Late model Hetzer

Well its about 95% complete cammo'ed, tranny's on, gloss sealed in enamel clear gets a couple of coats of medium hair spray.
So when I apply the acrylic white I can chip it off weathering the vehicle and it wont affect the bottom paint or transfers.
I've gone with winter theme like the Tiger 1 S04 Wittmanns one it will then get more pigments and a final coat of flat clear and will look the goods.

Next on the list is its bigger bruvver the Jagdpanther and then the Jagdtiger and Tiger II allot of work goes into them and some parts are so small fitting that it is an art with my shaky old hands.:yikes:

The M.G and shields are made just have not put them on till after weathering the vehicle.

Nice. I used to build them...

I used to build them too but mostly planes. I now have a rather large collection of unopened kits as I never stopped buying them when the price was right. I keep saying maybe someday but someday never seems to come anymore.

I blame the internet. I spend way too much time on here. I come home, shower, eat, sit down and the computer is on until bedtime.

I obviously do get out, we antique, yard sale, go to museums and other events and such but when at home, I don't do much else.

It looks nice...I had a friend in college that did competitions. One weekend he drove from Knoxville to Fort Knox (I think) so he could take pics of a particular vehicle he was working on.

A TA Officer I know locally bought one from the Swiss Government in the 80's or so. He also had a Ferrett. I seem to remember that his Hetzer was used in Capt Corelli's Mandolin film. Are they relatively common?

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

A TA Officer I know locally bought one from the Swiss Government in the 80's or so. He also had a Ferrett. I seem to remember that his Hetzer was used in Capt Corelli's Mandolin film. Are they relatively common?

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Yes, I think there's about 40 odd still in existence in museums and private collections in various states of condition. About a quarter of that number are in running condition.

started at an early age, mostly WW1 and WW2 aircraft and later on some Tamiya armor, my father built a few kits all balsa wood and paper, no plastic until the 50's.

Never could get the German WW1 Lozenge camo years ago until about five or six years ago when the lozenge decals became available from Poland. There are certain ways to apply this to the aircraft, plus a different color pattern for the underside of the wings.

The German units had their own colors for identificationAttachment 129534

On FB I follow Steven Zaloga who is also an avid modeler. Growing up in the late 50's - early 60's I put together many models but I never had the patience nor skill of the kind shown here by Cinders. :clap:

Hi Sarge if you want to watch a person who is OCD at modeling I follow PLASMO on You Tube my goodness he goes to great lengths and his models are outstanding.
I have allot of planes 1/48 Spitfires MkIB and a Mk IX Spitfire, ME 109, BF 110 another spitfire MK22 in 1/32 also a huge F14A Tomcat in 1/32 to build I like planes as well but even in 1/48 scale you need space to display them properly.

As a foot note my wife never hesitates to take the p*ss outa me so she brought me 5 different squads of different WWII combatants in 1/35 scale soldiers yeah I love assembling them.
Then painting them & weathering to look real very minute character detailing it requires a steady hand, I'll also need a single haired paint brush.

Very nice planes RCS where's the Red Barron's Tripe love the camo pattern on the 4 of them quite time consuming to do.

Bruce Crompton, of COMBAT DEALERS fame on TV has just recently finished one. Beautiful condition to.

Is there a good modeller of tanks in the UK? Especially one who's got a needy No32 in dire need or rebuilding.............

Yes, it's much easier to buy the kits than to assemble them! And fun, too.

I've got that Tamiya Jagdpanther kit sitting here staring me in the face as well.

Very nice. That looks like what the vz. 38 got upgraded to on Girls und Panzer.

I stick to 1-72 scale. Helps with storage. I used to enter them in our fairs and got a few ribbons. Haven't done that in a long time.

Be nice to see some of the models you made Steve, I'm slowly getting the weathering its using panel liner that's my current challenge.
The Hetzer got its winter coat today I'll start chipping it tomorrow.

I, too used to spend a bit of time on the Tamiya kits. My favorite part was doing things like bending up fenders, putting mud inside fender wells, and attaching loose helmets and bundles made of small rolls of gauze or toilet paper tied with thread.

I will see what I can do with photos. I have them in a case with plexiglass and have not physically touched them in over four years. Sometime before my aneurysm. Nothing super special. I hand paint them with brushes. I did get an airbrush recently but haven't experimented with it yet. Years of dust probably gives them the weathered look.

Wow, almost embarrassed to show them. The dust is awful. And they are behind plexiglass. Obviously longer than 4 years. I can't get them out without a lot of work I'm not prepared for right now. So I'll upload the photos as they sit in the cabinet.

Ouch, they look worse on the computer screen. I need to clean them bad. In any case, a mixed lot. I have a lot of Russian and Japanese models. Bought a box lot of them 20 years ago. There is an Australian fighter in there, forget what it's called but the only domestic fighter they made in WWII. The big bombers are still in their packages.

This started as a project for my Daughter's History Day when she was in 10th grade. She started with a group of two other kids that as kids do decided to not do anything towards the project. So I got her out of the group and talked her into something she had a massive amount of access too. My Uncle was a waist gunner in a B-17 so she interviewed him, I had all the reference books she could possibly want and we went to Smithsonian to photograph actual planes. Then we built half a dozen models from kits, and I painted them. Her teacher royally screwed her over. She was mad because she left the group and accused her of buying the models and hiring a professional photographer to take the photos. Everyone there that walked by her display said she should have won but her teacher poisoned the judges. We were furious. We followed the rules to the book, not our fault it came out so nice. The mayor of Lancaster even stopped and said it was the best he'd seen. He was judging a separate group, however. The subject was WWII fighter development. My Uncle talked about how the German fighters affected the bombers and the allied fighters in combatting them.

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Awesome stuff Steve bit of everything there the pattern on the Italian tri engine plane would have driven me nuts the hardest thing of all apart from young hands is keeping them dust free.
Very nice efforts there really appreciate you taking the time to picture them.

Presently I'm engaged in chipping the Hetzer and have learnt the hard way not to put to heavy a white paint layer on I did enamel clear coat underneath on the cammo and decals and acrylic water base top white coat.
But I used a retarder in the white and I think this has made the paint go harder even though I used a 40 water-60 paint mix and its not going to be an easy time!!!!!!! think I'll grab a bike out the shed and check it over going for a coffee tomorrow.

Seeing this thread makes me want to get back into modeling! I've been thinking about boats, being in SETX between the Gulf of Mexico, the Intercoastal Canal, and several rivers. Something that can be used, a'la radio control. Thanks for the mind stimulation!

Russ

Started the weather/chipping sequence still lots to do with rust washes, panel liners, sooting of gun muzzle and exhaust have not decided where to put a bit of battle damage to it but it is the last winter one I'll be doing for a while.

The Jagdtpanther is open and oh boy the interlocking wheels on the German tanks are a PITA to do when your at that stage for the tracks.....!

Nice to show the models made years ago.

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Originally Posted by RCS

models made years ago.

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I don't even know where you'd get a model of a Brewster Buffalo now...

Brewster B-339 Buffalo , Tamiya 61094 (2004)

I'd have to order it. The shop here that retailed plastic models used to be comprehensive. Now they're just about gone.

Better History with the Buffalo's used in Finland, USMC withdrew them after Midway, South Pacific Buffalo's were annihilated by the Japanese

My T-34/76 I built just before the Panther it was a Sveda kit (Russian) it was not a particularly good fit and required allot of work but anyway got it done and muddied up that decal on the turret is one long one it was a doozey to get that positioned without crinkling.....

I compared two models here thing to note that these are both 1/35 scale models the Panther is by Tamiya, if this rings true then the Panther was rather a large medium tank in fact its allot taller than my Tiger 1's 1/35 scaled Tamiya tanks.

You do some really nice work. You're motivating me, as well.

During the pandemic I got all motivated to start building again, bought all the stuff, set it up on my dining room table.... and haven't done a bit of work yet. This full-time job is my excuse, at the moment. I should be retired by now but ... the coming recession!

I'll have to take photos of my unbuilt kits. Not sure if there is a Buffalo in them or not, I don't think so.

I started pulling them out. What a mess. Highlight is the German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin.

I have a mix of planes in several sizes but most are 1/72. Some tanks, ships, guns, men, trains. Like my milsurp collection, a little of everything.

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Originally Posted by Gil Boyd

Bruce Crompton, of COMBAT DEALERS

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Well they got 18 million pounds for the Panther tank that went to the Queensland Tank museum so not short of a quid!

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

18 million pounds for the Panther tank that went to the Queensland Tank museum

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One would hope that regulations didn't require it to be filled with concrete.

With all this talk of plastic model kits, it's got me wondering what the longest amount of time anyone has spent making/assembling a plastic model kit?

I've got a kit, The Visible Man, intended for medical students/Doctors etc that was purchased when it first went on sale in the UK in the late 1950's/early 1960's. The kit was nearly assembled/completed in the 1960's but never fully finished. Since then it has been "trampled in the attic" with "bits broken" and some of the model's internal organs mysteriously went missing. Since inheriting the kit, several years ago, I have sourced some replacement parts for some of the bits that are missing/broken and I have carried out a little bit of work on the model but it is still not fully completed some 60 years after purchase. It's mainly some bits requiring painting that I haven't got round to yet.

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

The Visible Man

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I remember that one.

As do I. My brother built it. I'm afraid it succumbed to BB gun fire not very long after.

F10 ~ the Panther is fully running and on display at the museum its on my bucket list for the tankfest 2024 hopefully!!!! my chance of going to the Ypres salient and Flanders etc will never happen.
So I'll not see where my father was born & lived in England but will console myself with looking at their static Tiger 1, Jagdtpanther and the full running Panther.
The refurb that Compton and his crew did on that tank over the 4 years it took has it like it just left the factory in WWII just amazing but its the Tiger 1 that I want to see plus all else.

In France they have a running King Tiger now why don't they take it to Bovington on tankfest day and have them both running around the arena that would be special.
Tiger 2 - Königstiger 233 - driving at the Military Tracks 2018 - YouTube

Here are all the 1/72 kits I can find to take photos of. I know of two that are missing, not sure where they are but I still have them. A British Wellington Bomber and a Japanese four engine bomber G8N Renzan. With those two missing, I suspect there might be others with them in the same location. Probably not many, this has to be the majority of them. It's possible there is a B-17 with them as it seems very odd that I wouldn't have one of them.

I have no idea what I would do with all these if they were built. I'm partial to seaplanes and floatplanes. Heavy on Japanese and Russian aircraft. There are two Bristol Blenhiems in the same box. One can be done in Finn Colors, the other in British.

I have more 1/48's than I realized. Not sure what I'm going to do with these. There are a couple I might make but should probably sell them. I'll try to get them photographed soon. I have a few 1/35's also, tanks, guns and men. And some ships of various scales.

I believe I have found all of my 1/72 models. There were more than I thought. It wasn't a Wellington, but a Sterling and I apparently do NOT have a B-17. I'm thinking I do but where it is I have no idea. It took looking in the last of my nooks and crannies to find these. The last batch is added below.

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You'll have to do research on some of the lesser known brands Steve who have gone out of production or been swallowed up by the bigger makers some NIB unopened can fetch a pretty penny from collectors.
Actually Syeve collectors like the early boxes because the box art was so much better that what we get today Airfix and Revell are still around but the early boxes/models can get good $'s for wont be millions but you should get a bit for them, pity your so far away from me.
My F14A 1/32 Tomcat kit is a Tamiya but is 30 years old BNIB funny thing the first kit my wife got me I opened it up and it had no wings in the kit so had to return it and they gave me another one straight away.


Pics # 1, 2, 3. Pigments done as sooting of main gun, MG and exhaust (Still gotta flat black inside the exhaust pipe though).

The Hetzer is rest day today so the 2 coats of acrylic clear can harden and dry (Had a coat of enamel clear before the white) I can then do the washes, panel lines another coat of flat clear to seal it and she's done then onto the Jagdpanther.

Wasn't one of these pulled out of a river/bog in Russia in the last 10 years or so I seem to recall. Photographed and put on you-tube

Sometime while in grade school, I made a Russian Bison jet bomber, the paints available at the time were gloss as you can tell from the photos. By luck, this model was found in a box of old models that were saved and complete except for the landing gear. I used 1/4 inch round aluminum stock to make the wheels which were long lost. The other kit was a Monogram 1/2 track which I mounted a 105 howitzer and added details this being 1/35 scaleAttachment 129660Attachment 129659Attachment 129661Attachment 129662

Damn nice effort there RCS the half track looks the goods, yes I remember making models and painting by brush it was very hard not to get brush streaks painting out of the small enamel Humbrol tins still use them today.
But paint wise I use mainly Tamiya Acrylics going to try some Mr Colour as they are pretty good to got a mid range Iwata air brush with a small compressor with water trap it has a pressure regulator I usually paint at 15psi I am really enjoying it and sharing with you chaps.

Tonight I have been doing panel lines and some rust wash damn fine pain/t brush work still yards to go!

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A T-34/76 was Peter could not find anything on the Hetzer.
Russian T34 pulled from a bog - YouTube this was in the year 2000

STuG III pulled from a Bog - YouTube a stug III in 2010

I think I found the last of them today. I put the newly found 1/72's in the earlier post. These are everything else. I'm probably going to keep the 1/35's and the ships but not sure I want the 1/48's and the odd ball stuff. One's a robot I think, not sure. I didn't purposely buy all these. Some were given to me, some were in bulk auction lots that had ones I did want, and a few were just so cheap at yard sales I couldn't let them sit. 25 cents or a couple dollars for a model kit with a lot of these.

The 1/35's

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The ships

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The 1/48's

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The odd ball stuff including two balsa flying models, some 1/100 scale planes, the robot, etc The SE-5 is pretty nice, will probably keep that. It's one that is screwed together rather than glued and is pretty large. The Titanic I'd like to build someday also. My son in law has an MG so I may build that one like his car for him.

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I'd grab that Panther off you in a flash but it would cost more than the model to get here and well in more pieces that are in the box if you get my drift, nice collection..
My final build as far as last ground based ones go is a Trumpeter Kit 1/35 MORSER KARL-GERAT its a huge model with you being able to build an early or late version I opened up the box for a gecko at the parts sprues.
I umm! quickly put the lid back on, makes building a wind jammer a piece of cake it is a humongous model with a zillion bits!

The item itself in battle was so big, heavy and slow to move it was a tedious affair no doubt, the suspension system could lower and raise the carrier of the mortar there were 7 built 6 seeing actual combat service firing a 1.250 tonne shell 6.2 miles.
When lowered the carrier actually became the base for the system negating the need for any concrete pads or special ground prep's the only thing being of concern was slope and ground compaction, I for one would not want one of those rounds knocking on my door.

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

my chance of going to the Ypres salient and Flanders etc will never happen.
So I'll not see where my father was born & lived in England

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The UK is only an air-flight away from Australia. Obviously it's up to you what type of accommodation you book but the cost doesn't have to be out of this world.

Finished just doing the crew member tonight he is painted just weathering & sealing.

But yeah if its true to scale then the Hetzer would/was the perfect ambush vehicle exceedingly low silhouette small in size and packing a powerful main gun the MG 42 was remote controlled from inside but boy it must have been a very cramped AFV.
Thanks for all those that joined in I hope it inspires those that are thinking about kick starting model making again do it so much fun and frustration!

Now onto the Jagdpanther this one I'm doing as a camo job, may or may not weather it's factory finish but probably the first one, also ordering a set of metal tracks so here we go again only 87 links a side this time!!!!

Looks great. I rarely go the weathered look, I'm more of a fresh off the production floor guy. I'm lazy.