Flakpanzer Gepard
Basic construction phase
There was once apon a time a drivers protective grid part witch was solid. I cut the solid grid out and replaced it with Tamiya netting... couple of decades ago. Couldnt find that part anywhere. Have no recolection what happened to it so we'll do with out.
There is a nice PE set for this kit, but as this wasnt "my build" as such and the PE didnt interest my son so no PE. It's good enough as it is.
Building those Oerlikon muzzle ends was the trickiest part of this kit but the added time really pays of as they look real nice opened up.
Drilled out those Oerlicons to the right caliber in the muzle and a bit bigger in the 2 sencor "doughnuts"
All the peaces are there and the rest will be added when the painting sequence allows.
Used "lazy mans" black basing. as the kit plastic is so dark I just sprayed highlights with MM white primer as can still be siin on the Oerlikons and then on with the MM Olive Drab
Lying a wake solwing modeling problems in bed again (I get too worked up about this stuff) It occurred to me that I have this mechanical draving template for circles lying around now useles. with the help of some postit's it could be used as a mask for the whells. Worken ok.
Tamiya Rubber black on the wheels first.
Wanted to use my MM gloss clear on this build as it's too yellow for any light ghost gray projects that I gave a ton of and the little yellow wouldnt hurt this green panzer.
I stugled with it as I have done in the past. Probably shouldnt thin it at all in hindsight, witch was what I was doing trying to get a good gloss coat before decals and sludge washes
Thanks to the MM gloss I now have some anti skid texture on the top surfaces. My internet research didnt contradict this so...I'm calling it accurate detail and not a varnish problem. the sludge wash is too dark and gives a bit of a cartoonish look but it's goodenough for this project and reafirms that you need to try out the washes to get the right effect.
Old school rubber band tracks. What to do? I primed them with Oneshot black primer. Went on buetifully, finish was satin smooth. If all first tests with an airbrush were this nice.
Washes done and now for the decals. Took the risk and tried the ORIGINAL decals. Worked perfect! Gasp.
Sure the decal film could be thinner but it wasnt as bad as I feared and in the end it disapeared quite nicely under the next coat of varnish.
Sure if you put your noce to it you can see the decal film but thiw wasnt a "competiton build" so really happy with the result. No yellowing or any problems.
Putting on the MM semigloss clear coat I grabbed from the wrong spot and ruined the paint job. Sanded it and repainted by hand. Tried Aqua gloss on it. Turned out semi gloss. Not what I expected.
As there are no clear parts I painted the brake and front lights silver/chrome. Followed with Micro Kristal Klear for glass.
Micro Kristal Klear wasnt shiny enough and shrunk surprisingly much. I did do 2 applications but that didnt cut it. Pledge floor gloss to the test and that gave a really nice glassy feeling.
Tamiya clear red for the finnish. I think it turned out surprisingly well.
Tested if hand painting the metal parts would work. Too tedious and hard.
Lets reverse the process. Shot Alclad stainles steel on them. followed with Aqua gloss. To my surprize Aqua gloss DOES change the look of Natural metal paint. witch it specifically IS NOT SUPPOSED TO DO. Didnt notice this with Gauzy agent.
On another night I had the idea to test this graphic print press method of swabbing paint on a flat surface and pressing the rubber track pads to it. Tamiya Rubber black again.
It worked ok. Some touching up was needed but the majority of painting was done in minutes. Unevenness in the pads is ok as they are not uniformly worn on the real thing either.
Finished the tracks with a sludge wash of MM Panzer chokolad brown, Dragon black, Armored steel and a bit of Blood red to get a greasy, grimy rusty but metallic shadow wash & weathering. Gepard tracks seem to rust really quick but this is an operational tank so no bright rust.
Glued the tracks togethr with non solvent based Uhu Power Repair glue and snipped the studs flush.
In was satisfied with the end result. The only thing that didt hold up to expectations was the Oneshot primer that flacked off on the track mating surfaces. So for more enthusiastic weathering use some other primer to be sure that youre hard work doesnt start to chip off in the end.
Antennas are stretched spruey from my spares box.
Finished!
Finished!
The metal engine mesh was attached "without glue" or with TET. From the inside I softened the openigs edges with TET and once soft enough I could push/press the mesh in place biting in to the softened plastic.
Finished in 15 moths. Building 1-2h every other week.
Comments
5 11 February 2021, 13:48
Black BaronHuawei P20 camera is a bit too "harsh" at times. IRL you cant see the white highliting through the paint and the conrtas isnt as sharp as in some pics but enjoy.
11 February 2021, 15:51
Album info
Got this kit in the late 80's from California as this was not available in Finland. My yongest son (8) saw his elder brother playing with this in War Thunder and wanted to build it. I was going to sell it but... lets do diz.
Built out of the box and basic painting and weathering. Good test build for different techniques and the first completed kit in... I dont know.
