Completing the Lower Hull and Running Gear
Hi everyone.
It's been a little while since I last posted but things on the big Panther are progressing. My focus at the moment is on completing the lower hull, wheels and tracks. The reason for this unusual approach to the build is purely practical. Because this model is so big and heavy I really don't want to be man-handling this too much and having to turn this upside down later in the build, certainly not with all the fragile photo etch yet to be added. To illustrate this reason I need only point out another couple of mishaps which needed correcting. First I broke off the towing pintle handle from the rear hull plate and then (more catastrophically) managed to break the rear hull plate!!! Both, I'm happy to report, have been fixed but it just goes to show the sort of difficulties associated with such large (and heavy) models.
Here's the lower hull repair (this will be invisible when the upper hull is matched...
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Another thing I've had to plan in advance (
Tamiya's build sequence has long since gone out of the window!) is the front glacis plate which I'm adding with plastic card which will have it's Zimmerit coating applied later. The enlarged holes in the hull were necessary to accommodate the new gearboxes but will be invisible under the plastic card front glacis plate...
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And so on to painting the hull.
I used the same 3 shades of dunkelgelb to achieve this effect, polishing each subsequent layer to ensure a perfectly smooth finish with no hint of orange-peeling...
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At this point I'd like to share a tip with anyone that airbrushes acrylic paints. This simple trick eliminates 95% of all associated
airbrush blockages and saves many frustrating hours of
airbrush cleaning. Simply cut a piece of metal mesh and make yourself an
airbrush strainer. Sounds simple (and it is!) but it is amazing how much this has helped filter out the tiny solid acrylic particles from paint. I always dilute my paint with the appropriate thinners and use this simple device to strain the paint into the mixing container. I then use it again on the
airbrush to ensure trouble free airbrushing. Simples!
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I'm now skipping ahead a few steps as I forgot to photograph painting the tracks (doh!) Here's a sneak peak at how the whole running gear looks at the moment. Please remember there will be many more layers of weathering and steps to bring the whole model together so this is by no means the finished article...
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Oh, whilst I remember, the Mig Productions metal paint (used on the inner road wheels) I found to be ok. It is true that it does tend to keep on rubbing off but then I've found that of a lot of metallic paints do unless they are really cured well. I found that after a day's hardening the paint was pretty much fixed but I did add a satin varnish over the top to ensure it stayed where it was supposed to be. In truth I think where this paint comes into it's own is dry-brushing. An example of this can be seen on the tracks as I used this paint to highlight the raised metallic surfaces. Incidentally, my sequence for painting the tracks were as follows:
1. Metal etch Primer
2. Satin Black (shadow layer)
3. Red Brown (in all but the deepest recesses)
4. Mud Brown (sprayed lightly)
5. Standard and light rust pigments (applied in a thinners solution to specific deep areas in the track links)
6. Europe dust and light mud pigments (added dry and sparingly in random areas then brushed away with a soft brush to blend)
7. Uschi Metal pigments (applied with a cloth to give a metallic sheen to raised detail)
8. Finally Mig Metal Paint (Steel) applied sparingly to raised detail and polished.
The only thing to add before I can start completing the lower hull is a little mud. Unfortunately, when I came to open my Mig acrylic medium to create said mud it was solid in the container. One online shop with the forum shop and hopefully I can continue soon. (Thanks John for the speedy dispatch!)
And that's it for now...
This thing is starting to look a bit more tank-like now. I feel that once the running gear is complete things will move on at a pace (not least because I've plenty of time on my Hands at the mo!)
Stay safe everyone
Cheers
Paul
) to photograph the texture to the surfaces. A rolled plate texture was applied to the turret roof by 'bouncing' a course burr in a rotary drill across the surface very lightly. This simulates the rolled surface detail of plate steel. On the cast parts (cupola, periscope armoured cover, ventilator cap) I replicated the cast texture by stippling the surface with liquid poly. If you keep on stippling the surface the liquid poly begins to lightly melt the surface and the stippling creates the rougher effect. Admittedly these effects are subtle (as seen here) but I include the description in case you want to try these techniques yourself.
