Tristar Panzer 38(t) E/F (Back on the bench!)

[spock1701]

Hello all

It's been a long while, but I'm back at the bench and up to my old tricks: posting inconsistent build updates!

Hopefully this one will be different, as I have few remaining distractions until I depart again in August.

So, anyway, here's the subject:

120453-10518-pristine by quentinrubel, on Flickr

It is, without a doubt, an excellent kit. The detail is very good, the parts are molded in dark yellow plastic with almost no flash. Especially considering the low-ish price tag on this kit (I paid about $20 US and that was from a guy on Armorama), this is a great kit. The parts fit together well, I only had to trim once and I'm about half done with it. The only trouble I had was with the suspension, and, as it turned out to be workable when finished, I didn't mind all that much.

IMG_20180507_190033814 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

IMG_20180507_202923339 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

IMG_20180507_202944058 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

That's about all for now, I hope to get some more work done on it tonight. Cheers!

[digger303]

[spock1701]

Hiya folks! to another build update.

Didn't have a lot of time to work on this last night, but I got some work done on the back end of the tank and filled some gaps at the front with putty. The kit comes with a small PE fret with mostly small fiddly bits (tool clamps, etc.), a few of which got lost in the vast concrete steppe of my basement floor. But the big bits survived and look okay, given that I bend them with tweezers and pliers and fingers. I'm pleased with the way this build is coming together overall.

IMG_20180509_084654496 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

The kit comes with a variety of options for painting the tank and a number of decal options for units across Europe. Just kidding!!! It's either Russia or the Crimea. And only one option isn't Panzer Grey. Not that I mind. I like Panzer Grey. I've been thinking about using one of the Crimea options, just because I think it's an interesting, overlooked, part of the war. I'll likely do a vignette or small dio for this build, and right now I'm thinking early spring, muddy, faded whitewash maybe.

IMG_20180509_084752875 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

[Tomcat64]

Good to see you back again mate!

Nice tidy work so far on a more unusual subject - and that's a nice range of grey options too

[spock1701]

Hello all! to another build update.

Sorry for not posting recently, but my grandmother passed away a few weeks ago and last night was my first chance to sit down at the bench since then.

The rest of the bits on the hull went on nicely, as before, and I finished the hull up within an hour. The turret, however, gave me all kinds of trouble. The first step was assembling the main gun, which was fine and I didn't care that much anyway since it won't be viewable on the finished product.

IMG_20180525_224348954 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

However, when I went to fit it into the mantlet, I discovered that, due to some hidden thing, it sat funny, making the barrel stick out at an angle from the turret. I fixed it by chopping off plastic until it sat right, but it was very bothersome .

IMG_20180525_230209251 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

The rest of the turret was okay, but the main pieces fit not so well, and there were some gaps, some of which you can see here. It just wasn't as well constructed as the hull. However, I think it still looks okay, certainly for my standards.

IMG_20180525_233523691 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

IMG_20180526_135207580 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

IMG_20180526_135222917 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

The handle thing on the turret was very fragile and broke when I was removing it from the sprue, so i replaced it with some steel wire. Doesn't look exactly the same, but it will do.

IMG_20180526_140356860 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

I have finally decided on how I am going to paint the tank . I will be depicting tank 525 of the 25 Panzer Regiment, 7 Panzer Division, in Russia. All grey .

IMG_20180526_155109061 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

And here she is, all ready for painting!!! Just now waiting on an order of airbrush cleaner to get started.

IMG_20180526_155211508 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

[darrengreenwood]

Lovely work so far. Looking forward to seeing more.

[TheNordus]

I just started building this kit, except it's the re-release by Hobby Boss and I gotta say I like it so far as well. Have you tried building the tracks yet? It says you don't need glue for them but I'm a bit skeptical.

[spock1701]

I just started building this kit, except it's the re-release by Hobby Boss and I gotta say I like it so far as well. Have you tried building the tracks yet? It says you don't need glue for them but I'm a bit skeptical.

I started putting them together just to see how it would work, and I definitely agree with you. Some don't fit as tightly as they should, and I wouldn't trust the ones that do to stay together for very long. I'm thinking they can stay together long enough to shape on the wheels but after that they're getting a nice touch of TET.

[spock1701]

Hi fellas

Finally got that Amazon package with the airbrush cleaner, so I was able to finally get started on painting.

I started off with a coat of Ultimate Black primer (as always).

IMG_20180606_182639960 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

Then I sprayed Ultimate White primer on areas that I wanted to be a little lighter, to show paint fading and wear.

IMG_20180606_183948871 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

Then I sprayed on an even coat of Vallejo Model Air German Grey mixed about 10:1 with VMA White and lightly thinned. The contrast I was going for with the white primer didn't turn out that visible, but I was satisfied nonetheless.

IMG_20180607_204453865 by quentinrubel, on Flickr

My next step will be a coat of PFM and then decals and detail painting. Thanks for reading. Cheers!

[TheNordus]

Looks good, no doubt about it, can't wait to see all the details painted in! I tried spraying Vallejo's German Gray straight out of the bottle and found it only marginally less black than Tamiya's rubber black. My favorite is Tamiya's German Grey, I find it just light enough out of the bottle and I think (although I might be wrong) it's got a nice blue-ish tone to it.

[Tomcat64]

Nice work mate - that's coming along really well.