Trumpeter E-75 Standardpanzer in 1:35

[Stands24]

Hello everyone! I joined the forums yesterday so this will be my first construction journal. c:

This is Trumpeter's E-75 Standardpanzer in 1:35 scale. A pretty nice kit in my opinion. Apparently there are a few inaccuracies, such as incorrect placement of the track hooks on the turret but that's fine with me since I don't plan to hang any tracks on it. I decided to go with an abnormal paint scheme... This vehicle will be painted in the colors of the Galactic Empire from Star Wars. I decided to go this route for a few reasons. Firstly because this vehicle was never really built, therefore there are no camouflage patterns I "have" to follow. Secondly because the Galactic Empire was based off Nazi Germany, and I always wondered how these vehicles would look if used by the Imperials. The primary color is gray with black accents. It is based off this design I created, which a friend applied to the Tiger II (with a 105mm cannon) in the game War Thunder.


Since I'm almost done with this but I only just joined the forums, I will start from the beginning and go to the present in one post. c: This was my first model ever, and I think it's turning out great! It's still not done but only by a little bit! The first few pictures were taken with some app on my phone so they will be a bit small... The later photos are better though!

Here is the completed turret, which was the first thing I did because I wanted to see how large it would be. It has a REALLY long gun! Not sure if it's the theoretical 88mm L/100, or a 105mm like the box says. I do like how it looks without a muzzle brake though. There's no breech assembly but the kit has options to display the hatches open or closed... Strange considering there's no interior detail. I like my hatches closed anyway.


Then I began on the hull... Lots of parts for the suspension here and the instructions were a bit odd. I was terrified I'd make a set of the 8 suspension thingies for the incorrect side... Luckily I didn't. Would have been a nightmare to fix.


Wheels were applied, and I set the rubberband tracks on to see how they'd fit. I really don't like this kind of track... Especially if it's not a form of plastic; these seemed pretty rubbery which made them near impossible to glue.


Then I painted the wheels black (this is where the kit starts to differ from its inspiration; I don't have the finesse required to paint only PARTS of the idler and drive sprocket like in the inspiration) and stretched the tracks a bit to get a better fit. Still not glued yet, if I remember correctly. I did paint the mantlet black (Testors "flat black" acrylic; I only use acrylic) at this point and dry fitted the hull parts & turret together to see what it would look like. First good picture!


I then added some of the tools, the sideskirts, the hatches and stuff, and glued the hull parts together. This is also after I burned the tracks together with a hot screwdriver tip. I don't like doing that. ): I got the tracks to sag (not very visible here) by forcing them down with wedges (really just fishing weights) set between the tracks and the underside of the sponsons. I used Surebonder Clear 9001 for the glue... It's the only thing that seemed to work with this rubber material. Was a bit messy. ): I decided it was time to "paint" it so I covered up some black parts and sprayed the model with a coat of Tamiya's light gray spray primer. It was the perfect shade of gray out of the possible 50 (oh the reference, lol)! No actual gray paint needed!


And here it is, finished (or so I thought)! The track sag is somewhat visible here.


A few weeks later I remembered I had to get an infrared scope for my upcoming Panther II. I then decided this E-75 would look much cooler with one as well, and luckily the pack I bought (Greatwall Hobby's "German Infrared Night-Vision Devices") was a pack of two! I put one together (difficult because huge fingers + tiny parts = no fun) and put it on the E-75, as well as a 2m antenna because no tank looks tanky without an antenna! And yes, that's a currently in-progress King Tiger which I will do another journal on. This is also when I cut off a long piece of a sprue and cemented it underneath the "breech" of the gun, in order to stop it from drooping.


Attaching the scope was a hurdle at first because I thought, "Wait, these things were mounted on the cupola rings" and I didn't have spare cupola rings lying around. I was told on another website that the Germans apparently did away with them really late-war, which was a relief. I simply cut off a rectangular part of another kit's sprue, sanded it to shape, attached it to the cupola, and set the scope on that. Looks pretty legit I think. I used Tamiya's liquid primer in the little bottle and a small brush salvaged from one of their extra thin cement bottles to "paint" the scope, because the spray primer would have covered the clear lenses as well and I didn't feel like cutting up all that masking tape. Kinda bumpy in some areas because it dries so darn fast... I may end up masking the lenses and spraying it with the spray primer anyways, just to fix some stuff. Accidental splotches on the lenses. ): How do I fix that?


I think it looks amazing with the IR scope. Just makes it "pop" and adds a technologically advanced/modern feel to it. I feel it was a great decision.



To do list...
- Paint tracks because I JUST found a good color for them.
- Print decals such as the Imperial insignia. I don't have a printer yet...
- Possibly re-coat the IR scope with spray primer.

So, what do you guys think? (:

[Sturm]

Very interesting build, can't wait to see if finished!

[Bissyboat]

I agree with the above. Unusual and exciting build.

[Stands24]

I agree with the above. Unusual and exciting build.

Thank you! ^_^ I got my black ink in today and will order a color cartridge so I can print out the decals. Then paint the tracks and it'll be done! The decals really add the finishing touches.

[Bissyboat]

I agree with the above. Unusual and exciting build.

Thank you! ^_^ I got my black ink in today and will order a color cartridge so I can print out the decals. Then paint the tracks and it'll be done! The decals really add the finishing touches.

Home printed decals. Pretty nice. Are you not adding a camo or a Dunkel Gelb coating?

[Stands24]

Home printed decals. Pretty nice. Are you not adding a camo or a Dunkel Gelb coating?

Well, the Galactic Empire used vehicles with a plain gray paint scheme similar to the early WW2 German tanks. I plan to keep this the gray brought on by my primer. I added some black for color and these decals will add some more black, especially the fancy design on the turret sides if I can get it to fit. It It will look very Imperial. c:

[Bissyboat]

Home printed decals. Pretty nice. Are you not adding a camo or a Dunkel Gelb coating?

Well, the Galactic Empire used vehicles with a plain gray paint scheme similar to the early WW2 German tanks. I plan to keep this the gray brought on by my primer. I added some black for color and these decals will add some more black, especially the fancy design on the turret sides if I can get it to fit. It It will look very Imperial. c:

Aha! I was stupid enough not to look at the Boxart. I looked again, and now it makes sense. Keep up the good work!

[Stands24]

Aha! I was stupid enough not to look at the Boxart. I looked again, and now it makes sense. Keep up the good work!

Oh, haha! My bad; I guess I made the first image seem like the box... The actual box was this: It is supposed to have a "historical" camo scheme but seeing as how E-75s were never built, I felt it was okay to take huge creative freedom. I've always wanted to see what German WWII tanks would look like in Galactic Empire livery.

The first image in this thread is actually a skin that someone made for me on War Thunder for the Tiger II with the 105mm. I created the Imperial design, and the friend applied it to the in-game tank. It's basically an E-75 so I felt it would be proper to recreate that skin for my model. c:

[HIghAltitudeScale]

Nice progress, looking forward to more. Looks like it has some very nice weld seams.