Revell.. PzKpfw II Ausf. F 1/76 First Armour build..

Post by **wappynutter** » Sat Nov 02, 2013 3:48 pm

Okay so i'm in....

Have not got a clue how to build this, weather this, even paint this but will give it a shot.
I'm quite certain the forum will hold my hand and lead me along to completion...

Well i hope..

Here is the box shot..

and a couple of sprue shots...

Okay so thats the box and unstarted sprue shots, if i qualify to participate then i will make a start over the next few days..
Thanks for having me.... Special thanks to Luis AKA Coladito1 for bringing the build to life. Cheers mate..

Lee and Paul for their time and commitment to the forum and its members..

..and an even bigger Shout out and Thank you to Ultimate Modelling Products for sponsoring the build...

I may well do a photo kit review for the masses if i get the time, i have taken the required review photo's just need to write the post!

More soon.... Thanks as always for dropping by.

Post by **Paul** » Sat Nov 02, 2013 4:11 pm

Cheers Andy, thanks to you guys to for taking part.

That looks a great kit, love the dio base too, any help with anything just ask

Post by **Lee** » Sat Nov 02, 2013 6:15 pm

Looking forward to it buddy

Post by **spruecutter** » Sat Nov 02, 2013 11:04 pm

Welcome to the SIG wappy

Watch out for the main gun in this kit, it's so small on a big sprue connection, it can easily distort.

Post by **wappynutter** » Sat Nov 02, 2013 11:49 pm

Thanks for the warning Pete.. and amazingly I have just reviewed my kit and noted that very problem..
As its my first Armour build I will try and play safe, asking for help when and if required.
I'm certain someone will jump in if I get stuck.

Thanks again mate..

Website · Post by **Panzermeister36** » Sat Nov 02, 2013 11:59 pm

If you cut out the area of spure around the gun barrel before you cut it, it shouldn't flex.

Post by **wappynutter** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 12:03 am

Panzermeister36 wrote:If you cut out the area of spure around the gun barrel before you cut it, it shouldn't flex.

Cheers dude, will give it a go but if you take a look at my kit review you'll see the mould issue I'm faced with and I don't know how much I can get away with... the badly moulded piece may well just act as a bung holding the barrel in place on the inside of the gun section.. I wont know till I cut it and fit it....

Thanks again for the input..

Post by **UKscalemodeller** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 2:21 am

always wanted to gethat one.you will do fine.

Post by **coladito1** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 4:11 am

Looking forward to seeing this lil guy take shape!!

Post by **conradschmid99** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 10:38 pm

The build looks intriguing

cant wait to see the end result

Post by **wappynutter** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 8:26 pm

Okay made a start on this a couple of days ago so i best get some pictures up..

Nothing spectacular im afraid..

It is a cool little build that is made even more so with the addition of the little diorama base..
Our forum friend TonyGol is building the same kit, and is a little more experienced than me so i will follow the master and try and keep up...

( God i hope he isn't planning on some sort of spectacular "Saving Private Ryan" type diorama to put me to shame...).

Anyways heres some pictures i made earlier.....

Next i start work on the diorama base and the turret....

Lower hull dry and tape removed...

Bits together, upper hull not glued and no wheels and sprockets done yet...

Dio glued but not "worked on" yet...

..and finally the half built Panzer makes its way onto the dio base...

Thats all for now..... Its a start at least, nothing special i know... but its out the box and running for the finish line...

More soon..... on a plus the Saetta Diorama is finished so this gets all my spare time from now on....

As always, thanks for having a look.
Take care and happy modelling guys..

Post by **Tonygol** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 10:14 pm

Looking good so far.

Post by **wappynutter** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 10:41 pm

Tonygol wrote:Looking good so far.

Thanks mate.....

I'll just follow your lead...

Post by **alextheblue** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 10:24 am

Looking good Andy!

Following Tony's as well and you're both nailing it so far!

Post by **UKscalemodeller** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 10:42 am

I do love the small scale revel armour, didn't know you got a base with this one though.

Just a pity it is 1/76 and not 1/72.

Looks like it has been a nice build.

Post by **EasyEight96** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 12:39 pm

Good job keep it up

Post by **wappynutter** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:34 pm

Warning.....Long post with lots of Pictures....

Back again.....
Thanks Alex, hopefully I can keep you entertained for a short while, and when I'm quiet Tony can update his matching build...

Cheers Ian, hope you sort your "little un" out..

Thanks EasyEight, will try and keep this build moving...

Okay, all the facebook posts today means I will have to post an update for everyone..

As Tony and me are working the same kit I think I will follow his lead with doctoring the diorama base.

First up I will make a couple of doors..... smashed up a little and either hanging half open or on the floor just as a badly destroyed building would be..
Taking my supply of Drinks stirrers borrowed from that Sandwich shop everybody loves, I start cutting and hacking and slicing and gluing..

Smashed up a little door number 1..

Building door number 2...

Okay while they dry I will sort out some wheels and sprockets on this Tank...

Starting to detail the upper hull while working on the lower...

Teeny tiny headlights....

Yeah they small alright....

Okay so I did use the rather poorly moulded guns.... I carefully cut and sanded and even tried to make a little hole in the end to make it more pleasing to the eye.... nothing worse than a gun barrel not drilled out on a kit....

All the bits... not glued the hull or the turret washer yet that hold the turret to the upper hull..

Teeny guns....

Rubber tracks on for photos...

Look.............

....... "Holy Toledo, its a Panzer II"....

On the base and doors just placed on there for photos and positioning...

Nearly up to date....Sorry for all these pictures, you know what I'm like for pictures by now....
So Piles of rubble have been discussed over on the FB page, and I have taken an idea I saw a YouTube guy use on his simple corner of a house diorama base.
He uses plaster, I use cheap £1 shop ready mixed filler...
Crumpled tin foil and away we go....
Basic flat squares dried ready..

tin foil with filler in...

Peel it off when filler is dry..

Ta-Da...... rubble pile....

Just a quick build of a window shutter for the building...

and finally the filler rubble glued in place ready for the debris extras to be added...

Right you are all bang up to date now..... Sorry its such a long post..
Thanks for taking a look.. More soon...

As always, Comments welcomed..
Take care and happy modelling..

Post by **Tonygol** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:48 pm

Cracking work Andy.

Post by **generalgrog** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:53 pm

Awesome work...nice scratch building, and I didn't realize how tiny those tanks are.

GG

Post by **wappynutter** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 12:13 am

Thanks Tony.... Can't wait to see your build now..... Need inspiration...

Cheers GG.... Yeah they are quite small, even more so when you have great big club hands like me, an ape could probably build better.... And did I mention I'm left handed???? There is a thread based solely on this lefty/righty debate.... Go check it out....

Thanks for taking a look guys, much appreciated..

Post by **Nige201980** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 1:08 pm

wow great work Andy yhis is going to be superb AGAIN

Post by **wappynutter** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 2:45 pm

Nige201980 wrote:wow great work Andy this is going to be superb AGAIN

Thanks Nige...

Making Milliput sandbags and an old crate/box for the roof of the ruined building....

If you squint, they may even look like them too... Ha ha ha ...

Post by **gosselin2112** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 7:17 pm

Nice work, Andy. All the little scratch built items really brings out the detail in this project.

Russ

Post by **wappynutter** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 8:01 pm

gosselin2112 wrote:Nice work, Andy. All the little scratch built items really brings out the detail in this project.

Russ

Thanks Russ....

Speaking of little scratch built items heres todays tiny update including the sandbags and small crate..

...and the crate painted...

Sandbags and crate....

...and i painted up all the wood items so doors, shutter, crate and some wooden beams to break and add to the rubble pile... also in the background is another pencil top i may paint up and add as an oil drum..

Well thats everything i have for now...
As always thanks for having a look, any questions or comments feel free to post guys.
Take care and happy modelling.

Post by **DC87** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 8:06 pm

Great update Andy, mighty fine modelling skills as always.

Are these items for loading onto the tank of surrounding it?

Post by **wappynutter** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 8:11 pm

Thanks Dan....
The sandbags and crate are for the roof area of the building... Think sniper nest/ firing point...
The doors are self explanatory and the wooden beams are to snap and clutter the doorways with on the rubble pile.
Thanks again for taking a look mate .

http://m.youtube.com/user/MrBobsBuilds · Post by **Rob** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 8:27 pm

Lovely stuff...great progress. I am so impressed with that tin foil and plaster tip!
More please

Post by **Coen** » Sat Nov 16, 2013 12:55 am

Andy, I'm just getting caught up on a bunch of things,.... Holy crap... There's the Wappy magic that we all know and love!
Look at those.... The oil drum from a pencil end is the bit that gets me. They're perfect!!
Well done!!!

Post by **wappynutter** » Mon Nov 18, 2013 11:44 pm

Big update with lots of pictures again... Sorry!..

Okay another update and i gotta say i am enjoying this little build loads..

Coen.... you know me so well..

Bits and bobs from rubbish is my forte.. I don't have problems.... only solutions....

So shall we put some paint on this base??

Vallejo model air colours Sand yellow and Khaki brown... I base coated the floor with dark earth matt first then 2 coats of Sand.

Above you can see the rubble effect painted.... this will be added to for effect....
rear view..

For Luis.... This is the base colour on the tank matey...

Second coated....

Starting to add extra rubble and broken wooden beams and rafters and dust....

Doors and shutters glued in place..

Shuttered up the hole as if it had been barricaded as a firing point..

Bit of old cloth for the window hole...

rest of the rubble part painted to match...

Getting a good photo with my camera phone is impossible.... Sorry guys its just the camera to hand when i am building...

Hope the last couple let you see the detail and effect i was trying to create..
Time to top coat the tank and i have chosen to go with Vallejo model air 71.030 green brown which is a close match to RAL8000 or so i am lead to believe..
Before coating i did spray with Firm hold hairspray so i could try some chipping later..

Note the Aerial.. i took it off after this so i didn't lose it, yes it is an added extra Wappy style....

While that dried i coated the rubber tracks with a Matt black £1 shop special...

Glued on the extra bits .... just needs a weathering and a wash of something...

Added some plantlife in the corner....

Started on the chipping effect...
I used a damp small brush and a tooth pick to scratch and rub the paint off and mark up the sprockets and wheels and all the places i thought it might get worn.
According to History these Panzers started off Grey but the scheme changed for Africa and most were overcoated with the Green yellow colour.After a while of heavy use and harsh battle the Top coat would chip and wear to reveal the original colour.... This is my attempt at this type of paint up...

I dry brushed an acrylic Gunmetal to the Matt black tracks and to the main gun and MG...

....And once again thats the build log bang up to date....
Hope some of you made it to the end...... Sorry i drag on and on..

If your still here then Thank you for having a look at my build, hope you found it entertaining.
any comments or questions always welcome.
Thanks again guys and as always Happy Modelling..

Post by **DC87** » Mon Nov 18, 2013 11:51 pm

Andy I thought that was the appetizer

Brilliant work the tank and the base look great, the extra items add another dimension, keep the pics coming

Post by **spruecutter** » Mon Nov 18, 2013 11:57 pm

I like the use of the extras - the doors, shutter and rubble etc, very inventive. You've certainly added something unique to this kit

Post by **Nige201980** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 7:07 am

Excellent work mate love it

Post by **Coen** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 8:09 am

It's brilliant Andy.
And... It's been properly Wappified!
All those little touches make all the difference.

Love the boarded up shel hole and the wee flowers.
Great work with that chipping too. H/S chipping on your first try at armour!!
Brave man

Well done buddy!

http://www.youtube.com/user/longlance67 · Post by **longlance67** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 8:34 am

Really nice work Andy, looks very sharp !!

great stuff

Shane.

Post by **UKscalemodeller** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 9:58 am

EPIC scratching Wappy!

Post by **gosselin2112** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 5:09 am

You have a lot of model building ambition. Keep at it - it will take you to amazing places on the journey.

RTG

Post by **wappynutter** » Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:45 pm

#Warning Lots of Pictures again sorry!! #
Wow guys thanks for all the positive comments, and as all you guys using Facebook know.. I have finished the build the other day and posted a couple of teaser pictures to show the result..

I am so glad I dipped my toes in this model kit malarkey as I have enjoyed building this so much.
Mike, the chipping was an experiment to see if the old Hair Spray would work as I was unsure at this scale how much "out of scale" it would look..
I think I pulled it off... North Africa was a tough environment for these roughly repainted up and put back to battle Panzers.
Scrapes, dings, shell fire, small arms and bad driving alone would fetch these back to there original Grey so I hope it looks okay...
Pete, I decided to spruce up the diorama a little with the scratch built extras...plus I do enjoy making my own little bits..think it worked out okay.. Busted doors, rubble, sandbags, crates and firing points aplenty. We allied put up a good fight in my scene!
Everyone else....Thanks guys

So picture time again and Sorry there may be lots.....!!!!!!
Hmmm...

Where was we??? Oh yeah Panzer time...

...and I think its teeny tiny detail painting time...

Sharpened cocktail stick used to paint the wooden handles on the tools!!

Spare wheel painted up too!

In the winter sun for a gloss coat...

Figures too!

Now its time to desertize the diorama base a bit... and what does the desert have lots of???
Yep! Sand.....
Out with the small fish tank fine sand...PVA glue and hope it works...

...and a gloss coat once dry..

While the dio dries I move on to the decals...
Tiny little things aswell!

Going with the Afrika Corps 8th Panzer division....

Okay so I have dropped in with an oil wash. Artists lamp black mixed with turpentine and dropped it over the base.
All the sand instantly discolours.... but that's okay as I am gonna add some more and flash a little paint about too!!

Dirty I know..... but this is war, and the ground isn't going to look like some holiday resort beach...

Added some fresh Sand once the wash was dry to vary the sand colour and tone...

So while the glue and added sand colour dry again I wash the tank in the same dark oil wash and see how it looks..

Okay so the little figures get a blacking down too this tones the uniform and adds shadow to the face, hands and clothes..
Matt coat time...
Everything got a slight dusting with the white, grey and black artists chalk pastels, around and in the bomb crater, the rubble and the boarded up shell hole receiving the most attention..

So guys I will stop posting now because you surely most be bored out your brains after all these pictures??
I will post the finished pictures in the final reveal on the weekend, figures glued in place and everything just so...
These guys are gonna be doing a systematic building clearance, grenade in, shoot anything that tries to make a run for it, backed up by the Panzer us allied didn't stand a chance in my diorama..
As always, if your still here, thanks for looking in.
Hope you have enjoyed my 1st ever armour build, 1st ever 1/76 scale and only my 2nd real kit in 30 odd years.
Take care guys and Happy modelling...

Post by **Coen** » Thu Nov 28, 2013 8:03 pm

This will be another fine piece Andy.
A magnificent first build for the genre buddy.
Well done mate! Can't wait to see the reveal.

http://m.youtube.com/user/MrBobsBuilds · Post by **Rob** » Thu Nov 28, 2013 9:47 pm

Great stuff Andy, a fine looking model

Post by **HWGuderian23** » Thu Nov 28, 2013 9:47 pm

Very nice job on the tank, the figures and also on the dio mate

The Panzer II is already a tiny tank in 1/35 scale but in 1/76 it's almost unseeable that I guess that it's really hard to bild it. Very well done Wappy

.

Post by **Radzy** » Thu Nov 28, 2013 10:36 pm

yeah, Andy... I was so bored watching your post...
but only if by boredom you mean ... bloody damn fantastic looking tank and diorama and possibility to watch it ... happen!

Then yes.. I can say... that was boring

Masterpiece, Andy, now I'm boring, because I keep saying this

Cheers,
Radek

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Thu Nov 28, 2013 10:40 pm

Andy, pure awesomeness!

This is so tiny!

Amazing thing is that when seeing this panzer standing alone, it looks like a bigger tank. 1:35 even.
But when I looked at the picture when you are holding it. .... wow!
Really like the paintwork and Chipping on this tank. If this is your first panzer build, you really nailed it.

The dio base is looking great too! I like the added rubble piles and doors.
Might use that rubble trick myself!

a very good build. With lots and lots of great pictures! I like pictures. ...

Five stars from me! ★★★★★

Cheers!

Post by **wappynutter** » Fri Nov 29, 2013 10:21 am

Thanks guys..... Really,really appreciated ......Cheers!!!

To answer any questions or points mentioned, Yes it is tiny, (not as small as Ian's

)...it is difficult when you have big fat clumsy hands like mine. Look big fat hand...

....
But I did absolutely love building this kit!!! Yes the guns were a little rough and badly molded but I cleaned them up and used them to keep the kit as it came..
...but then rebuilt the base to look as it should be.

I am chuffed to bits it turned out fine...
Thanks again for the positive comments....
Happy modelling...

Post by **HWGuderian23** » Fri Nov 29, 2013 1:48 pm

wappynutter wrote:... Yes it is tiny, (not as small as Ian's )...it is difficult when you have big fat clumsy hands like mine. Look big fat hand... ....

- same here mate

!

Post by **wappynutter** » Fri Nov 29, 2013 7:02 pm

HWGuderian23 wrote:
wappynutter wrote:... Yes it is tiny, (not as small as Ian's )...it is difficult when you have big fat clumsy hands like mine. Look big fat hand... ....
- same here mate !

Lol...... If only they could invent a tool to hold little pieces while you worked on them??

Mind even tweezers etc.... Drive me insane, sanding small parts held in tweezers is just so difficult, they just go... PING.......... And gone..!
Every modellers worse nightmare!
But still I go off and buy 1/76 scale kits to practice my skills on before attempting the real kits in my stash I want to do justice too!
Thanks again for have a look at my build Marcus..

Post by **HWGuderian23** » Fri Nov 29, 2013 9:35 pm

wappynutter wrote:Lol...... If only they could invent a tool to hold little pieces while you worked on them??
Mind even tweezers etc.... Drive me insane, sanding small parts held in tweezers is just so difficult, they just go... PING.......... And gone..!
Every modellers worse nightmare!
But still I go off and buy 1/76 scale kits to practice my skills on before attempting the real kits in my stash I want to do justice too!:

Thats the reason why I'll never be able to use elaborate PE! The trouble for me already starts when I try to hold them in place (not to mention bending them

). No idea how some guys here are able to handle such tiny stuff

.

wappynutter wrote:Thanks again for have a look at my build Marcus..

Always a pleasure Andy!