Coen's Gunze Sangyo 1/35 Panther G High Tech

Post by **Coen** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:47 am

Hey Dudes!!!!
So as you may or may not know... Paulywog and I are buddy building the Gunze Sangyo 1/35 Panther G High Tech kits together.
Jonathan Bellos (One of the Pricks of Plastic) just recently joined us
It's one of those rarish, expensive kits that I've read about is a few books that I learned most of my skills from. I've dreamed of having one of these kits for almost a decade, so when George of Illinois offered one to me for a good price I couldn't say no.
Both Paul and I have been chomping at the bit to build these things for a couple of weeks, but we're waiting on an engine set from Verlinden. Paul already has his and I just needed mine.
To be honest... Paul's been crying to me every day to start this thing and I eventually gave in and let the boy have his toys.
haha.
He started his a day or so ago and that's when the blue cloud began to rise over England.
The engine set is a skill setter. It will look amazing, but not an easy thing to build at all.
Jon and I started our kits last night with considerable less blue clouds, as Jon is building his out of the box and I don't yet have my engine set.

This is the kit...

and here's what a lot of it looks like once you take it all out of the bags.

It may not look like much, but that is a lot of clean up.
Then you see the instructions for the engine set and go... WHAT THE HELL AND I THINKING!!!!???

To help tell the story for this build I'll also be using a set of Verlinden figures that I also bought from George. These I've been looking to build for ages. So Yay!!!

A bit blood thirsty, but it's a scene from the near end of the war. Things were very bad on the Eastern front. That's what I wanted to go for.
It will be probably my darkest piece.

I may also include this previously built kit of mine. I've been looking for a reason to use it on a dio for a long time and this one would suite it. Size is an issue though, I may not have room for another large dio unless I begin to scrap older builds.

There's not a lot that I can do with my kit until the engine set arrives, but I started work on cutting the engine deck out.

And building the turret and figures.

The fits on this kit are amazing. Better than some of the more modern kits today and this sucker dates back to 1985!!!
Superb craftsmanship on some parts... others... not so much.
I'll have to replace a few bits with styrene from my spares bins. The white metal parts are good for some... bad for others.

This will be an exciting and testing build I'm sure.
It was all Paul's idea.... hahaha!

Post by **Paul** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:58 am

Yayyyyy panther

Reminds me i need to figure out which figures to use

Post by **EasyEight96** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 1:51 pm

Now that looks wicked I have a book on a panther from top to bottom. Let me know if you need some help Coen and Paul

**Felis Barcinonensis YouTube Channel** · Post by **felisbarcinonensis** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 4:08 pm

Wow! That's a challenging build mate (super-understatement) An "enjoy-or-die" kind of thing!! You're a bunch of brave men

Post by **burnie43** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 5:08 pm

not for the faint hearted or short sighted I would think, looking forward to the build progress tho
enjoy

Post by **Nige1940** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 5:24 pm

That's a blast from the past a collectors kit to be sure .
I'll look forward to seeing this progress !

Post by **Coen** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 11:15 am

Since I'm still waiting for my engine to arrive (it's probably here now I just won't be checking the mail until Friday) I started work on the turret and the figures for the diorama. I'll work on the running gear and the wheels as well while I'm waiting, but that's later.

I started off with the first two of the four figures that I'm planning to use. They turned out to be a lot more graphic than I intended, but they still tell the story that I wanted to tell. To pose them correctly though I needed to build the turret for them to lean against.
So that got built too.

The turret itself was pretty freaking tricky.
I've used mutimedia many times in many of my builds. But nothing quite like this stuff. I had to replace a few pieces with styrene as either the piece that I needed was missing (the lifting lug for the mantlet), or was so badly warped, flashed, or damaged that I don't think that I could have saved the part (the exhaust shrouds, and the cupola).
The barrel was almost a centimetre too long, and as much as it gutted me to do it, I replaced with with a slide moulded one that I had in my spares bin. Even though, you'd probably only really notice that it was too long if it was sitting next to another model of a panther G... and this one will be.

Part of the story that I want to tell is that this panther has been knocked out by approaching Soviet forces and the crew were attacked by Russian infantry as they tried to bail out of the tank.
I added the main battle damage to the panther using a dremel tool and some dental bits. It's a bit hard to see because of the white styrene.
I'll be adding a lot more damage later, and once I get the engine I'll have to modify that to reflect the damage of a 122mm AT shell passing through it.

The entrance...

The exit...

The second set of figures are a German infantry officer helping to defend the panther and a mortally wounded Russian soldier.
These four figures are the main focus of the story, I may add one or two other figures as well as the build progresses.

I'm still undecided about the IS-2 on the scene, as space is a problem.
The scene will be a ruined street in a city in the west of Germany in March/April 1945, I've got a lot of inspiration for this piece as I've never done a piece quite like this one. I'm also excited to finish the Wittmann tiger.
The Moose Jaw and the Geisha are also calling my name. haha.
No lack of things to do eh?

Post by **Homerlovesbeer** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:00 pm

This is going to be good!

Post by **LordFarnswaller** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:47 pm

she looks like a monster mate

Post by **Paul** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:26 pm

Looking good mate

Post by **Hillbilly** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 2:36 pm

You are off to a great start so far

The story this dio is telling is going to be very moving,but I feel it's a story that should be told.

Post by **Nige201980** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 5:59 pm

Mate this going to be good really looking forward to watch this.

Post by **rwsmith14** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 8:02 pm

Cool Love the figures in their poses !!

Post by **jbellos1** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:55 am

That is one great looking build so far! The dio looks to be quite the bloody affair too. Awesome!

Post by **KalebBeard** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 5:21 am

This thing is gonna be pure amazing I am gonna really enjoy watching this thing come togather

Post by **Coen** » Mon Mar 30, 2015 3:03 pm

So my engine set arrived a few days ago and I started working on it pretty much right away.
Though what I needed to do with mine was not as complicated as what Paul had planned, I still needed to build it up nearly as completely.
Then... I had to blow the crap out of it. and it still had to fit in the compartment and the hull still needed to fit together.
The engine set is a ridiculous thing to try to build and I'm happy that I didn't have to build it up as much as poor Paul did.
My hat is off to the man for doing it though. It's a bugger of thing to build.

I got it built and after having to take it apart three times because of fit issues I finally got it in and the hull buttoned up.
I'll paint it all as one piece when I get to that stage. It will be mostly a burned hulk so painting it while inside the engine bay won't be a problem.
My focus will be on the rest of the tank and the vignette.

Here's a mock up of it. I've changed how I want the figures posed as well.

I've also done a bit of work to the outside of the tank as well.

And the new configuration of the figures.

After watching a hangout the other day where Paul was trying to get the modelkasten tracks to fit on the kit sprockets. It wasn't happening.
I took a few of my tracks and gave them a try.
After about 30 minutes of messing around I figured out why they wouldn't fit.
The tracks are all attached to a sprue at three points. All three points are where the tracks connect together. If every single link isn't cleaned up completely, they'll cause a space to appear between each link, knocking the entire run out of alignment with the sprocket teeth by a couple of millimetres. The more links with a bit of flash the more out of alignment it will be.
The sprockets are also about 1/2 of a millimetre too wide and the teeth are just a tiny little bit too thick to fit in the draw holes in the tracks.
So I sanded down the inner and outer face of the teeth.
That seemed to work. I also tried to fit a set of fruil model tracks and they fit no problem. The modelkasten and the fruils even fit together.

With glue along the sprocket rim these should sit down ok now.
None of this should have had to be done. It's a ridiculous kitting issue that the manufacturers would have certainly known about and not cared.

.

Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough figuring this out to tell Paul about it and he had to modify his sprockets considerably to get the tracks to fit.

Next it the installation of the rest of the tools and details, add battle damage then painting time.

Post by **EasyEight96** » Mon Mar 30, 2015 4:03 pm

Nice job on the engine and the panther is looking very cool I've never seen so many none plastic parts on a kit before gunze sanyo really must have taken a lot of time to create one of piece

Post by **Coen** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 1:12 pm

EasyEight96 wrote:Nice job on the engine and the panther is looking very cool I've never seen so many none plastic parts on a kit before gunze sanyo really must have taken a lot of time to create one of piece

These are certainly unusual kits bud. No argument.
The odd thing is, half of dragon's inventory is based on the development principles that originated from these kits.
I'm not complaining

Update time.
The build is pretty much done now... I just need to take care of the tracks. The two runs and the spares on the hullsides. Most of which will be missing, blown off and scattered about the vignette after the 122mm hit.
I've also added a few more figures to tell the story a bit better, a lot more action. More... "to the bitter end" sort of feel.

I've replaced most of the white metal tools for more detailed styrene ones, the downside to that is that they're now out of scale. This panther kit has more elements that are closer to 1/32 scale than 1/35. Still, I prefer the look of the crisper detail.

I still need to add the final battle damage to the hull and to some of the sheet metal parts. I may remove the white metal stowage boxes and replace them with styrene so that I can thin them out with the rotary tool and beat the snot out of them. I need to add the shell splinter hits as well as all the small round hits to the hull as well.
This panther will probably be the most beat up piece of armour that I've ever done.

Post by **jbellos1** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 3:29 pm

Looking awesome Mike! Great explanation about the sprocket and track issue - that will help me for sure!

Post by **Coen** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:56 am

Happy to help Jon

Well she's all built now and the vignette (more of a diorama now) has been sorted for what goes where. Here's a few shots of here before she heads for prime and painting.

Post by **mannloon** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:58 am

Wow, awesome scene. Impressive build.

Post by **Homerlovesbeer** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:00 am

That is looking sensational!

Post by **Coen** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 12:04 pm

Update time. Now that the Wittmann at Reggio Tiger is done I can move one with this wee kitty.

I'm still trying to decide how I want the diorama to look, I have a few ideas, but mostly it's just a general impression at the moment. Once I get the panther base coated and the figures base coated I'll most likely sort that out.

So it all starts with primer. I didn't think to take any shots of the panther in primer, brain fart I guess, but I did manage one blurry shot of the figures in primer
I used the black Stynlrez badger primer again. Love that stuff!!! It's my go to primer now. Even with the buggering around with switching out the needle and pressure changes on the airbrush, it's worth every penny. Eventually I'll buy an airbrush just for primer and only have to change the pressure when I prime.
But it is not this day.

After priming the panther I sprayed Mig's primer colours on it. The look that I wanted for the panther was one that had been delivered to it's crew in primer and the crew just painted some green and yellow on it, leaving the red/brown as the third colour in the tri-tone. However, Mig's primer colours look nothing like the red oxide primer colours that I've seen in my research. It looks more like rust.
Mind you... it's really cool looking rust, and I've relabelled all my Mig's primer colours as rust colours as a result. I eventually made my own mix that I liked better.

This is with Mig's rust colours and the other two colours sprayed over it. Before I repainted it.

And after

Then I started the detail painting with some flat black.

And that's where she's at today.
I'll do more detail painting today, then I'll probably start on the base paint for the figures. That way I can properly mock up the diorama.
It just feels better that way for some reason.

Post by **localjedi** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 2:41 pm

Epic!

Me wants more!

Post by **DaveTheMinion** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 3:06 pm

Mmmmmm got me fancying having a go, I have done ships, galleons, subs, some planes, done some warhamer figures but never done any jeeps, trucks or tanks and to be honest I don't know why? but they look bloody awesome, especially with metal tracks.

Wife will hate you for inspiring me.......

all the best
Dave

**Felis Barcinonensis YouTube Channel** · Post by **felisbarcinonensis** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 4:03 pm

Looks super cool!

Post by **Paul** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 5:27 pm

Looking good mike

Post by **stuart66madmodeller** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:00 pm

She's coming on well buddy & the camo looks awesome.

Post by **Coen** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 3:12 am

I got the detail painting all finished today along with the decals and the first part of the chipping. I also got the tracks painted and test fitted.
They were pretty delicate to begin with but once paint went on them they became much more so. The slightest bump and they fall apart. I'm thinking about gluing them in place once I get them on the dio and in position.
Tomorrow I'll finish the chipping and then seal it all up for washes.

And the chipping begins...

This will be a really well battered vehicle, one that's seen weeks of continuos combat against the soviets. So she'll be a real warpig.
Lots more chipping to go yet.

Post by **rwsmith14** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 3:53 am

Wow !! THats is looking spiffy !!!!!

Post by **Aliktren** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 9:35 am

Lovely builds as always - but also amazing kit, what 20 plus years old - can you tell when you build it - looks amazingly detailed.

Post by **burnie43** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 9:41 am

I was getting goose bums just thinking about the building process Mike......superb and great explanations...
as for the layout with the figures...boy, it's already telling me of the desperate struggle to survive...more goosebumps!!!
Cheers mate
Mark

Post by **Coen** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 9:50 am

Thanks Fellas.

Post by **Homerlovesbeer** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 9:58 am

Coen, you need to do a tutorial/build video for a tank one day so us plebs can have some sort of clue how a skilled gentleman such as yourself achieves such fantastic results..

Awesome work my friend

Post by **Paul** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 10:04 am

Homerlovesbeer wrote:Coen, you need to do a tutorial/build video for a tank one day so us plebs can have some sort of clue how a skilled gentleman such as yourself achieves such fantastic results..

Awesome work my friend

LOL he's already done one, its on his channel

I plan to do one too over the next few months

Post by **Paul** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 10:05 am

Great mike, she's looking good, one beat up kitty

Post by **Coen** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 10:23 am

Homerlovesbeer wrote:Coen, you need to do a tutorial/build video for a tank one day so us plebs can have some sort of clue how a skilled gentleman such as yourself achieves such fantastic results..

Awesome work my friend

Here you go Homer... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... bbQ2ZEPFzc
Stay tuned for Pauls. His will most likely be much better than mine was.

Paul wrote:Great mike, she's looking good, one beat up kitty

Thanks Paul

Post by **Paul** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 10:38 am

Coen wrote: Stay tuned for Pauls. His will most likely be much better than mine was.

I highly doubt it buddy

Post by **Homerlovesbeer** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 11:32 am

Thanks guys!

I didn't know Coen had a youtube channel......

Post by **mannloon** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 7:19 pm

Wow dude, I love that high contrast camo, this thing is singing right now.

Thu Apr 09, 2015 11:01 pm

Superb progress on the kitty mike, keep up the superb work.

Post by **jbellos1** » Fri Apr 10, 2015 1:00 am

Looking good Mister C!

Post by **Coen** » Fri Apr 10, 2015 2:50 am

Thank you Master J.

Today I managed to finish all of the chipping.
She looks fairly properly beat up and done in to me and once I get the weathering and the environmental effects going on her I hope that she'll look much more the part.

So next is the gloss coat then the washes, then some filters and the environmental work.

Post by **Styrenejeans** » Fri Apr 10, 2015 3:23 am

Awesome job Mike! I really love the chipping effects and I think it's your best work yet!

Post by **Homerlovesbeer** » Fri Apr 10, 2015 4:36 am

That's one hellova battered tank! Reminds me of the tank from the movie "Fury" that took a pounding!

Post by **Nige99** » Fri Apr 10, 2015 7:03 am

now that's what I call a beast Mike

looks awesome dude.

well done.

Post by **mick** » Fri Apr 10, 2015 8:37 am

great work

Post by **Thunderhead7** » Sat Apr 11, 2015 5:00 pm

Hi Mike, I've been following your build here and in the hangouts and Youtube, fabulous work so far and very inspiring for me.
What Engine Set kit is that? I recently purchased the Gunze Jagdpanther kit and I would like to add the engine kit to it also.
Cheers and have fun at your model show today!

Post by **Paul** » Sat Apr 11, 2015 5:33 pm

She's looking great mike, this is going to be another show stopper

Thunderhead its the verlinden engine set made for this kit, good luck finding one though

Post by **Thunderhead7** » Sun Apr 12, 2015 5:07 am

Ok thanks Paul