Coen's Beobs

[Coen]

Hey fellas,
I'm a bit late joining in this one, I had a lot on the go the last few months and have been building like mad and having tonnes of fun.
I've been taking part in lots of Buddy builds and ISM member SIGs but no ISM proper SIGs or gbs.
A sad state of things according to Paul.
I wasn't going to join this one either as I still have a lot on the go, but paulywog pestered me into joining in.
Not that I really need an excuse hahaha.
I saw what Paul did with his Beob Panther D by cyberhobby and I bought his extra kit from him to see what I could do with it. I also have a really unusual kit that I'll add to the mix that Forbes Hutton gave me some time ago with a post it note on it that read... "I DARE YOU!"
It's an RPM beobachtungswagen. An artillery observation vehicle based on a hotchkiss chassis I believe.
That kit was hell in a handbag.
As of now the beobwagen is built and waiting for paint along with a few figures that I added for the story. The panther is about 65% done and going together like a dream. What a beautiful kit!!!

So... For the build I started with the beobwagen. The thing was covered in mould release, seamlines, and flash.... No wonder Forbes thought it was a challenge. He's built this kit as well and has it posted here on the forum. It's certainly worth looking at.
http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtop ... tungswagen




The sprues...



The intructions are a bit italeriesk in the way that they use the sprue map to number the parts instead of numbering the parts on the sprues. Highly annoying!!!




Flash much?!?!



A tonne of cleanup and it begins to take shape



A few hours later it seems that things are improving... Or so I thought....





Ummm ... Hmmmm... Can we say fit issues...




I'll worry about the fit issue later. For now I'll detail the interior with a few bits from the spares bin.







Now for the terrible fit of the armour plates. The triangular plate inserts were way off and I had to both use styrene card to shank the gaps and use the card to laminate it to the proper shape.








After all the gaps were filled the plates needed resurfacing and blending so MrSurfacer to the rescue.





Then a lot of sanding.



Next I added a bit of wiring for the radios with some lead wire that I get from UMM-USA.



Then the small details go on the exterior.



Some stowage and one of the figures.





Another figure ready...




And built and ready for paint. Still needs the antenna attached, but that's for later.





More figures added to the story...






That's it for the moment, I've started on the Panther D that will go with this as well and that I'll post later.

[ForbesHutton]

HeHe!
You were warned.

Terrible kit but it makes such an interesting model. So many strange angles on it, photos don't do it justice. The overall shape reminds me of the Porsche 928 (a favorite):



I really like the extra stowage and gas cans.

Didn't I send indy links? Or did you reach your masochist limits with the kit already?

I can't wait to see what you do with paint on it.

[Coen]

I haven't seen any indie links bud.
Not like I'm looking to lose any more of my fragile mind haha. I think indie links at that size would do my head in nicely.

[ForbesHutton]

I haven't seen any indie links bud.
Not like I'm looking to lose any more of my fragile mind haha. I think indie links at that size would do my head in nicely.

I was sure I sent a box of indy links with it, looked like:



Tiny things, smallest I've seen, would drive a watchmaker round the bend.

[chief5437]

Cool looking vehicle Mike, I like it. Not sure I'd want to build it though, lol! You're doing a great job so far, good luck with the rest of it

[Coen]

Thanks Chief... I'll take that luck

I haven't seen any indie links bud.
Not like I'm looking to lose any more of my fragile mind haha. I think indie links at that size would do my head in nicely.

I was sure I sent a box of indy links with it, looked like:



Tiny things, smallest I've seen, would drive a watchmaker round the bend.

Ah yes... I do have those. I know just where they are too.
Of course now I'll have to try to build them thanks to you
Haha.

[lucasner]

As always, beautiful what you have done!

I actually kinda dig these problem kits...

Dave

[Nev]

Great start dude! I feel your pain the kit I am building is much the same. Flash city and lots of fit issues. You will still make it look cooler though dude

[wappynutter]

Cool so far Mike, nothing like a bit of reshaping to start a build off...
Kit looks nice to be fair, seen the Ambulance version too, that's different..
Continued success buddy..

[hansolo]

Hi Coen,

Interesting model.
Talk about fitting issues! That's awful.
This looks more like a restoration and scratch building exercise than a new build.

You did a great job on it though! You revived it!

Looking forward to more.

cheers

[Coen]

Thanks Han!
Coming from you that's a hell of a compliment

[Nige99]

That's one ugly vehicle Mike. But what you've done to it to fit right is AWESOME mate
Love the figures and composition your doing.

[Coen]

I've changed it up quite a bit now Nige, I'll make a post about it later on.

[panzerman]

Good job on a tough kit Michael. I'm doing the Marder I based on the same Lorraine chassis.
Love the additions you've made.....cool figures too. Happy Modeling.
Bill.

[Coen]

Thanks Bill!
I've not seen a vid on it from you yet. I'd be interested in seeing you work your magic on it.
Out of curiosity... Is it an RPM kit? I'm just wondering how it built for you.

Quite a bit has happened since the last update. I've reset the layout for the vignette, finished the construction of the pieces, and nearly finished painting the vehicles.

This will be the final layout of the vignette now... At least until I start to build it and change my mind two more times. Haha.







Here are the pieces with some stynlrez primer on them...





Then the base colour...



And some post fading...



Nothing special so far,... Camo paint, I decided that these will be in the same unit so they would have similar camo styles...



At first I went with this for the beobachtungswagen but I disagreed it later...








The wooden barrel for the Panther will be treated with the hairspray technique for its chipping.





Detail painting finished...











Now gloss coat and decals, a completely fictional unit...









And finally chipping...




















Next it will get all sealed under some Aqua gloss and the washes will start.

[ForbesHutton]

I liked the paint and chipping.

You probably feel less like punching the RPM now that it has paint on it.

Not going to try the indy links?
<runs away>

[hansolo]

Awesome work Mike!
I love that chipping and those camo's!

What do you use to give it that silky shine?
Is that a matt varnish? And do you give it that coat
just for protection or also for the shine?

Thanks!

Cheers

[Coen]

I liked the paint and chipping.

You probably feel less like punching the RPM now that it has paint on it.

Not going to try the indy links?
<runs away>

It's wasn't that bad, there's still some wonkyness to the side plates that I don't like much, but it will do. I have a plan.
As for the tracks... I tried a few.
Not a chance!!
Wow those were awesome haha.

Awesome work Mike!
I love that chipping and those camo's!

What do you use to give it that silky shine?
Is that a matt varnish? And do you give it that coat
just for protection or also for the shine?

Thanks!

Cheers

The glossiness is a bit of a byproduct of the AMMO paint, (is a semigloss paint) and the Aqua gloss that I put in the areas where the decals were to go. I'll aquagloss the whole thing tonight and it will be really shiny, then it will fade under the washes,
The final coat of Testors Dullcote will kill any shine in the end.

[hansolo]

Aha. I see.
Sometimes I think my models are to matt because I don't use any coating.
Maybe I'll have to look into that.

Thanks!

cheers

[MarkVerploeg]

Very nice builds so far
I have seen the small vehicle as a kit but never seen one pop up in a war time photo so it is a bit of a unknown vehicle for me
The Panther looks very nice and huge comparred to the other vehicle
I do need to warn you though
Kevin is walking around on your bench or do you have your own minions
In that case you must be evil , it says so in the movie trailer
They follow the biggest villain they can find
Keep up the good work

[ForbesHutton]

Very nice builds so far
I have seen the small vehicle as a kit but never seen one pop up in a war time photo so it is a bit of a unknown vehicle for me
The Panther looks very nice and huge comparred to the other vehicle
I do need to warn you though
Kevin is walking around on your bench or do you have your own minions
In that case you must be evil , it says so in the movie trailer
They follow the biggest villain they can find
Keep up the good work

They must have been shy, they didn't pose for photos much.

[MarkVerploeg]

Very nice builds so far
I have seen the small vehicle as a kit but never seen one pop up in a war time photo so it is a bit of a unknown vehicle for me
The Panther looks very nice and huge comparred to the other vehicle
I do need to warn you though
Kevin is walking around on your bench or do you have your own minions
In that case you must be evil , it says so in the movie trailer
They follow the biggest villain they can find
Keep up the good work

They must have been shy, they didn't pose for photos much.

Lol
I should have mentionned my average research time is about 5 minutes though
And my main intrest is aimed at late war vehicles
But they did excist i see
I have a few books on German vehicles but these are not mentionned in them

[Coen]

You wouldn't need more than 5 minutes Mark... there isn't much to go on for these things.
I've hunted high and low for a few shots of the fighting compartment and haven't found diddly.

It's a really weird and cool looking thing though.

Kevin is very helpful.

[Coen]

Tonnes of work done last night.

Gloss coat ... Alclad Aqua gloss









Then the Ultimate new Dark Dirt went on and came off.















Next the flat coat... Testors Dullcote this time. Dries fast and is lest tacky than Alclad flat.
















Then I did the rust work... Dots of Windsor Newton burnt sienna dragged through with a turpenoid dampened wide brush.


















Then the mud went on... At least the first layer. A mix of static grass, various brown pigments, Ultimate thinner, white glue, dark dirt and some concrete.















Next is more mud, but a different darker colour for a wetter look, then some pigment work.

[hansolo]

I see K2 stands for Kevin 2.

cheers

[Coen]

Ahahahaha!
I hadn't actually made that connection hahaha!

[TheTroyster]

I really appreciated the time you just spent on posting the weathering of the lower hull, I've turned my attention to that area of my own works, as I have neglected this area in the past, so it helps.

[Coen]

There's still more layers yet to go yet. Stay tuned then.

[Coen]

The next round of mud is the outer dryer texture layer.
Once the previous layer is dry, white glue thinned with water and a drop of dish soap s added to the surface.

White glue...



Here is the hull dry...



Then soaked with the white glue...



Then a dry pigment mix is made from ground chalk pastels. In this case some raw umber and a tiny bit of burnt sienna mixed together...



Then, with the tank on its side, I pick some up with a soft brush and tap it over the wet mud. It falls into the glue and sticks.







I do the same with the wheels...



Then I take a mix of much darker pigments and add it to some thinned white glue, only this time with more water so it's not as thick as the previous mixes. I take a stiff bristled brush with long bristles soaked with the mixture and flick it with my thumb or forefinger in an upward angle so that the mix spatters the hillsides.









I do the beobachtungswagen at the same time with the same materials so that they match.



Here is what the mud/dirt looks like once dry...












Now I can install the wheels and tracks.












It just needs the mud on the tracks.
First the beobachtungswagen ...





Then the Panther...





Finally a mock up for the vehicles on the dio to see of a larger base is needed...




But that's for tomorrow,.

[youtube]OfkdnfQswAE[/youtube]

[kiwigav]

Nice Mud Mike very useful photos for future reference cheers

[felisbarcinonensis]

Both vehicles look so realistic!!! Those mud effects are masterful!!

[rodrant]

Hi Mike !

Really like to watch the thread , some time that I did not visit the forum (I'm ashamed , yes ) , follow some pictures in FB only ...

The beobwagen is great , didn't know this vehicle ...and also the Panther is very nice ! Great Photos and incredible work mate !

oh like the minion also

[Coen]

Thanks António!
I'm glad that you liked them.

[hansolo]

That's some dirty vehics there Mike!
Just the way I like 'm!

cheers

[Coen]

Is there any other way?
Haha

[hansolo]

Is there any other way?
Haha

How wisely spoken.

B.t.w. Did you check out my Scout Car yet? http://intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?f=404&t=13923

cheers

[Coen]

I'm reading it now...
All that I can say is...

[hansolo]

I'm reading it now...
All that I can say is...

Looking forward to your dio!
Finished mine yesterday.
Final reveals comming today.

Cheers

[waynos]

Absolutely stunning Work! I have learned so much reading your build threads!

[OliveDrab]

Looking great Mike, and as usual another modelling clinic for us to admire and learn from, keep it coming Dude

[Coen]

Both vehicles look so realistic!!! Those mud effects are masterful!!

Thanks Felis,

Absolutely stunning Work! I have learned so much reading your build threads!

I'm glad that you find them useful Waynos.

Looking great Mike, and as usual another modelling clinic for us to admire and learn from, keep it coming Dude

As long as it's of some use I'll keep posting them OD

[Coen]

Now that the vehicles are pretty much finished I moved on to finishing the figures and starting the work on the diorama. I'm off camping in a couple of days so I'm hoping to get a lot done before I go, otherwise I'll be planning crap for it while I'm gone.
It sucks sometimes to have an obsessive nature.


The figures were pretty much just in primer the last while. I hadn't touched them in ages now.




My figures are just quicky jobs. I'm not much of a figure painter and I hate them to be honest. So... I cheat when I paint them.

I start with the skin.
Vallejo model colour Flat skin tone with a drop of red cadmium for the base colour.



Then I start with the base colours for the uniforms. I know figure painters do things in dozens of thin layers of paint, slowly building up the colours etc.
But I have the patience of a three year old at christmas for that sort of thing. I just want them done. So One or two coats of paint and done.

I know... sacrilege.
Again... I'm not a figure painter.







Once the large uniform parts are painted I tighten up the details with camo on the uniforms, eyes, hair, and eye brows, details of the equipment, any medals or badges, and clean up of any over painting.





Then I gloss coat them.



Then I wash them.
Normally I'll do an oil wash at this point... burnt umber for the skin and lamp black for the uniforms and equipment, but I wanted to do an experiment this time.
I wanted to see if I could use the new formula of Ultimate Dark Dirt as a replacement for the black oils.
Normally it would take a day for that oil wash to dry before I could do anymore work, but if the Dark Dirt worked I could move on in less than an hour.
I also used a vallejo acrylic wash on the faces to see how well that worked.



It seems to have worked out perfectly to my liking. Here they are with the dark dirt cleaned up.





Then they were drybrushed with some AMMO old wood for a dusty worn look.







Next I flat coated them all and started mocking up the diorama. I ended up choosing to keep the original base. After a lot of messing about I got a layout that I'm happy with.






























I started work on the diorama this morning and I'm hoping to get most of the major work done before I go away.
More on that later though.

[Coen]

The final mock up of the diorama before painting begins.

Simple Das air dry modelling clay over the wood base with a layer of carpenters glue to hold it down. Then shaped to tell the story.
I added the rail tracks at the last minute instead of the fallen log I had originally planned. I turned the scene from a field scene to a roadway scene.
Then I added a few small stones pushed into the surface and various sands for texture. All held down with thinned white glue.

[Coen]

Totally plowed through this one right to the end.
I'm off for a few days with the family so I wanted this finished before I go and I succeeded.

After the base was completely dry it all got primed with crappy vallejo primer (all I use it for is priming dio bases)



I primed up some of the old man's beard that I use for bushes as well.



Then I started with the base paints.







Then I added the static grasses, grass tufts, grass tufts with flowers in them, and a few sticks made from rubberised horse hair.
Then I added the figures and vehicles, and dusted some pigments onto them and around the tracks.









































So that's all she wrote for now. I'm still not sure if I want to change it to a rainy scene or keep it the way that it is yet.
I'll take the week away to think on it. Either way, for the purposes of the SIG I'm calling her finished.
Here's the reveal thread.

http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtop ... 05&t=14132

Thanks for reading, I hop that it was useful.

[Nige99]

Another amazing piece of work Mike this is awesome mate. Great paint job on the armour and your figures are superb!!! Loads of detail to look at.

[Coen]

Thanks Nige

[gaz45]

very nice work as always mate