Wittman's Last Drink Aug. 8th '44

[Ken Abrams]

Erik, this is really coming along in strides brother. Excellent, excellent stuff!

I have some TRM productions stuff too, he is a wiz at making the good stuff small. I only wish you were closer man, you could hang out with us and swap that stuff and drink beers at the same time lol.

Keep up the great work bro!

 

[jrutman53]

You are really paying a lot of attention to detail with this one. I love the worn look on the interior of the turret,specially at the escape hatch. I also read about the pistols getting caught on the hatches so it's a reasonable thing to put the holsters where you did.
I would make a small point here though. I was in Mech Infantry for about 9 years and spent way too much time riding around in APCs both on the road and off.Because of this I can tell you that things are never left just sitting on shelves or sponsons like your MG parts,holsters,etc. They must be stuck behind something solid or secured in another way or the first pull by the driver on the steering gear will put all of that stuff on the floor,causing much yelling and cursing from the TC,as combat vehicle crew dosen't perform well stepping and tripping over stuff on the floor. I have seen pics of Panzer crews wearing the side arms on the front and they probably slid them around on their belts to do this while mounted. We always wore full combat harness while in the "hatch" and if you do it all of the time,you get used to it.
Sorry to get so long winded here. I am not singling you out as this is something almost all modelers do with the extra equipment so please don't take offense buddy.
J

 

[panzerace007]

Fella's ,

Thanx for th kind words !!

> Smurff - Thanx Brotha' !!

> Ken - Much appreciated. Believe Me it would surely happen ; IF I was in th Neighborhood We would most certainly trade Stories, Beers & Scrape Plastic ! \m/

> Jerry - I was thinking th exact same thing as I was placing the Pistols , but I suppose as every modeler is an Artist, I just wanted to show some stowage in th vehicle & display some Eye Candy . In reality & from your expierance , as I've never crewed an AFV, you are correct.

In the senario of the Diorama - The Tank crew & a squad of 12 SS Pz.Gren. 25th reg. are "gettin together" on th days plan. Remember this is also the start of the British/Canadian Offensive - Operation Totalize, & the Jerries know that something is cookin'. They are co-ordinating with th 101st. s.SSPz.Abtl. , specifically with Wittmann . The Tiger I being at rest & it's crew along with th Grenadiers are grabbin' one last drink & refilling on water before heading out on Their mission ( The irony .. This is the day that Wittmann & crew are K.I.A. by a Canadian FrieFly on the Cane~ Falaise Road -rt. 158 { 12:30pm-ish} ). They are also taking th time to Re Supply. The Boxes in the floor of the Tiger "have just recently been laid there for the time being" & will be permanently stored in the process of theTiger taking off ... after th conference with th 12 SS. As the "Story Line" lays out, you'll see what I mean. Hopefully it'll all make sense !! I've got all of the figures , more or less .

It's all Good Brotha' !! No offense taken :drinks

All of this talk has made Me thirsty

:erik

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie_sEQX7JBk&feature=fvst
​

 

[panzerace007]

YaVol !!

Here's a quick lil' update ..... I've added the Main Gun & Now it's time for th paint. Not a lot of P.E. on this kit. Just th Screens & I'll add some Verlinden P.E. Fenders , & I'll ding them up a lil !!! This is th 1st. kit that I've shot th Vallejo Dunkelgelb Primer on too !! I found it a lil' too green for My Eye ... BUt I soon rectified that by shooting some Highlights on Her ... to Prep for th Camo !!

Tight Quarters Fo-Sho !! The Main Gun is in place ... What a Snug lil' fit !!

Some more Verlinden stencils for the Main Gun. This stencil denotes that you should put Brown Oil ( a type of Hydraulic Fluid) in th Gun Tubes ( those Shock lookin' things ! ... Is that th Recuperator ?). & I think th other stencil tells of the angle the Gun can travel ???

For the Driver's Visor I used some Clear Styrene Sheet & Shot it with about 6 coats of AlClad Transparent Green . I sandwiched it between the Verlinden Resin Front Bulk head.

Here's a shot from th R.O.'s side. That M.G. was a P.I.A. ! It took some finagling but .... I got 'er in there !!

Here's 007 in Her pattented Base Coat. I 1st. Shot th Vallejo German Dunkel. Primer on. I thought it looked a lil' too Green ... So I mixed up a Highlight color ... I was talkin to KEN about what to use as a highlight to tone down th Green .... He suggested & I took it a step further .... I added some Sunny Skin Tone & German Camo Beige to th Mix of Vallejo's Model Air German Dark Yellow ..... as well as some Thinner & Liquitex's Slow Blending Gel to aid in retarding th paint. If you look close at th Turret ring you can see th Original Primer & th rest is the Highlights. I shot somewhat of a "Panel Fade" on her.

You can see that I was doin' a lil' practicing with th Highlight color.

Also ... While shooting th High Lights ... I held th AB at a 45* angle( to the Tiger, from above) & shot th sides .... You can see how some of th Pre-Shaded ( Black Vallejo Primer) accentuates th Zimmerit !! :hmmm * - I shot th Sides & Lower Hull in th Vallejo Black Primer as a Pre-Shade.

Here's a side by side .... The Top one is just th Primer & th Bottom 2 after I've added th Highlights/Panel Fade ...
I'm not sure how much of this will finally be seen after I add the Dark Green & Red/Brown .... But It was good practice for Panel Fading & to Lighten up th Primer Dunkel . I shot all of the Sides - Turret included at a 45degree angle to leave some shadows in th Zimmerit.

Hey ... This is th 1st. Model I've shot Vallejo on ! I love it !! ...... Any one wanna trade up for My Inventory of Tamiya for Vallejo ? It's time to let My Old Friend Go .... :Hiay You Did Me right for So many Years ... But there is a New Sheriff in Town !

Cheers !! Pub Crawl time ....... Everyone for Themselves !!

:erik

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNaAEJv_sDQ





​

 

[Kreighshoer]

top shelf work erik! it's a shame that most of it will be covered!

'braun ark' is a lubrification and 'ark' is short for 'arktisch' = cold weather lubrification

'kg/cm bei 0° Erhöhung' translates into 'kilogram pressure per centimeter at 0° elevation' but unfortunately there's no weight indicated ... and i have not the slightest clue what they wanted to say with that phrase

 

[panzerace007]

LAURA,

Thanx for th Translation & Clarification !! Yeah , I'm not sure What they were talkin about .. Kilos per square Centimeter @ Zero elevation .... perhaps at Zero Deflection It would Kick like a Mule ?

I'm hoping that if this Dio makes it to any Shows .... I'll let th Judges know that Pin-Lights are Welcomed, Encouraged & Demanded to Look at this Tiger !!

Thanx for th Kind Words !!

 

[moon puppy]

Really nice work with the tinted glass, hell all of it for that matter.

 

[panzerace007]

Hey MOONIE,

Thanx for th Kind Words !!

 

[jknaus]

Fantastic stuff. Really love the work your putting into this. All the little extras really make it special
James

 

[MrT]

YaVol !!

Here's a quick lil' update ..... I've added the Main Gun & Now it's time for th paint. Not a lot of P.E. on this kit. Just th Screens & I'll add some Verlinden P.E. Fenders , & I'll ding them up a lil !!! This is th 1st. kit that I've shot th Vallejo Dunkelgelb Primer on too !! I found it a lil' too green for My Eye ... BUt I soon rectified that by shooting some Highlights on Her ... to Prep for th Camo !!

Tight Quarters Fo-Sho !! The Main Gun is in place ... What a Snug lil' fit !!

Some more Verlinden stencils for the Main Gun. This stencil denotes that you should put Brown Oil ( a type of Hydraulic Fluid) in th Gun Tubes ( those Shock lookin' things ! ... Is that th Recuperator ?). & I think th other stencil tells of the angle the Gun can travel ???

For the Driver's Visor I used some Clear Styrene Sheet & Shot it with about 6 coats of AlClad Transparent Green . I sandwiched it between the Verlinden Resin Front Bulk head.

Here's a shot from th R.O.'s side. That M.G. was a P.I.A. ! It took some finagling but .... I got 'er in there !!

Here's 007 in Her pattented Base Coat. I 1st. Shot th Vallejo German Dunkel. Primer on. I thought it looked a lil' too Green ... So I mixed up a Highlight color ... I was talkin to KEN about what to use as a highlight to tone down th Green .... He suggested & I took it a step further .... I added some Sunny Skin Tone & German Camo Beige to th Mix of Vallejo's Model Air German Dark Yellow ..... as well as some Thinner & Liquitex's Slow Blending Gel to aid in retarding th paint. If you look close at th Turret ring you can see th Original Primer & th rest is the Highlights. I shot somewhat of a "Panel Fade" on her.

You can see that I was doin' a lil' practicing with th Highlight color.

Also ... While shooting th High Lights ... I held th AB at a 45* angle( to the Tiger, from above) & shot th sides .... You can see how some of th Pre-Shaded ( Black Vallejo Primer) accentuates th Zimmerit !! :hmmm * - I shot th Sides & Lower Hull in th Vallejo Black Primer as a Pre-Shade.

Here's a side by side .... The Top one is just th Primer & th Bottom 2 after I've added th Highlights/Panel Fade ...
I'm not sure how much of this will finally be seen after I add the Dark Green & Red/Brown .... But It was good practice for Panel Fading & to Lighten up th Primer Dunkel . I shot all of the Sides - Turret included at a 45degree angle to leave some shadows in th Zimmerit.

Hey ... This is th 1st. Model I've shot Vallejo on ! I love it !! ...... Any one wanna trade up for My Inventory of Tamiya for Vallejo ? It's time to let My Old Friend Go .... :Hiay You Did Me right for So many Years ... But there is a New Sheriff in Town !

Cheers !! Pub Crawl time ....... Everyone for Themselves !!

:erik

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNaAEJv_sDQ



​

Eric you are doing a kick butt job on this.

 

[reconron]

Almost time to take her out for the testride Erik!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wY_5c0mBXok

Great build so far,dude!

Greetings,Ron.

 

[moon puppy]

I want one!

I did not know they drove by a steering wheel/yoke type control. Also notice running up through the gears, I would have thought they engage one gear, sort of like a bulldozer or tractor. Gotta wonder what those cars were thinking when they pulled up!

 

[panzerace007]

Almost time to take her out for the testride Erik!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wY_5c0mBXok

Great build so far,dude!

Greetings,Ron.

OMG ! That's Awesome !! I've never seen that footage. Man ! Ya' Gotta love German Engineering ! It shifts like a Mercedes ! Awesome ! Check out that Rain Storm , MOvin' & Groovin' through th Rain ..... It reminds Me of the Honey Badger !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg​

Ron Thanx for posting th Video !!! :erik

@ JAMES & T - Thanx for th Kind words !!! I'm about ready to shoot th Camo on !!!

:erik

 

[reconron]

:laugh: The voice-over on the honeybadger video reminds me of a friends one....he sometimes goes to bars which I don't like to go to...not many women around ... :laugh:

 

[panzerace007]

:woohoo: :laugh: :cheer:

 

[Kreighshoer]

"honey badger don't give a shit" ... i like honey badgers! i like them a lot! :cheer:

 

[panzerace007]

The Honey Badger Rox !! He's th Tiger Tank of the Animal Kingdom !! - Maybe I'll be th Honey Badger for Halloween ?

:erik

 

[Jeeves]

How different would my childhood have been if Marlin Perkins from Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom would have sounded like that?

 

[panzerace007]

JEEVES - lol I haven't thought about that !!! Oh ... it would have been so Different !!

 

[panzerace007]

Hey Guys ,

Sorry for th delay ... Th Panzer Shoppe is back , Up & runnin' !!

Here's a short update on th TIGER ......

I've shot it in it's base colors . I looked around for reference for th possible combinations as to what th Camo might have looked like on this Command Tiger from LSSAH s.SS.Pz. Abtl. Th only surviving picture of Wittmann's Last ride isn't very helpful. but after lookin through all of th pix in Tigers in Combat II , & on Tigers in Focus I've come to a consensus on how th Kommand Tigers may have looked . It seems that each Kompanie had it's own camo. & that th Kommand Tigers were a conglomeration of each Kompanie.

This is th 1st. time that I've gone totally Vallejo . I also did a panel fade ( Color Mod.) to each color shortly after it was applied.

The High light colors :

Dark Yellow( Model AIr) + German Camo Beige( Model Color) + Sunny Skin Tone( Model Color) & thinned .

Tank Brown ( Model Air) + German Camo Beige

Cam. Dark Green ( Model Air) + German Camo Beige

After I had shot th Dark Yellow , & highlighted it , I masked th Big camo fields ( on th Horizontal surfaces) off with Blu-Tac. It was rolled in thin spaghetti straps & shot th base coats . I then went around th mask & pushed it down onto th camo a little bit so that it would cover some of th base coat a bit. Then I shot th highlight colors.

I still have to weather it & add th decals.

You can see th dark outline that surrounds each field. That comes from pushing th Blu-Tac down just a bit after th base coat was applied & then hittin' it with th Highlight color ( C.M. )

The Vertical surfaces were shot with Red-Brown patches & Dark Green "Crowes Feet" ( as per pix of Tigers in 2nd. Kompanie & th other Kommand TIgers { 008, & 009 } ) Plus to Me it seemed to make sense - that if you are on th Ground it might be tough to make out th Silhouette of th Tiger with th Patches & from th Air - the Big Fields would provide more cover ??

You can also see that I took th time to add th Dirt & Mud !! I used a mx of MIG & ModelMakerZ pigments, along with ModelMakerZ fixative to add th build up of Dirt. I mixed th recipe with some Matte Medium Gel to give th appearance of the Mud - colored with th Pigment mix.

I used some AK Interactives Dark Steel to give wear to the Road Wheels & th Sprockets. This time I "found" an Eye Shadow applicator to administer th Goods . I simply dipped th applicator into th very fine Pigments & rubbed it onto th Wheels & the teeth of th Sprocket. It stuck fast & was a very fine mix. It works a whole lot better than using Graphite from a Pencil as it was a finer grind & really grabbed th painted surface !!

I had a little mishap with th Trax ! The Set of Modelkasten trax that I had purchased form th AMPS Nationals in APRIL, were, at th time an Open Box ! ( That's gonna come back to Haunt Me) I thought that I had counted th Open bag that contained th links. - at th show & figured that I had enough. Well ..... I ended up 20 links short on th second run ... So , as a last resort I'm gonna use th DS trax ! I just primed them with Vallejo's Black Primer ... so fingers crossed. ....... ( I hate DS trax )

I'm Back & th Panzer Shoppe is Open for Business !!!

:erik​

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMYoUeup3gc​