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  • German Armor, 1/35th Scale

    Already posted this in another thread, but I thought it deserved it's own thread:

    Unfortunately, my U-2C has fallen by the wayside, to be superseded by my inexplicable fascination for German armor; I have recently undertaken a Trumpeter 1/35th-scale E-100 Super Heavy Tank (excellent model!), a Testors (nee: Italeri) Leopard IA4 (yes, the '80's version), AND a DML German Super Tank Maus.

    The E-100 is fascinating; without going into too much detail, towards the end of the War, the German armaments industry proposed standardizing tank production into three classes: the E-50 series (essentially, light tanks), the E-75 series (medium tanks), and the E-100 series (heavy, or "super", tanks). The only series that got anywhere was the E-100; by the end of the War, an E-100 chassis had actually been assembled, minus the suspension and the turret. The British captured the chassis at Paderborn, along with the meter-wide tracks it would've used. The original plan was to mount the 'Maus' turret (12.8cm main gun, 75cm coaxial gun) on the E-100 chassis, but the factory was overrun before that could happen. IMO, the 'Maus' turret would've been too heavy for the E-100 chassis anyway; all up, the 'Maus' turret, by itself, weighed more than a standard PzKpfw IV. However, there were a couple of alternative E-100 turrets on the drawing board in 1945, both of which weighed less than the 'Maus' turret. One turret, which is the subject of the Trumpeter kit, was basically a scaled-up Tiger II turret, with a 12.8 cm gun (the KwK 44 L/55) in place of the 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71; this version would've been known as the Ausfuhrung L (versus Ausfuhrung S for the Maus-turreted version). If the German armaments industry HAD survived until 1946, I have no doubt that it would've been a very formidable tank. In any case, here is what the Trumpeter kit I am currently building looked like BEFORE I started in on it:





    It is an excellent kit, and Trumpeter has come a long ways in a short time towards satisfying some of us modelers with interesting and different kits; the E-100 is no exception.

    I had originally had some problem nailing down the "official" German RAL (in German: Reichsausschuß für Lieferbedingungen und Gütesicherung) colors for this tank; there has been a lot of debate and discussion over the years as to what are the "correct" German WWII RAL colors. The bottom line is, there is no "correct" interpretation of German wartime colors; they varied considerably from theater to theater, and even from year to year. First of all, I DON'T have an airbrush (yes, you read that correctly), so I'm fairly limited as to which colors I can spray on; in this case, after reading all of the available information, I settled on using Testors Model Master Medium Green, FS 34102. The "official" color is Olivegrun, which roughly equates to FS 34094, but the closest match is Medium Green (Dark Green, FS 34079, is too dark). In any case, there was considerable variation in the field anyway and, besides, we're talking about a tank that didn't really exist, so I'd say we're within reason here.

    I will attempt to post some "in progress" pictures as soon as possible, for all three Panzers, but don't hold your breath!

    P.S. To make things even more complicated, I'm also in the process of rebuilding a Konigstiger (King Tiger) I built about 25 years ago. Keep you posted!
    "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

  • #2
    Been a little while, but I'm back with pics; got most of it painted, here's my progress so far:

    Turret:




    Chassis:




    Hull:




    Interesting size comparison with a regular Tiger I hull:




    I decided to paint the Bellville-Washer suspension springs a different color for two reasons: 1.) it provided a nice contrast with the rest of the otherwise green chassis, and 2.) the suspension springs were going to be the last piece of hardware installed on the (prototype) chassis at the end of the War, so I theorized that they would've painted the rest of the tank while they were waiting for the springs, and installed them on the tank as soon as they arrived.

    Should be putting the wheels on this weekend, I'll keep you posted . . . .
    "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

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    • #3
      Very nice work. The turret looks like it could be from a modern MBT... keeping in mind, I know little about tanks. I like the comparison w/ the Tiger.

      Germany left behind more unfinished blue prints and projects than any of the major combatants, it seems.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Chogy View Post
        Very nice work.
        Thank you!

        Originally posted by Chogy View Post
        The turret looks like it could be from a modern MBT... keeping in mind, I know little about tanks. I like the comparison w/ the Tiger.
        Technically, the turret design is not an original German design, it was extrapolated from other turret designs (in particular, the "schmalturm" for the proposed Panther Ausf. F); it was a logical extension of the turrets designed for the Panther II and the Tiger II.

        Originally posted by Chogy View Post
        Germany left behind more unfinished blue prints and projects than any of the major combatants, it seems.
        Yes, this one was definitely a "paper project"; obviously, Germany ran out of time and materials long before they could've made a go at this project. The proposed tanks and massive armored fighting vehicles were actually only one small part of the output of the German engineers; there was easily double that effort put into so-called "Luft '46" projects, such as the "Amerika Bomber", and the tail-sitting rocket-propelled bomber interceptors.
        "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

        Comment


        • #5
          Stitch, that is an awesome model, I've never seen that one. Great pictures. I like your color choices.
          sigpic"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
          If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."

          Comment


          • #6
            1/35 scale

            Maus and Panther:)
            sigpic"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
            If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by USSWisconsin View Post
              Stitch, that is an awesome model, I've never seen that one. Great pictures. I like your color choices.
              Thank you!

              In reality, all German armor produced after '43 was supposed to be painted overall Dunkelgelb (dark sand), but by the end of the War, they were running out of the "official" paints, so they ended up painting the tanks coming off the line in '45 with whatever they had available at the time (and hadn't been destroyed by Allied bombers); this is why you'll see some of the tanks showing up in '44 & '45 in the old Panzer Grey color (schwarzgrau) from the early '40's.

              This E-100 is in overall Olivegrun (because I'm assuming that's what they had available at the time), and I'll be adding Dunkelgelb & Signalbraun as camouflage colors. They specify painting the barrel in Red Oxide, but I may not do that.
              "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by USSWisconsin View Post
                Maus and Panther:)
                Nice Maus!

                I have that model, too, but it's taking me FOREVER to put the suspension together (there are about 100 pieces for the suspension alone!); and that's a Panther Ausf. A next to it, correct? It also looks like you've got a Panzer IV Ausf. G or H just out of the frame to the right (no schurzen, so it's probably a G).
                Last edited by Stitch; 12 Mar 10,, 19:29.
                "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

                Comment


                • #9
                  Thanks, yes that is a Panzer IVG--, here are a few more, the diorama is sort of cluttered and isn't a realistic scene, it started as a camp scene and then "collected" a buch of stuff....:)
                  sigpic"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
                  If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    a couple more

                    Stitch
                    As you can see, I too was bitten by the 1:35 German armor bug around 2005, I still have a shelf of models left to build - I had ideas about a scaled down museum of WWII German armor. I really enjoy the detailed pictures of the progress of your E100, thank you for sharing them. I have a 1:72 E100, but it is rather disappointing compared to what you are doing.
                    sigpic"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
                    If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Wow! You're a lot more prolific than I am! If I can finish a model in a year, I consider that a high output. Let me know if you ever want to "get rid" of some of those model kits!

                      I like the M26 Pershing in the middle of all of those German tanks; I guess the commander's not too worried about being outnumbered! And I also like the "snow" scene; very imaginative use of expanded foam!

                      I tend to like to model off-beat and unusual German armor, hence the E-100's (I actually have two of them; the one I'm building, and the original DML kit from years ago) and the Maus. Last month, I just picked-up the Dragon Ersatz M-10, which is a Panther G with extra plates welded on it to make it look like an American M-10; very detailed kit! A little on the pricey side ($60.00), but it looks like it'll be worth it; I'll try and do a WIP thread on that one, too. The only other model I've been on the lookout for is the old DML Panther G from the '90's with the IR sights.
                      "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Stitch View Post
                        Wow! You're a lot more prolific than I am! If I can finish a model in a year, I consider that a high output. Let me know if you ever want to "get rid" of some of those model kits!

                        I like the M26 Pershing in the middle of all of those German tanks; I guess the commander's not too worried about being outnumbered! And I also like the "snow" scene; very imaginative use of expanded foam!

                        I tend to like to model off-beat and unusual German armor, hence the E-100's (I actually have two of them; the one I'm building, and the original DML kit from years ago) and the Maus. Last month, I just picked-up the Dragon Ersatz M-10, which is a Panther G with extra plates welded on it to make it look like an American M-10; very detailed kit! A little on the pricey side ($60.00), but it looks like it'll be worth it; I'll try and do a WIP thread on that one, too. The only other model I've been on the lookout for is the old DML Panther G from the '90's with the IR sights.
                        Thanks, it got set there and I liked it too, it does have a rear shot at the Hunting Tiger, and the 88 isn't manned I like the odd WWII German stuff too, we must have gotten the same strain of the 1/35 armor bug.
                        sigpic"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
                        If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Haven't updated this thread in a while, so I thought I'd post some more pictures as long as I'm here; I'm actually quite a bit further along than the pictures suggest. In fact, I'm almost done painting it (finally!), so I'll try and take some more up-to-date pictures this weekend (along with my WIP Ersatz M10). The turret as it was a year ago (yes, it takes me a VERY long time to finish a model!):





                          Now for the Ersatz M10 as IT was a year ago (and, yes, I'm much further along on this one, too):



                          I painted the primary and secondary torsion bars different colors just to add a bit of contrast. Considering this is an OOB build, there is actually a lot of detail in this kit!

                          Like I said, when I get a few minutes this weekend (maybe!), I'll take some more up-to-date photos and try and post them next week.
                          Attached Files
                          "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            E-100 Update

                            As I mentioned in another thread, I'm finally nearing the end of my E-100 build; bought the kit "on sale" about five years ago from my LHS (I guess they got tired of looking at it sit on their shelf), started fast, and then got side-tracked (again!).

                            Here is the (almost) completed turret next to my (almost) completed King Tiger "Henschel" turret:







                            As you can see, the E-100 is just a BIT larger than a King Tiger!

                            And, yes, I am still plugging away at the Ersatz M-10; those link-and-length tracks are SO labor-intensive!
                            Attached Files
                            "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

                            Comment

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