MENG 1/35 Sd.kfz. 173 Jagdpanther

[KSaarni]

After seeing the hypotetical proposal and ideas John (jkim) had on Bruces 250/3 thread regarding an armour project... I jumped in the car and drove to my local hobby shop "Dominomodels" (deliver stuff all over the world) and bought the kit.



It is, for an AAB-person (amateur armour builder) as me, an excellent kit (so far). Also, the plastic used is precisely my favorite type. Not too hard, not too soft... Just perfect. Easy to cut and more importantly, very easy to sand smooth and nice.

There is 4 different camo versions and they all differ sliightly from eachother when it comes to parts to be used. So in a very early stage, one need to decide which Jagdpanther to build. I selected the 1st option, from March 1945. Already headache when thinking the paintwork...



At this moment I don't have any suitable paint to match that camo, therefore my plan is to use a totally new paint brand (in other words easy for me to find), highly probably some of these who has even paint-sets to match late German army colors

- AK Real colors
- AK Acrylics
- Ammo by Mig
- Hataka (Red or Orange line)

Have been googling of course reviews, opinions etc. But as always, you find a nice mixture of "for / against" any of these brands. Wonder if any SPAM members has experience of those paints above?

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I don't have so much to show, has been a very slow build so far.
The first 4 hrs I spent (spread over couple of evenings though) cutting off track pieces from the sprues, Still have about 30% left... Then the next evenings slowly but surely working with the roadwheels.



Some testfitting of the "big pieces", to really see how it looks in real 3D..


I will jump on the might 88mm gun as next step.. It's funny, the gun consists of 24 pieces, but practically nothing will be visible.

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The good thing with building tanks, is that you can build almost the entire subject and only then start with paintwork. With airplanes the working method is so different..

Let's see what next!

- Kari

[mostrich]

Kari, what a wonderful idea! You just followed a sudden impulse and got you the thing you desired. And now you're sitting at your workbench with a whole new modeling experiance. I did the very same with my Meng Panther, I just jumped into 35th scale armor and I loved it from the very beginning.
As for your question regarding colors: Go with AK Real Colors. I start with their only disadvantage - they're lacquer. So they stink. But now to why I love them: Perfect color matching, fully mixable with Tamiya and Mr.Hobby (Gunze) Aqueous paints and they spray beautifully. Thin them in a 2:8 ratio with Mr. Leveling Thinner and you are able to lay down super thin layers of paint. That way you'll nail that camo scheme left handed and with a smile.

[KSaarni]

Kari, what a wonderful idea! You just followed a sudden impulse and got you the thing you desired. And now you're sitting at your workbench with a whole new modeling experiance. I did the very same with my Meng Panther, I just jumped into 35th scale armor and I loved it from the very beginning.
As for your question regarding colors: Go with AK Real Colors. I start with their only disadvantage - they're lacquer. So they stink. But now to why I love them: Perfect color matching, fully mixable with Tamiya and Mr.Hobby (Gunze) Aqueous paints and they spray beautifully. Thin them in a 2:8 ratio with Mr. Leveling Thinner and you are able to lay down super thin layers of paint. That way you'll nail that camo scheme left handed and with a smile.

Thanks Torben!
And great to hear own experience stuff from people I trust here!
Indeed, AK Real colors is a top candidate.

And what comes to smells, I use mostly Mr Paints products on my airplane projects, so smell is "part of the show" ! :-)

- Kari

[Jeeves]

Been using the AMMO by Mig set for German armor for.my Takom Panther And have found them to be excellent as well. Good luck with whatever you choose...

[Floki]

I've been wanting this kit since I first seen it and reviews are pretty good on it too. As for paints I would stay away from the AK acrylic in the vallejo style bottles I had a bad experience with them. The AK real colors are said to be just like Tamiya. I'm in the middle of a paint nightmare sorta, I'm fazing out my Tamiya and Life colors paint for aircraft colors for mission models paint since they do excellent color matching. But I'm keeping Tamiya for armor I do have to mix all the colors but I do that in bulk using empty Tamiya jars. If you would be interested in my Tamiya mixing ratios let me know I would be more than happy to share.

[speedgraflex]

Looks smashing, Kari. I would second lacquer or enamel paints despite what Torben calls “the stink.” I am fond of both. I do circle around Mission Models like a cat around a saucer of milk, however. These are local to me.

I was wondering in a definitely self-analytical way if you would be building this beast on these pages as well as on the bench, and I am ever so glad you made the choice to open up your process to the forum. This forum is special and I have found great comfort here—as well as great friendships.

I posted a big color photo of this subject on my 250 thread. Perhaps you have a copy already? I also must confess in a decidedly Freudian way that I read the headline of your build shortly before bed and thought, “Hang on I’ll write something...” set my phone down and fell asleep to dream that I was working with Karl Lagerfeld, a brilliant man who gave me an enormous model car for completing my job. Not that you are Karl, Kari, but the closeness of the name and the older post with the Lambo and Ferrari may have something to do with all of this! Any competent SoCal therapist could interpret my dream for me.

[mostrich]

You have to love Karl.

[jkim]

Awesome to see you jump in with both feet! I'm still outside the pool, testing the water with my pinky toe! Looking forward to seeing this kit come together.

As for paints, I'm mostly a Tamiya/Gunze acrylic user. I've tried a couple of Hataka (Red) sets that were on offer at my local hobby shop. But I couldn't get good results with them.

[Stikpusher]

[Stikpusher]

But on the question of paint, I agree with the AK Real Colors suggestion. Those are great paints. One side bar on the colors, as far as order of application. German AFVs produced up to Fall 1944 came out of the factory in the Dunkelgelb base color, and the Olivegrun and/or Red Brown camo was applied by the receiving units. In Fall 1944, to speed up production, the base color was left as Red Brown primer, with Olivgrun and Dunkelgelb being applied over that, usually at the factory. In late winter/early spring1945, the base color was changed to Olivgrun at the factory, with Dunkelgelb & Red Brown being applied at the factory as well. Application of zimmerit anti magnetic mine paste was discontinued around the time of the switch from Dunkelgelb to Red Brown primer base as well.