1/35 Tamiya Panzer III

Started by Louis Gardner · 59 · 6 years ago
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    Louis Gardner said 7 years ago:

    Well I decided to keep at it rather than calling it a night. I finished building the turret and installed the Jordi Rubio turned metal barrel. It turned out to be a pretty straightforward job.

    Here's the results.

    Here's a picture of the turret with the main gun mocked up and temporarily placed on the hull.

    Now I'm calling it a night. Comments are encouraged.

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    David A. Thomas said 7 years ago:

    That thing is a beast. Yow.

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    Louis Gardner said 7 years ago:

    Thanks David !

    It does have the "look"...

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    Louis Gardner said 7 years ago:

    Tonight was a good night in the hobby room...

    I painted the interior of the turret in a light tan / off white color that was used fairly often in most German Armored vehicles.

    I also sprayed the metal barrel with a primer to help with paint adhesion.

    Here's the main gun just as I finished these first two steps.


    Followed by the inside of the turret:

    Next I painted the main gun breach with metalizer "Gun Metal"..., the empty casing basket with Tamiya XF-49 as per the kit instructions. Finally a light oil wash was applied to the main gun parts that are fitted inside the turret.
    Here's how it looked just before I installed the assembly into the turret.

    Here's a few photos showing how the main gun looks as viewed from the side turret hatches:



    The next step was to mask off the open turret hatches and start spraying the 1942 "Afrika Braun".
    Here's a picture showing the difference between the kit plastic color (the unpainted hull) with the freshly painted turret sitting in place on top. The Afrika Braun appears to have a slight pinkish tint to it.

    The road wheels, sprockets and idler wheels were also sprayed in this color.

    The next and final part to be painted was the lower hull assembly...
    Here you can see the sprockets and idlers have been pushed into position.

    I just couldn't resist joining the two main parts... I'm stoked ! It's starting to look like an Afrika Corps Panzer III


    Finally, here's a few close up pictures showing the internal details that are right out of the box... Nothing fancy or added on here. Just a simple build.

    Calling it a day... enjoy.

    Comments are encouraged.

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    David A. Thomas said 7 years ago:

    Wow, Louis, looks like a great kit and you are doing a fantastic job, showing us the blow by blow. Good show!

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    Louis Gardner said 7 years ago:

    Thanks David !

    Today I chipped a little of the rubber surfaces on the road wheels, got them painted and installed.

    Here's how it looks now:


    Comments are encouraged. Thanks for reading along.

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    David A. Thomas said 7 years ago:

    It is taking shape--you're a lot farther along with that beast than I am with my Havoc.

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    Tom Bebout said 7 years ago:

    Looking good Louis

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    Louis Gardner said 7 years ago:

    Thanks guys !

    Thanks David,
    I just took a good look at your A-20. The only reason why this one is so far along is that tanks are so much easier to build than planes. (at least for me anyhow, since most of the painting is done after assembly). Plus my kits are built right out of the box for the most part.

    Your A-20 is a work of art. The aftermarket upgrades and scratch building you have done with your build, take it into another league, of which my models are no where near.

    Thanks Tom ! Your Spitfire is looking real good too. The wash treatment on the 'pit really brings out the finer details.

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    Paul Barber said 7 years ago:

    Seeing your builds and reading this gave me the courage to look at a T34/76 (Zvezda 1/35) my 6-year-old wanted us to build once we've finished his English Electric Lightning. Looked in the box and quietly closed it and put it back in the cupboard! Still pretty daunting for an airplane guy! That's a journey we'll be taking after Christmas...

    Anyway your work is brilliant and prolific as ever - very well done - can't wait to see the exterior come to life (the interior is beautiful thus far!).

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    Jeff Bailey said 7 years ago:

    Looks like a real desert tank, Lou! I especially like the gun breech and the safety rails. Worn, but well maintained.

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    Bernard E. Hackett, Jr. said 7 years ago:

    Louis, this is really looking good! I'm looking forward to seeing how you embellish what you've done.

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    Louis Gardner said 7 years ago:

    Thanks guys for the compliments. Not bragging but I'm very pleased with how this one is turning out. The Panzer III lends itself to the desert paint scheme very well.

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    Louis Gardner said 7 years ago:

    Earlier today I was in decal mode. I applied the decals on my Sherman build. Since I had things set up, I decided that I would also get the decals knocked out on the Panzer III. Using the kit supplied decals I was able to replicate a tank from the 10th Panzer Division as they looked in Tunisia during February of 1943.

    Here's how it looks now.



    The next steps will be to build the tracks and paint and install
    the OVM tools.

    I'm calling it a night.

    Comments are encouraged. Thanks again for looking and have a good evening.

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    Louis Gardner said 7 years ago:

    Just a little hint of things to come: