Battered Bergepanther With Large Chips And Salt Please.

[CarolsHusband]

Jakko, thanks. I've been looking at pics of active Panthers with wheels missing & I'm getting into the idea. I may even "replace" a couple of damaged wheels using salvaged items with mismatched paint. Thanks also to everyone for their opinions & even an offer of some un-melted wheels !

Got a bit more done, painted the tyres.... Why is matt black never quite matt in any medium how ever much you stir it ? (rhetorical question).



Added the tools, hooks & spare track links to the hull.





As I'm doing this little restoration I'm thinking about how much detail is missing on the Italeri kit.. Quite looking forward to having a bash at something a bit more gutsy. Hopefully I can up my game !

Cheers, Dan

[Guest]

I may even "replace" a couple of damaged wheels using salvaged items with mismatched paint.

Perfectly plausible, though I wouldn’t overdo it. One or two wheels, probably at the front of the vehicle, would be OK, but half a dozen would probably be stretching believability

Why is matt black never quite matt in any medium how ever much you stir it ? (rhetorical question).

I never have that problem, using mainly Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black acrylic. I prefer to paint tyres by giving them a base coat of dark grey (either Tamiya XF-67 NATO Black or Italeri 4861AP Flat Rubber), then a wash of Tamiya black, and a medium grey drybrush. This gives a more natural rubber colour, I think, shades them at the same time, and usually ends up very matt.

[Steve Jones]

I use Vallejo Dark Rubber which comes up well. With some dust/earth washes on the tyres I'm sure they will be okay. All looking good. Keep it coming.

[JR]

Just having a catch up Dan, looking good. I like the idea of a missing wheel esp after seeing those photos for Jakko.

[CarolsHusband]

Wheel Meet Again.......

I saw Vera Lynn sing at Arnhem in 1984, but that's not important right now.

The Bergepanther nearly ended up in the box for another 30 years , but i worked it all out

Drilled the rear idlers & the hull and used a bit of sprue as an axle. I moved it forward a bit just to give myself a fighting chance of getting the tracks on this time. I may brace them in a hidden spot. I also trimmed the tracks to help them slide over.

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Onto the melted wheels. Going with Mark, I went for adding some plastic & re-shaping for one of them. I then re-painted it in grey as a replacement.

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And for the other, I lost an outside wheel, as Jakko had suggested.

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I applied a bit of dirt to the hull sides. All the wheels are now back on & I'm going to let the cement dry for a day or so....

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Got the tracks and a couple of little bits to sort but I hope to have it in the completed thread soon.

Thanks everyone,

Dan.

[Mark1]

:thumb2: Look forward to seeing it there.

[GerryW]

Nice solutions on that, looking forward to seeing the completed photos

[Guest]

That wheel repair worked out well, I can’t tell which is the fixed one.

[CarolsHusband]

That wheel repair worked out well, I can’t tell which is the fixed one.

I could point it out and then you'd go "Oh yeah", but I'll keep it quiet and appear to be competent !

[Airborne01]

Dan
I second the use of Vallejo Dark Rubber - excellent basis! I also use Panzer Grey (or even a slightly lighter grey for variation) enamel mixed with a few drops of dark or medium brown - with enamels you can cheat and use a wash to define the tyre/rim junction if they're ill-defined.
Steve