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Hello all!!
Recently I have made an adventure down the aisle of Military modelling in both 1/35 scale and Flames of War 15mm scale. I thought I would start of this new P&M blog with my most recent WIP shots of my Panther F:


The Panther F was a prototype Panther that passed trials just before the end of the war, however, as a result of the wars ending the Panther F never went into mass production.
I have just started the modulation process on this Panther using AK paints, I still have a lot of painting to do before I can get to the weathering stage using pigments and oils. The fruilmodel tracks that I ordered for the tank were the panther II tracks, and unfortunately, are just slightly to big, so as a result I will have to go and get some panther G tracks instead , oh well such is life. The build itself was quite straightforward and simple and there is no compromise on detail on dragons behalf!! Anyway with out further delay, here are some WIP shots!!




I aim to represent this Panther F in its trial test once it had been captured and shipped back to the US, hence the olive drab scheme. Sorry for the crummy photos, somehow the light has given the olive drab scheme a slight brown appearance, in person the scheme is slightly more green.
Thanks for look C&C welcome

 Tech Guard wrote:
Sorry for the crummy photos, somehow the light has given the olive drab scheme a slight brown appearance, in person the scheme is slightly more green.

Welcome to the world of military modeling! :snigger: The rivet counters will be after you now! It's always a real problem getting good source material and taking photos that are just the right colour, nothing beats seeing the items in the flesh but even then it's often faded or has been repainted. I suppose that's part of the challenge.
The build looks great, well done.

Thanks Alex!!
I am lucky for this project in terms of sources as I have a 300 or so page book on the construction and engineering of the Panther A, D and G models. Unluckily though, it covers very little of the Panther F variant, so a bit of a bummer :(. And you are right about seeing things in the flesh, I once saw Mig Mimenez's work in person, the photos simple don't do his models justice .

Oh, I was refering to the source material ie tanks, uniforms etc!
But yeah you're right seeing fantastic models in the flesh is a real eye opener.

Following this with interest, I have a 1:35 Panther G on my desk myself; all built but needs painting... I look forward to seeing how you go with it!

I see what you mean Alex ,
Yes living in Australia means that the only tanks I will here see are ex army reserve tanks, namely Centurions and Leopard 1's. However, I hear that New Zealand has a Panther on display somewhere, but for the life of me I can't find it anywhere......


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Tibbsy wrote:
Following this with interest, I have a 1:35 Panther G on my desk myself; all built but needs painting... I look forward to seeing how you go with it!

Thanks Heaps Tibbsy!!
Which company is your Panther G made by? Just out of interest?

Minor Update today, finished all the modulating on the Panther. Hopefully I will get the transfers and minor chipping done today!!

It's a Tamiya one; pretty good model. I think it's a G; I haven't got the box handy

Ah ok, I have heard good things about that kit, haven't had a look at it myself!

Well I did a little bit more today!! I managed to get the decals set and in place last night and then today I did the minor chipping and scratches and filtering. I am glad I hit the tank with some filters as I added more of an olive drab tone to the model, looks much better IMO.



Sorry for the glare in this photo:

Yeah, that looks way better, the filters have added a lot of warmth and the scratches are nice and subtle.
Looking great.

Thanks Alex!
It is amazing what a couple of filters can do to a model, can bring such warmth to a dull scheme!
I'll try and get the washes done tomorrow and maybe some fading, we'll see if I have enough time

Hi all,
I decided after my efforts over the weekend to get the Panthers weathering done that maybe I should take some decent shots of the tank. Quite happy with how the Panther has turned out so far and all I really have to do now is finish all the little details and the tracks. I also finished my first test model for my American paratrooper FoW army, hope you like the scheme and C&C is welcome as I am not certain whether the scheme is historically accurate for the paratroopers that fought in Italy.






Not really happy with how the mud has turned out, just seems a little fake, oh well better luck next time .

Haven't got a lot done lately on the Panther, mostly just adding more filters and refining some of the weathering that I have already done, for example, adding more rust streaks. I did manage to get some fuel stains done today as well as finish the antennas off. I can now safely say that the hull and turret are now finished, all that I have to do now is finish off the tracks, which will be an effort in themselves considering that they are individual metal links that have to be joined together by a track pin , and did I mention there are about 300 individual tracks........
Anyway, I am pleased with how the Panther has turned out so far and my next project should be a T-55A, C&C is always welcome!





Fuel Stains:


Antennas

Hey mate!

That Panther looks incredible! Phenomenal paint job and weathering..... nice and subtle but very deep and full of character!! Love it! Would love to be able to attempt to replicate that look!! I know it sounds stupid to say.... but.... it really looks like steel & aromour!!

I will be following this one for sure!

 MagosBiff90 wrote:
Hey mate!

That Panther looks incredible! Phenomenal paint job and weathering..... nice and subtle but very deep and full of character!! Love it! Would love to be able to attempt to replicate that look!! I know it sounds stupid to say.... but.... it really looks like steel & aromour!!

I will be following this one for sure!

Thanks Heaps Magos!
I have to admit, I am extremely thankful to AK interactive for producing such great weathering products, one day I will have to do a review of them just to convince people of their awesomeness !!

Whilst I magically wait for the Panther tracks to assemble themselves I decided that I would get a head start on my next project, being a T-55A. I am still trying to decide what paint scheme to go with, I am considering either an Egyptian T-55 or a Russian version, can't quite decide, what are all your thoughts? Anyway here are some more pics of the semi assembled T-55:

Well, I finally managed to finish the Panther, it is fair to say that it has been a hard slog and I am happy to see it finished. However, I am not happy with the photo's, this is because my usual camera is not available so I was stuck with my phone camera, so as a result, the photo's seem very washed out, I may upload some better pics in the near future. What are everyone's thoughts?











Don't know why this photo ended up so green, must be the machine spirit playing up again.......


Overall I am very pleased with the results, even if the photo's aren't great. I would love to hear your critique!! Next up will be some FoW and maybe...... just maybe....... some infinity.......

Great result mate! Really impressive paintjob!

Thanks heaps Mate, I am really pleased with the result as well, well I have to be, to keep myself sane when I think about how much time I have spent painting a model tank........

Well recently I have had a bit of a brake from the world of infinity, that happens when you spend 6 months painting a tank, and I thought it was time I should finish one of my unfinished infinity models. This spec-ops model was finished when it first came out about a year ago, however, I never got round to finishing the base, so it sat in a box for a while gathering dust. Now I have finally finished it and here are the results. Next up I am going to finish some Aleph for the tournament circuit this year, and maybe start painting my T-55!!
Catch you all soon!!

Took some better photo's of the Panther today, much better than the crappy ones that I took with the phone camera!!

Last weekend I attended a painting competition that was part of the Arc40k event held here in Melbourne. The competition is known as the Golden Barry and is run by Ozpainters. There was also a side painting table for the Ozpainters guys who did not take part in the 40k tournament. I myself have not played 40k in years but it was really good to catch up with some of the best painters in Australia for the afternoon. I entered the Panther in the vehicle category and it snatched me a first and my first ever painting trophy!! I took some pics of the event so you can all be there!!



Crappy photo, but this Iguana won best of show, was truly an awesome paint job!!


Last years Best of show!












The Ozpainters stand, with a dorky photo of me itching my face........


The award ceremony for the Barries!

Hola everybody,
So it seems as though I have finally broken the back of the T-55 project, with only the running gear and tracks to finish. It's starting to look as though I may finish the T-55 in time for the Ozpainters open in June, (I Know it's a long way away, but this has by far been one of the fastest projects for my). I feel as though with this project I have made a number of improvements on my technique, but have also made a number of serious mistakes. Anyway, what do you guys think thus far? Is there any aesthetic improvements that I should make?
Thanks Heaps, Jules















As you can see from this next photo, the entire running gear of the tank is yet to be painted, this will be the last thing I do!

Really excellent painting!

Hugely impressive stuff, the attention to detail amazing. Both tanks are looking epic.

SilverMK42: Thanks heaps mate, can't wait to get it finished!

Paradigm: Thanks mate, you are too kind about the level of detail I put in!

Your painting skill is top notch.Great look on the tanks.

Scrazza: Thanks a ton! Taken quite alot of work to get the T-55 up to this stage!

Hey again mate! I thought the Panther was awesome... but this... is GREAT!!

Huge amounts of realism in there! and the weathering looks incredible..... it actually looks like solid metal... and could weigh 50Tonnes!!