Tamiya Jagdpanther 1/35 (with Photo-etch)

[TheNordus]

I bought the Tamiya King Tiger "Ardennes Front" tank on my vacation recently, and though I would have to buy photo-etched grilles for it. While looking for a grilles set for it I ended up buying a whole 20 euro upgrade set for it (look forward to this build in the future!) and grabbed a similar set for a Jagdpanther since they had it in stock. I also bought a Tamiya Jagdpanther kit for it and now I've been slowly building it while wondering what to do about my lack of airbrush.



From the photo-etched set and a video on youtube I found out that the tool layout on the late model Jagdpanthers had changed dramatically buy the battle of the bulge where this particular Jagdpanther served. Tamiya has this particular tank in their painting sheet, but it's of course not accurate to how this tank looks. I believe the tank here is knocked out, but I think it's fair to say it doesn't have the standard Jagdpanther tool layout.



And here's a picture of the colour scheme I'm going to go for.







Here's a kind of a 360 view of the tank as it is right now. The fenders and track hangers were included as a part of the PE set, but I only put on the front fenders and beat them up appropriately. I really don't enjoy complicated PE pieces and the track hangers were impossible to glue on. The PE grilles which I basically bought this upgrade set for are extremely nice, although they didn't really fit their slots on the tank very well. You can see I've filled in the original location holes for the equipment and moved the fire extinguisher to the back of the superstructure. Right now I'm wondering if I want to sand out the detail on the barrel cleaning rod case and replace it with photo-etched pieces or just mount it on the engine deck or not.



Here are the track hangers for the hull sides. I decided to use the photo-etched option because the original Tamiya version has some awkward ejector pin marks and the little chain and peg holders add some real super detail. I just hope they stay on and survive the painting process.

Thanks for looking, please leave a comment.

[Kevthemodeller]

Looking forward to this build, Jagdpanther is just such a right looking AFV

[SMAddict66]

already looking forward to the updates

[TheNordus]

Thanks for the encouragement guys! I've all but finished the build here, I'll prime it tomorrow but I'm still stuck without an airbrush - argh!
Jagdpanther is one of my favorite AFVs of all time.



And here we have the bane of my existence, photo-etched toool clamps. After I spent an hour assembling the first one my hands were shaking and I felt physically ill. I've gotta admit they look very great though.

I'm not sure if I'll add other tools, as the other tools aren't given very clear placements. The axe should go under the barrel cleaning rod case, but there's no space under there as you will soon see.



I decided to sand down the kit part in the end and use the photo-etched parts because I thought they would help you to mount the case higher up. Well, not really. I also only found out the two small brackets on the engine deck would have been used to hold onto the towing cables, now they're squashed under the cleaning rod case.



I had bought a King Tiger 88mm barrel to use on this tank, but I didn't realize they were completely incompatible, so I ended up using the kit barrel.



I added a headlight mount from a dragon kit and filled the hole made for the shovel with a piece of plastic card.





Here's the diorama base I have started to design. I intend to use the figures from the new Tamiya Tank Crew kit inspecting a map, and possibly some infantry I have in my stash.

Sorry for the slightly crappy pictures, I'm struggling to find a good photographing environment.

[Stokesy44]

Really like all the detail work and that paint scheme could look stunning if you can pull it off. I think winter wash looks superb when you can still see some of the camo underneath.

Will definitely be watching this. Could almost fancy a JP myself on the strength of your build.

[TheNordus]

I got a new airbrush, finally!



Only the finest in Chinese craftsmanship. I could not find anything about Panzag as a brand except some air compressor on Swedish websites.
It feels a bit nicer than my first airbrush but it was about the same price. The cup for paint is pretty small but one cup was enough to get complete coverage on a tank. E: Does anyone know what the screw under the cup is for?







I primed this with the Games Workshop black paint (mostly) and then gave it a coat of dark track primer by MiG to get a chipping layer. I then applied a gloss coat and some vallejo chipping fluid.





Here's my first lines of dunkelgelb shot through the airbrush, it came out with heavy overspray to start with, but diluting the MiG paint a little helped.

I completely finished the camouflage job on the tank already, but then I applied a REALLY watery filter on it without sealing in the paint! There goes all the chipping work. I'm going to let it dry until tomorrow and then I'll do some damage control and update y'all on how it turned out.

[digger303]

That screw is most likely a fine air adjustment.

[TheNordus]

That screw is most likely a fine air adjustment.

Thanks, I'll have to fiddle with it and see if it affects my spray.

Here are the pics I promised of the initial camouflage job.









It's still gloss-coated because I'm applying great amounts of micro-sol and mark fit in the hopes that it will somehow melt away the thick carrier film on the Tamiya decals. The rear deck has most of the original chipped paint job left, I had to respray most of the top. I'm pretty happy with it, my plan right now is to put a matt coat on it before going to bed so it will dry well overnight. Then I'll mask off some areas and hit it with Tamiya white and some AK washable white camo in the hopes I can use that to streak down similarly to the photos I posted at the start of the thread.

[Vindicare]

what gloss varnish did you use?

[TheNordus]

what gloss varnish did you use?

Supermarket spray can, I use them for all my varnishes although they are not very high quality. The exact brand is "Maston".

[Tomcat64]

Another Jagdpanther fan here - with one in the stash itching to get out now!

Great work on the AFV - especially that camo paint job - very nice!

Looking forward to seeing the whole diorama come together on this one.

[TheNordus]

Another Jagdpanther fan here - with one in the stash itching to get out now!

Great work on the AFV - especially that camo paint job - very nice!

Looking forward to seeing the whole diorama come together on this one.

Thanks mate, I didn't think it was half hot but I'm hoping it'll turn good during weathering.
Speaking of what, I gathered what I got done today into an update.

I painted on some splotches of Tamiya white and then sprayed on some MiG washable white camo. I think I put on too much of it though, and ended up with one big "bald spot" on the other side.

Here are some overview pictures:









Unfortunately I put the rear holder for the towing cable too far back and the wooden block didn't fit exactly where it should have.







Some detail shots here. I also put some grasses on the diorama along with some flock on top of Vallejo Dark Earth. I also added some crushed up wood to simulate wood splinters from the blown-up trees. The logwork on the embankment was painted with MiG new wood. I plan on adding splotches of mud and snow on the diorama so the white tank won't stand out so much, and then weathering the tank to fit into the dio too.

[TheNordus]

More progress today! I finally built the figures I intend to use. I've also started the weathering process, which for me is anything but coherent. I don't really have a set order I do my stuff in, I use different weathering techniques as they come to me.



I'm pretty sure this is going to be the "main facing" of this diorama.



Here you can see the figures. I would have preferred winter uniformed troopers, but these will do. The new Tamiya panzer crew box is a really good figure set.



I will be adding some old Tamiya plastic fuel drums to this side, they're waiting for weathering first.









Some more views of the dio as it stands. I used Vallejo diorama texture paints, Vallejo pigments and binder and Vallejo washes for most of the weathering.

[demarcation]

Looks awesome mate!!

[TheNordus]

Thanks for the comment, Demarcation.







Here's some pictures of the figures. I'm not a figurepainter at all, but they add a lot to a diorama so I keep trying. I attached them to the base using Vallejo's dark mud. Turns out it's a bit too dark though, I'll have to blend it to the base a little bit better. I feel like I'm losing my building mojo and some of my projects are getting left by the wayside. I've been trying to catch up on them but I'm starting to feel a little bit burnt out.

[ElCapitan]

Great work! Seeing this sort of thing always inspires me to try doing a dio at some point, but then I realise it will never look as good as this!

[TheNordus]

Great work! Seeing this sort of thing always inspires me to try doing a dio at some point, but then I realise it will never look as good as this!

Thanks for the encouragement. I never thought I'd like building dioramas when I tried my first time, but now that I've done a few I'm having a hard time going back to just building tanks, I always try to think of a diorama to go with a build.
This is also mostly just made with out-of-the-box elements bought directly from a hobby store, it's relatively easy to make a great looking base for a model.

[Tomcat64]

That's coming together really well mate and there's nothing at all wrong with your figure painting - they really add to the overall effect (I always think figures bring a dio to life).

Can I ask where you got those two from please?

[TheNordus]

That's coming together really well mate and there's nothing at all wrong with your figure painting - they really add to the overall effect (I always think figures bring a dio to life).

Can I ask where you got those two from please?

Thanks, I tend to look at what the "pros" do and feel inadequate compared to them. The figures are from the newest Tamiya Wehrmact Tank Crew set (Item No: 35354).

[Quax]

speaking from recent experience that's one steady hand you have there for the detail on those figures! It goes (almost) without saying that the dio is fantastic!

Paul

[TheNordus]

speaking from recent experience that's one steady hand you have there for the detail on those figures! It goes (almost) without saying that the dio is fantastic!

Paul

Most of the really fine detail is made with decals, it's a feature of the kit those figures come from, I'm honestly really poor at painting the shoulder boards of the figures, as in I've never even tried.

[Quax]

well that's very honest, I would never have known but it doesn't detract from the fact that the whole is a terrific job!

Paul

[Stokesy44]

Lovely figures mate - top drawer