streetsquid

Hi all,
It's been a while since I posted but now I'm fully entrenched in several new projects. Some of you may recall my Panther G Rebuild thread, where I purchased a Tamiya Panther G from a club mate and then tore it down, added details, and battle damage and refinished it. Seems to be a reoccurring theme with me. I just purchased a completed, battle tested, and very nice Tamiya KT from a club member of the other RC tank club I belong too, and it is now on the bench for some rework. This project is gonna be fast and furious as I want to have it completed and back up and running for the next DAK battle on March 7th.

Fortunately this KT is very clean, and is set up to be deadly accurate as a long range sniper. I know I've battled against it! So for this project most everything is going to be strictly cosmetic. The previous owner (builder) did most of the mods I would have done had I built this as a new kit, so this should be mostly details, paint, and weathering. The KT already has zim added, and although a little thick for my personal taste, there is plenty there to work with. Below is a shot of my finished Panther (it's about to be sold to finance a new FO Sturmtiger) as well as a couple pics of the KT. As you can it's already a very nice tanks, and well executed. But hey it's gotta get torn down!

k98dave

Fantastic job on the Panther. Looks very much like a color picture I saw in a old magazine taken in the late 40's when they were still cleaning up battle field hardware.

What did you use for the zimmert?

Panther F

I hope you don't miss that Panther, she's very nice looking. But I think you'll like the Sturmtiger. It's not the battler the Panther is but as an IFA it's fun to see 'em run!

NitroAssassin

streetsquid, everytime i see your panther I have to do a double take , it looks so realistic. amazing job..

What do you mean by the KT being setup for long range sniping? does it shoot airsoft or is it just a fine tuned IR system?

streetsquid

k98dave,
Thanks for the kind words. That Panther was a lot of fun to do, and I did a complete build thread if you're interested in learning about it or seeing additional photos (most are in-progress shots).

The zimmermit was a big experiment. I wanted to do a pattern that was a little less popular, so I chose the criss-cross pattern done by The Daimler-Benz Corp. I had a photo of a 1/35th scale Panther done this way in an Osprey book as reference.

I made a custom tool using finish nails and a styrene handle, the zim itself is water based vinyl wall spackling (yep the same stuff you use to fill nail holes in sheetrock). I applied it in thin coats, then used the tool to create the pattern. Then I painted with acrylic paints. Once the paint was dry I used a Q-tip soaked in Windex Glass cleaner to soften and remove areas of paint and spackle exposing the the red oxide primer coat underneath.

I explain it in a lot more detail in the build just do a search for "Panther G Rebuild"

I hope this helped!

Craig (Squid)

streetsquid

Panther F,
I never really fell in love with the Panther, but it is a pretty sweet tank to drive and battle with. Just seems a bit tighter than my Tiger. But even after the sale, I'll still have plenty to choose from. In addition to this KT and future Sturm I'm especially looking forward to finishing the Heng Long Pz IV ausfs D project. It has the short L24 75mm barrel, but that should be pretty agile on the DAK field which has some tight spots.


Squid

streetsquid

Nitro,
Thank you for the compliments on the Panther, even though I'm selling it, it's going to another guy in my club so it's still staying close. (LOL)

The guy who built this KT is notorious for being absolutely deadly, even from 60 plus feet, across uneven terrain, through buildings and trees. He just has a knack for setting up his tanks where they shoot a dead straight IR beam, that doesn't seem to cone at all. It's like shooting a LASER!!! The emitter has been extended and is located in the barrel, and the muzzle break has been sleeved with brass tubing that has been painted flat black to avoid any reflection. I'm anxious to see how it performs.

More to follow!

Squid

streetsquid

Alright boys and girls,
Got started on the minimal amount of deconstruction needed for this project. Pulled off the spare tracks, pioneering tools, track and tow cables, armored exhaust shrouds, and other surface details that will be painted separately.

I'm not 100% positive, but I believe this zim is made from liquid nails. Whatever it is, it's strong as hell and definitely doesn't want to come off. So I dug out the trusty dremel, chisel and files and went to work adding battle damage to the zimmermit coating.

It was very slow going. The dremel gave me a smooth edge that look "machine made" instead of chipped or broken, so I reverted to using the chisel. And of course you know that ended up the the chisel embedded in the end of my thumb. So after I got the bleeding stopped, I started using a small cobbler's hammer and the 1/4" wide chisel and things starting moving a little quicker. Still took me nearly two hours to add battle damage to the glacis plate, hull sides, and turret.

streetsquid

Ding Ding - Round two!

Alright it's been a while since my last post. So I thought I would bring everyone up to speed on this refurb project.

I pulled off the the steel wheels, cleaned up the suspension, finished adding and cleaning up the work from battle damage. Using a dremel and files I added one glancing blow off the front of the mantlet (see below). I then sanded the entire surface of the tank. I did this mainly to give the surface some "tooth" for the new paint to stick too and hopefully avoid any adhesion problems.

Once everything was dismantled, cleaned up and prepped I shot several light coats of Rustoleum RUSTY METAL PRIMER, it's a great color, kind of a red oxide color only not quite so red, it leans more towards a red brown. It should be about perfect to represent the primer coat that will be exposed through the damaged zimmermit.

Almost all of my tanks are painted in desert yellow, and for this little kitty I want to do something a little different. The plan is to do this in a two-tone green on light creme (slightly yellowed buff) base coat. Saw a picture of a KT from the Netherlands done this way, and really loved the look. I also have some plans for a unique (and ficticious) badge or emblem for the turret sides rather than using the traditional mounted night that's included in the kit decals.

googlydoogly

Looking great so far, street! I always enjoy reading your builds. Do you have a pic of what the emblem would look like?

heatround

That is frackin' awesome! Thanks for the TTP on the Zimm job. I think I'll give that a whirl if I can ever afford a Tami Panther!! That is one outstanding job!!

PAX

Didn't comment on the KT...looking good! I'm retooling a Matorrow KT as we speak so I'll be paying extra attention to your work! Party on!

streetsquid

Googly,
Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoy my build threads. I've been building models for a long time, and one of the most enjoyable parts of the hobby for me now is sharing what I've learned or tricks I've been taught over the years. I just hope others find them interesting or useful in some way.

I'm sure some purists or rivet counter will scoff at this, but quite honestly I simply don't care. I build for the fun and enjoyment, and I like to take creative license on my projects. I do believe in historical accuracy, I just choose to temper it with a fair dose of "it's my tank and I did it that way because I could, and I wanted too" (LOL)

I found these skull and cross bone metal buttons at the craft store, and after some quick work with the Dremel and file, the back is now flat and can be easily epoxied onto the turret side. I liked the idea that they are 3-D and not simply a decal or painted on, and they are kinda cool and menacing hopefully without being as offensive as the SS Death Head.

Squid

streetsquid

heatround,
Wow! Thanks for the compliment, you sounded almost as excited about my Panther as the guy in my club I'm selling it too! (LOL) Glad you liked it.

Be interested to see your Matorro KT project, make sure you post pics once you get into the retool.


Squid

hdbeast

streetsquid, your KT is coming along very nicely, I like your "it's my tank and I did it that way because I could, and I wanted too" way of thinking, I'm looking forward to this rebuild and hope this one and a few other builds going on will help me get off my Butt and back to work on mine. You do some nice work.

Gary

nascardad88

Well Squid, as usual your work looks great...although I thought the KT looked awsome the way it was, there's always room for improvment/personel touch.

I wish more guys were like you concerning the hobby, and I quote: "it's my tank and I did it that way because I could, and I wanted too"

Thanks for the example,

88

streetsquid

Gary (hdbeast) - Joseph (88),
Thanks for the support guys, like I said before I try never to lose sight of the fact this is still a hobby that I do for fun. And whether it's the research, the actual building, scratch building and modifying, or paint and weathering that you enjoy, the point is it's supposed to be enjoyable, it's what we do to forget about the stresses of bills and finances, work, family or whatever.

I have always admired those builders who take it a step further, or think slightly outside of the box and dare to do new things. I try to do something new, learn a new technique, or use a new material on every build I do. I believe that's what makes this hobby interesting, to push myself is the challenge, and to drive and battle against good friends is what makes all the time, energy, and money worth it!

Thanks again!

Squid

streetsquid

Hey everybody,
I received several IM's inquiring about the paint and primer I use so here's a brief touch on what I did for the both the Panther and this KT project.

For years money was very tight and so I learned to model on a very meager budget. I have two daughters, and one plays Jr. Olympic level fast pitch softball, on a travel club team (read expensive), and the other plays 9 musical instruments and dances in a travel hip-hop dance troop (read almost as expensive)

Fortunately today money is not near the issue it used to be, but I've stuck to my frugal ways when it comes to my hobbies. I usually try to build with three things in mind, being cost consious, always pushing and challenging myself to try something new, and never forget to have fun!

For my Panther I used a cheap $0.99 a can of Color Place (Wal-Mart brand) red oxide primer
For the KT refurb I upgraded to Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer which cost me $3.96 at my local Lowe's
On the Panther I shot all of the colors using Tamiya acrylics shot out of my Iwata airbrush

And On the KT I'm using the ultra cheap Ceramcoat acrylics by Delta. You can buy these for about $0.89 ea. at Micheal's, Wal-Mart, or other craft stores. They can be challenging to work with until you get used to them. And if you put them through your airbrush you have to use their own brand of thinner and water, plus turn your air pressure way down or the brush will clog as these paints have a tendency to dry quickly.

For you guys that were asking, I hope this helps! But if you have questions or need clarification, just let me know.

Squid

streetsquid

And the beat goes on.......................................

Got a little farther with the paint tonight. Base coated the turret and all of the road wheels with the light cream colored acrylic paint. This will ultimately get a two-toned green camo scheme added as well as several filters and washes once we get to the weathering stage.

Squid

streetsquid

Made for a very late night, but got a little further with paint.

After a base coat of "Old Parchment" (an off-white cream color) I airbrushed some of the wheels and free handed the camo pattern using Tamiya Field Gray. Once I was happy with the overall look, I cut the field gray by adding 30% Tamiya Buff. With this new "lighter shade" I went back in and filled the center section of each of the green areas, effectively giving the camoflauge sections a two-tone outlined look. The two colors looked stark against each other so I loaded the airbrush with Old Parchment and over sprayed the entire tank. This muted the camo color and tied the two colors together. It still looks a bit bold and almost more of a bluish gray instead of green, but once we add filters and washes I think we'll be in the ball park of what I envisioned.

Using Windex and a stiff brush I attacked a few of the "damaged" areas of the zimmermit. The Windex cuts through the acrylic paint exposing the red oxide primer underneath. I developed this method on my Panther build and was extremely happy with the result so I employed it here as well. Again it looks too stark and clean but will serve as a good foundation for the rest of the weathering to come

Stay tuned, more to follow!

Streetsquid

streetsquid

Just a few more pics that show the progress thus far. These you can see the outlined effect of the camo, as well as the beginning of the damage detail on the zim

Squid

streetsquid

Hello Gents,
Alright tonight we jumped back into the fray (Saturday is fast approaching)

Tonight I started off by doing some post shading using a yellow orche. I diluted the acrylic paint about 85% thinner and water mixture to 15% paint. Then lowered the air pressure to my air brush to about 10-12psi. With a super thin paint and low air pressure you have lots of control, and because the paint is so thin you can layer in areas with multiple passes of the air brush to achieve the desired results. I outlined all of the panels and raised detail. Then adding some raw sienna to the diluted yellow ochre already in the air brush, I repeated the process on selected areas that I wanted even more contrast. This post shading is designed to vary the color and add depth to the overall look, yet be subtle as it's done as a tonal layer.

Then I applied to the first two filters, using high quality artists water colors (in the tube). I diluted the paint heavily and started to layer in areas using raw umber. Using a wide flat red sable brush I applied the wash over the entire tank including all of the areas covered in zim. The I mixed a second filter using a mixture of payne's grey and raw umber. With this darker mix I selected certain areas and details I wanted to make stand out, and again using a wide flat brush I added this very diluted wash.

The plan is to add some pin washes to bring out the small detail bits, but first everything has to dry completely or you run the risk of just muddying up the washes.

I couldn't help myself I wanted to get a better idea of what the completed tank is going to look like so I reattached the tracks, and temporarily hung the extra track links on the side of the turret.

Squid

streetsquid

A few more shots to show you the beginning of the post shading and filter effects. More weathering with pin washes, dry brushing, and pastels will round out the overall finish. But not before adding some of the detail painting which will include paint chipping and scratches. Stay tuned this is where the fun part begins!


Squid

edoubleaz

My Feedback: (1)

Nice squid. When are you gonna paint it green! You know you really want to.

tailend charlie

Green and also are you going to tone down that reddish brown primer. I thought you learned from the Panther

streetsquid

Green, green? You said green, but surely you jest. No no I'll just leave the little green machines to you.

I prefer to stay with the more interesting, better engineered, better built, cooler looking, thicker armored, bigger gunned Axis vehicles. (LOL). And I already know what you're thinking.............yes they did lose the war, but the Tamiya versions seem to hold their own on the DAK field!

Ooh Gotch you!