Dragon 6360 Pz IV F2 with MiniArt Middle Eastern buildings

[SteveH]

Morning

Started at last, THANKS FOR THE GUILT TRIP John!

The Dragon Pz IV F2 is a smart kit which reduces the parts count with no loss of detail.

Apart from an RB turned barrel it will be OOTB build.

Its all about the paintwork.



Loads of builds and reviews on the interweb and lots of references too.

The burning question for a DAK Pz IV F2, also known as the Mark IV special, is

What is the base colour?

So far, it would be reasonable to have it as a RAL 8020 and not the Pz Grey with a field applied sand brown coat.

I shall progress on this basis, and will attempt the RAL 8020 sand brown and RAL 7027 grey 2/3, 1/3 camo scheme.

This will reduce the need to have a heavily chipped finish, and I shall try to replicate a heavily loaded vehicle trying to get to Tunis to escape, during late 42 early 43.

That's the plan, lets see what 2019 gifts us with.

The base for the scenario will be



The MiniArt buildings and base will be fun, its all in the fill and sand, level, fill and sand again!

I really want to do a date or coconut palm, do they have them in Tunisia?

Time to google it!

I would have loaded this one up sooner, but due to the untimely death of my laptop, and my lack of mobility, due my new right knee,
its taken longer than I thought it would, 3 weeks in fact!

So, Pz IV F 2 tub and tracks done,



buildings started



Is there room for a kubel too?



We have started so lets see how it goes

Regards

Steve H

[Guest]

Wow Steve - you're on a roll!

Is that Miniart building as gruesome as it looks?

[SteveH]

Thanks Peter

Swap roll for crawl, as I have had this as a draught since before the laptop died!

I tend to post slowly almost weekly as I don't build than fast with "other/work" commitments.

Being on recovery after the knee replacement has given me a little more time.

Though Anna had me replacing lino in the cats bath room/office yesterday Grr!

YES, the MiniArt building is gruesome, but it falls into what I enjoy as a modeller.

Its a construction exercise, which is what I enjoy, I'll update later this week as I have nearly finished all the wall sections.

Modelling is all engineering for me, not artistic!

Its the artistic side I need to improve on, which is why this year will be OOTB and straight to paint, as quickly as possible.

Regards

Steve H

[Steve Jones]

Hi Steve

Seat front and centre for this one if I may. Looks like a cracking kit.

You are spot on with the colour scheme. Sometimes known as the Tropen 2 scheme which super seeded the Tropen 1 scheme as it proved to be too low-contrast for the deep shadows of the African desert. A second colour scheme was developed, also using colours from the RAL archive. The new colours were RAL 8020 Braun and RAL 7027 Grau. When applied in a solid coating, they were a higher contrast than the Tropen 1 system. The Tropen 2 colours were authorized in March 1942, but they were not used extensively until the summer. As the first F2's were ready in March 1942, this would fit in perfectly. If your going to be chipping you may want to bear in mind the undercoat used was red oxide by this time (Which I am sure you knew)



Vehicles in the Tropen 2 camouflage scheme generally have higher contrast between the colours.

If you want another option there are instances of K2's in RAL 8020 just painted over the original grey RAL 7021 which by Tunisia would be showing through quite a lot.

I noticed the decal option for the Afrika Corps option in the kit was for F2 in the Pz.Rgt. 8, 15th Panzer Division, Tunisia 1942 with the turret number 215. I dont know if this is your 215 as these were taken at the end of the year in November 1942 as part of the 21st Panzer Division at El Alamein. If not it still gives you a good idea of the camo scheme



Here are the Bison options if you want to do another regiment



Any how good luck with the build. I am sure it will be a classic

[scottie3158]

Steve,
Count me in for this.

[BigGreg]

I'm in..... with wine and pizza...

[Peter Gillson]

Hi Steve

A nice project.

I have used a cou0le of Miniart buildings and quite like them.

These look nice representation of the location, and I am sure you will make good use of the different levels. The one thing which looks odd to me is the very left hand one has battle damage. It looks a little out of place compatrd to the other buildings.

Peter

[SteveH]

Evening chaps, sorry for the delay, its been an interesting few weeks.

Thanks Steve, the proposed colour selection

Should work out nicely and no need for the heavily chipped/weathered Panzer grey undercoat.
Perhaps next time.

The vacuformed MiniArt Buildings, the pain/pleasure of the double pack build.

I've used 2 jars of liquid cement and 2 tubes of filler, but Its looking reasonable with a black primer.

I have followed quite a few tips from this build blog

Middle Eastern Village build

Thanks for popping by chaps,

Peter, I have had the local builders re-plaster all the OTT battle damage, so it looks more like general wear and tear.

Some shots of the work which has taken quite some time

One build review said it could be built in an afternoon, no bl**dy way!










The black primer is from 3 different cans.

There is a balsa framework under the base to support it, just in case it sags.

I shall leave all the back areas in black, as its all about the Pz IV F2, crew and Kubel, though I might not be able to squeeze the Kubel in?

Thanks for popping by

I shall, hopefully get the AB out soon, along with the Toon GB and th T-34 builds.

Lots of variety!

More soon

Regards

Steve H

[Guest]

This is becoming an epic Steve - the building looks huge! Bravo for putting it together so neatly - great work.

[Si Benson]

Well done Steve, it’s all looking to be coming along nicely :thumb2:

I did a mini art art building not long after starting modelling and really enjoyed it, really interested to see where this goes.

[scottie3158]

Steve,
This is going to be a great build really like it so far.

[JR]

Hi Steve.
Been watching from the back in case you throw something !
Looking good, that building is interesting in the way they have done the foot print .

[Guest]

morn ,excellent concept so good ideas looking forward to see progress ,iam toying with diorama idea myself assault vicheles plus long range patrol car not quite there at moment ,so you concept helps regarding whats available out there thumbs up cry ..

[Jim R]

Hi Steve
Sorry I'm late on. Hope the knee is doing well. You'll be back shaking it on the dance floor very soon.
Nice dio idea. Not sure you need the kubel. Those Mini-art buildings can build up really nicely but do take a lot of work. I have done one, it was covered in little pimples that became holes when sanded back.
As others have said I'm sure you will make a cracking job of this.
Jim

[Steve Jones]

A wonderful build so far. Great to see you can get the Kubbie in as well. Looking forward to seeing how you tackle the wet stuff