Zvezda 1/35 Panzerjager I

[ElCapitan]

Well, as I approach the end of my StuG IV build, I've decided that I enjoyed it so much I would like to have a go at another SPG build. This time the Panzerjager I from Zvezda.

This is another very old kit - it's based on the Italeri PzKpfw.I Ausf.B kit from 1976. This particular kit came out in 1997 with the addition of the 4.7 PaK anti-tank gun.




The kit consists of 3 grey styrene sprues and 1 vinyl sprue. The moulding looks very good with hardly any flash at all. What detail there is looks fine. I'm not too sure about the big Zvezda logo moulded to the underside of the hull!





Included is 1 figure complete with multiple sprue gates




Instructions look clear enough, but time will tell...







I also purchased some aftermarket decals, photo etch and resin sandbag armour.




My intention is to make this part of a diorama, but one step at a time!

[TheNordus]

Oh boy, I can't wait to see this one progress! You sure went all out on aftermarket. I got the original Panzer I ausf. B from Italeri which was re-released recently, and it seemed like a very decent set for it's price. Would love to build this one myself too.

[ElCapitan]

Oh boy, I can't wait to see this one progress! You sure went all out on aftermarket. I got the original Panzer I ausf. B from Italeri which was re-released recently, and it seemed like a very decent set for it's price. Would love to build this one myself too.

I hope I don't disappoint

I was thinking of getting aftermarket tracks too, but haven't decided yet. Metal ones are just so expensive and styrene ones look so fiddly!

[Tomcat64]

Was hoping you'd put up a build thread for this one Rob - I love the tank-destroyers and am fascinated by the early ones.

I didn't know there was one of these in kit form until I saw your post in the modelling goodies thread

[ElCapitan]

Thanks Neil, hope I can do a decent job of it!

I put the road wheel assemblies together this evening - fairly easy really. I think they're designed to rotate, but I don't see the need for that personally.



I'll probably tackle some of the PE detail in the next update.

[Quax]

I've never built a Zvezda kit so its interesting to see how this comes together, looking great so far!
cheers

Paul

[ElCapitan]

So far so good Paul!

Here are the PE instructions, which I'll need to study carefully before I go any further, as I don't want to later find out that something should have been replaced by a PE part. I get so into it sometimes that I miss important details.

[ElCapitan]

Didn't get an awful lot done over the weekend.

I noticed that I had attached some of the running gear the wrong way round, so had to break them off and reattach them.

After that I started on the fighting compartment. The drive shaft has an ejector pin mark on the top, but apart from that everything looks not too bad. There is a mould line on part of it that I will tackle tonight. I also cut the hinges off the fire wall hatches, as they will be replaced by PE parts.



I also took the plunge and added some aftermarket tracks to my list of things that can go wrong...

[ElCapitan]

Firewall with PE parts:



And the fighting compartment so far:



I may put some thin plasticard on the floor behind where the driver will sit, just to cover a couple of ejector pin marks that I didn't realise would still be visible.

So far this kit has gone together pretty well - only my ineptitude has compromised that!

[aur0ra145]

Cool kit, you don't see a lot of these being built. Looking good so far!

[ElCapitan]

Cool kit, you don't see a lot of these being built. Looking good so far!

Thanks! I should get more done this evening hopefully.

It's nice to be building something that people don't see every day - partly because if it turns out terrible it can't be compared to about a million better builds

[TheNordus]

Looking good, I'm waiting for a new entry every day! I got a Masterbox Panzer 1 ammunition carrier and I think it came with those tracks. It looks pretty good.

[ElCapitan]

Looking good, I'm waiting for a new entry every day! I got a Masterbox Panzer 1 ammunition carrier and I think it came with those tracks. It looks pretty good.

Thanks for your support - you're in luck today!

I've added a bit more to the fighting compartment, namely the ammo storage and some kind of PE box. Not really sure what it is to be honest! Also dry fitted the seat. There are no location indicators for the seat or the pedals, so I'm going to have to build up my driver and use him as a guide for getting both in the correct place in relation to the driver's window on the upper hull. Could get a bit complicated, especially when the control sticks are taken into account, and the fact that I would ideally like his foot to be on the throttle pedal. Not sure yet if I'll be able to do that but we'll see.



Also made a start on the pedals. No casualties to the carpet monster yet! The PE plate here is a bit wider than the kit part, so I'll be interested to see how the control sticks are going to attach.

[ElCapitan]

Well I've finished the pedals and installed them in the fighting compartment, but I was disappointed to find that my driver won't fit into the space. When I put him in his shoulders were too broad for the space, and his hunched position meant that his head was too far forward for me to put the upper hull on. It's a real shame because I'll have to rethink the diorama I was planning!

[digger303]

Nice work with the details

[ElCapitan]

For the second time in this build I've had to get the razor saw out and cut everything apart. This time it wasn't my fault though! The parts where the drive axle meets the sidewall are positioned using semi-circular pins and holes, so you would assume that they are the correct angle to be at, but that's not the case. The way Zvezda have you position them will bring the gearbox too far forward, thereby preventing the front plate and the upper hull from fitting properly. Therefore I had to cut the entire axle/gearbox/driveshaft/firewall assembly away (plus the pedals assembly) and re-position it all

Here is everything in the correct place now:



And this brings me onto my next problem...

The upper hull part is completely the wrong shape to fit properly! Basically the angle of the front section is not steep enough. This wouldn't be too bad normally as I could just glue it in place a small amount at a time and work my way along, but that won't be an option once I've stuck PE all over it - there'll be bits pinging off all over the place if I try to bend it even slightly! So my only choice is to try and reshape it using hot water. Job for today is to find out how to do that!

[Tomcat64]

Blimey that "fit" is just shocking mate! Hope you manage to ease it into place somehow.

Had a quick scroll back to the pics you posted of the instructions and even there it looks like it won't fit properly (section 13)

[ElCapitan]

Blimey that "fit" is just shocking mate! Hope you manage to ease it into place somehow.

Had a quick scroll back to the pics you posted of the instructions and even there it looks like it won't fit properly (section 13)

Yes it's a bit of a headache at the moment! I have lots of PE parts to add - the external stuff will be ok to add after it's glued together, but how am I supposed to do the internal pieces without them coming unstuck as soon as the plastic flexes??? I will need to think on it for a while so that I don't rush into anything stupid! I'll also need to think carefully about how I paint the interior and then mask it off to paint the exterior...

[spock1701]

Loving this build so far! Great subject, and all that PE is looking great

[ElCapitan]

Loving this build so far! Great subject, and all that PE is looking great

Thanks Spock!

While I contemplate the upper hull dilemma I decided I may as well get on with other things, so I put the gun together. There are so many parts involved here, making it look really detailed and complex which is awesome!

[digger303]

Blimey that "fit" is just shocking mate! Hope you manage to ease it into place somehow.

Had a quick scroll back to the pics you posted of the instructions and even there it looks like it won't fit properly (section 13)

Yes it's a bit of a headache at the moment! I have lots of PE parts to add - the external stuff will be ok to add after it's glued together, but how am I supposed to do the internal pieces without them coming unstuck as soon as the plastic flexes??? I will need to think on it for a while so that I don't rush into anything stupid! I'll also need to think carefully about how I paint the interior and then mask it off to paint the exterior...

if your going to use CA then I would use the rubberised version. It has a degree of flexibility built in.

[ElCapitan]

Blimey that "fit" is just shocking mate! Hope you manage to ease it into place somehow.

Had a quick scroll back to the pics you posted of the instructions and even there it looks like it won't fit properly (section 13)

Yes it's a bit of a headache at the moment! I have lots of PE parts to add - the external stuff will be ok to add after it's glued together, but how am I supposed to do the internal pieces without them coming unstuck as soon as the plastic flexes??? I will need to think on it for a while so that I don't rush into anything stupid! I'll also need to think carefully about how I paint the interior and then mask it off to paint the exterior...

if your going to use CA then I would use the rubberised version. It has a degree of flexibility built in.

Not a bad idea, I'll have a look for some of that. Any suggestions on which brand to get?

[digger303]

Yes it's a bit of a headache at the moment! I have lots of PE parts to add - the external stuff will be ok to add after it's glued together, but how am I supposed to do the internal pieces without them coming unstuck as soon as the plastic flexes??? I will need to think on it for a while so that I don't rush into anything stupid! I'll also need to think carefully about how I paint the interior and then mask it off to paint the exterior...

if your going to use CA then I would use the rubberised version. It has a degree of flexibility built in.

Not a bad idea, I'll have a look for some of that. Any suggestions on which brand to get?

I have used both loctite ( slightly thickish ) and the VMS version ( very thick ). Both work well although I haven't used them on a kit such as yours. Mainly externally at the end of the build just so I wouldn't knock them off. The ordinary CA breaks away with the slightest pressure.

[ElCapitan]

if your going to use CA then I would use the rubberised version. It has a degree of flexibility built in.

Not a bad idea, I'll have a look for some of that. Any suggestions on which brand to get?

I have used both loctite ( slightly thickish ) and the VMS version ( very thick ). Both work well although I haven't used them on a kit such as yours. Mainly externally at the end of the build just so I wouldn't knock them off. The ordinary CA breaks away with the slightest pressure.

Thanks, I will check them out.

I've not had much time to build recently, but yesterday I did find time to put in a rectangle of very thin styrene sheet to cover the EPM's on the floor, along with the mess that was made when I needed to move the firewall back a bit.



I also made the PE radio. The PE hold-n-fold made short work of this!

[TheNordus]

It's looking very good. I can never paint all the details on 1/35 scale radios.

Re: CA glue
If you can find Gorilla glue, it's by far the best type of CA glue I've used. Loctite is okay too and it's available everywhere around where I live.

[ElCapitan]

Apologies for the lack of updates recently - I will hopefully get something done over the weekend, although the weather is fantastic at the moment so it may not be a big update!!

Good news though - I managed to source a replacement upper hull which is much less warped, which means I can get started on the rest of the PE detail!!

[ElCapitan]

Well this is all I got done over the weekend, it was just too nice outside! Two pieces of PE stuck together and attached to the upper hull. It sounds so pathetic!



To be fair, I did attempt this part too:



...but it was just too fiddly. The slightest mistake and the notches on the central piece were filled with CA and unusable. Even with a magnifier it was too small to get everything in the right place and lined up, so I gave up after an hour or so. It's a shame because the kit moulding of the grille is not great, as you can see in the first photo.

[TheNordus]

For what it's worth, I think the plastic part looks plenty good compared to how much work building a PE grate like that would be. I feel like it would be impossible to build that without soldering the connections.

[ElCapitan]

For what it's worth, I think the plastic part looks plenty good compared to how much work building a PE grate like that would be. I feel like it would be impossible to build that without soldering the connections.

Thanks for the reassurance! I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron from an old hobby of building guitar effects pedals, but I think I'll just be happy with the kit moulded grate this time.

[ElCapitan]

More work on the interior done last night, which means it's pretty much ready for the interior to be painted.

First of all I quickly made a grab handle for the front of the radio, as it looked a bit 2-dimensional. I made this out of some left over resistor legs I had lying around.



Then the radio and the instrument panel were glued onto the underside of the upper hull. The instrument panel will be finished off with a film backing after painting.



Some PE latches added to an internal storage box, and the backrest section was added.




And here's the best picture I could get of the interior at the moment...

[ElCapitan]

Painted the interior last night. Ultimate grey primer first, then Vallejo Model Color buff. Man, I hate vallejo paint. So difficult to get right - it always hits the model so wet no matter what I do.



Looks OK. Will look better once the details are painted and it's been weathered.

[Tomcat64]

Great to see you got a replacement upper hull Rob!

The interior details look very tidy too - the details on the radio really pop out.

[ElCapitan]

Work on the interior has continued and I think is almost complete! Detail painting and some weathering were the order of the day. Weathering consists of some neutral brown Mig Panel Line Wash. It does so much more than it says on the tin! Most of it will be invisible but I treated it as an opportunity to practise! The only thing I'm not happy with is the radio, the paint seemed to go down really uneven, so I'm hoping it's not too obvious once the kit is fully built. Also I seem to have lost the accelerator pedal along the way.

[ElCapitan]

Got this thing closed up yesterday, which is a big milestone in my mind. Might put a bit of putty along the join near the rear.





Next, tools and more PE!

[Tomcat64]

Nice to see it finally with the upper hull in place mate!

[TheNordus]

Looking really good, as for the radio, I think it looks fine and I doubt you will very easily see it after the gun and the gun shield are installed. Were the dials on the dashboard decals?
I've recently been very infatuated with small tanks, makes me wonder if building this Panther with full interior has burnt me out on bigger vehicles.

[ElCapitan]

Nice to see it finally with the upper hull in place mate!

Looking really good, as for the radio, I think it looks fine and I doubt you will very easily see it after the gun and the gun shield are installed. Were the dials on the dashboard decals?
I've recently been very infatuated with small tanks, makes me wonder if building this Panther with full interior has burnt me out on bigger vehicles.

Thanks guys.

The dials are a transparent film which came with the PE set, which I painted white on the back. I think you're right about the radio, it's going to be well tucked away!

[ElCapitan]

After a few weeks of almost constant redecorating and moving my modelling area into the garage, I've finally earned some free time! I mostly did some fiddly PE detail, the majority of which is too small to be worth a separate photo of each part, but I don't want to leave this thread stagnant any longer, so here are the PE rear mud guards, with teensy wee hooks on the rear deck and side of the hull visible too...

[Minty]

Congrats on an excellent build sir, can't wait to see the finished article.

[ElCapitan]

Congrats on an excellent build sir, can't wait to see the finished article.

Thanks Minty!

Work continued this evening on the PE details and tools. Eduard would have had me make PE clips for securing all the tools, but the instructions left a lot to be desired. For the size of the things it just didn't seem worth the time and effort of figuring them out. I did get quite a lot of other fiddly stuff done though.

[Tomcat64]

Great to see you still making progress on this one mate - that teeny PE is going to be a real eye-test!

[ElCapitan]

Great to see you still making progress on this one mate - that teeny PE is going to be a real eye-test!

Slow progress, but progress nonetheless!

I'm being quite selective about which PE parts I bother using - no point sapping the fun out of it for the sake of a tiny detail!

[Donkeywalloper]

Absolutely beautiful job and nice thread.

[ElCapitan]

Absolutely beautiful job and nice thread.

Thanks DW, still cracking on with it slowly!

[ElCapitan]

More tools and bits and pieces of PE added. The instructions were for an axe to be placed next to the shovel, but the space isn't big enough for both, and the axe itself is moulded the other way round from the instructions show, so it was just out of the question.

Also worked on the gun shield, which is a simple enough task of bending the large PE plate and adding some internal detail.




I'm starting to see the end of the build phase not far off!

[ElCapitan]

Gathering pace now!

Finished the gun shield. Noticed that the PE shield has 5 sides, while the kit part has 7... nevermind, it still looks much better. I nicked the two supports from the kit part to help to position and fix the PE in place.

Also made the PE mesh barrier which required a lot of fiddly bends. I think it turned out great though - usually when I have to make so many bends it means the parts don't fit together in the end, but not this time. Like a glove. Well pleased

Here's a dry fit of the gun and shield on top of the chassis... I'll glue them on once everything's painted.



Seriously not much more to go!

[TheNordus]

That's an impressive piece of metal on that gunshield. As for the number of sides to the gunshield, I think both versions existed.

[ElCapitan]

Great picture Tommi! A day at the beach in the tank destroyer

[ElCapitan]

I decided to start cleaning up the Masterbox track links this evening. These come on 2 sprues of 100 or so each.



They look pretty good to me inexperienced eye...



They take ages though. I did 20 links in an hour... They're just so small and fiddly! I also broke one simply by holding it.



Can't honestly say I'm enjoying this bit. I lost interest after doing another 10.

[digger303]

I decided to start cleaning up the Masterbox track links this evening. These come on 2 sprues of 100 or so each.



They look pretty good to me inexperienced eye...



They take ages though. I did 20 links in an hour... They're just so small and fiddly! I also broke one simply by holding it.



Can't honestly say I'm enjoying this bit. I lost interest after doing another 10.

Best to do it while watching telly, I'm zoned out anyway... Doesn't seem to take as long then
I call it spending quality time with the missus