Various WIP

[ripley]

And … I picked up the latest Meng egg tank , a Pershing . Another fun kit to build , to which I added a few 1/35 scale pieces , boxes , tarp , spare track and a road wheel . And I just decaled it with bits and pieces from left over  1/56 sets .

[ultravanillasmurf]

Very nice.

They are cute.

[neffer38]

Haha ' looking good! Seen them around ofc but not something on my list to get....apart from a normal scale 28mm 1/56 scale Pershing.

[ripley]

Thanks guys . The egg tanks are a fun distraction  from going or at least attempting to go full OCD on  scale model kits . I guess if we get shut down at work , I should have a few more kits ( & paint & glue ) in the stash other wise it's back to painting those dam garden gnomes

[ripley]

I finished my T-26 , just waiting for a metal  crew to arrive from Bad Squido . Also  a plastic 38(t) , nice little kit , very easy build , shame about the molded on tools and over sized ribs on the fenders . I thought about removing them , but it was going to be way to much work , probably easier to make new fenders ….. so I just added some extra stowage to cover it up a bit

[ultravanillasmurf]

Very nice work.

[ripley]

Thanks .

[neffer38]

Great stuff!

I need some grey Panzers in my life! 

[ripley]

Personally I prefer my panzers yellow . The 38(t) is only my 2nd grey one , the other being a Panzer IV D I kit bashed out of the BA plastic IV . I'm more a mid - late war guy , that way I get to build Tiger IIs , Stalins and hordes of T-34 85s

[neffer38]

O yeah I'm the same, 43 kursk, 44 take your pick, 45 berlin is my preferred eras. Iv got 15mm pz1s 2s and 3s all in grey...haha and even some in blue from along time ago when I 1st started getting into ww2 ...the paint was called panzer blue! How was I to know any better! 

[ripley]

Here's my plastic SdKfz 139 Marder III . Same hull / track sprue from the 38(t) with another full sprue of upper hull , gun and crew . The 38(t) second sprue was about the size of a Rubicon tank crew figure set , but costs the same $ , wtf ?  If they're smart I'm sure the BA guys could wring  few more SPG type vehicles out of this hull......





Kit negatives IMO , overscale ribbing on the fenders and molded on tools , the 38(t) , Marder III , and the various other SPGs built on this hull had tools in different places , so one "size" won't fit all .
The gun shield is molded way too thick , as is the case in many kits of this type , not an easy fix by any means . The front crew ( driver / mg ) hatches molded closed and thick . And last but not least , the rear crew seats are molded flat on the rear hull sides , unlike the ones on their 20mm Marder III ( if these are indeed PSC  designed kits ) , a lost opportunity IMO

[Tracks]

Looks very nice ripley. Good job.

3 to 2 - Looks like you and I did the same thing with the crew. A third crew looked a bit crowed, so I based the figure separately (not in picture). Since his right leg is slightly raised, I got him standing on a small grass mound. I was going to use an ammo box, but it was to tall.

[ripley]

Really crowded with 3 figures back there . I'm going to use my guy as a tank commander eventually , maybe on the rear deck of a J Panther when I get one

[neffer38]

Looking good! Nice little diorama road section you have there too!

My spare parts box is over flowing. Comes a point where sadly you just have to chuck all those extra bits 

Started on the warlord Opel mautler last night, it's going to be fiddly. Just finished another Rubicon panther that I'll put up later and a bike and sude car from offensive miniatures.

[ripley]

I've made 5 scenic bases for taking photos on , 4 of them 6x6 inches square and one about a foot square , just using plastic board I had laying around  . I use them as testing grounds for glues , scenery products , air dry clay , effects stuff like the GW texture paint and Vallejo muds . And I can also set up little dioramas at playtime . Its nice  to find out how glue ( super , glue gun , Gorilla ) affects your base if you add layers of plastic or foam core  ie : causing the base to bow , before you go and build a super detailed diorama for display and sale .
I never throw out extra parts , I separate them by scale and type / army ( Sherman parts / Russian weapons & equipment for example ) , put then in sandwich bag zip locks and have them handy when I hang about the local hobby shop . When chatting with people there I usually find folks who build the stuff I do , so pass the parts on to them . Locally we've developed quite a group of guys who swap parts and unwanted kits , a win /  win for everyone . I've  also sent parts  to guys in the community who have needed them , a pay it forward situation . You never know when you might  break or lose something that another member might have as an extra piece .
Here's the Pak 40 , my latest Rubicon build .