Italeri Kommando Panzer IB

Es-haq Khosravi
Nice job!

Mike K
Thank you Es-haq. This build is more difficult than I had anticipated. But I'm used to that! 🙂

Matthias Weiss
Looks very well!

Andres Wright
looks Amazing !!!

Mike K
Thanks guys. It's now ready for some color. Haven't done German grey in a while. Anything could happen. Wish me luck.

Lionel Marco
Good Luck then!
And have fun...

John Van Kooten
Good luck, Mike! 👍 🙂

Looks good so far and, looking back at your Jagdtiger, I'm confident this one will turn out just as great as well! 👍

Mike K
Thank you Lionel and John. No matter how it turns out having fun is the important part.

Edgars Bizūns
Very nice work! I like those little scratch built parts.

George Bacon
Amazing what you're doing with this old kit. Great job! 👍

John Van Kooten
Cool! With the stowage! It really adds to the overall look 👍

I have to say, mate, I never really cared for any of the Panzer I and II's. But looking at your build, I'm starting to like them a lot 😄

Mike K
Thanks guys.
I hear ya John, I don't care for pz,II's either. I like the pz,I though. This one really needed the stowage.

John Van Kooten
Yeah, the stowage makes it look a whole lot more interesting 👍

You've done a marvelous job on this old kit! 1995! Very cool looking! And as Edgars said earlier, I also really like your scratch-built parts!

Indeed the Panzer II still only gets a "meh" vote from me😉 but this one... there's something about it that makes me want to build one too! So thanks for sharing! Looking forward to more progress images 👍

Fabian D.
Nice work Mike. Quite an achivement with a kit of this age. 👍
I just had a look at my pics from Bovington, as the tarps on the roof looked a bit wrong to me. I fact there are vision ports all around the cupola (Although I´ve no idea if it was on every variant of this vehicle). No nitpiking, just some extra info worth considering.
[img1]

Mike K
Thank you John and Fabian.
Thanks for the heads up on the ports Fabian. The stowage isn't glued yet so it can be changed. I wasn't sure if this would be the final placement of the pieces and now that you've reminded me of the ports I will probably change them.
Problem is, there isn't many places for it...guess I'll have to do more fiddling...see what I can come up with.
Some rolls and tarps made of tissue could be placed on top of tools and such, they would conform to uneven shapes (not so with the resin stowage) and would give me more options.

Lionel Marco
If you can remove th wooden boxes just in front of the air vent...
The engine will thank you...

Mike K
Well, Lionel it looks like there's going to have to be a compromise. Tarps on top block the vision ports. Crates on back block the intakes. Stowage up front blocks the drivers slot. I really want stowage on this tank but I'm damned if I do and damned if if don't.
Smaller tarps up front shouldn't block the drivers slot. A single crate on back with a couple fuel canisters to the side should leave enough space for air to enter the vents.
That's my plan and I'm sticking to it. 🙂

John Van Kooten
Haha! And right you are!😉 Artistic license, plus it just looks way cooler WITH the stowage! 👍

M.Julian Marles
Very cool looking...and although it's a 1995 rebox its provenance dates back to the 1970's...in fact that's Verlinden's handiwork on the box top! 🙂

Lionel Marco
Of course a little mess is always better... And the crews always need things that regulations think unnecessary!

M.Julian Marles
nice pics! 🙂

Mike K
Modulation has begun. I'm still kind of new at this. Comments and criticisms welcome.

Mike K
Thanks M.J. !

Fabian D.
Nice start. I assume you´re dooing more shades between those two?

Christian Meyerhoff
Hi Mike! Simply excellent mate! This is one of the most over looked subjects of german armour. I like this one very much and you are doing a hell of a good job on this one!

Mike K
Thanks Christian and Fabian.
Fabian it's hard to tell from the pics but there are actually four shades if you count the black undercoat that still shows through in shadowed areas.
Two shades after that which might have too subtle a difference. Then the highlight which looks a little too light now but will be toned down by weathering.

Fabian D.
Ahh, indeed hard to recognize. From my experience there has to be some contrast in it, otherwise it´s gone after the first filter. Your highlight looks abslutely right in that way, the other two tones could be a bit "stronger"... I said could. I guess you can make it look great either way😉

John Van Kooten
Looking great, Mike! Truly love the detail on this one 👍

Fabian is right when he said that modulation normally needs quite a bit of contrast for it to work. On dark base colors the contrast needs to be even more evident than on lighter base colors. Judging from your images I also think that only a few layers of filter will probably remove the modulation effect.

But on the other hand, it also entirely depends on what you will be doing next in the weathering stage 🙂 if you're using light colored filters in small amounts or not going to be doing weathering layers that will fully cover the surface at all, i.e., no filters but only streaking effects, then your modulation might be spot on 🙂

Matthias Weiss
Mike, you indeed managed to fold the PE tool brackets! My sincere reapect for that. I tried it 3 times but lost them all... 🙁

Mike K
Keep trying Matthias. My first one hundred attempts didn't turn out well either! 🙂
In fact I only recently learned that some p.e. tools clamps are actually workable if you assemble them right!

Frank Krause
👍 Nice job, very nice job, Mike! You let this old kit look like it was a newly tooled release of today...! 👍

M.Julian Marles
Indeed..when I saw the main photo I assumed it was a Tristar or Dragon kit! Thanks for posting this byt he way, it reminds me to get several track sets for my Maultier kits!

Mike K
Thanks Frank.
Thanks M.J.
I don't recommend these masterbox links.

Mike K
Finally done and ready to be thrown on the pile. A somewhat stressfull build with the snapping off of small parts at regular intervals. Among other things.

M.Julian Marles
so the tracks aren't good eh? darn it!

Mike K
Not good at all M.J. they don't fit together well and I had to modify every link in order to get them to glue together properly. They are inexpensive though, and an improvement over the kit tracks. But if I had to do it again I would have used something better.

M.Julian Marles
Ah. Well, I have two Maultiers that will need them. I just remembered that some old Masterbox panzer I kits come with MB AND Dragon tracks. So I have one pair I can use I guess. I am sorely tempted to order another kit just for the spare tracks! 😛

Mike K
Probably not a bad idea because a whole new kit is sometimes cheaper than some aftermarket tracks!

M.Julian Marles
yeah, I paid $15 for the MB "ambulance" panzer I, which came with extra magic trax

Fabian D.
Verry nice result Mike, esp. if concidering the age of the kit. I ceep saying: there are no bad kits, just impaticent modellers... Although I´m glad I got the Dragon version of this kit😉

Matthias Weiss
Excellent! I really like it! Wish I could achieve such realistic results.

Ulf Petersen
Really nice!👍

Mike K
Thank you everyone.

Martyn Fox
Nice paintwork with the Panzergrey with subtle weathering.

Anthony Richards
Mike, its about as good as it gets right there! Great job!

Mike K
Thanks guys.