Today Clayton from Workbench Hobbies adds to his inbox review of TAKOM's 35th scale Jagdpanther G1 Early Production W/ Schwerer plattformwagen Type SSYS with a build guide using Uschi van der Rosten & AK-Interactive materials in the second part of this article...
Jagdpanther G1 Early Production with zimmerit (no interior) limited edition incl the Schwerer Plattformwagen Type SSYS
From Takom
Kit no. #2125X
1/35th scale
Today: Build guide Pt I: Takoms' 35th scale Jagdpanther G1 Early Production W/ Schwerer Plattformwagen Type SSYS
It’s been a little longer in coming than I had hoped, but finally, I take pleasure in presenting you, the TMN family with the build review of this limited edition Takom Jagdpanther. I did hit the ground running with this model, and it came together reasonably quickly for the most part. I did, however, have a few hurdles to overcome and that tended to take the wind out of my sails and stalled my momentum somewhat on this one.
So, without further delay, let’s get into the build! Assembly begins with the sidewalls of the hull being attached to the base plate.
I really like the idea of link and length tracks. It makes assembly very easy and details like track sag are already thought through by the manufacturer and it takes all the guesswork out of that section of the build. I must confess though, when I first saw that the guide horns had to be individually glued to the tracks, I was dreading this part of the build.
Once I started to actually undertake this step, I was amazed at how well thought out the process was. Takom have individually spaced the horns on a carrier sprue meaning the pieces all align with the track sections (when left attached to the sprues). Very quick and very easy.
I do tend to move around the instruction booklet when I build a model, so forgive me for jumping to step 21! Here the assembly of the roof section of the model is completed. As there is no interior (well at least nothing major) in this model, I made the decision to close all of the hatches.
Now I move to the assembly of the machine gun. The detail was quite amazing. It is a shame you will only ever get to see the nozzle poking out the front, but never the less the piece is very nice.
The main gun is now glued together. Again, the details are of a very high quality.
Tool racks and brackets are now applied to the model.
Rear armour plate and toolboxes are now built. The instructions seem to make no reference to using the moulded Zimmerit pieces but given that is the version of the tank destroyer I was building I guess it just made sense to use those pieces.
The running gear and wheels are now pre-painted prior to fixing them to the model. AK Real Color Lacquers are used to set the basic colours in place. First, the rubber colour is painted over the wheel, and with the aid of a spraying template, the Dunkelgelb is then applied.
The tracks are then painted to make life a little easier once they are applied to the model. Rotbraun and Yellow are mixed and used together to create a basic rusty, worn tone.
The hull is also treated to a layer of AK Real Color Dunkelgelb and the wheels are fitted to the model.
The kit is supplied with a jig to help with the assembly of the link and length tracks. I haven’t had a great deal of luck with this style of construction previously, but this one seems to be working better than most. Whilst glueing the pieces after they have been painted isn’t ideal, it is a viable option given the nature of the subject. They will be touched up later and will be heavily weathered, so a few glue marks here and there will be easy to hide.
The rear plate is now set in place and the shape is starting to come together.
The gun assembly is painted and glued in place. I found the way this was attached to the top section was a little clumsy. It just didn’t seem ‘definite’ (if that makes sense).
The tracks are now attached to the wheel sections and really look the part.
This is where things didn’t really go to plan for me and I started having a few issues with construction. Unfortunately, I got so wound up in trying to get the fit to work I failed to document the struggle through images… so, sorry, but I’m just going to have to talk you through this one.
The engine deck is made up of a number of small pieces rather than one main section. This obviously comes about due the fact that this kit is derived from a full interior boxing…so it is designed to be able to be displayed opened. I can only assume that all the bits and pieces from the original boxing help set the foundation for the engine deck to sit flush. No matter how hard I tried to persuade the pieces to fit and sit nicely I failed. I ended up having to shave and sand some of the pieces in order to help them sit in place. Internally I had to set some support structure up using scrap styrene rod to help everything sit in place. I ended up ditching some of the kit pieces because I just couldn’t get them to fit. Perhaps I missed something in the construction, and it had a flow-on effect? I’m not sure, but my experience with the construction of this section was far from ideal. That said, the detail was still very good, and the photo-etch screens add a nice touch. Looking at it now you wouldn’t know the fight I had on my hands at this point of the build.
The lower sections were them masked up using tape and tissue and the model was primed using Alclad Grey Microfiller. Tools and spare track links were left off at this stage and would be added at a later point.
With construction complete, I then moved on to the other model in the box. The Schwerer Plattformwagen Type SSys
The Schwerer Plattformwagen Type SSys – Construction.
On to the other tasty treat you get in this limited-edition boxing, the Plattformwagen. Construction begins with glueing the bed sections together and fitting the cross-section supports across the width of the bed.
Assembly continues of the underside of the structure. Side beams are supplied in two sections per side and are attached along with a few additional supports and faceplates.
The wheel housings and leaf springs are now assembled. All very basic construction.
The wheel sections are painted using Alclad Chrome. I didn’t want them to be too shiny, so I kept the chrome effect to a minimum.
Construction of the wheel housing continues. They are pre-painted in AK Real Color Dunkelgrau.
The rail section in the kit is assembled. The sleeper sections are a single piece and just slide onto the rails. They are quite basic in nature and you may want to consider using balsa wood or something similar for a better effect, but for me, they will be adequate. The fact of the matter is you won’t really see them once the platform is set in place.
The wheel sections are now completely assembled.
Various elements are now attached to the platform and it is painted in Dunkelgrau and lightened in sections using a mix of the base colour and white. For the timber section, I masked the area and sprayed it with AK Real Color Sand.
By masking plank sections and spraying darker and lighter tones I set the base colours for the decals to follow.
I decided to use the Uschi timber decal set for the timber faces on the model. I figured it was a quick and easy solution to getting a realistic looking timber. The moulded grain in the pieces was very pronounced, so I was a little concerned about how the traditional ‘timber painting’ techniques would look. I tested the look on the centre sections of the platform. The decals are transparent and rely on the colours underneath to present the final look.
I felt the overall tone was a little dark, so I lightened the base colour using British Desert Pink. Here you see the first sections of timber coming together. Much better I feel.
As it turns out, there was only enough decal sheet to cover about two-thirds of the bed! That was very annoying, to say the least, and I wasn’t prepared to pay for another set of decals to finish the job. I hand paint the remaining sections using Vallejo acrylics. If you go looking you can pick the difference but given the painted sections will be under the model that I was planning on sitting on top, I think this is a satisfactory outcome. Whilst the decals look pretty good, I probably should have just hand-painted the whole thing in the first place and saved myself some money….oh well.
That just about covers this one on the construction side of things. I know I snuck in a little paintwork with the Plattformwagen, but it was just the way the build went, and this seems like a logical place to sign off for the time being.
Whilst the detail and the moulding on this kit is absolutely stunning, as noted earlier I did have a few issues with the construction. Hopefully, with this pre-warning and a little extra care around some of the problem areas, most modellers should be able to navigate their way through the build relatively trouble-free. Stripping back this full interior kit and adding the Plattformwagen is an enticing release though as you essentially get two kits for the price of one. The exclusion of the interior helps the model hit a price-point in the market and should be accessible to most.
Now…on to the paint!
Clayton Ockerby
Thanks to Takom for this kit to build and review
Clayton used AK Interactive product in this build - see more about them on their website
