Hanomag Sdkfz 251/1 Final Reveal

After displaying the Hanomag at the local monthly model builders club, I got a lot of positive reviews. It's nice to get support and comments and even helpful suggestions. I think I will become a monthly regular! Here's what you've all been waiting for, at least all six of you....

Let's see, what did I learn this time around?

• Use a matte coat before spraying chipping fluid, not gloss.
• Be more careful of the delicate parts. (I have a feeling this will be a continual lesson)
• Real life tires aren't straight flat black, mix in a touch of flat white to soften the darkness.
• When painting rubber, gloss coat the wheel, thin the paint and let the droplet pull toward the wheel as you spin it. If you do it right, you won't actually touch the brush to the wheel. 
• For interior rims, thin the paint so it flows around the rim for a crisp edge.
• Don't bother priming and painting rubber band tracks in a kit, it will just flake off. 
• Leather + Dark Earth Ana + Rust = not too bad of a wood color.
• When doing an enamel pin wash or streaking, let the wash dry for 15-20 minutes before trying to feather/remove.  
• Sticky tack will also remove decals. 

In the end, no little dudes. Their molded uniforms would not have matched the winter camo anyway. That's it for this project. Thanks for following. 

Hanomag Sdkfz 251/1's Weathering and Final Assembly

Well, hasn't it been a long while since I posted something on the progress of the Hanomag? End of February, yikes! I've been at a new job as most of you know and I really have no desire to work on anything model related at the end of the day, which leaves only weekends. With two days and two youngins, it doesn't leave much time. Things are wrapping up on the vehicle, mainly because I'm tired of looking at it and I've started the Zero that I posted the review for.

Just to brag a little; the family and I went to a nature preserve and as the kids were playing by the creek, I skipped a rock all the way across 40-50 feet, six skips! Enough chit-chat.

I used Mig's Dark Wash. I think I should have used the Neutral Wash as the Dark Wash really muted the white camo.

I wipe the wash off immediately rather than waiting 15-20 minutes. It just smeared it everywhere. Now it just looks dirty.

Now both fender indicator things are broken off! At least I know the whereabouts of both and will be attempting to glue them back on. The driver side front signal also recently disappeared. The final matte coat has been applied here.

I used AK Interactive's Ultra Matte Varnish. I have to say, the stuff is pretty awesome. Acrylic based, no smell, sent through the airbrush with no thinning and dried to the touch in seconds.

I recently picked up Tamiya's Master Weathering pastel set "B" and I gave the rust a try in some places, you can also see it on the hood.

Finally! I can get all those wheels off the pikes and on to the vehicle.

The wheels seem awfully white compared to the vehicle, but in real life it doesn't seem that noticeable.

The next post will be the last post for this project. I should have everything completed in the next couple of days. I've messed around a bit with the vinyl tracks and I have to say, I really hate them. The primer and paint are just flaking off. Not sure what I'll do with it at this point, I'll probably just let it go, however hard it may be.

Verlinden 200mm Roman Centurian Bust Review

There is a Tube of You's channel that I subscribe to where the primary focus is painting figures. For some reason, I thought, "I should try this". What was I thinking? I never painted a figure before, but you have to start somewhere I guess.

Here is the box. If it didn't have that big picture on it, I think I would have lost it.

The parts so unceremoniously tossed in a thick zippy style bag. The material is resin and not the typical styrene plastic that model kits are molded in. The detail is typically much greater, but may be hazardous to your health. I heard an explanation that the dust particles of resin are like microscopic shards of nastiness in your lungs, precautions will have to be taken during cutting and sanding I think.

Assembly is rather minimal. There will be some cleanup, however.

Here are the side face guard flap things that attach to the helmet. The detail is really nice here. I like the ancient motif.

The base will required some cleanup, but it has a very subtle wood pattern on it. Can you see it? You can click the picture or some such, maybe it will take you to a bigger version? How do these Internets work?

The feathery thing that goes on top of the helmet. So many technical terms in this post. The feather detail is very beautifully sculpted.

Some weird light distortion with my lamp, but ignore that.

It's a face! Very nicely detailed and great detailing on the oak leaves. Maybe they are not oak leaves?

That is not where the sideburn goes, it's where the face guard helmet flap thing attaches to.

A touch of cleanup on the back of the helmet.

Gasp! A pin size hole on the top of the head! Easy enough to fill, will have to be careful of the detail that's right next to it.

The folds in the cape are quite exquisite as well as the detail on the armor.

Look at how that fabric drapes in the back. Freaking awesome.

Some cleanup at the bottom required.

This will actually be a bit bigger than I previously anticipated. Maybe I should have started with something smaller?

Highly detailed, minimal cleanup and assembly. I'll get adventurous at some point and give it a shot. I have a couple of small Beethoven and J.S. Bach busts that I've had for years that I will be practicing on first. I'll probably be using acrylics to paint all of them. The great thing about that is, if I don't like it, which is a very high probability, they can just soak in some Windex overnight. I have name all picked out for him when he is complete and will reveal at a later date.