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Sunday, June 26, 2011

Jagdpanther - Dragon (7212)



Hello Everyone!

If you've read this blog in the past week you might have noticed I've been building a couple of Dragon JagdPanthers. Well I'm glad to finally be able to say they are finished!

And if you've been reading this blog since I started it (or just read some of the older posts) you have probably seen the last JagdPanther I made, that one depicted an earlier version with zimmerit. The JagdPanthers I have been building now are the late version, atleast that  is the idea of the kit, but you get all the same parts as in the early version, so you are able to pretty much build whatever JagdPanther you want.
I think this kit is an older Dragon one, because as far as i know Dragon don't make kits with die-cast metal parts anymore (i could be wrong of course). In this kit the upper and lower hull are made of metal and this basicly just add weight, which isn't really a bad thing since it feels quite nice, but detail wise it isn't better than it's plastic counterpart. Beside the metal hull the kit is exactly the same as the other JagdPanther i build (except that one had zimmerit) and everything is detailed nicely, actually I think the only difference between the two sets is the phote etched grids the for engine deck, which the late version kit doesn't have sadly since it really adds some nice detail in my opinion.

The biggest problem with the metal hull is the fitting when you want to put them together, if it had been plastic you could always force it into submission, but that is quite alot harder when it's metal, a solution could be to use some putty to fill the gap (if there is one) but since i prefer to paint my model without glueing the upper and lower hull together this wasn't an option for me. So far i haven't had any realy problem with fitting though (i also build two late Panther G from Dragon which also had metal hullls) but as you can probably tell by the pictures later in this post there is a slight gap at the front of the glacis plate.

But now it's picure time!

Here is a few pictures of the finished assembly process. Later i decided to change the skirts on the JagdPanther with the open commander hatch to also be  battleworn.





The basic painting phases completed these include priming, basecoat and the camo pattern.









The next step is a light drybush of sand followed by a black wash and another drybrush of a lighter sand tone or buff.
I also tried to give these JagdPanthers another wash this one made from a brown oil color, this one I used around every hatch, tool, welding seam etc. etc. to make everything stand out abit more. It isn't that visible on the pictures i think, but standing with the model in hand and you can see it.




I also started painting all the tools black and the dreaded wheels (which as usual is tedious work). After this I also put on the tracks and finished painting all the tools. Both models then got a coat of varnish after which i applied the decals (Some Archer Fine Transfers decals).
The finished them they got another coat of matt varnish and was left to dry.

Here are some pictures of the finished JagdPanthers! You might notice the empty commander hatch, but just need to get the time to paint some tank commanders, i got about 12 different commanders from AB figures and they are simply amazing. I need to paint a commander for my last Panther and one of my Stug III, so I'm probably going to paint all 3 together at some point.








Old JagdPanther with Zimmerit on the right
Compared to my old JagdPanther the two new ones are quite alot lighter in the camo pattern, think I might have overdone the black wash on the old one, and I probably also improved my skills abit since then.

Overall this JagdPanther kit was a pleasure to build and if I ever want to build another JagdPanther without zimmerit I would probably go for this kit again.



Friday, June 17, 2011

JagdTiger side Skirts + JagdPanther Progress

Hello everybody


I just recieved a couple of PE side skirt sets for my Trumpeter JagdTigers, i was only able to get 2 sets since HobbyEasy didn't have more in stock. But it doesn't matter since it would also be boring if all of them look the same, i noticed that on most JagdTiger photographs the skirts are actually missing so it should be ok.

The fenders i bought were these:

E.T. Model E72-021 - Kingtiger/Jagdtiger Fender & Schurzen

I only assembled one of them and i must say they look quite decent. I'm not exactly a PE virgin but i would still consider myself a newbie but i think i managed to bend the skirts about right and I'm happy with the result.
I just hope I will be able to replicate to result one more time :D




And here are some pictures of the progress and the finished result on the first JagdTiger











As i believe i might have mention in the previous post I started painting my two JagdPanthers, so far only primer and basecolor but it's getting there!



Right now i think i will go finish up the fenders for the second JagdTiger and if time permits it try to get the camo pattern done on the JagdPanthers.






*Update*
So I actually managed to forfill my goals for this evening, so here are the pictures of the second Trumpeter JagdTiger with fenders and a few pictures of my JagdPanthers with nearly finished camo pattern.



JagdTiger collection so far

Here is a couple of shots of my JagdTigers progress, i think i might clear it up abit with some more dunkelgelb, but that is for another time right now I need to get some sleep so I'm ready to prepare for my exams tomorrow.


Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Stug III Finished! atlast!

Just finished giving them the matt varnish, been painting for hours and I'm exhausted :p i hate painting Stugs right now, and it's going to be quite a while before i make another one, fantastic kits though and outstanding detail, really a pleasure to assemble and paint.

The kits in question are, as mention in other posts, both Dragon kits:





Dragon 7283 -  StuG.III Ausf.G Early Production
Dragon 7354  -  StuG.III Ausf.G (Reviewed it before)

The kits are basicly identical except the 7354 got side skirts, which look fantastic by the way, but 7283 is still a very good kit, but if you wanted to build a Stug III without side skirts you might as well buy the one with, since you'll have them as spare parts or maybe you change your mind.
Both kits were bought on HobbyEasy, and at the moment 7354 is only 2HKD more expensive than 7283, so it's not like it will ruin your.




Here are a couple of pictures of the painting in progress. It took quite a while longer than i had planned to finish these two, i had actually hoped to start priming my JagdPanthers and maybe even give them a basecoat before i went to bed yesterday, this was not to happen though.


And here are the finished Stugs! enjoy and if you want to you can leave a comment below this post.






Here you can see them with my old Stug III on the right, i think they all turned out alright.


As usual these Dragon kits are pure pleasure to build and i can only recommend both kits for every 1/72 enthusiast.