Campaigns: Active Campaigns
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Hosted by Richard S.
Official Tank Destroyers Campaign
bison126
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Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
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Posted: Sunday, March 29, 2020 - 03:06 AM UTC
There are a lot of impressive works in this campaign. I especially love the cut away Hetzer. I'd never dare this kind of job.

My AMX is going pretty well. I had done some improvement on some parts. First of all, Takom did the same mistake as Heller with the fixed end of the torsion bars on the right side. The "hole" is not at the rear of the swing arm but in front of it. So you need to cut each of them and glue them at the right location. It's not a big deal. The roadwhees show the 12 welded plates which replaced the earlier bolts. These are poorly rendered by Takom so I tried to smooth them with liquid glue. Not perfect but better looking when compared to the actual wheels.
On top of the hull, Takom omitted some features which were easily fixed again. The red circles are for added bolts, the yellow ones are holes to be drilled and the yellow lines are separations between armor panels which must be scribed.













Despite some mistakes the kit is far better than the Heller one. The details are nicely cast and the fit is excellent so far. The two parts of the shock absorbers must be glued at an angle and nothing help for this. So it is better to glue the vertical part to the hull side and then glue the second part to the first one. Quite easy.

On a sidenote, Takom gives the early metal tracks while most of the AMX 13 with SS11 were equipped with the later rubber padded tracks. So I'll have to get a set of replacement. The spare track links bracket will have to be modified as well.

Olivier
Klaus-Adler
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MODELGEEK
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Scotland, United Kingdom
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Posted: Sunday, March 29, 2020 - 06:01 AM UTC
the second colour added to the camo scheme

petbat
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Queensland, Australia
Joined: August 06, 2005
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Posted: Sunday, March 29, 2020 - 08:57 AM UTC
Thanks for the tips Olivier. I have the version without the missiles in the stash and will be watching your build closely.

That is one mass of Yellow there David!
clovis899
#155
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California, United States
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Posted: Sunday, March 29, 2020 - 01:28 PM UTC
Thanks to everyone who commented on my earlier photo of the Jagdpanther.
Here are a few more photos. I have added the bush/branch camouflage but it can easily be removed if needed. I am looking for a October/early November 44 look and have tried toning down the green of the foliage but wonder if it needs to be yellowed/browned out even more? It is hard for me to judge as it was a really deep green when I added it and I'm now a bit biased when I compare it to what it was. Would value the group's opinion so, what say you group?
When I have that nailed down I will finish weathering up the tracks and running gear as well as a bit more work on the casement roof (I think Martin Kovac over at Night Shift calls it "ambient occlusion"?). After that I think I can relegate this one to the shelf!!

Cheers,
Rick





Johnnych01
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England - South West, United Kingdom
Joined: June 29, 2019
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Posted: Sunday, March 29, 2020 - 05:49 PM UTC
Rick, IMHO I think you have nailed it mate, it looks great from every angle. Once you have tweaked the couple of bits you mentioned, the J-panther will be spot on. Really love the hedge camo you have achieved, totally realistic, superb job, and the added crew give it the extra depth and realism.

How did you achieve the hedge camo, I can see the extra leaves...what else is in there ?
bison126
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Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
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Posted: Sunday, March 29, 2020 - 08:27 PM UTC
Very nice rolling bush Rick

Peter if you can read French I can send you a couple of links with all you need to fix Takom AMX 13 "flaws" from the "must fix" to the extra detail which nobody will see

Olivier
sinsling
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Singapore / 新加坡
Joined: January 16, 2007
KitMaker: 86 posts
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Posted: Sunday, March 29, 2020 - 09:59 PM UTC
Hi Rick,

Very nice work! The bushes look convincing and the SS crew just make it pop! Kudos...well done!

Cheers,
Johanan
Klaus-Adler
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MODELGEEK
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Scotland, United Kingdom
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Posted: Sunday, March 29, 2020 - 10:40 PM UTC
Rick that looks amazing and I love the foliage, it makes it look so life like.
ivanhoe6
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Wisconsin, United States
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Posted: Sunday, March 29, 2020 - 11:19 PM UTC
Don, that's a great way of showing scale using a couple of world wide well known subjects to demonstrate the size (or lack of) of your TDs. Those things are tiny!!!
Wophila thanjka Don !
Lakota
#123
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New Mexico, United States
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Posted: Monday, March 30, 2020 - 12:15 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Don, that's a great way of showing scale using a couple of world wide well known subjects to demonstrate the size (or lack of) of your TDs. Those things are tiny!!!
Wophila thanjka Don !


Ivanhoe-Thank you. Yes, they are pretty small. I thought I better build them now as my eyesight isn't getting better. They are pretty fine kits with lots of detail as you would expect from Dragon. The earlier releases used more "soft" plastic or rubber for the suspension. The latter ones save it for only the treads.
I pick these up whenever I see a good deal, I think they are expensive otherwise and are getting harder to find as they've been out of production for years. I wish they had made some Allied armor from WWII also.
Take care,
Don "Lakota"
bison126
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Correze, France
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Posted: Monday, March 30, 2020 - 04:29 AM UTC
Today I managed to add some tiny details which Takom omitted for the version with the automatic missile controller. Takom does provide the large box for a control unit on top of the roof but missed the brackets for the manual controller. The bracket in the kit is right for the early version (wrongly labelled late version in the instructions) and should be present for the late version as well. But it must be shortened by 1 mm and moved outward by 1 mm too. Then you can add the vertical tubes I made with 0.64 mm styrene rod. On both sides of the central episcope two more shorter tubes must be added.
Finally the cover for the episcope was made from aluminum foil. This must be done for every version (early and late).





Olivier
clovis899
#155
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California, United States
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Posted: Monday, March 30, 2020 - 06:00 AM UTC
Olivier-That is some impressively precise detail you have added. I especially like the aluminum foil addition; can't imagine how delicate that must be!

Cheers,
Rick
clovis899
#155
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California, United States
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Posted: Monday, March 30, 2020 - 12:34 PM UTC
John-I neglected to give you an answer regarding my 'rolling bush'. Their are eight pieces that are made with the twisted copper wire method and covered with Vallejo Desert Sand earth texture. Could have used modeling paste but I liked the added grit in the Vallejo stuff. After the normal weathering I used Mini-Natur Plane Tree foliage Late Summer #933-23 (great stuff) then added more leaves that I punched out from tinted coffee filter using a Green Stuff leaf punch.

Here is the next iteration of my Jagdpanther. I think I still need to clean up the 'occlusion' a bit more on the upper surfaces, it still looks a bit rough in spots (love those close up photos; they don't hide any mistakes!!) The road wheels, both left and right, now have their first layer of weathering, I'll come back tomorrow and clean up some of the excess and work some pin washes and weathering pencils into the mix.

Thanks for looking!

Cheers,
Rick


petbat
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Queensland, Australia
Joined: August 06, 2005
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Posted: Monday, March 30, 2020 - 03:31 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Very nice rolling bush Rick

Peter if you can read French I can send you a couple of links with all you need to fix Takom AMX 13 "flaws" from the "must fix" to the extra detail which nobody will see

Olivier



Moi? Est-ce que je parle Français? Non.

I managed to hash my way around France a few years ago. I think I was tolerated only because I was Australian and had a Wallabies jacket on.....

I did manage to raise a few eyebrows and generate some laughs along the way... heaven knows what I actually said...

I did learn the 'Gallic Shrug" quite well though - especially when accosted by a soldier in Saumur. He was going a million miles an hour at 110 Db - until I showed him the little camera stamp on my jacket where my camera bag strap had covered it... Yes I had paid to take photographs.

petbat
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Queensland, Australia
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Posted: Monday, March 30, 2020 - 03:36 PM UTC
Nice Shrubbery Rick!!

https://youtu.be/69iB-xy0u4A
clovis899
#155
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Posted: Tuesday, March 31, 2020 - 05:17 AM UTC
Peter,
Thank you for that! Might have to be my afternoon viewing now that we are sheltering in place!!

Cheers,
Rick
bison126
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Correze, France
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Posted: Tuesday, March 31, 2020 - 07:07 PM UTC

Quoted Text

I think I was tolerated only because I was Australian and had a Wallabies jacket on.....


We do tolerate any tourist pouring his money into our economy


Quoted Text

Yes I had paid to take photographs.


I don't see the point with this policy. Taking photographs should be part of the ticket. They even could raise a little the entrance fee for every visitor.
To my surprise when I visited Hanoi military history museum this February they applied the same policy but no one came to check if I had paid an extra (which I did of course). Fortunately because my Vietnamese is certainky worse than your French

Olivier
petbat
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Queensland, Australia
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Posted: Wednesday, April 01, 2020 - 08:41 AM UTC

Quoted Text


I don't see the point with this policy. Taking photographs should be part of the ticket.

Olivier



When I paid, they made me read a little note in English. It said that by paying to take photos I was agreeing to their terms and conditions, namely that any photos I took could not be used for commercial purposes without the Museum's written permission. I guess it is there way of making a 'Binding contract' with you and thereby establishing their right to a cut of profits. You have to wonder if they ever get anything worth the hassle though. They did not take any ID from me, so how would they know if I published?

Yes, as you say, making it a condition of entry and having the cost built in to the entry fee would do the same thing right?

clovis899
#155
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California, United States
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Posted: Wednesday, April 01, 2020 - 03:40 PM UTC
Think I'm going to stick a fork in this one and call it done. I have added some more wet weathering with Vallejo Splash mud, MMP Dark Earth powder, Mig Wet Effects, and Tamiya Smoke for a damp/muddy field/road in Autumn before the run up to the Battle of the Bulge. I will try and post a couple of better pictures from my daytime photo set-up in a day or two.

Any suggestions on improvements or tweaks greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Rick



Petro
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Connecticut, United States
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Posted: Thursday, April 02, 2020 - 02:18 AM UTC
looks good Rick.
Lots of nice work going on.
It's interesting seeing all the different techniques being used by everyone.
clovis899
#155
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California, United States
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Posted: Thursday, April 02, 2020 - 11:39 AM UTC
Ok all,
Here is my final set of photos taken in my daytime garage 'studio' (heck, everything is in my garage now!!) All of the photos are in my gallery with public access but do I need to upload something into a 'campaign gallery'?

Cheers,
Rick









petbat
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Queensland, Australia
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Posted: Thursday, April 02, 2020 - 01:49 PM UTC
Excellent Rick Love it. All ready for when someone does a 1/35th scale hedge trimmer

Thanks for joining in, I have enjoyed watching you get this one together.
k_mero4
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Sofiya, Bulgaria
Joined: November 26, 2017
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Posted: Friday, April 03, 2020 - 06:50 AM UTC
Rick, fantastic work. I pictured your model in the center of a Diorama. Congratulations.
Kalin
sinsling
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Singapore / 新加坡
Joined: January 16, 2007
KitMaker: 86 posts
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Posted: Friday, April 03, 2020 - 07:08 AM UTC
Rick,

Great job with my fave TD. You've truly done her justice. That camouflage foliage just takes it to another level!

Well done. I need to start my project soon!

Regards,
Johanan
PasiAhopelto
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Uusimaa, Finland
Joined: October 01, 2016
KitMaker: 514 posts
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Posted: Friday, April 03, 2020 - 07:12 AM UTC
A quick update: