Well I'm back again for the first time in a while with my latest project: a Tamiya 1/35 Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf.D German half-track. This is the first time I've done any kind of armored vehicle, along with the first time I've attempted figures, so C&C is welcome, but be kind =] These are pictures of what I've completed thus far. It is mostly done, but I will continue to add as I finish more. Thanks for looking.

On a side note, I do not own an airbrush, so its an all hand painted job.






This is the interior. Trying to make the paint look like its wearing off in places





The road wheels of which there are far too many >:0





The driver. Yeah, flecktarn sucks to paint...





The exterior before most of the rest is attached.





Gewehr 43





The interior once again. You can see the G43 and a German helmet in the bins on the left.





The wheels, behind which the grease and dirt and whatever else collects behind tank wheels that I added can be seen.





The tracks. Finally finished those damn wheels. Soooo glad the treads weren't the kind you have to put together yourself...





The front wheel.





Another exterior shot.





Adding the stowage bins. Those clamps are rather useful.





Another view of the half-track while I was adding the bins. You can see the front suspension quite well.





My 2nd German soldier. Lot of equipment on this one. Oak-leaf pattern camo this time.





MG42 ready to be mounted.





The MG42 is mounted and the half-track is almost done. Ish...





The German soldier with the Oak-leaf camo now has his MG42 and is ready to wreck some American infantry. If only he had a head...





Another view of him.





Top view of the half-track.


More to come soon =]

2 days later...More =D

Welcome back bro...

looking good on your first attempt

there are a few that u could do to improve... u may paint the control panel with a dark grey and then dry brush with silver..those dials are good so far.

there are seam lines on the soldiers (the legs, shoulder).. u need to sand them all. Anyway, u have guts to do the cammo on the uniform..my first attempt was a plain Heer field gray uniform...

good luck!

Thanks for the advice. I was wondering what else I could do on that dashboard. I'll remember that next time =]

and yes, some issues with the soldiers I need to fix. I don't particularly like the driver figure. Paint turned out too shiny (my fault, but oh well)

Thanks for looking.

A bit too glossy on some parts such as tires, wheels, seats, figures etc...
I can also see some brush strokes, how many layer of paint u applied?
And dun forget to fill gaps too.

Hope the above helps. ;)

Sometimes I had that problem when re-paint the camo too many times in figures. But somehow, a thinned-paint overall drybrush can save the day. :D

Vinsanity,
You must like challenges in life! Starting on AFV and choosing an open top half track will be a real challenge for sure due to the complex open compartment. And choosing a German camo uniformed is like putting salt in an open wound. :P

That said, it looks like you have the neccessary eye for details on the basic things like weathering. Its only the execution now that needs a bit of refinement. That will take time and practice in most of us. Keep it up.

My 2 cts worth of comments amongst others would be:
1) keep the weathering consistent. You have decided to dirtied up the hull in a certain tone but the wheels are not weathered conssitently

2) the chipping at the interior is good but the choice of colour needs a rethink.

3) tires look too glossy

Have fun

Thanks for the advice guys. I tried to take all of it into account when I was finishing it up. Here are the updated photos. Thanks for looking =]





















Hope you guys like it. I think its my best build so far, and its only my first armor! =]

congrats on finishing this kit...

well if u can still enhance the finishing..
i can see brush stroke in the cammo job...to reduce the stroke marking, u can paint a very thinned layer of paint like 1:10 ratio of paint:thinner and then dip the tip of the brush onto a tissue paper...then slowly brush on the pattern... layer by layer.... depend on type of paint that u used, continue on next layer for says 15-20 minutes.... make sure the paint is very thin. Do this until u are satisfied and the brush stroke is gone (or less visible)...

then u may apply oil wash .... sometimes, oil wash can also hide the paint and also u can apply dust/light earth color to further tone down the effect.

this is my 1/48 hetzer after the dusting, oil wash etc... the cammo pattern are handbrushed.


you may read this thread to get the general idea..

and lastly u need to apply a flat coat. German AFV are not that glossy... :)

Great to see the Tamiya kit finished ... ah !!! Very good attempt.

Personally the camo patern is fine ... especially since you have the "ambush" scheme done. Not sure whether the Germans would have used a brush or spray for their 3 tone camo but I think the camo can be lived with. (ie not wajib IMHO)

To "beautify" your 1/2 track ... perhaps you can consider doing some of the following:
1. Apply very diluted "dark brown" wash on the entire tank especially those expose floor board / seats.
Of course you will be "gloss"ing the tank, you can then use a flat clear to paint over to "flatten" the paint ...
2. Dry brush a mixture of brown+white+buff over the edges of the 1/2 track and those tracks and areas where there are most used. This will give the afv a worn look
3. Last one is tricky ... tie down the tracks to the "wheels" either with glue / string... normally tracks sag especially when there are no return rollers ...

HTH .. and happy modelling...

Thanks for the tips guys. Always looking to make my stuff better.

Sil- I used Model Masters enamel paint. I dont know enough about paints to know whether this would be suitable for what you're saying I could do

Sac33- Forgive my ignorance...but there's such thing as a flat clear coat..? :blink:

Bro,

any paints will do...but depend on the type, the only diff is their behavior and reaction to other chemicals i.e thinner etc

Model Master is enamels paints...it dry relatively slower than acrylics.... it has to be fully dried before coating with any other paint i.e acylics, oil...if u plan to do an oild wash, the enamels paints should be let to 100% dry for about 4 to 5 days and then try to coat the overall model with acylics clear coat i.e Future etc...then u may proceed with wash

and yes, they are flat clear coat in the market...many type and many brands.... from testors (dullcote), humbrol (matt cote), gunze etc..etc

hope this helps

Nice job, I can see you put alot of thought and effort into this build.of course we all have to start somewhere so keep experimenting and keep building.
Find a acrylic flat coat to brush on(usually if you only go 1 pass the bottom coat wont come off, acrylics being a little less caustic)Or maybe have a can of flat coat to spray on.The german Ambush camoflage is very nicely done.

basicly what the dudes said, reduce glossyness and maybe weather with some pastles.

I use and would prefer using Model Master enamel paints either handbrushed or airbrushed. This brand has more paint codes than most brands (even beating the japs).

I hope you did get the "Sand" color from model master. This color is near equivalent to buff that would be very useful in your armor painting...

Some other vital Model Master colors - Burnt Senna/Burnt Umber/Raw Umber/Raw Senna

of course if you can still find black/white then great otherwise you will have to stick with other brands eg gunze.

ONE Very important issue - DON't Mix Gunze with Model Master paint ... teruk! :ph43r: :ph43r:

The only down side is the model master paint availability. so I ganti this brand with next best alternative ... gunze...

Regarding "Flat" clear coat. You can find this paint at all local hobby shops. Gunze has it in a bottle or spray can.

HTH

Ah thank you. Most helpful. Yes i used burnt sienna quite alot in this build ^_^ I will need to pick up some of that matte coat. Very helpful considering the paint I used on some parts was annoyingly shiny when it dried even though it was supposedly flat.

Okay so I know it took me awhile to get these up, but after taking some advice, finishing the remaining German soldiers and building a display base, this is the final product:














Thanks for all the help guys

A respected built but my comment is the camo on the waffen ss soldier figures seems like the modern Bundeswehr. Only my 2 cents.

Faisal

Just my 2 cents, this image is late WW2 german(Heer) uniform.

Bander and Bravo, your points are noted. And Bravo, yes it does resemble the modern Bundeswehr flecktarn more than the world war 2 version, but this is only my first attempt at both AFV and figures. I will try and depict the world war 2 pea pattern more accurately next time. This is kinda what I was going for as far as camo goes. And look, a halftrack! =D

Same with me when i've started doing the pea dot bu using the tip of the toothpick. Unfortunately I've not been doing 1/35 figures lately and the ones that I have are being kept somewhere.

My AFV Sd.kfz. 251 had been lying idle & 1/2 way done for some time now & rest assured it will not start soon.

Faisal