The Panzer III was a mainstay of the German army, and a principal actor in the blitzkrieg campaigns against Poland, France, and the Soviet Union, as well as a major component of Rommel’s Afrika Korps. Like all German tanks, it underwent significant upgrades throughout its production life. The Ausf.L debuted in the summer of 1942…
Category: 1/35
Dragon Panzer IV Ausf.G Build Report 4: Woodland Scenics Snow Sucks Very Hard Indeed
I’m quickly learning that it’s really hard to reproduce realistic environmental effects in scale. Case in point – adding snow to the Panzer IV. Adding snow makes sense. This particular Panzer was engaged on the Eastern Front in the spring of 1943 – and Russian spring is basically “OMG winter!” to the rest of the…
Dragon Panzer IV Ausf. G Build Report 3: Decals, Tracks, Weathering
Last time around, we left the Panzer IV in whitewash. After glossing the relevant areas, I applied the decals. Not much point detailing that. There were maybe six or seven all told. Drybrushing and Detail Work After painting the whitewash, I felt it was too vibrant and wanted to tone it back, so I drybrushed…
Dragon Panzer IV Ausf. G Build Report 2: Principal Painting
With the main structure of the Panzer IV built, it’s time to move on to painting. This particular Panzer served at the Battle of Kharkov in the spring of 1943, and wore a factory applied winter whitewash over the recently adopted dunkelgelb (dark yellow) base color. While I had planned to try the “hairspray technique”,…
Dragon Panzer IV Ausf. G Build Report 1: Construction
Prior to starting this build, I’d heard plenty of horror stories about Dragon’s abysmal directions and fussy construction. Honestly, I haven’t seen it. The instructions aren’t perfect, and actually get part numbers wrong in a few places (and give you various options in some steps, but never correspond those options to any of the specific…
On the Bench: Dragon 1/35 Panzer IV Ausf. G
After two back-to-back allied builds – Tamiya’s M4 Sherman Early Production and AFV Club’s Achilles Mk.IIc – I’ve decided to leap across the lines and build some German armor for a change. There are so many German armored vehicles to choose from that it’s somewhat ridiculous, but I’ve settled on Dragon’s Panzer IV Ausf.G. The…
AFV Club Achilles – DONE
And…that’s a wrap. Overall, I found the AFV Club kit less than impressive, and certainly will think long and hard before purchasing another of their kits, but on whole I’m pretty happy with the end result. Check out the completed build HERE.
AFV Club Achilles Build Report 4: Weathering
The Achilles has been a long build, but I didn’t realize how long until last night. As of today, the 17-pounder has been taking space on the bench for sixty-four days, far longer than any other kit I’ve tackled since coming back to modeling. Now, at long last, the end is in sight. The weathering…
Fixing Rubber Band Tracks
Of the (many) headaches I’ve had with AFV Club’s Achilles Mk.IIc, one of the most persistent has been the tracks. AFV Club provides a set of soft, flexible “rubber band” tracks representing the T51 flat rubber block-type track common to many VVSS vehicles. At first I was jazzed about these, since individual links freak me…
AFV Club Achilles Build Report 3: Decals, Details, and Track Issues
With World War II aircraft, I feel like I’ve found a pretty satisfactory build process. Obviously each bird has its own small variations, but for the most part, the process is at least similar. Not so with armor. The Achilles has been a logistical nightmare for me. A confused series of subassemblies that can’t come…