Trumpeter 1/35 German E-50 Build & Detail .

Post by **Nige1940** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 2:37 pm

Hey all... Well I've been a member here for a while now so I thought I'd post my latest project for your comments .
It's Trumpeters E-50 in 1/35 scale , Its been a bit of a bear as nothing fit too well on my example.
Worst were the hatches, all are either too big or too small

I built one a few years back and I don't remember it being quite so Duff ! A lot of the mouldings are quite soft too .
I have of course been making more work for Myself due to the fact I'm adding & replacing a lot of detail and trying to bring it up to more acceptable standards . With not so much emphasis on "accuracy" of course as the vehicle never existed, so its been fun to not have those constraints .
I hope I manage to post the pictures and explain myself clearly enough for you to enjoy .
First I deviated from the instructions as I almost always do & started with the Turret & mantlet , being a figure modeller originally its an old habit . Most figure miniaturists will start with the head as it sets the mood for the entire figure , so I still do this with armour .

Here You can see the turret has been textured to give a more rolled steel effect this one done with a fine dental burr in a motor tool then finally Mr.Surfacer 1000 and 1200 . I kept the effect light because I wanted a distinct contrast to the up coming Mantlet which would have a coarser texture this would add more visual interest . I also re textured the flame cut texture on the plate edges and re applied the welds .

New brass Pilze sockets were added with their welds and also a scratch built aerial base plate with brass antenna base .
I added a strip of styrene to the forward edge of the front armour plate as the kit one didn't line up at all , this was then blended and flame cut textured along with the rest . I also added 0.6 brass screw heads around the close defence weapon port (Nahverteidigungswaffe) & a rain guard over the sighting optics port .

The rear of the turret was treated to some new conical bolts and other styrene bolt heads a copper wire grab handle , I also thinned the rear hatch rain guard so it better represented those found on German armour of the period , note the small styrene fillets making up the edges of the armour "dovetails" moulding was so soft here it looks like it had melted and the plate edges didn't align to well .

Finally the mantlet and mantlet collar received their heavier cast texture along with some casting numbers under the Mr. Surfacer 500 courtesy of archer fine transfers.
I also added 0.9 screw heads and some "casting webs" just for a bit of "what if" artistic license .

Well that's it for now guys, more to follow in the next few days when I consolidate all of the turret details and get some etch on (My favourite part).
Hope it all made sense and you enjoyed the photos .

Post by **schweinhund227** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 2:43 pm

Love the texture on the Turret.... very realistic.

Post by **Nige1940** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 5:41 pm

Thanks very much .

Post by **Coen** » Sat Mar 07, 2015 11:31 am

That's superb craftmenship Nige. First class work.
I really can't wait to see more of this bud.

Post by **Nige1940** » Sat Mar 07, 2015 11:53 am

Thanks Coen , I spend many an hour on YT admiring Your work too Sir.
cheers Nige.

Post by **KalebBeard** » Mon Mar 09, 2015 12:44 am

Loving the texture of the turret mate!

Post by **Nige1940** » Mon Mar 09, 2015 9:27 am

Thanks very much KB ! some more photos coming up later .

Post by **Nige1940** » Mon Mar 09, 2015 4:38 pm

Yesterday I added the final details to the turret , the Cupola was textured with Mr.Surfacer 500 then welds added to all of the periscope surrounds and etched fittings then the turret to cupola joint filled .
I added the Turret roof armour plate mounting rods using brass rod and fine diameter tube , then added welds around them and mounted the final details of the top of the aerial mount .Next I added the foliage loops on the turret sides and again added Magic Sculp putty welds to blend them in . I also added some etched detail on the indie at the base of the periscopes .

Binocular optics bulges on either side of the turret in the kit were okay but a bit unassuming and the moulded welds were not very attractive . I added the optics internally to which I will add a small resin lense when painting is complete and textured them to give a subtle cast effect .
Finally when mounted to the turret sides I added weld beads .

Next I test fitted to the hatch lid , and it was way too small so I scratch built a new one using styrene sheet (I also replaced the rounded hinged section as the kit part was also not rounded ! Then I added to this welds texturing and bolt detail using meng bolt heads and some Voyager/Aber etch.

I enlarged the hole in the front of the turret to more of a slot but smaller than the machine gun port on the right side and added a rain guard to it this also will have an optic installed inside it when the model is complete.
Finally I assembled the Turret roof armour plate with its spacers and plastic bolt heads , I added a flame cut texture to the etch edges to add visual interest when it comes time for paint .These will be removable for paitning .

I hope you enjoyed the photos please feel free to comment .
Next up the real big job ... The hull this is going to be a fair bit of work but hopefully should go as well as the turret next update soon...ish

Cheers , Nige.

Post by **rwsmith14** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 9:01 am

Awesome work !! she is going to be a beauty !! love the texture !!!

Post by **rcfanuk** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 10:53 am

Great job, is all the detail based on drawings or on established armour of the period?

Steve

Post by **Nige1940** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 5:37 pm

rwsmith14 wrote:Awesome work !! she is going to be a beauty !! love the texture !!!

Cheers !

Post by **Nige1940** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 5:43 pm

rcfanuk wrote:Great job, is all the detail based on drawings or on established armour of the period?

Steve

Hi Steve , a bit of both actually with a healthy serving of artistic license

.
such as with the construction of the Schmalturm turret ,although not exact to the existing examples in a few areas I figured on it representing a "simplified " manufacturing process , for the entwicklungsfahrzeug series.

Post by **Hillbilly** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 1:33 pm

I love the attention to detail you are putting into this build.All the extra care and work will no doubt translate into a stunning build when you get her finished.

I will be watching this build with great intrest.

Post by **Nige1940** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 2:03 pm

Hillbilly wrote:I love the attention to detail you are putting into this build.All the extra care and work will no doubt translate into a stunning build when you get her finished. I will be watching this build with great intrest.

Thank You Steve .
It's been both pleasant and a nightmare so far but definitely memorable

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 3:56 pm

Wow, that's a lot of PE you've had to handle, but it adds awesome detail to your build. Will make it look spectacular once completed

Post by **Coen** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 4:08 pm

1000 kinds of awesome Nige! Some of the best work I've seen. Right out of the old school books bud.

Post by **Nige1940** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 5:13 pm

Thanks Coen, & UKguy much appreciated Sirs .
Yeah there is a lot of etch , but I'm a self confessed AM junkie so the more resin and etch the better I like it

Thanks for the kind words guys .

Post by **Nige1940** » Wed May 13, 2015 3:01 pm

A quick update this time not had chance to do much of late .
Due to life getting in the way and my Grandmother passed away last month so not felt like doing much really .
Still the battle goes on and I now have the hull halves together and all of the welds and texturing on that done so more photos in the next few day hopefully .
Rear armour detail was a little soft in the mouldings so I decided to replace the bolt detail .

this is before .

Bolts shaved off and started adding the washers n the larger bolt heads .

finally bolt heads replaced with MENG items . and started to add the turned brass detail parts. and started texturing the plate.

more soon guys .... Nige.

Post by **Coen** » Wed May 13, 2015 6:33 pm

Umm... I'm not sure if it's just me... but your images didn't show up Nige.

Post by **Coen** » Wed May 13, 2015 6:34 pm

Never mind... It was just me

Post by **Tiger131** » Wed May 13, 2015 6:38 pm

Stunning work so far can't wait to see more

Post by **Nige1940** » Wed May 13, 2015 11:43 pm

Coen wrote:Never mind... It was just me

Glad it's not only me Tech gangs up on

Post by **Nige1940** » Wed May 13, 2015 11:44 pm

Thanks Tiger , more shortly (I Hope)

Post by **lucasner** » Thu May 14, 2015 4:07 am

Nige,
Amazing! Unlike my builds, yours looks awesome even in the up close photos!!!
So, do you use Magic Sculpt for your welds? I've been trying out Milliput...do you think MS is better?
Are the screw heads you used part of the kit's PE set? I am fascinated by all the different brands of bolts/screws/rivets and am always looking to try new products.
I have studied your pics and promise I will be copying you techniques! LOL
Dave

Post by **Nige1940** » Thu May 14, 2015 9:50 am

Thanks Dave that means a lot sir .
I much prefer MS over milliput for welds Dave , its a lot softer than Milliput even when Milli is freshly mixed .
MS can be shaped with a wet 3-50's brush tip so it's quite forgiving too . I've been using it more and more these days as I use it for sculpting figures a lot so I've become quite fond of it , even started using it as a filler and its a delight to sand when cured and still usually softer than plastic so no potential disasters like sometimes when using CA as a filler .
The screw heads aren't pat of the etch sets and are actual tiny brass screws ,all but the threaded shaft anyway . They're by Lionmarc but I believe the 0.6 are now out of production (why do they do that ? ) and 0.9 are due to go the same way too so I I don't think I'll be using them much longer ?
They are great though , and I think passion models of Japan do them but usually sold out ...EVERYWHERE !

. I need something more sustainable so I think Aber etched screw heads will be the order of the day in future .
Please feel free to PM me if you want any pointers and please copy away !

that's what communities like this are for and the same way I learned .
chees, Nige.

Post by **Nige1940** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:35 pm

Okay so only 2 months or so working on the Hull

It's been a bit of a grind actually but I did kind of make work for myself in deciding to re-do a lot the welds I thought I had completed already . the new ones better represent the style on the Panthers etc.. As ultimately I wanted this vehicle to be a balanced, but curious mixture of Panther and King Tiger just to keep things interesting . Anyhow more on the welds a bit later . I want to start by adding that due to the frustrating nature of this build I don't have as many setep by step photos as I'd like this coupled with an ageing camera resulted in the series of images you see here my apologies they are presented as more of an "all in one" than a step by step but I'll do my best to talk you through the process .
Firstly I chain drilled the fan Grills on the engine deck to cut them out and recess them to accept the new etched ones by Aber for A much nicer result .

As You can see the edges had to be completely recessed keeping the original shape of the grill part . this took the better part of a day chain drilling by hand with a pin vice but ultimately it did mean proper control .

Next I added the rolled steel texture on the hull sides much as I did with the turret and corrected some welds along the way .
I also planned out the rest of the tool fit as I didn't want to simply represent a KT in the tool layout more on that a bit later .

Next I turned my attention to fitting it out how wanted it , this started with a Panther Style crew heater from Tiger Models .
This awesome little kit itself is superbly cast in multiple parts with casting numbers & separate "Pie slices" for the grill .
The Grill itself came from a dragon panther G kit and fine etched chain for the keep plate from Voyager model .

I also added a panther style cleaning rod and spare aerial storage tube this was formed from the Excellent Griffon model panther tool brackets etched set and features a pre formed tube section .. A lot less hassle ! this was soldered together and put aside for placement later one .
the little chains and clasps were fun to solder... NOT !

I started work on the mud guards as I wanted to make a bit of a feature of them ,and not add the large Schurtzen .
These were soldered up and put aside while I worked on some Flammenvernichter exhausts .

The Flammenvernichter's are also by Tiger Models and offer a much more refined appearance than the plastic dragon ones with a finer edge lip
to the outer edge they are REALLY quite delicate though perhaps the only drawback ? and were quite difficult to remove from their casting gates without damaging them . Here they are just loosely fitted to keep them separate for painting .

I also added a crank guide ,casting numbers and texture to the armoured exhaust shrouds .

A couple of views of the new welds seams and torch cut texture ,tool clamps fit,& hull texture the Resin tools you will see are from Artisan Mori sadly now out of business and the little Horse shoe is from a Dragon tiger 1, thinned on some fine emery paper .

Here the mud guards are already in place .

I added Panther style tow cable end holders mixed in with KT style ones to hold the cable itself

I added new etched bolt heads around the front hatches and brass screws into the hatch lids new grab handles of course and the headlight conduit.
I also improved the look of the drivers periscope with a rough estimation of a Tiger II one with some differences as I didn't want anything to be "obviously" Tiger or Panther . this was simply one with a sheet of plasticard and some screw heads .
I also slightly re contoured the glacis plate cut outs for the periscopes.

A new Headlight lense, bracket and etched surround, the light body and lense is from Tiger models again with a small piece of foil behind it .

Finally I textured the drive sprockets and idler wheels and extended the hub of the inner most road wheels to give them a more plausible look.

Some overall views with the turret added .

Post by **Nige1940** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:45 pm

Next up the tracks , and then a little bit of paint !

Post by **Coen** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 10:43 pm

I have no words!
Well... Other than, that's completely beautiful work. Masterclass.
I may have just had a spruegasm.

Post by **Nige1940** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 12:11 am

Coen wrote:I have no words!
Well... Other than, that's completely beautiful work. Masterclass.
I may have just had a spruegasm.

Thank You Sir ! much appreciated .

Post by **Oper8or** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 4:27 am

This is amazing. I'm new to this and I've never seen this much detail put into a model. I'm sure others have done similar, not knocking you build!! Please don't think that! I'm astounded at your work sir. The amount of work and skill you have put into this boggles my mind. I cannot wait to see the end result! I'll be watching this with grand anticipation.

Post by **schweinhund227** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 2:04 pm

Beautiful Brass work !

Post by **Nige1940** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 2:35 pm

Oper8or wrote:This is amazing. I'm new to this and I've never seen this much detail put into a model. I'm sure others have done similar, not knocking you build!! Please don't thing that! I'm astounded at your work sir. The amount of work and skill you have put into this boggles my mind. I cannot wait to see the end result! I'll be watching this with grand anticipation.

Many thanks Sir I really appreciate it .

schweinhund227 wrote:Beautiful Brass work !

Thanks very much !

Post by **demarcation** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 9:14 pm

Brilliant work mate!

Post by **Donkeywalloper** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 9:21 pm

God I always think I'm a bit of a PE Nut, but this is going to beat me.
Its bloody beautifully done mate.
Hats off.
John

Post by **Nige1940** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 12:36 am

Thanks so much guys , Yeah John I am a bit of en etch nut myself sometimes I take it way too far but it's all good practice I suppose ?

Post by **jubelperser** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 10:01 pm

It's a dream. Reminds me of Adam Wilder's E-50 built.

Post by **Nige1940** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:48 am

jubelperser wrote:It's a dream. Reminds me of Adam Wilder's E-50 built.

Thanks so much , Adam Wilder is a stunning modeller and definitely an inspiration .

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 8:50 am

Awesome build. Bloody show-off!

You're in another league Sir. Cannot wait to see this come to life. I will continue to look on thy works and despair!!

Post by **Nige1940** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 10:18 am

Stokesy44 wrote:Awesome build. Bloody show-off!

You're in another league Sir. Cannot wait to see this come to life. I will continue to look on thy works and despair!!

Thanks mate really appreciate the kind words .

Post by **Oper8or** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 2:53 am

Any update on this? I'm watching this thread with shivers!

Post by **Nige1940** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:49 am

There will be a short update soon mate covering tracks etc ...but I'm taking a short break before I paint it I'm still in two minds what scheme to paint it and don't want to rush it at this stage . plus I'm still knackered after the build

Post by **MarkVerploeg** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 3:08 pm

Oooh wow
I look at this build for the first time but i am very impressed with what is see
Very nice work wich all the modifications and pe
This will be a eyecatcher for sure

Post by **Nige1940** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 4:29 pm

MarkVerploeg wrote:Oooh wow
I look at this build for the first time but i am very impressed with what is see
Very nice work wich all the modifications and pe
This will be a eyecatcher for sure

Thanks mate , It's been a bit of a roller coaster for sure glad I'm finally at the paint stage

Post by **Demaclies** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 5:16 am

It looks awesome, for a "paper Panzer" build.

Post by **Nige1940** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 1:34 pm

Thanks very much Dem, I do like a good Paper panzer .

Post by **andreb87** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 4:49 pm

nice and clean build! especially the photo etch work is superb! you and your soldering iron must be very good friends

Post by **Razorben** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:02 pm

Absolutely jaw dropping stuff

!!!

Fantastic build mate! Can't wait to see her finished!!

Post by **Nige1940** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:55 pm

Thanks andre, it was very trying at times especially that cleaning rod tube

.
Thanks Razor , I'm looking forward to it myself mate .
I have a couple of other things on the go at the moment including re-welding a Hobby boss VK4502(P) Vorne .
I hope to get to paint on the E-50 really soon though .