Lap Man, Fantastic result! Congratulations! I'm very impressed with your weathering and level of detail.

Wow!

GAz

Holy smokes everyone! We're steaming at high speed to the finish! September 1 is our deadline. Time to start speaking up if we need to make an extension!

Only a week to go, friends... anyone want an extension?

Hi Gaz,

Sorry, I somehow missed your first extension announcement a couple of weeks ago. My STZ T-34 is coming along fine - progress pics coming later today or tomorrow - and I‘ll try to get done by the 1st, but because I have a fair bit of other things to take care of in between, a one-week extension wouldn‘t be a bad idea, just in case. Thanks!

Jerry

Hey gang,

As promised, some progress pics for ya.....here‘s my finished build with the fenders all beat up and some battle damage. The main gun and mantlet aren‘t mounted in these pictures because I needed to paint the inside of the turret first - the turrets of all T-34/76 variants are too tight of a fit to get a paintbrush/airbrush in there after assembly. How anyone managed to fight in the actual turrets, much less in heavy winter clothing, is beyond me, but maybe that‘s just my claustrophobia talking....







Like Gaz said, this was a great kit to put together. The only problem was that the back plate was a couple of millimeters too long and didn‘t fit:





This is something that Terry Ashley warned us about in his review of the base kit on his PMMS site, so I was expecting it, and shaving off the bolt and hinge detail, shortening the plate, and re-adding the detail was easy, but it is annoying that DML allowed such sloppiness to intrude on an otherwise excellent kit.

Anyway, I have the base coat on already, and am just painting some details at the moment - I‘ll post some more pictures before I start the weathering process.

Jerry

Jerry,
I’ll extend the Campaign for a week to help out.

Your model is looking great! Love the battered fenders!

Gaz

So, September 8 now?

Will help me out too Gaz. Thanks.

Thanks, Gaz, that gives me some breathing room. And glad you like the fenders!

Jerry

Wow Jerry, that is a huge mistake Dragon made. Glad you could fix it.

In progress Pic of the Marder 2 D



Have laid some black pre shade down since this pic. Need to do some Panzer Grey then some weathering before I can assemble the major components to paint the exterior.

Okay. I am stopping here. I was considering doing a whitewash but I won't have time to do that before time is up and I really would rather do a base for it as I really hate weathering my vehicles without a base to show context. So, I have left this one in what I would call, "museum-ready finish".

Kit is OOB, markings painted instead of using the decals. Paint is Tamiya with some touch-up done with Vallejo MC. Fit was generally okay but the casement does not quite line up with the fenders as it should. This seems to be a common issue as I have seen other builds with a similar gap situation on the left side.

Really Nice Shell. Great to see you have not gone for the aesthetic light grey most modellers do and went with the real life dark colour.

One thing you may want to consider, if you haven't done it and the pics just don't show it, is wear on the metal plate inside the road wheels. The track guide horns are polished by rubbing up against these disks so are equally worn and shiny ...

Thanks, Petbat.

I just went with my standby: Tamiya German Grey. The way I weather, it usually ends up darker so I find it a good base.

No, I didn't do the interiors of the road wheels as I thought I was going to be clumping snowy mud all over everything and didn't want to put the energy into it. Out of sight, out of mind.

Shell,
Excellent job! Congratulations on finishing Sturm...33. I've only seen one pic of one in the snow of Stalingrad. It didn't have any whitewash on it. Please don't forget to get a photo into the Gallery.

Gaz

Already done.

Hah! I finally figured it out. Somehow we ended up with a Stalingrad Campaign and a Bury My Heart as Stalingrad Campaign photo galleries. So, entries have been split between the two.

Gaz

I was wondering why there was only one other person's pics uploaded.

I'm just glad I did a little more digging before asking an unfortunate question...lol

Gaz

Peter, good work so far on your Marder, looking forward to further progress.

Shell, great job on your StuIG33B! I agree with Peter, many Panzer Gray builds you see are too light (especially the highlights) and yours is properly dark.

Here is my T-34 prior to weathering, something I should be able to take care of in the next week. A minor disaster hit yesterday when one of the decals for the bort numbers on the left side of the turret crumpled up, which was bad enough, but when I attempted to remove it, the Micro Sol I was using softened up the paint (which had two clear coats over it) to the extent that I took off chunks of it as well.

I hope I've touched it up well enough. The numbers on that side of the turret are noticeably lower than on the other side - one number slipped down and I didn't dare move it and have more damage - but maybe I can "sell" it to you guys by mentioning the desparate nature of the fighting in Stalingrad - they had more important things on their minds than how evenly numbers were painted on vehicles. Well, the Soviets anyway - not too sure about the Germans neglecting such matters, even under those conditions.









Jerry

Very nice Jerry, especially the fix on the rear hull panel. You'd never know the issue from this pic.

Jerry,
Your t34 looks excellent! I love the paint runs!

Gazza,
I'm late as ever.
May I throw a Dushka at this ?
Nothing like a pressing deadline to motivate.

Jerry,

Very nice work. Really liking how you damaged the front and rear fenders.

Mark

Greetings,
These are my final build photos. I will post them in the campaign gallery.



Thanks Gary for the cool campaign. I've enjoyed checking in on everyone's great builds.
Cheers,
Firstsergeant

Ian,
Go for it!

Gaz