Bergepanzer III

[pwranta193]

What's up folks? I've - been mostly lurking of recent due to time constraints.

This is the Berge that I've been bangin on for the last few months, in between real life. The Tamiya L, with a little clean up - I didn't go the full mile on it, as I learned that there were some back deck issues that I wasn't up for after having assembled the hull.

I've scratched the box - as the CMK needs some work and some of the equipment bits seemed odd (the main mast for the Jib-Boom crane, for example). Lots more detailing and weathering to go.

So, pictures now - and I'll add more text later tonight.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/1Boxcompare.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/2CMKbits.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/3Tamiyamods.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/4Mountedbox.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/6Firstpaint.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/7Reardecklights.jpg

After adding a clear coat:

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/8moredetails.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/9Darkshots.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/10Ditchingbeam.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/11Trackson.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/13Frontfinish.jpg

As I said I'll add some more info later.
Thanks for looking!

[Flak]

Amazing...well done on the scratch build BOX...:thumb:

[Sticky]

Looks Great - Have you been reading panzerwrecks?

[Evan August]

Nice work man

[Sheeds]

Nice Job, Spotty! :thumb:

Your photos have inproved greatly too.

Sheeds.

[mbabsit]

Question on the box: how did you do the wood grain? I've tried Evergreen's suggestion, that is to score the plastic with sandpaper, but it looks like sanded plastic.

[pwranta193]

Many thanks to Sheeds, Andrew, Henrik and LQ for some much needed assists.

The floor plate of the work box is actually a piece of schuerzen from a Mk IV and there is a Panther plate in front of the "cupola". If it were me driving around with all of the Allied bombardments, I'd have covered that floor in steel. I'm trying to assign an issue date to this one before I get much farther down the road detailing- September/October?

It is based on the Panzerwrecks 4 Berge - though that one is an M with the fancy muffler. I need some stowage ideas - the bottles are from the CMK, but I cobbled together the cart from a bunch of Airfix 1/72 airfield stuff from the 60s :) I'm not putting a 200 liter barrel upright in this - as it just looks to tall and ungainly. As tall as this thing is already, I think there would be clearance issues.

One of my rear deck work lights needs a lens - any ideas would be appreciated. These are the head lamps from the L, reworked for pivot lamps...

All wood grain is just dragging the tip of your blade enough to give the impression of wood grain - maybe 5-6 times a large plank. Then make your painting follow your scribing. THis is about 6-7 coats of oils... and I think it could still use some work. The CMK beam actually comes with wood grain and I planed most of it off.

A good buddy has pointed out how really tough it would be to see grain at 1/35 - some folks do it amazing well.... but I think that it is a touch "impressionistic". I had thought about making it look like a piece of polished Koa Wood just to give him a hard time :D

Love the WWII Production tracks (Domo again, Mr. Sheeds) - you can see that there is a last minute add on just behind the drive sprocket to make them fit. One of the many things on the punch list. The camera batteries are recharging or I'd have thrown on some acutal close ups.

Has anyone seen that Skat Spieler figure set? Those guys seem like they would be The Dudes for something like this... a quick respite after the towing home derelicts from the Seine crossings...

[James Tainton]

Glad to see ya finally posting some of your work. I've always liked this awkward looking vehicle- I hope to make one one day. One thing though, maybe I missed it but what happened between this picture ;
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/4Mountedbox.jpg

and this one
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/6Firstpaint.jpg

Some discussion of your technique of the spotty cammo would be interesting- it looks like you did a pretty good representation.

[jimmy66]

shit hot.... and as james above me has stated fill us in on your camo how tooooo ,could we see this one towing that anchor thing ?? great so far,as for load and stowage lots a lottsa tools

[sam_dwyer]

Gday Paul,

Love the work - specially the scratch work on the super structure and the camo.

Looking forward to seeing it weathered and finished.

Sam

[James Tainton]

A good buddy has pointed out how really tough it would be to see grain at 1/35 - some folks do it amazing well.... but I think that it is a touch "impressionistic". I had thought about making it look like a piece of polished Koa Wood just to give him a hard time

check this out
http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=2921

[Plushy]

Nice Work Paul ! Your motivating me to get my Bergepanther done :D

[RickLawler]

Holy Mother of The Big Guy!!!! Ranta LIVES. Hey Paul, well you got me, I guess that you really were working on projects while you were dark....congrats on the progress it's looking great.

Before you hide again, I was talking to Stuke the other day...so the A.P.B. is out, we are going to get together soon! He was maybe going to try you at work plus he's been hanging around here lately, and you have my numbers....so lets get this done.

Talk to you soon.

Rick

[Gopher]

great work Paul!
camo looks very nice!

[Stuke Sowle]

Damn Ranta!! In the vast distance of time since I last saw you, a little fairy must've come out and blessed you with the ability to paint sweet camo schemes!! Oh, and SB too???

I am waaayyyy behind the power curve that you and Rick are setting in the PDX area. I'm so rusty I can barely remove the bits from the sprues. Someone mentioned an exacto??

After bouncing around for the past two years, I am (hopefully) moving into a much more permanent residence at the end of this month. I think it's time that this trio does meet up and you guys start showing me how to do this stuff (again).

I'll fire off an email in the next day....

[lquah]

Paul

What more can I say except love the camo :thumb:

On stowage, how about a generator? Think Italeri has it in the field workshop set. And the usual suspects - some pulleys, shackles, chains, jerry cans, overalls, gloves etc

LQ

[pwranta193]

http://news.webshots.com/album/71233833jcAcdK

This one of my all time favorite builds... what a great bit of effort into this, eh?

Painting sequence... the problem is with the weather at the time of painting... my garage was freezing so I was painting in between Holiday cooking and preparations :)

James - I used the Manus Gallagher method. I'll dig out my stencil and see if I have any more painting shots. The honest truth is, for this type of disc pattern, it's not that hard... it just takes essentially six sessions of painting:

Base yellow
Green sections
Brown Sections
Yellow stencil over the other two colors
Brown stencil over the other two colors
Green stencil over the other two colors

I tried to vary the darkeness of the oversprays to give some variance, but I think it was to sublte to notice in this busy pattern. I still want to work on the upper painted wooden portions to try an achieve a more matt surface than the metal portions (back to our earlier conversation LQ) - as I think that the wood absorbtion would effect the surface patina...

[James Tainton]

James - I used the Manus Gallagher method. I'll dig out my stencil and see if I have any more painting shots. The honest truth is, for this type of disc pattern, it's not that hard... it just takes essentially six sessions of painting:


I've got the AFV Modeller with this technique- when I go to try it it'll be there.:thumb:

[pwranta193]

Rick and Stuke:
"Before you hide again, I was talking to Stuke the other day...so the A.P.B. is out, we are going to get together soon! He was maybe going to try you at work plus he's been hanging around here lately, and you have my numbers....so lets get this done."

Hell - I've been worried that we might scare him back into the shadows again... I think he has been living in the Cascades, eating fiddlehead ferns and raw steelhead :D

I'm booked this weekend, but we should circle the wagons the next week

[pwranta193]

Some overall weathering and fiddling about with stowage - though most of the gear needs more fine detail work - and I still need more gear: helmets, tools, the two man saw, etc. Had a blast making the clear bottle of Slivowitz - "Dragon" brand, of course - I turned a piece of clear sprue until I got it shaped right - still need to knock down the mouth size a bit.

What color were those bags that the Germans used for kit - I've seen what appear to be white denim ones in early war (same as the white fatigue suit, IIRC)- and the US had blue denim ones, but don't know if the Germans changed colors later in the war?

Anyone have a good shot of a German Welder in action? I need to see what kind of mask and torch head to make.

Five points if you can identify what is sitting on the box to the far left...
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/Bergestowage.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/Stowedgear.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/Stowedandready.jpg

Now to get the spare tracks knocked out.
As always, suggestions wanted.

[MikkoH]

Wow. This looks great!!

[Plushy]

Looks great Paul ! and the welders gloves are a nice touch too :thumb:

[James Tainton]

Looks really well done Paul.
Anyone have a good shot of a German Welder in action?
I took some snapshots off of the Third Reich in Color Part II DVD. They are from a small vignette that deals with a battlefield damage repair shop.
Hope it helps.
(As an aside, an interesting detail, the removed suspension arm mount- the blank spot does not seem to have the bright red primer colour you often see modeller's portray here. Looks like the base colour?)
Also interesting is the mix of open and solid guide teeth.
http://panzerfaust.sslpowered.com/General/vlcsnap-4691179.jpg

http://panzerfaust.sslpowered.com/General/vlcsnap-4691206.jpg

http://panzerfaust.sslpowered.com/General/vlcsnap-4691191.jpg

http://panzerfaust.sslpowered.com/General/vlcsnap-4691221.jpg

[RickLawler]

Paul, good work on the accoutrements.

[pwranta193]

Thanks guys - I'm glad the gloves look like gloves - though as my wife noted, they are probably a little closer to 1/32 scale :) I just couldn't get the wine foil cut down any smaller :D

Now - how to make that welders helmet? One of the books I'm going to treat myself to is Lukas Friedl's book on Panzer repair ops.

The other thing is that there is a single hose line - why was I thinking that there were two hoses out to the torch head? I never got that far in high school shop :) I'll do some looking up on the web. I've got some pictures of Pzr IIIs that were used by the Italians - their tracks had a mix of solid and open - I wonder how common that may have been for tanks produced during the transition track of types?

Terrific stuff - again, thanks to you all.

[Plushy]

Paul there is only one lead because the guy is using an ARC welder or stick welder you can tell by the single lead and the sparks being thrown from the work. If he was using a torch welder there would be two hoses and the would be no sparks the welder would also be holding a filler rod in his other hand . Torch welding is hard to do upside down too as gravity plays its part .:thumb:. You will find most torch welding in the 40`s the operator would just wear a set of goggles . Heres some photos of similar equipment from the U.S in the early 1940`s .
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/Thiokol/welder.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/Thiokol/welder2.jpg

Hope this helps .

cheers Plushy

[pwranta193]

out of the plastic safety cover of a disposable razor :D

I have to up the resolution on my camera so I can enlarge the image enough to see... but it was kind of cool - I was getting ready to throw it out and thought - hey! So while it is the helmet for a stick welder, I can cobble a set of goggles together for a torch welder pretty quick.

Pics here tonight.

Thanks again guys for the info - oh, and James - did that bogie assembly fit flush, or was there a gap between the back of the bogie and the hull side? That could account for grime build up covering the red - otherwise I'd have to say that it was yellow from the factory...

[Plushy]

Looking Forward to the photos paul ! :thumb:

[pwranta193]

Okay, after resetting my camera and then having to recharge the batteries :)

It's got a little Iron Man/Baron Von Doom thing going on with the ridges, but it does what I'm looking for...
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/Weldingmask3.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/Weldingmask1.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/Weldingmask2.jpg

Thanks for indulging me - I'm trying to see just how much I can get out of the High res setting.

[Evan August]

Love the welding gear and paintjob. Nice pics James, very interesting for the combination of track links as well as the welding.

[MikkoH]

Looks very nicely done!

[Fledermaus]

Paul, great job on the mask and gloves it is a nice detail :thumb: keep it up

[Totenhosen]

Awesome work so far.

[Driver]

Those are the details that turns a good model into a great one. Keep going Paul.

Ruben

[Kreighshoer]

this is some very beautiful work of you paul! can't wait for the next update :)

cheers

[Bravo Tango]

Lookin' the good Paul,

LIke what I see so far

BT

[pwranta193]

Danke, Planeteers - thanks for the support... it's funny how much satisfaction the little things can provide in this hobby :)

I need build a two hose torch setup - the one I made is a little chunky looking at James and Plush-mans photos. After that, looks like I'll be on hold (maybe time to finish the T-34) with this one for a few days - I've ordered the MB Tank Repairmen and the Skatspielers - between these two kits, I think I've got what I want to achieve figured out. I have to go back and look, but if memory serves me - didn't one of you folks buy the card players (Fraulein?)? Looking at Bananarama, it looks like the Jerry cans need replacing - but I really like the poses of both kits, so it should be easy to put together a nice little scene... a trio of couple of guys playing, a little schnapps, someone dinking around with the kit on the tank, the usual way of spending a couple of hours down time.

Now... to Hornet head, or not to Hornet head :D

See you in a couple, everyone.

[RickLawler]

Hey Pauly....I may be able to help you with welder stuff. I just remembered that I have the Legends US welders that I used some, but not all of the gear..I may even have a figure wearing non-descript coveralls. I'm at work, I'll check when I get home tonight and let you know...



EDIT>>>> Paul, your wife and daughter just came by for a visit.....they are great, how'd you do that?

PS..to all of the Planeteers around the world (Andrew, Lawerence, Sheeds, etc.) getting a postcard from Paul's daughter, make sure you pass it on, she needs all of your help to get a good grade.

[Larry Bates]

Paul,

Nice job on the little guy. Love the spotty camo. :thumb:

Oh and of COURSE you need Hornet heads ;)

Laz

[James Tainton]

Saw this- doesn't really say they are for welding exactly but it also seems that they don't say they aren't either.
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193771&highlight=welding+goggles

[RickLawler]

Hey Pauly....I may be able to help you with welder stuff. I just remembered that I have the Legends US welders that I used some, but not all of the gear..I may even have a figure wearing non-descript coveralls.

Actually I believe it's a Warriors fig.set. - anywho, here's what it looks like, let me know if you are interested. 2 tanks, the valves, a welder, and a cart w/wheels.

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k200/RickLawler/DSC_0004.jpg

talk to you later,

[pwranta193]

and James and Laz Prime,

James - I'll bet you a Loonie that those goggles are for welding - either that or the dispatch rider to the Sun :)

I think at this stage I'm going to skip on the actual welding, but I may work a deal for the gear for later. I've got some great Sherman transmissions that were gifted to my by Fabio Sacchi a couple years back, and I've always wanted to one of them show them dismounted and under repair. I'm going to see what the Master Box figs play out as... more when they arrive. Pretty impressive set of wheels on that welding rack, eh - I may have to revisit mine.

Nice weekend, eh Rick? It was good to tromp the hills with the family.

[pwranta193]

Master box has arrived. I like the figs, detail is a little soft, but not bad for plastic. Like the poses and the heads on the Skatspieler figs are well molded and I'll probably keep them. The repair guys seem to be from a little oder batch and the faces, while very usable will probably get swapped for some Hornets. My least favorite is the standing Panzermann from the card game set - detail isn't super sharp - and I'm not a huge fan of the pose, so he probably won't be used.

Here is my first shot at composition - obviously a ways to go - and any suggestions are welcome :) I'll get some more shots up as the figs get some heads on them.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/Figures2.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/Figures1.jpg

[Panzergrenadier]

I like it a lot!:thumb:

[MartinD]

Hi Paul,

A good set of figures which can make a good scene. But, posed like this, there are two different scenes imho. I think the figure standing on the ground needs to be able to make eye contact, so to speak, with the Skatspieler. This will draw them in.
Maybe move the tabel to the side of the Bergpanzer, place the Skatspieler near the front corner (drive sprocket) and slightly turn the standing crem member. I hope this makes sense.

Cheers, MartinD

[Flak]

Paul,

Good choose on the figures...look forward the next update...

[skeletondude]

It looks great, Paul.:thumb:
And the figures will really bring this scene to life.

Marek

[pwranta193]

but some better shots while I work on the base. Besides working on my presentation a little, I'm getting some picture coaching from Mr. Lawler - who shot these at his set up:

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/DSC_0053copy.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/DSC_0044copy.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/DSC_0048copy.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/pwranta193/Berge%20build/DSC_0057copy.jpg
Notice the bottle of Dragon brand schnapps?
Thanks for looking...

[sam_dwyer]

Hey Paul,

Great shots, they really bring out the best in your models. I love the camo on this berge III - how'd you do it? Im contemplating a 1SS Grille outside le Gleize with this sort of camo and i'd love to know how you got it done

Sam

[Finnmodeler]

Paul,
your model looks great! And pics are sharp, colorful, a jou to look at. Oh, pics are by Lawler. I see :) I'm with Sam: camo looks cool, how did you do it?

[James Tainton]

Nice work and pretty good pics but, if I could offer one friendly critique, they seem a little over exposed and a tad bleached out, (the top three in particular) I'd stop it down a bit to get more colour saturation.

[Flak]

Great work and great pictures...thanks for sharing...

[RickLawler]

Nice work and pretty good pics but, if I could offer one friendly critique, they seem a little over exposed and a tad bleached out, (the top three in particular) I'd stop it down a bit to get more colour saturation.


Thanks James for the feedback - VERY much appreciated! I agree with your assessment. We did these fairly quick, late in the evening (no excuses :p) but probably should/could have done a little better.

I still have Paul's RAW files so I did another take this morning. I generally don't do much at all with the photos (only the background) but on this one I did drop back on the brightness just a little.

I think that the colors come through a little better - more depth and richness. Probably should have spent just a little more time taking a few more images. Oh well.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm311/OHMSbuild/Paul/1.jpg

Ok, Paul...it's all yours. ;)

[Finnmodeler]

Yes, I have to agree, much better now.

[pwranta193]

Flak, Sammy and Suomi-mann, I went with the Manus G. method from AFV mag (somewhere in this string is the volume details).

The real bummer is that Roddy blessed me with his last sheet of vinyl masks at Euro, and when I got home I stashed them away for safe keeping... they are still hidden away - somewhere. Soooo.... I used artists "vellum", did the pattern on graph paper so that I could make sure of a repeating pattern and then cut out the little bits. IIRC, it was a six coat process... the three color base, and then one each of the disc coats, working the pattern around the vehicle. You can see a couple of points where I touched up by hand. The example in Panzerwrecks was almost brand new, so I'm waiting until it is on the base to do anymore weathering and the dull coat.

James and Rick - great stuff... and thanks to you all for the input - it is what I like about the Planet - every build gets better. The other thing that these photos do is drive me towards beter builds... every one calls out that thing that needs to be better next time. Now to get my photo work up to speed, so Rick's family can actually sit down at the dinner table with him :D

[Sticky]

Hi Paul looks great. If it was me I would chip the hell out of the wood floor and walls.

Keep em comming! :)

[James Tainton]

Rick -the sharpness of the images is great-and the tweaked one looks better. BTW the images are so sharp- I like that -what's your set-up?

[RickLawler]

Rick -the sharpness of the images is great- BTW the images are so sharp- I like that -what's your set-up?

With your permission, Paul.

James, here's a rundown of the equipment and proceedures that I use.

Camera:
Nikon D40 w/18-55 lense
Manual, 1.6sec shutter, F 29-36, auto focus, +2 on the sharpenss. I manually set my white balance, w/tripod. I shoot in the jpeg+RAW setting. I always take 2 pictures in sequence without changing settings - the second picture is almost always the best. And I take a ton of pictures.

Lights:
2 desklamps set to the front/sides, 2-75wt daylight bulbs (little curly) w/tracing paper over the fronts to diffuse. These are set about 2.5 ft away from subject aimed toward, but not at the model. Along top/back of the photo box 1 24" daylight flouresent.

Light Box:
3 sided - bottom, back and sides made from white foamboard. Over top another piece of formboard as a "lid" which opens to the front at about 35 degree angle. Background is poster board, either white or blue depending on subject and publication requirements.

Post:
Open RAW image - adjust Clarity to 58, open photo into photoshop.
Select Color - Fuzzyness 42 to outline/protect subject, paint the background white with paintbucket. It's at this stage that I can change the backgroud if I wish. (look at Jon's Panther, we put in a very light, cool blue/grey for atmoshpere)
Adjustments - Brightness 35
Filters - Smart Sharpen - Amount 91- (top slider), Pixel Range 3.1 (bottom slider)
Save as jpeg for use.

I'm at work so this is by memory - I may have forgotten something, but it's close. Jon and Paul might be able to notice what I might have missed.

Rick

[Markus]

Nice one Paul!
I love those Bergepanzer IIIs!
Great looking camo this is :thumb:.
The pics are great as well.

Rick,
thanks for the tipps about the setup, I will try to adopt a bit of it. As you might know (don´t you :D?), my pics are a bit on the shitty side.

[Evan August]

Gotta love the the disc camo...nice job Paul.

[M*D*R*S]

nice scheme.... :)

[anthony roberts]

Hi Paul.
Great job! I like it a lot (will we get to see it)?

All the best, Tony

[Fledermaus]

another great job :D the camo came out flawless :eek::cool: