Rusty and Dusty Panther

This is something I started years ago but never got around to working on it again. When I saw Andy Taylor's awesome progress pics of his Panther interior, I was motivated to get back to this Panther. I had originally planned on doing the entire interior with some resin parts from Verlinden, mainly Motor and Transmission. This would involve too much time, which I do not have, and also a lot of scratch building. Instead I will only do the motor comp and what is left of the motor.

Here is the kit that I am using. The Dragon offering would be a better choice, but I have two of these models and have to build them some time.




Spent a few hours working on the motor compartment after removing what was originally installed eight years ago. I thought I would start from scratch and install only what would be left after being field stripped or taken for scrap.



I will also add some remaining wiring and maybe some hoses to the compartment. I also decided to add a few wheels that had the rubber burnt off, and for this I am using resin castings from Tiger Model Designs. To make things more interesting, I also removed some wheels and made the mounting hubs where they mount to.
The motor is a product from Verlinden that I have had for years and finally found a use for it. As can be seen in the pic there are parts that are not on the motor, suggesting that they have been removed.
I will post more pics as the build progresses.

Rob


6 /1/10 update

While waiting for some paint to dry on the Sherman I decided to start the painting of the motor compartment on the Panther G. Since the roof plates over the motor comp were removed and the inside exposed to the elements I decided that this area was to get some corrosion and rusting, but still showing faint signs of the red oxide primer color. This is not that easy to do as I found out. The rust and primer colors are almost the same color and hard to distinguish, so the primer color must be a faded bleached out tone, a pinkish color. The dark washes will bring the color close to what it should look like.

I used the salt and HS techniques for this area, but repeated the process several times and with a lot of HS. This layering gives the paint and rust a more corroded effect apposed to a more painted on look.






The motor is only placed in the bay for the photos and will be glued in place later. I started doing some of the weathering, washes, dust and added some moss. Work on the exterior will continue and when I start the painting and weathering there then I will do the rest of the motor comp.


The exterior has been finished and ready for painting. as can be seen here in the pics, I didn't add a lot to the model. I want to make it look as if it had been stripped down.



Once the weather here in New England is less humid I will give the model a primer coat, and the start the weathering of the Panther.


6 /14/ 10

 I finally started the painting of the Panther, mainly the turret at the moment. I gave all parts of the Panther a primer coat, followed by various shades of brown and rust colors. Once this had dried a few hours I then gave all parts a coat of Testers dull coat in preparation for the HS technique that will be used in the painting.




I decided I would start with the turret first, just to try something different. The rust/brown paint has been applied. I let this dry overnight then gave the turret three light coats of hairspray, and let this dry an hour or so. The next thing to do was apply the tanks color, in this case I wanted a sun bleached panzer gelb, but more on the tan side. I sprayed the lower sides of the turret a slightly darker shade of the base color.




The base coat was then set aside to dry and cure a bit, a couple of hours was enough. Now the fun part began. Armed with my HS removal brushes I carefully removed the paint from the areas that I wanted to show the rust. Warm tap water worked best for the removal of the paint.




I decided early in the build of this model that I would try doing the rust with as little rust pigments as possible. Instead I am using various shades of oil paints. Besides artist oils paints I am also using 502 Abteilung oil paints from MIG Productions.



So armed with these oil paints and an assortment of paint brushes, I started the initial rusting starting with a darker mix of oils. I then mixed a lighter brown rust color and used this for the beginnings of the staining and streaking. Using a damp soft bristled brush, I blended the oils and removed any tide marks.
The following pics were taken before the blending and tide mark removal. The oil paints are still wet and will have to dry overnight before I continue with light rust stains and streaks.






While the turret is set aside to dry, the hull will be painted in the same manner as the turret. Next stage of the painting and update coming soon.



6 /23/ 10

Work on the lower hull has started, but very slow progress. The painting of the hull was done in the same manner as the turret. After the base coat of rust brown, several light coats of HS was sprayed on using the airbrush, and set aside to dry an hour or two. I then gave the hull a coat of the same sand/gelb mix using Tamiya paints. This was then set aside to dry a couple of hours before removing the paint/chips. I used tap water mixed with some rubbing alcohol to remove the paint, mainly because I wanted to have some depth/texture to the chipping. This also allows for less "scrubbing", and removing too much paint.

The base coat of rust brown colors, and ready for the HS.



The removal of the paint. the hull is ready to get the rust staining and streaking using only oil paints, the same way as the turret.



I started the oil rusting on the hull and at this stage 3/4 of it has been done. The rest of the hull will get done and once the base rusting has been done a coat of enamel flat will be sprayed on. Once the clear flat has been applied the light rust stains and streaks can then be applied.



The effects of using rubbing alcohol are subtle, but they are there, and give the paint, chips and rust more dimensions. The next update should show more progress with the rusting and also some detail painting along with the roadwheels.


07/02/10


Some up date pics of the slow progress in painting, or rather rusting the Panther. I added some more lighter rust stains and streaking. I then painted the weld seams with a mixture of silver and light grey paint, and will be toned down some with the weathering to come.

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Next up will be the painting and rusting of the road wheels and sprocket. This part of the painting is time consuming and can not be rushed, after all we want it to look as real as possible.



7/21/10


Work on this model continues at a slow pace, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. now that all the rusting is done it won't be much longer until this model is ready to be placed on a base.
The road wheels took  a bit longer than I had planned but well worth all the work that went into them. The painting of the wheels and sprockets was done in the same manner as the rest of the tank, hairspray tech, chipping rust and staining. The rubber part of the wheels will get a light dusting with pigments when it is time to place the tank on a base. The wheels have been mounted on the model, but not glued, in order to see how it all will look when done.






The next update should be the finished model and a base getting started to place it on.


8/17/10

Some pics of the finished model and base.






An article and more pics of this build will be in a future issue of Military in Scale. 

Rob



I entered the Panther at the AMPSEast show in Danbury Conn. and managed to get a gold and peoples choice award. It was unexpected, but I am happy with it just the same.