Rounding the final bend with this one. After everything was assembled, I was still struggling with the Magic Tracks. Like the previous builds, they kept falling apart during painting and will require more Tamiya cement to loosen them up to get them apart. I was lucky to find a set of Panther G workable Links from Rye Field on eBay for $20, so I bought them.
Took the better part of a few hours to get them together and measured and making sure they set and sagged. Seems one side is a little more taught than the other despite the wheels being in alignment and having the same number of links on both sides.
After getting them built and painted, I was able to slide them into place using the drive sprocket to pull them along since it's not glued into place. Once set, I tried attaching the remaining needed pins, but it wasn't working well. In the ended, i stripped the plastic off a bread tie and used the wire to hold the links together so they could be glued.
Since these were on the bottom of the track, you really wouldn't see the mess. Let everything set over night and then used the AK Interactive Track Wash on them. After that was dried, I went over the tracks with my oil wash. This should help dull down the semi shiny coat they had.The numbers in the kit were not used, Eric had a set of numbers that he gave me that i needed to recreate this particular Panther, along with a few other surprises. Though armor has it's drawbacks over the auto builds, I've come to really enjoy building armor. More so than the auto's, I've got some more builds coming up.
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| King Tiger and two airplanes given to me by Eric this past week. |
Since the majority was completed prior to the decals being added, I carefully added those. I noticed that the Micro Set was acting weird with the oil wash. Then i remembered that the previous build, the decals were added prior to the oil wash. Still the numbers were in place.
Adding the crosses was a bit more of a challenge, since they sit behind the equipment racks. I had to carefully loosen one side of the racks so I could slide the crosses into place. A bit easier than I imagined. I used a few coats of the Micro Sol to help blend the membrane and fade them a bit. The glue on the crosses from the decal paper was a lot heavier than the numbers. They soaked a good five minutes before they became loose enough to even move slightly.
After the solvent was dried, I took the oil wash and went over the numbers and the crosses. They stood out like a sore thumb and didn't match the rest of the tank. So now I will give the oil a few hours to dry before I go back and do any final touched over them. I will then mist the Tamiya Flat Clear over them to dull them to match the rest of the tank.
I still have a few more detailing bits to do with the wheels and my #2 pencil, since handling the build while working on the tracks, most of it rubbed off onto my hands. I'll go back over it to see if there are any spots that need touching up and then I will call it done.
This is just one part of the build however. My end goal is to build a small diorama for it. Which will be a first. Maybe a second, as I have some figures I am painting that I might build a small woodland snow scene with. Not sure yet.
The goal of this build/project was to recreate the tank that Oscha. Walter Ropeter used in the Battle of Stoumont, prior to being knocked out and injured. The diorama will consist of the slightly muddy road that leads to the Stoumont train station. The initial plans have been scaled back quite a bit, so we'll see how that process goes.
So, without further ado, I present my third armor build, Panther 223 from Stoumont of 1944, captained by Oscha. Walter Ropeter, driven by Rottf. Hans Strasdin.
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