Tomcat's Lynx - Asuka 1/35 Pz.Kpfw. II Ausf. L

[Tomcat64]

This was going to be my second entry into the Feline Fever GB but in the end events conspired against me getting started, so I'm going to build it anyway as a bit of a January mojo-builder prior to plunging out of my comfort zone into the car build. This will be OOB and if I got my planning right it should fit straight into the Feline Fever dio base where the Puma is currently sitting for those that followed along with that build

So here's the box art


This is the Asuka/Tasca kit from 2003 and I'm guessing mine is one of the originals as the Asuka labels are just stuck over the original Tasca box details and the instructions show Tasca as well.

Here are the sprue frames - nothing too scary here, and a reasonable number of wheels for a German AFV There are also some PE & polycap parts as well as rubber band type tracks.


There's a wealth of information on the instruction sheet... unfortunately it's all in Japanese


There are occasional English call outs, and thankfully all the numbers are in English too, so I think with a little care and attention this should go together ok.


We've got the in-laws with us at the moment so the bench is officially off-limits but now I've got the itch I might try and get a sneaky start on this when nobody's looking

[DrSprue]

Oh that looks like a fun build Neil! Nice kit too.

[Tomcat64]

Oh that looks like a fun build Neil! Nice kit too.

Good to have you along for the ride as always Tony!

How are you getting on with that old Hurricane of yours?

[Stokesy44]

Its Lt Gruber's liddle tanky!

Subscribed!

[Tomcat64]

Its Lt Gruber's liddle tanky!

[digger303]

These Asuka Luchs kits were supposed to be the top kit for these panzers so I am interested to see how it goes. I have a couple of their Sherman's which I haven't built yet.

[DrSprue]

Oh that looks like a fun build Neil! Nice kit too.

Good to have you along for the ride as always Tony!

How are you getting on with that old Hurricane of yours?

Yea even though Im not a tank builder... yet!! hehe.. I just love to see how these kits fare up and as we all love to do, learn so much from these topics and you great model makers. Got a few kits going now, but will get back to the hurricane in the next few weeks. Thanks for asking bud.

[Quax]

looks interesting Neil, give the in-laws the heave and get on with the important things in life!

Paul

[Tomcat64]

Yea even though Im not a tank builder... yet!! hehe..

Hang around this bunch of hooligans much longer and you'll soon be staring at your own set of wheels wondering how they all fit

looks interesting Neil, give the in-laws the heave and get on with the important things in life!

Paul

They've been carted off back to Crete so now all the junk has been moved back out of the den into the spare room normal(ish) service can now be resumed!

These Asuka Luchs kits were supposed to be the top kit for these panzers so I am interested to see how it goes. I have a couple of their Sherman's which I haven't built yet.

No complaints so far mate - the plastic is good and takes TET well, very little in the way of flash, mould lines or EPMs.

So... finally on with the build My cunning plan of getting a sneaky session in was scuppered but I finally got back to the bench for a couple of hours last night.

Starting with the lower hull, nothing too scary here and luckily the recommended build order was pretty obvious. The only thing to watch out for is that the left & right sides are not symmetrical due to the suspension arrangement so needed to pay attention to the part call-outs as both B1s go on one side and both B2s on the other.


Then wheels! There's a poly part between each half of each wheel, large ones for the drive sprocket and idler and small ones for the road wheel sets


Next step was the suspension - it's a neat design that actually includes plastic torsion bars so the road wheels can be arranged with some deflection to pose them over rough ground. As a result each suspension arm is only attached to the inside of the hull on the opposite side so I hope this isn't too fragile for any of the handling still required. This is the only point so far where I've hit visible EPMs but they were shallow enough to be sanded down without too much trouble. Just needed to pay attention to the part call-outs to make sure the right arms are in the right place on both sides.


And finally for this update the rear idlers have a tensioner mechanism, the idea being that once you've got the wheels & track on you can adjust the idlers using this bar and then CA it in place. Looking ahead to the way the upper hull goes together I think I'll be ok to progress with the main hull build and just leave the rear deck off to allow access to these later as I'll be adding the wheels & tracks after the initial painting stage.


That's all for now; it's great to be back at the bench again!

Thanks as always for looking and taking the time to comment

[Stokesy44]

Very nice. Good to see the next project getting underway.

Kit looks good and as you say, the brand screams quality. My BoB Sherman was an Asuka reboxed by Eduard and that was a stunning bit of plastic.

And who knows, if you like the Luchs, what about the 1/16 offering? Looks beautiful and reviews are good too

[Tomcat64]

My BoB Sherman was an Asuka reboxed by Eduard and that was a stunning bit of plastic.

I didn't realise that - it was a cracking build! And yes it's a real pleasure to work with!

And who knows, if you like the Luchs, what about the 1/16 offering? Looks beautiful and reviews are good too

No more new kits! No more new kits! No more new kits! No more new kits! No more new kits!

[DrSprue]

Wow Neil, love this update. So cool with a pic on pic and pointers and such. Very cool idea about the tension thing too.

[TheNordus]

Looking good! I've wanted to build a Lynx for a while but I can't seem to find one currently in production. What kinds of tracks does this set come with?

[Tomcat64]

Wow Neil, love this update. So cool with a pic on pic and pointers and such. Very cool idea about the tension thing too.

Thanks Tony Glad you like the pic on pic style as I'm going to try and do that for my future builds where practical

Looking good! I've wanted to build a Lynx for a while but I can't seem to find one currently in production. What kinds of tracks does this set come with?

Thanks mate - this one has been in my stash for a couple of years off of e-bay. It's got rubber band tracks; there are fruils available but they're about the same price as the kit again so I'm going to give them a miss for this one.

I managed to get some more time at the bench last night to keep this ticking over; first up was stage 4 and this is where me and the instructions go our separate ways as they install the wheels here. As a result all I had to do was complete the detailing on the rear hull plate - nothing too tricky here except for some small parts which weren't designed for my fat fingers, but so far no victims to the carpet monster


Here's section 5 just for reference as it covers installation of the tracks and tensioning of the idler - we'll come back to this later on.


Onto section six and there's a callout here in Japanese that I've highlighted in this image as it looked important


On investigation of the parts, it turns out there's a couple of flanges on the upper hull that need to fit under the corresponding ribs on the rear of the lower hull sides - all arrowed in the picture below. There are also a couple of locating nubs on the upper edges of the lower hull to assist in getting things lined up.


And here's the finished section (actually I just noticed I missed a part at the front ). The rear fenders aligned pretty well although a little sanding was required, and care needed to be taken with the upper braces (A3 & A4) as one goes above the moulded detail and one goes below on the other side.


And finally for this update the front superstructure; the only things of note here are that the sides need to go on before the front and rear and that the vision port covers (B30) need to be in place before C24 on the front panel.


I'm hoping to get some more time on this one over the weekend so there may be something tank-shaped for next week.

Thanks for looking & have a great weekend

[Stokesy44]

Oh that's looking tasty.

Loving all the fancy pics and arrows and picture in picture whizzes - Mr Clever Legs. Has one purchased some new hardware / software recently Sir?

It all adds to the anticipation when one is waiting for another update from the TC

[aur0ra145]

This is looking awesome, can't wait to see the finished product!

[Tomcat64]

Oh that's looking tasty.

Loving all the fancy pics and arrows and picture in picture whizzes - Mr Clever Legs. Has one purchased some new hardware / software recently Sir?

It all adds to the anticipation when one is waiting for another update from the TC

Thanks mate - the new laptop I got before Christmas has a much higher resolution than the old one; I'm still using Photoshop like before but decided to try and get a bit more creative than just cropping and resizing like I was doing previously.

This is looking awesome, can't wait to see the finished product!

Cheers mate - thanks for stopping by

[Quax]

more arrows than Custer's hat... looks tasty so far

Paul

[Tomcat64]

more arrows than Custer's hat... looks tasty so far

Thanks mate - more arrows in this update!

Didn't get much done over the weekend after all but did grab a few hours in the evenings so far this week to move the "leetle tank" along.

First up for this was stowage bins and engine covers in step 8


These were then added to the lower hull along with the superstructure I built previously - some small fiddly bits here, and the holes indicated for drilling here were already drilled through.


I left the engine cover unglued at this stage so I can access the swing arms for tensioning the idlers later on


The next two sections (10 & 11) deal primarily with adding the pioneer tools down the front. I'll paint these separately and then add them later so all I did here was attach the two headlights, and add a bit of brass wire for detailing the cables.


Next up assembly of some more components including the exhaust muffler, jack, extinguisher and more stowage


And then adding these down the back, again the pioneer tools and exhaust system will be painted separately and then added later so just the stowage bin and lifting hooks to add at this point. Mounting the jack later looks like it might be a bit fiddly so I'll have another look at this.


Here come the arrows! The kit includes PE grilles for the two smaller intakes (blue arrows) but not for the longer rear intake (red arrow) so I've found an aber set on e-bay that includes all three and waiting for that to arrive.


Then it was onto the turret, first up the gun assemblies


Then various turret components; I'll be building the turret sealed up so didn't bother trying to make the rear hatch workable. None of the interior detail will be on show for the finished build so I won't be painting this but assembled it and the various spares anyway as it's all practice.


The turret was then assembled following the suggested order with no issues


Then detailed up


And that's the main build done - there are a couple of aerials which I'll add later as I know they'll be broken off if I attach them now. So I attached the turret to the hull and bluetacked a couple of the loose items in place


Around the back - the exhaust is just blue-tacked as well


Then finally I built the crewman - these were the worst part of the kit for mould lines but nothing too bad; and dry fitted the wheels to see how it all looks


It's been a real pleasure to build this and if their other kits are of the same quality I'd have no problem recommending them to anyone.

I'll get an initial primer coat down while I'm waiting for the PE grilles to show up and then it's on with the painting.

Thanks as always for looking!

[DrSprue]

Oh very cool Neil. Thank you for these very detailed (with great photography) images. Man, it feels like I am making this along with you! haha! I am putting this one in my scalemates wishlist too. Would this tank be a good one for a 1st time tank for me? If not, any recommendations would be very appreciated.

[TheNordus]

Whoa, the detail on this set looks stunning! Building the turret with separate parts for all the walls seems a bit daunting to me but you did a great job of it. Weird that they'd omit one of the grilles and yet give you some of them.

Would this tank be a good one for a 1st time tank for me? If not, any recommendations would be very appreciated.

I'm sure Neil can give you an educated opinion on this particular kit, but my recommendation would be to start with the tank you find most interesting, be it for the looks, historical background or maybe just being iconic for the era. Only thing I would avoid is zimmerit because applying it on a kit that doesn't have it is a huge pain in the behind.

Tamiya's Shermans, Tigers, Panthers, Panzer IVs, Stug IIIs and Cromwells (or IS-2 or M26 Pershing for that matter) are really good sets that are accurate enough and fun to build. Academy makes great fun and easy to build T-34s. If you want all-in-one sets you might want to look for Dragon's tanks, they usually come with good tracks and photo-etch out of the box, but make sure you buy them on the cheap and NOT the cyber hobby releases. Tasca/Asuka makes the best Shermans on the market.

Sorry for the waffle there.

[DrSprue]

Whoa, the detail on this set looks stunning! Building the turret with separate parts for all the walls seems a bit daunting to me but you did a great job of it. Weird that they'd omit one of the grilles and yet give you some of them.

Would this tank be a good one for a 1st time tank for me? If not, any recommendations would be very appreciated.

I'm sure Neil can give you an educated opinion on this particular kit, but my recommendation would be to start with the tank you find most interesting, be it for the looks, historical background or maybe just being iconic for the era. Only thing I would avoid is zimmerit because applying it on a kit that doesn't have it is a huge pain in the behind.

Tamiya's Shermans, Tigers, Panthers, Panzer IVs, Stug IIIs and Cromwells (or IS-2 or M26 Pershing for that matter) are really good sets that are accurate enough and fun to build. Academy makes great fun and easy to build T-34s. If you want all-in-one sets you might want to look for Dragon's tanks, they usually come with good tracks and photo-etch out of the box, but make sure you buy them on the cheap and NOT the cyber hobby releases. Tasca/Asuka makes the best Shermans on the market.

Sorry for the waffle there.

Oh no waffling at all! Thank you so much for very cool info. The list of those tanks and the stuff Ive seen here in this forum being made are just so cool. Even tho I have built a few models, Tanks and other ground military builds is a subject I am just beginning to really appreciate.

[Tomcat64]

Whoa, the detail on this set looks stunning! Building the turret with separate parts for all the walls seems a bit daunting to me but you did a great job of it. Weird that they'd omit one of the grilles and yet give you some of them.

Thanks mate - yeah I don't know if the rear grille was always carried but thought I'd go for it anyway as I saw it on a couple of photos that I found. The turret went together pretty easily even though it was separate parts - the bevelling on the corners was spot on.

Oh very cool Neil. Thank you for these very detailed (with great photography) images. Man, it feels like I am making this along with you! haha! I am putting this one in my scalemates wishlist too. Would this tank be a good one for a 1st time tank for me? If not, any recommendations would be very appreciated.

Thanks Tony!

Actually this wouldn't be a bad place to start armour building - it's a little more complex than Tamiya but nothing overly ridiculous, and also includes some PE to play with. Nordus is right though, find a subject you like the look of and give it a go, although I would steer clear of the Panzer IIIs and IVs and their derivatives to start with as the sheer number of road wheels will likely drive you nuts - it's bad enough building them (they're all twin sets) but painting all the tyres is the very path to insanity! Obi-Wan Stokesy had a theory that the Germans lost the war because they ran out of wheels!

You generally can't go wrong with a Tamiya kit for armour - even most of their older stuff fits well and will give you a good representation of the subject (IMHO). And if you want to stay on the Allied side of the fence you've got things like the Sherman of course, but also the M-24 and M-26 to play with.

[Stokesy44]

Builds up really nicely mate

Liking the cables for the spots too. Very tidy.

[DrSprue]

Whoa, the detail on this set looks stunning! Building the turret with separate parts for all the walls seems a bit daunting to me but you did a great job of it. Weird that they'd omit one of the grilles and yet give you some of them.

Thanks mate - yeah I don't know if the rear grille was always carried but thought I'd go for it anyway as I saw it on a couple of photos that I found. The turret went together pretty easily even though it was separate parts - the bevelling on the corners was spot on.

Oh very cool Neil. Thank you for these very detailed (with great photography) images. Man, it feels like I am making this along with you! haha! I am putting this one in my scalemates wishlist too. Would this tank be a good one for a 1st time tank for me? If not, any recommendations would be very appreciated.

Thanks Tony!

Actually this wouldn't be a bad place to start armour building - it's a little more complex than Tamiya but nothing overly ridiculous, and also includes some PE to play with. Nordus is right though, find a subject you like the look of and give it a go, although I would steer clear of the Panzer IIIs and IVs and their derivatives to start with as the sheer number of road wheels will likely drive you nuts - it's bad enough building them (they're all twin sets) but painting all the tyres is the very path to insanity! Obi-Wan Stokesy had a theory that the Germans lost the war because they ran out of wheels!

You generally can't go wrong with a Tamiya kit for armour - even most of their older stuff fits well and will give you a good representation of the subject (IMHO). And if you want to stay on the Allied side of the fence you've got things like the Sherman of course, but also the M-24 and M-26 to play with.

Thank you so much Neil. I have been getting a good feeling about kits (of any type really from aircraft all the way to cars) for Tamiya. I have seen so many good builds here with them of all types. Throwing in some PE (which I am not afraid to start handling soon) and maybe a Sherman or Tiger build from them would be very cool. (I do love history so maybe some reads in this area is in order). I do not have any Tamiya kits in my stash (well maybe one small V-1 that is still in its box) but these videos and the build you guys do here are so cool with stuff from that company. Thank you Neil, Nordus or anyone for just awesome reply's when I ask. (i bet your right Stokesy!) Really, for being back less than 1 year now into styrene, I think I have gotten decades of info about this very fun hobby.

[Stokesy44]

Thank you so much Neil. I have been getting a good feeling about kits (of any type really from aircraft all the way to cars) for Tamiya. I have seen so many good builds here with them of all types. Throwing in some PE (which I am not afraid to start handling soon) and maybe a Sherman or Tiger build from them would be very cool. (I do love history so maybe some reads in this area is in order). I do not have any Tamiya kits in my stash (well maybe one small V-1 that is still in its box) but these videos and the build you guys do here are so cool with stuff from that company. Thank you Neil, Nordus or anyone for just awesome reply's when I ask. (i bet your right Stokesy!) Really, for being back less than 1 year now into styrene, I think I have gotten decades of info about this very fun hobby.

Tamiya have brought out some really nice new stuff in the last few years in the medium tank size. You wouldn't go wrong with any of them.

Sherman Easy 8
Jagdpanzer IV Lang
M10 Tank Destroyer
Panther D

If you want something bigger, their Jagdtiger and Elefant are very nice too - and they come with link and length tracks which look superb.

[Tomcat64]

Builds up really nicely mate

Liking the cables for the spots too. Very tidy.

Thanks mate

Thank you so much Neil. I have been getting a good feeling about kits (of any type really from aircraft all the way to cars) for Tamiya. I have seen so many good builds here with them of all types. Throwing in some PE (which I am not afraid to start handling soon) and maybe a Sherman or Tiger build from them would be very cool. (I do love history so maybe some reads in this area is in order). I do not have any Tamiya kits in my stash (well maybe one small V-1 that is still in its box) but these videos and the build you guys do here are so cool with stuff from that company. Thank you Neil, Nordus or anyone for just awesome reply's when I ask. (i bet your right Stokesy!) Really, for being back less than 1 year now into styrene, I think I have gotten decades of info about this very fun hobby.

Sometimes the internet works the way it should

Let us know what you decide on and we'll see if we can setup a "Doc's first armour" buddy build or something

[Stokesy44]

Let us know what you decide on and we'll see if we can setup a "Doc's first armour" buddy build or something

Ooh, count me in, an armour buddy build......

[Tomcat64]

After a couple of weeks of neglect I've managed to get some time with this kitty again...

The Aber grilles turned up from Poland So before attaching them I painted the visible areas inside the intakes with Vallejo Extra Opaque Heavy Charcoal. This is just roughly applied with a brush as it's just to make sure the intakes are suitably dark inside and will mostly be covered with primer in any case. The grilles were then added with CA, and the two smaller ones were curved over the barrel of a pen to make sure they fitted onto the intakes.


Then it was out with the Ultimate black primer for that "Stealth" effect


I noticed on the painting instructions that there is a darker area indicated where a Balkankreuz has presumably been painted over; so prior to the first coat of dark yellow going down I masked a cross off in the hope that it'll show through when I apply the second coat provided I'm not too heavy handed


Then it was out with the Vallejo Model Air Dunkelgelb for the first coat, and removal of the cross mask


I was hoping to get the second coat on tonight, but it turns out the cats forgot to order up some more dunkelgelb so that'll have to wait for a couple of days. I've also got the wheels & pioneer tools primed up so I can at least make a start on the tools while I'm waiting for the paint to turn up.

Thanks for looking!

[Stokesy44]

Looking good.

Nice idea re the painted over marking, very cool.

Also... - Vallejo Extra Opaque Heavy Charcoal? That's like, dark grey right?

[Quax]

Also... - Vallejo Extra Opaque Heavy Charcoal? That's like, dark grey right?

That's black surely....?

Can I throw into the DrSprue mix Hetzer or Marder lll? Armour with not too many wheels
Paul

[Tomcat64]

Also... - Vallejo Extra Opaque Heavy Charcoal? That's like, dark grey right?

It might be...

That's black surely....?

ooooh no... well... maybe...

But this is what it says on the pot - it's good stuff used in small doses when you can't be bothered with primer

Can I throw into the DrSprue mix Hetzer or Marder lll? Armour with not too many wheels

Good shout there - and there's the Wespe as well along similar lines.

[DrSprue]

Can I throw into the DrSprue mix Hetzer or Marder lll? Armour with not too many wheels

Good shout there - and there's the Wespe as well along similar lines.

I have no Idea what you guys are talking about??




(hehe!!!... sure... its only plastic sprues!!)

Now I see what your doing.. Got this from Mick. (yea, join us!)

[Tomcat64]

Can I throw into the DrSprue mix Hetzer or Marder lll? Armour with not too many wheels

Good shout there - and there's the Wespe as well along similar lines.

I have no Idea what you guys are talking about??




(hehe!!!... sure... its only plastic sprues!!)

Now I see what your doing.. Got this from Mick. (yea, join us!)

[Stokesy44]

One thing if you're wary of death by wheel overdose.

A lot of later German vehicles had steel rimmed wheels, not rubber, so when building the kit you can glue the wheels straight on to the kit and not be worried about having to muck about painting the rims - in short, construction and painting becomes very simple.

Examples of vehicles would be later Tigers and Panthers, the Elefant and the Jagdtiger. Of the 4, I've built an Elefant and JT. I'd recommend the Tamiya JT as its a lovely big kit, a straight forward build and as well as rubber band tracks, it comes with link and length tracks which are easy to put together and look stunning.

[DrSprue]

Oh I will be getting one soon, and I know one from Tamiya. Thanks guys for your help here, as I say, I love sprues! When it comes to WWII, its all cool. From what Ive heard as well, this is the year of the Panthers!

[Stokesy44]

Oh I will be getting one soon, and I know one from Tamiya. Thanks guys for your help here, as I say, I love sprues! When it comes to WWII, its all cool. From what Ive heard as well, this is the year of the Panthers!

Very true Sir, although given the manufacturers involved, a new Mk V big cat may not be the best way into AFV modelling!

They're not everyone's cup of tea but I would go with Tamiya all day long, they definitely do a steel wheel Mk V and a Mk VI, buy a set of aftermarket PE grills and you're off to the races.

[DrSprue]

Oh I will be getting one soon, and I know one from Tamiya. Thanks guys for your help here, as I say, I love sprues! When it comes to WWII, its all cool. From what Ive heard as well, this is the year of the Panthers!

Very true Sir, although given the manufacturers involved, a new Mk V big cat may not be the best way into AFV modelling!

They're not everyone's cup of tea but I would go with Tamiya all day long, they definitely do a steel wheel Mk V and a Mk VI, buy a set of aftermarket PE grills and you're off to the races.

Thanks Stokesy!!

[Tomcat64]

Yep second what Stokesy says there - Tamiya is definitely the best way to dip a toe in the water, and good call on the steel wheels too!

Can't go wrong with a Panther - great looking bit of kit!

[DrSprue]

Yep second what Stokesy says there - Tamiya is definitely the best way to dip a toe in the water, and good call on the steel wheels too!

Can't go wrong with a Panther - great looking bit of kit!

Thanks Neil!!

[TheNordus]

Tamiya's steel wheeled panther is definitely a really nice kit even though it doesn't use ALL the most modern molding techniques. As a bonus you do get full sets of both regular and steel roadwheels.
Another option would be Tamiya's T-34 1943. It only has 10 roadwheels all-steel roadwheels and you can buy it on a pittance.

[HIghAltitudeScale]

I'm really enjoying the build and your explanations along the way are spot on. Good work!

[Tomcat64]

I'm really enjoying the build and your explanations along the way are spot on. Good work!

Thanks Bret - appreciate the feedback!

[Tomcat64]

Can't believe it's been over a month since I posted an update on this one... bench time has been at a premium but there has been a little progress...

I decided to brush paint the camo scheme on this one - the wheels are done (all painted with Vallejo Model Colour)


And here's the hull with the green done - next up will be the brown blobs and then onto the turret


I've also been working on the pioneer tools so hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to start bringing it all back together again.

Thanks for looking.

[DrSprue]

Oh great masking on all that Neil, it looks very crisp.

[Tomcat64]

Oh great masking on all that Neil, it looks very crisp.

Thanks Tony - I'll take the crispness but can't claim any masking success

This has all been done freehand with a hairy stick, primarily for the reason that I didn't fancy trying to mask it all up

[DrSprue]

Oh great masking on all that Neil, it looks very crisp.

Thanks Tony - I'll take the crispness but can't claim any masking success

This has all been done freehand with a hairy stick, primarily for the reason that I didn't fancy trying to mask it all up

Wow, nice work bud!

[TheNordus]

It's looking very sharp so far, I'm very impressed. It's been a long time since I used a hairy stick for work like this.

[Stokesy44]

Now that, Sir, is very cool.

Top marks for going old school and brush painting the camo.

[ElCapitan]

Probably a wise decision - masking would take ages, and you've got an awesome result with the brush!