Jasper goes to war!

[Jasper_the_2nd]

40 minutes ago, Standifer said:

Was wondering because the seats in that half track look a tad small for those soldiers. 

It's the camera, it adds 50 scale pounds  😉

 

[Jasper_the_2nd]

No time to do any real hobbying today, but I did measure my printed Panzer IV and compare that to the BA version.  85% seemed to be about the right scaling factor, so I printed one off to test.

 

Looks about right to me....

 

[Jasper_the_2nd]

Was hoping to get a good amount done today, but unfortunately work issues (I'm on call this week) chewed up most of my day.

I got a few bits glued onto the panzer, and I cleaned up and "assembled" a medium mortar team and medium machinegun team. The weapons are glued together and the figs were cleaned up, but they are held in place on the bases with poster tack. I'm supposed to be playing an intro 500 point game with a friend tomorrow afternoon, assuming work doesn't interrupt. Wanted to try those two units out.

 

[Jasper_the_2nd]

Had to go searching for the turret assembly instructions, for some reason they didn't feel the need to include them in the box....

The upper hull is still separate, should really decide if it needs magnets or not soon.  Probably not I'm thinking.

Tank commander will stay separate until painted.  
Left to to would be putting on the supports for the Schürzen.  From the pics I've seen most folks paint everything before adding those on, which makes sense.

[Jasper_the_2nd]

Still no change to paint, but I'm working on a 500 point army for Saturday, and want to try out some artillery. 

Today at lunch I cleaned up all the parts for the Nebelwerfer 41 and glued the wheels.  Haven't even started on the crew, but they are all one piece.

I will probably get a bigger single base for when I permanently mount this unit after painting.  For now I'll putty them to the provided bases.

 

[buglips*the*goblin]

3 hours ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

I will probably get a bigger single base for when I permanently mount this unit after painting.

 

I use Reaper round bases for my AT and Arty guns.  The 80mm round in particular is very handy for medium artillery bases.  I use a smaller one (50mm?  60mm?  I should remember these things) for my 57mm and 75mm AT guns.  But anyway, the Reaper rounds are great and usually have a litte space for a bit extra if you feel like it.  

 

[Jasper_the_2nd]

Awesome sandbags!

 

Last night I got everything cleaned up and the main bits all glued.

Also, while I had the files out, cleaned up the pieces of the Spinne Light Panzermech from the Kohflikt '47 starter.  Since it looks like the little open turret thing can turn, I'll likely magnetize that, since it doesn't sit in really far and the model looks a little tippy.

 

[Heisler]

A couple of things to think about. First I know next to nothing about 3D printing, does it have an option to print to scale? Your PzKfw IV is looking just a little small. The Warlord Games (BA) version is built to 1/56th scale, as are the Rubicon models. Otherwise, knowing the scale you should be able to work out the correct % to print it, it all depends on what "scale" the file was built for then you can calculate the necessary reduction.

 

There is no real reason to use magnets on the upper hull unless you are going to do an interior, so just glue it together. The only place where you might want to use magnets would be between the upper hull and the turret, so I suppose you might want to figure out how you want to do that before you glue it on. I would very much recommend the Rubicon kits over the Warlord Games kits, they are a bit simpler in design and definitely more robust. While Rubicon still is still expanding their range there are a fair number of tanks that are not available through them yet (British armor in general is lacking except for Shermans).

[Jasper_the_2nd]

7 hours ago, Heisler said:

A couple of things to think about. First I know next to nothing about 3D printing, does it have an option to print to scale? Your PzKfw IV is looking just a little small. The Warlord Games (BA) version is built to 1/56th scale, as are the Rubicon models. Otherwise, knowing the scale you should be able to work out the correct % to print it, it all depends on what "scale" the file was built for then you can calculate the necessary reduction.

 

There is no real reason to use magnets on the upper hull unless you are going to do an interior, so just glue it together. The only place where you might want to use magnets would be between the upper hull and the turret, so I suppose you might want to figure out how you want to do that before you glue it on. I would very much recommend the Rubicon kits over the Warlord Games kits, they are a bit simpler in design and definitely more robust. While Rubicon still is still expanding their range there are a fair number of tanks that are not available through them yet (British armor in general is lacking except for Shermans).

The PzKfw IS the Warlord Games kit.  The only 3D prints the Oversized Panzer IV and then the white/grey one is the scaled one.  For information, scaling in 3d printing is super easy, just select what you want, click the scale object button, and put in the scaling factor, like  I scaled the Panzer IV to 85% of the default file size.  It usually defaults to scaling all dimensions the same, but you can also scale an individual axis.

Yeah, I've decided I just want to add a driver and then finish painting the interior on the PzKfw before gluing the top on.  Still undecided on the weapon mounts, lately I've been too busy to really put more thought into it.  I've got a long weekend since I took tomorrow off, so might have some time to make some progress with something though.

 

I'm sticking with the Warlord Games stuff for now (mostly) as that's what the FLGS is bringing in as they try to build a BA community here. Assuming it really takes off and we get a good base, then I'll probably start checking out some other companies.

 

[buglips*the*goblin]

I will say that if you should happen to find yourself hankering for a StuG IIIG, and it's relatively easy for you to get it, the Rubicon StuG IIIG kit is almost infinitely better than the absolute dog that the Warlord kit is (I have both).  I've been more or less happy with most of the Warlord plastics (Panthers, PzIVH, Pumas, M3 halftrack, Tiger, many others) but that StuG is just miserable.  The Rubicon also has more options, which was a particular plus for me because I prefer the saukopf mantlet over the box type (Warlord only has the box mantlet).  If it's not feasible or worth it to go out of your way for the Rubicon one then you can certainly live with the Warlord one - but if you have any choice at all it's the Rubi kit all the way.

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by buglips*the*goblin

[Jasper_the_2nd]

Had an hour to paint (but that would require some clean up) or work on the Schürzen mounts for the Panzer IV (but that looks fiddley) or working on the spider walker (but again fiddley, and I might need to find my Dremel for magnetization) so instead :

 

Started on the Jagdtiger.  It is a touch larger than a Panzer IV.....

 

[Jasper_the_2nd]

A little more progress.....

Now that's a gun!!

 

[Standifer]

12 hours ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

Started on the Jagdtiger.  It is a touch larger than a Panzer IV.....

Considering the Jagdtiger weighed 72 tons combat ready it should be 😂. That’s as much as a M1 A1 with its depleted uranium armor 😮. Germany built some heavy tanks. 

[Jasper_the_2nd]

Jadgtiger pretty much assembled.

I haven't decided yet on the machine gun for the rear deck.  It seems like it would be awfully easy to break off. And there is the commander to put together and paint separately. 

And there is a piece that goes on the back at the bottom (jack or hitch mechanism or something similar) that looks like it was miss-cast and is missing one of the two mounting arms.  I'll see how to go about requesting a replacement part....
Interesting build.  The Jadgtiger is obviously designed/produced by a completely different factory than the Panzer IV.  Not just the colour, but the plastics are slightly different, the darker grey feeling and cutting like it is slightly more brittle.  The Panzer's sprues square while the Jadgtiger's are round.  The Panzer uses a lot of flush mounting without pins or anything, the Jadgtiger everything has pins to help align.  But the Jadgtiger uses a lot of flush mounts for the armor, with nothing behind, which leaves so small gaps. 

Over all I think I liked the Panzer IVs build a little better. It seemed to go to better a little more smoothly....

[Jasper_the_2nd]

Had a great 500 point game last night (meaning I won!).  The nebelwerfer was a blast, and obliterated pretty much everything it managed to actually hit (only hits on a 6 on a d6).

This morning I started on a Puma. As this box had a flyer inside of it I now know the darker grey with round sprues are made by Italeri for Warlord Games.

The puma is an 8 wheel drive with dual steering.  It is good to know this for the game, but assembling all the drivetrain and suspension was a bit fiddley.

 

Especially as the wheels will hid almost all of it (unless you pick it up).

 

That was enough for this morning.