5. Interior as good as completed

Fabian D.
uhh.. there is already more (It´s easier to ceep track of progress if you put all pics in one album... at least for me😉 )
Interior just looks like a vehicle "on the run" should look like... 👍

John Van Kooten
Thanks Fabian! 👍

Hmm, I didn't realize I could keep adding pictures to an existing album 😮 I think I will move them all to one album. That would indeed be a lot easier to manage and keep track of 😉

Es-haq Khosravi
Great job!

John Van Kooten
Thank you, Es-haq! 👍 👍

John Van Kooten
Finished almost all of the PE on the side walls of the vehicle. Only two more mess tin straps and it's done.

The PE from this kit is quite stiff, so all parts that needed bending had to be annealed. Not a problem of course, just took a little longer than anticipated 😉

I have also painted and weathered the first mess kit. Pretty hard, considering it is only about 4mm wide 😛

So, once the two remaining PE mess tin straps are done, I'm ready to start painting the side walls and mount them onto the lower hull.

Alan Rush
Patience is a virtue. The PE is annoying but your efforts certainly paid off. 🙂

John Van Kooten
Thanks, Alan! 👍

A virtue it is, absolutely! 🙂

And yeah, PE can be a pain sometimes but it does really enhance the look of a model. I love small detail because it adds so much to the realism.
Although I have to admit, sometimes I wonder why a PE part was even considered because the plastic version of it looks better😉 I only use PE when it is necessary, i.e., looks better than in plastic. Sometimes PE gets added to a kit just to have something "extra" to offer😉

On to the next bits and pieces! 😄

John Van Kooten
Some progress on my Sd.Kfz.250/1 NEU. Finally! 😄

Completed the basic setup of the side panels (aside from the large PE cabinets, which I'm working on right now), weathered them and glued them to the lower hull.

I didn't do too much weathering on the side panels because after dry-fitting them I noticed pretty much nothing will be visible when the top goes on 😛 I will only add the MP40, some stick grenades and the large PE cabinets and then I will move on. Not much use spending a lot of time on something no one will ever see 😉

M.Julian Marles
looking good! I have the older version of this kit but haven't tackled it yet...

John Van Kooten
Thanks! 😄

Yeah, you mean the #6100, right? I have it in my stash too. The advantage of this premium kit is that it has some very nice PE included, plus the DS tarp and magic tracks.
Disadvantage is that Dragon (once again, much like in many of their Sd.Kfz.250 series kits) has "forgotten" to include the transmission block 😠 😉 still a VERY nice kit though, this premium version! As is the #6100 kit, actually 🙂

Stefan Fraundorfer
Hello John. You did a really great job so far. Very very nice. I built a 250/3 Greif in 1:48 from Tamiya, but there is no comparison to yours.

M.Julian Marles
John, yes, the original kit which has a diffefent layout ...but does have the tranny cover......luckily I have a couple of Tamiya ones I can adapt...

John Van Kooten
@Stefan: thank you very much 👍 I must admit I am fairly pleased with the result so far. But I know I still have a LOT(!) to learn 🙂 There are some amazingly skilled modelers active on this site 👍

@Julian: Yeah, that's right. The #6100 kit actually has the correct interior layout for a 250/1. The premium one does have all the same parts on the sprues but the manual basically builds a combination of two 250 versions. But I really liked the large PE cabinets so I just decided to follow the manual and build an incorrect version 😛

Btw, your #6100 has the tarp? Mine doesn't. See attached image. But frankly speaking, that doesn't surprise me at all. Dragon has a tendency to update their kits, which of course is a good thing but it basically makes it hard to know what it is your getting exactly... I have a number of kits of which I own multiple and some of them contain completely different sprues and options. Ah well... more reasons to build them all, I guess 😉 😛 haha!

[img1]

M.Julian Marles
I will have to check the tarps, I know I have two or three in the spare box but they might have come from the 251 kits. Hmmm..

M.Julian Marles
nice looking build! It just may inspire me to tackle the Dragon #6102 "Stummel" which is sitting a couple of feet from me. Of course I must finish the 251/9...lol...by the by 6102 does NOT have a tarp. Not that I need another kit but have you seen the new Cyber Hobby 251/6 command kit? It looks pretty cool.

M.Julian Marles
What colour did you use for the halftrack?

John Van Kooten
Haha! Yeah, seeing someone build something is always inspiring to me too! Which is why I am also going to start building one of my Hetzers sometime soon! 😄

But like you say, first things first 😉 finish what we've started.

I have indeed seen the new Cyber Hobby 251/6. It is based on the #6206 kit, of which I have two 😛 so yeah, I'll probably skip that one for now... maybe... hmm... yeaaah... probably not... okay, I'll get it when it's available 😠 hahaha 😄 it really is an awesome vehicle!! The large antenna on the rear really IS very large (in height)! Pretty cool thing! 👍

I airbrushed the base coat with Ammo of Mig - Dunkelgelb DGI (color code: A.MIG-011). It is fairly light but perfect as a base coat for weathering.

John Van Kooten
Some more progress pictures, including images with the back armor panel and upper hull dry-fitted.

- Started building the upper hull.
- Started working on the exterior. Added the fenders and storage bins.
- Added the large cabinets and some more detail.
- Did some more subtle weathering, which is still a work in progress.

Dry fitted the back armor panel and top of the hull/engine bay where I ran into a small problem. The firewall was too high causing the top not to fit properly, leaving gaps at both sides. I had to go in and remove about 0,5mm of the top of the firewall. Which is where my Proxxon electric tool came in VERY handy 😄 I would not have liked poking a file or sanding stick in that area because knowing me, I would have most definitely damaged parts of the interior 😉 also, with the Proxxon it was only a few seconds of "work" 👍

Alberto Bianchi
Great job!

John Van Kooten
Thanks Alberto! 👍

Fabian D.
Great work John 👍... what are these white and green boxes? Spare vision blocks?

Frank Krause
👍 Fantastic!

Michael Razz
nice details,top model!!

Dave Flitton
Nice!

John Van Kooten
Thanks very much! Coming from you guys, that means a lot to me! 👍 👍

@Fabian: The white/green blocks are indeed spare vision blocks for the side viewports. The spares for the front viewports are on the other side of the vehicle, near the steering wheel.

I initially said I wasn't going to spend a lot of time on the interior but I have decided against that😉 I'm going all the way 🙂 So I am still working on painting the details & weathering, including those vision blocks. They need to be weathered a bit so they don't stand out so much.

Another small update: painted the wheels (front wheels were done earlier and have already received basic weathering). They received their first basic coat. Now for some minute detail touch-ups on them and then I can give them a coat of varnish and start the weathering process.

With the wheels, hull top and back armor plate dry-fitted in place, it is starting to look like an actual vehicle 😄

Alan Rush
Thanks for the update John - and the new photos. Excellent work and I look forward to seeing more. The work on the interior really gives a realistic look with the finished interior, photos will look like the real vehicle. 👍

Fabian D.
Again what learned, just in time I´d say, as I stumbeld across them in my second 251 (old Tamiya didin´t have these😉 )
Guess I have to invest in some eath pigments, the longer I look at the floor, the more I like it...

John Van Kooten
@Alan: Thank you, Alan. Highly appreciated! 👍 👍 the painting & weathering process is a long and tedious task, so progress is always slow in this phase 🙂 but I am indeed hoping I can get it to look the part once it is finished 🙂 I will keep updating this until I am finished 👍

@Fabian: Always good to learn something new 👍 🙂

Those spare vision blocks were pretty essential because the viewports were a favorite target of the enemy, either to damage them and essentially blind the crew inside thus rendering the vehicle inoperable. Or to simply kill the driver / radio operator in their seat.
So they got damaged fairly frequently. The crew had to be able to change them in the field, which is why they carried them inside the vehicle.

As for the earth pigments, yeah, those are REALLY cool to play with! You can achieve a lot of different effects with them. Like the dried, crumbled sand/mud I have tried to create on the vehicle floor.
If you go get them, get some different colors. The ones I have can, once combined/mixed/layered, pretty much mimic any sand/mud color thinkable. These are the ones I use, all from MIG Productions:

CONCRETE (P026)
EUROPE DUST (P028)
DARK MUD (P033)
INDUSTRIAL CITY DIRT (P039)
DRY MUD (P232)
RUBBEL DUST (P234)

Martyn Fox
Really nice job on the interior. It's always a shame when so much of it is hidden🙂

Nikolajs Negeriss
Cool interior! And I like the way your workbench looks like - everything is clean and in order 🙂

John Van Kooten
@Martyn: Thanks Martyn! 👍 yeah, it really is a shame so much of it will never be seen again once the model is finished. Ah well, at least I have fun doing it 🙂

@Nikolajs: Thank you! 😄 and yeah, I always try to keep my workbench as clean as possible. I don't like it when I need to go on "search and rescue missions" to find parts or other things I need but are hidden beneath a load of stuff 😉

Kaiyu Chen
wow, your table have a powerful lighting system!

Fabian D.
I remember a training video for the Panther, general message was, whatever happens to you vision blocks, don´t stop whatever you´re doing, replace them if needed (as quick as possible) and ask for guidance from other crew members...
concerning Pigments: I´ve got some basic tones and Pastels here, but I´ve already realized that I need some tones "in between the extrems", so next time I´m ordering something, I´ll fill my cart till I´ve reached the "magic free shipping line" 😄

John Van Kooten
@Kaiyu Chen: Haha! 😄 Yes, it is a quite powerful lighting system 😉 It is a daylight lighting system, so that I can also work with confidence when it is dark. It's important when I'm painting 🙂 I did a write-up on my setup in this post (about half way through in the long list of comments, as an answer to Martyn Fox): Modeling/Hobby room and (part of) the Stash | Album by JohnVK

@Fabian: that's a cool story about the Panther crews training video 👍 I can imagine that they wouldn't stop for a minute to change them out in the midst of a combat situation 😛 lol

Ah yes! The magic free shipping threshold! Hahaha 😄 I know it well! 😛 👍

And you're absolutely right! I also realized very quickly that I needed a lot different tones to be able to get the result I was looking for 🙂

John Van Kooten
Small update.

Didn't have a lot of time to work on the model unfortunately.

- Added first layers of filter to the wheels
- Finished building and airbrushed the top of the vehicle inside and out.
- Painted & weathered the inside of the rear armor plate, so I can work towards closing up the vehicle.
- Started painting accessories and weapons.

You'll probably notice I haven't removed the ejector pin marks on the inside of the rear armor plate 😉 That's on purpose. You won't be able to see them at all once the part is glued in place, so I really couldn't be bothered 😛 sorry! 😄

So as a bonus, to make up for not having done a lot, I have written the painting instructions for the German Helmet in the image 😉 Obviously that's all about technique and choice of colors. You can apply it to many other objects as well.

p.s. once I have finished and closed up the interior, I'll create a new album that deals with the exterior. I'll also post the link to that album here once that happens 🙂

p.s.2 Do any of you guys have tips or know of techniques I'm not yet aware of on painting the instrument panel / meters / radio equipment in the dashboard? There are no decals included for them.

Es-haq Khosravi
The most realistic helmet I've ever seen! Great job overall!

John Van Kooten
I also thought the helmet looked kind of nice 😄 Haha!
Thank you very much, Es-haq! 😄 👍

H K
I agree with Es-haq. Great finish on the helmet, and the interior looks great too 👍

John Van Kooten
Thank you so much! 👍 👍

Another small update 😄

- Finished painting the first MG42 (there are two on the vehicle, front and back).
- Starting painting some ammo cans
- Painted another German helmet. This one is in field applied, handpainted three-tone camo, as seen a LOT in Normandy.
- Did a few quick experiments creating bushes / vegetation. Very simple tests but it was just to see if the method worked. It did! 😄

Everything painted and weathered using acrylic paints / washes and some small amount of pigments.

I'm not to happy with the MG42 mount though (the one in the picture)... especially the direct attachment for the machinegun. It's quite bad actually. I think I will cut off the attachment and scratch-build a new one. Should be fairly easy, with some thin plastic card, albeit VERY small 😄

Albi Hitz
John, I like what I see .... very impressive ...

John Van Kooten
Thanks very much, Albi! A big compliment, seeing how you are a very skilled artist! Your work is a source of inspiration! 👍 👍

Fabian D.
verry nice paintwork, John...👍 that Mg mount is indeed a bit strange...but I guess you can fix that😉

John Van Kooten
Thank you, Fabian! 👍 😄 Yeah, I'm going to see if I can take care of that 😉

Jan Hazes
Outstanding work so far!

Holger Kranich
Wonderful interior! Well done, John!👍

John Van Kooten
Thanks very much guys!! I really appreciate that! 👍 👍

Added two pics of a fairly quick test I did with an old Dragon figure head. I didn't pay any attention to cleaning it up and the details are obviously not as great as, say, Hornet heads or the GEN2 Dragon heads. But I still think the old Dragon head looks okay. It works for me 🙂

I have basically never done any serious figure painting before, so this was my first offence 😄

It's kinda okay, I guess, but I still need to do a lot of experimenting and it will take a lot of practice to get consistent results. I'm still thinking this might have been a lucky shot 😉 but at least I still know exactly what I did (I always make notes during my experiments). So that is good.

Again, it was all done using acrylics. I really love using them because there is basically no waiting time. You can paint start to finish in one continuous session. Of course the wet palette is a BIG help during those sessions 👍 especially when it is this hot over here! 24 degrees celsius outside, 28 degrees inside!

So as a thank you to the Dragon figure for lending me a head... uhh... I mean, hand... 😄 I let him wear my Normandy Camo Helmet for the photographs 😄

H K
👍 I always recommend the Panzer Aces color sets from Vallejo. They really helped me improve my ( mediocre) figure painting.

John Van Kooten
Indeed! Panzer Aces are a really great selection of Vallejo colors! I use them on pretty much everything 😄

John Van Kooten
Some final touch ups on the interior. I may still do a little more work on it but I'm close to calling it done.

- Added additional chips, dust, mud, rust, streaking and wear&tear.
Especially to the large cabinets at the sides and for instance the fire extinguisher.

- Unified the back of the vehicle, especially near the entrance.
There was obvious separation going on between the floor and the ridge to the door.
The door in the back will be open, so it has to look good or at least acceptable😉

I also started the weathering process on the inside of the top of the vehicle and started working on more accessories but I didn't take pictures of that. It's not very spectacular 😄

Gábor Bélik
I'm watching...

Holger Kranich
Simply cool, John! I love the look of the "Pick Pott" (Mess kit)👍

John Van Kooten
Thanks guys! 👍

I also liked the way the mess kit turned out 😄 even when it is zoomed in like in the picture it still looks kind of cool, right? 🙂 it's the first time I actually gave small parts like these this much attention but I think it is worth it 🙂

Anthony Flanagan
John - outstanding detailing and weathering. Particularly the weathering! I look forward to seeing the finished product.

Alan Rush
Looks great John! 👍 I like your intro quote that you are not going to spend much time on the interior. LOL! On the old Airfix 1/72 M.R.C.A. that I am working on for the modern jets groupbuild, I have spent time on the pilots and instruments that won't show at all with the full canopy on, but I like to do it for myself I suppose. I know it is there, at least, and I enjoyed the practice. The interior and figures looks great and looking forward to the finished scene. 🙂

John Van Kooten
@Anthony: Thanks for the kind words! 👍 🙂 I hope to be able to do quite a bit of work on this model, and some of the other projects I currently have on the bench, next week, since I have taken a few days off from work 🙂 but first, of course, the QuickWheel mask + clear coat test coming up this weekend 👍

@Alan: Thanks for the compliments! 👍
Hahaha! Yes, I am leaving that intro quote in because I think it's kind of funny 😄 it's exactly the same with me. I like the idea that I have done all I can to make it look as good as I can ( even if I said I wasn't going to do it 😛 ). And even though totally not visible in the end, you know it's there 👍

Mike Thomas
I never was much of a fan of building this kind of stuff....but time and time again, over many years of contests and shows, I am absolutely amazed by the work that you "military" modellers come up with....absolutely stunning!.....oh yeah...and that work bench?...well, that's just gotta go...it's so....clean...🙂

John Van Kooten
Thanks Mike! On behalf of all military modelers! 👍 😄

And yeah, hahaha! My bench is clean, isn't it!? 😛 LOL I like it like that! 😄 👍

Christian Ristits
Wow John, very impressive! Nice details, and an awesome realistic build! Love your bench too...with millions of different colours 😉

Aghis Barberopoulos
Lovely work!

M.Julian Marles
lookin good!

John Van Kooten
Thanks guys! I appreciate that very much! 👍

@Christian: Haha! Yeah, the colors! 😉 I am still working on the color ranges and weathering products (adding to them) but it's getting there 🙂

This is the current state of the bench, btw 🙂

[img1]

H K
It`s so uncluttered, I wouldn`t find anything 😄

John Van Kooten
Hahahahaha! ;p LOL!

Christian Ristits
Amazing Assortment!

Anthony Flanagan
Dear Lord!! How can you do such good work and keep your work space so well organized?!?! Picture me turning green w/ envy. 😉

Trez Mackenzie
That is some lamp! Great build!