assassin

Well, as it seems I've forgotten to post some pics of my finished E-25.

So, as the last blog-update of the year, I decided to share the model with you, I hope you like it a bit ;)

Some words about ther model:

The E-25 is a slightly converted version of the Trumpeter plastic model.

I scratched a completly new roof from plastic card and parts from my spare box, replaced the tracks with T-55 tracks from Friul, added a Jordi Rubio barrel and replaced some of the tools with Tamiya ones. I also reworked most of the welding seams as I wanted the model to have a lot thicker armor plates than the original Trumpeter version has. You can see most of the changed and altered parts on the unpainted model. The wooden "skirts" (not installed on the WIP-pic) were also made from plastic card, the starantenna is from Schatton Modellbau, the normal 2m antenna is from Armorscale.

At first I had a hard edged 3 tone camouflage in mind but then I decided to go for green only as I think it would be easier and faster to apply by the factories (and by me too ;)) and it's also not often seen on german tanks from WW2.
Weathering was done with pigments, Vallejo acrylics and artist oils, business as usual.

Happy new year!

Pantherturm auf O.T.-Stahlunterstand Typ D

Due to my lack of motivation during the last month I wasn't very productive.

But as it seems the motivation is coming back so I thought I should start with a nice simple kit.

I chose Armorscale's superb "Pantherstellung" (C48-001), my first 1/48-kit.

The kit itself contains 6 well casted resin parts, and an excellent turned metal barrel.

The construction was done in one day, I only replaced some broken parts with plastic sheet, added a few weld seams and rough steel surface on the turret sides and the Stahlunterstand.

I wanted the Stahlunterstand to have a rusty finish (although I'm not quite sure if this is realistic but well...) while the turret should be dark yellow with a camouflaged barrel (maybe "borrowed" from an old Panther tank).

Painting was done with Tamiya acrylics for the base coat, Vallejo acrylics for the chipping, oil colors and pigments were used for the weathering.

The Stahlunterstand's rusty finish was achieved with several layers of dark brown and orange followed by a layer of hairspray. Then I sprayed a thin layer of light grey onto it and removed parts of it again with a stiff brush and warm water. Oil colors were used for the rusty streaks on the sides and the dots on the top. After the oils dried completely I dusted the Stahlunterstand with the same pigments as the turret.

I think it's finished to about 95%, I still have to paint the periscope and make a few touch ups here and there, maybe I will also add a camouflage net to the barrel.

A small vignette will follow later, although I'm not the biggest fan of building vignettes I think the Pantherstellung definatly needs one.

I hope you like my first 1/48-experience and thanks for looking!