to lightly spray a few coats. The spare track was brushed in no time flat. More fun tomorrow!

[PainlessWolf]

5th Day work involved final mounting of the spare track rack components. After two days away the paint was certainly cured. I followed Jeff1101's idea for drilling micro holes for the micro chain and securing the guide wires on the underside of the deck walls. Also, per Phil, I made sure to scrape the paint off where the racks mounted and also roughened the back of the smooth plastic on the racks themselves. I don't think now that the extra screw mounts I considered will be needed. If so they can be added later as the tracks are pressed fitted on the racks and the hooks as well. Tight tolerances, no glue. I also took a few minutes and cleaned up the mount for the fuel overflow line and glued the nubs I had cut off the back of the spare tracks into their holes from the reverse side. A clean fill of the mounting holes. More fun tomorrow.

[ruben2005]

very very nice mate great paint job

[PainlessWolf]

Thank you, Mr. Ruben! 6th Day work involved some simple and fun things. As I had cleaned out the Fuel Overflow Line bracket already, I cut and glued a piece of my picture wire there giving it enough length to clear the track hanger. A coat of paint will hide the braided appearance. Then, I cut off and sanded smooth the face of the Headlight and mounted the proper cover on it. Using the picture wire again, I cut and fitted a piece of it to make the Headlight electrical feed cable. I drilled a couple of holes using the yankee drill in the base of the Headlight mount and the Glacis and glued the wire in place. That was fun and really helped to bring the appearance of the Panther to life. More fun tomorrow.

[PainlessWolf]

7th Day work should be entitled, "them's the breaks". Everything I touched either broke or glued itself to my fingers. Add Heng Long's extra fragile grab handles and fun! fun! fun! Well, we can fix what we break and so it it was. Some sanding after curing then final paint touch up and all will be as good as new. I did manage to get the improved metal mount and MG-42 AA modded and sanded and press fitted. I thought about adding the detail to the mantlet tonight but wisely decided to call it a night before I bent the main gun or summat. More fun tomorrow.

[Christoph]

Wow amazing work Painlesswolf!

[PainlessWolf]

Thank you for the kind words, Christoph. 8th Day work involved sanding and painting the pieces I had broken last night. I was lucky to find the exact Acrylic paint colors used when this Panther was Airbrushed so I used a dry brush technique and matched in the scraped off spots and nicks to my satisfaction at least. Next up, I made my own copy of the Tank Modelbau Mantlet set out of a couple of brads and some plastic stock left over from the spare track holders. I used an Exacto to cut the plastic to size and then the yankee drill to drill out the holes in the tiny rectangular mounting plates. Lastly, I painted and mounted the metal AA MG-42 on the Cupola ring. I used the yankee drill to open up the muzzle first, looks much better. After the glue cures and the paint fully dries, I will trim out the ring mounting studs visible through the periscope holes. Then I think that the only turret work I have left is to make up a Commander's Sight. More fun tomorrow.

[PainlessWolf]

9th Day work involved just finishing up the Turret. I touched up the paint a tiny bit on the AA MG-42 and dry brushed the turret itself a little more. I fabricated a Commander's Sight out of stiff, clear poly by cutting a narrow diamond and creasing it in the middle to form the dual triangle shape of the Sight. A drop of glue then some paint saw that completed. I remembered to cut off the mount tabs of the Cupola Ring and I was finished for the night. More fun tomorrow.

P.S. As I looked at the completed turret it hit me, my 'Commander's Sight' was far too small. I looked through my copy of 'Panther GQFCD' and got a better idea of the scale and cut one out of brass with a pair of snips. Glue and paint and a couple of new photos later, _now_ I believe the turret is complete to my satisfaction.

[PainlessWolf]

10th Day work was truncated by lawn responsibilities but I managed to get a little accomplished. Painted wear on the tow handle and glued it into place. Painted and attached the front tow hooks. Assembled, added bolt heads, painted and glued into place the Exhaust braces. Last but not least, filled the hole left by the HL antenna and let it cure a bit. Last job of the evening was to sand and paint it to match. After it cures completely, I will drill the small hole in it to match the other cover. More fun tomorrow.

[Phil]

Nice work, another little tip for sanding small areas is to use a fibre glass pen. Normally use for polishing up metal ready for soldering it has a screw like top for pushing out the fibres when worn out.



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scratch-Brush-P ... +glass+pen