March 2019

Two new
gifts inside

Panther Ausf.D
The origin of the leyend

Liberty B truck
The new ICM kit

M103 A1
The last US heavy tank

Leganes
modelling contest 2019

M108
In Spain

Sponsored by
Is published by Coronel Caramel S.l.
CIF B54483052
Editorial office & administration
Casiopea 7 entresuelo
03006 Alicante
Spain
Te: 965112833
Email: fcmodeltips@gmail.com
Director: Federico Collada
Editor: Federico Collada
Design: Federico Collada
Graphics: Federico Collada
Models and photographs: Federico Collada

Editorial
It happens that when a new kit is released is often better than its predecessors, of course I’m
talking about the ubiquitous Panther, Sherman, T34, etc. it seems that every year we have
a new model where to choose from. Modellers who can’t help buying the most recent model
surely have some of the previous ones and immediately think in getting rid of them. Of course
this is understandable, they just want to build the “jewel of the crown” That’s why the forums
are plenty of “old” kits offered at very cheap prices and this can be a very good opportunity for
those who are not so demanding.
But there is another option for these kits; they still can be used for practising the techniques
that you still don’t control completely or even experimenting new ideas.
This is what happened to a couple of kits in this Blitzscales issue; the Dragon Panther
Ausf.D is certainly not up to the quality standards of most recent RFM, Takom or Meng kits
and the M103 of the same company, although it has no commercial rival, it’s certainly a very
poor quality kit that makes us think if maybe another company is planning to release soon
providing a far better rendition.
Both kits have been tackled with no mayor upgrading just to practise and test some painting
techniques, in this way they have provided some very amusing time with no stress at all,
much more than they could have provided if trying to get them to a higher level.

Federico Collada

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Index Page 6

Page 25

Page 35

6 -Fiedls aerial
8 - Blitzscales previews
25 - Leganes modelling contest
35 - Liberty B truck
41 - M103A1 the last US heavy tank
50 - The Martin Csanadi gift galore
52 - M108 Howitzer in Spain
63 - Panther Ausf.D

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Page 52

Page 50

Page 63

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 Cut & paste
1- Print the opposite page, resize if you need to fit your wood base

2- Varnsh to protect the printing

3- Glue onto a wood base using white glue

4- Press softly with a sponge to eliminate any air bubbles

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Leganes
modelling
contest Photo report by
Vicente Muñoz

2019
Moreno and
Model 34 IPMS
Madrid

Once again the Spanish modelling community meets at the most important
event, the Leganes modelling contest that has been growing for 9 years. As
every year the event took place at the “Pabellón deportivo Europa” in the
middle of the town near Madrid. A very adequate place where lots of Spanish
and worldwide modellers have brought their best pieces to make them compete
to win the desired prices. The growing of both modeller’s quantity and models
quality increase has been a constant during all these years and 2019 has not
been an exception. From 15th to 17th March friends from everywhere have met
to delight with the modelling exhibition, the many vendors market and of course
the local gastronomy that is always better when shared with friends.
Let’s have a look to some of the models seen during the weekend.
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Standard B
Liberty Scale; 1/35
Producer;ICM

The Liberty B standard truck was developed by the Motor Transport section
of the Quartermaster Corps in cooperation with the members of the civilian
Society of Automotive Engineers. Conceived in 1917 to standardize as much
as possible the huge type of vehicles used by the U.S. army, the Liberty
truck parts were produced by 150 different companies and the assembly
was made in 15. By the end of the Great War, more than 9300 Liberty trucks
were produced and once the war was over the production stopped and many
surviving trucks were sold in the civilian market. The Liberty trucks remained
in the US army as late as 1940 and some were also provided to foreign
armies.
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 The kit builds very easily and only a few Once filled some unions with putty and
corrections are needed, the texture of the seats sanded it’s time for painting. The base was
can be done using synthetic mud. provided with Vallejo Olive drab primer.

I like using German dar yellow colour to The kit provides decals for two vehicles, in
highlight the OD. This time was applied heavily order to place them correctly I first applied a
diluted and airbrushed at the bigger surfaces. layer of gloss varnish.

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 The Kit

The Ukrainian firm ICM is

always looking for original
subjects for their catalogue and
this is a good example. The
Liberty truck has never been
released in plastic 1/35 scale
before. As every soft skin vehicle
form ICM this Liberty includes
the engine and although it’s a
rather basic kit the detail level
is very good and the building
process is easy so any average
modeller, even novel ones will
be able to tackle it with no mayor
problems. Some optional parts
will allow you to choose whether
leaving the cargo bed covered
with the canvas or showing
the metal supporting bars.
The decals sheet includes the
markings for a couple of vehicles
used in 1918.

Adapting the decals to the uneven surface The cab hood piece doesn’t include the back
of the wood textured parts is easy if you use a part, this can be easily made with a latex glove.
decal softener. glue it to the plastic using a little ciano.

Once the latex is fixed you can secure it The fixed hood fits the plastic parts easily
using some more ciano in the inner side, then due to it’s thinness. The latex it’s always a very
cut the excess. useful resource for modellers.
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 Another benefit of the latex is that it can be The speckled acrylic washes provide a
painted as plastic. The latex remains maleable stained surface. This is a very easy and
but it can be stiffed with some ciano convincing technique.

The sponge technique helped producing With that part of the painting job finished
some subtle chipping marks using a mix of I airbrushed matt varnished and painted the
black and dark brown colours. details using acrylic colours.

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 I order to provide the cargo bed with some Once the dust washes were dry I used the
dust accumulations I poured some paint and special fule and oil effects paints for some
pigments washes. random stains.

The last touch was rubbing some metallic I added some wood crates and barrels at
pigment to imitate the exposed metal at the the back, all of them plastic extras from other
most exposed zones. model kits.
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M103A1
Scale; 1/35
Producer; Dragon

The M103 was the last heavy tank in the US

army. The project started as a substitute for the M26
Pershing that was not adequate to confront the Soviet
heavy tanks developed to face the German ones at
the end of WWII, the JS 3 and 4 were superior to
the Pershing that could almost fit in the medium tank
category. In mid 50s the T-29 and T-30 heavy tank
projects were supposed to replace the Pershing and
shared many components with it, the upgrading line
ended with the T-43E1 that was put into production as
the M103 in 1956. The new tank carried the 120mm
M58 gun derived from an AA version. It was capable
of hitting the objectives at a 2500-3500m distance and
with a 60 calibres length it needed a very large turret
to absorb the recoil. This specially designed turret
was cast and had 25cm thick armour at the front and
7,6cm on the sides. The crew consisted in 5 men,
commander, driver, gunner and two loaders.
The M103A1 was an upgraded version used by
the USMC produced in 1959 that included a new
Stereoscopic T52 sight, M14 ballistic computer, one
coaxial machine gun, a new turret electric amplidyne
system traverse and a turret basket.
The 300 M103 produced remained in service until the
early 70s when they were replaced by the M60.

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 The dragon kit is poorly detailed and badly
designed for its price. The union of the bigger
parts leaves evident hollows and many details
have been too simplified. If you wan to upgrade
it you will have to spend a lot more money in
a turned gun, photoetched parts and some The kit
decent tracks. Another option can be waiting
for a better kit to show up. Dragon has been largely criticized from the low
quality of many of their kits, mostly the ones
from their Black Level range which being more
expensive than other kits are certainly not up to
the contemporary standards. Maybe one of the
worst decisions made by Dragon is including
the infamous DS tracks which are worst than
the ones produced 30 years before. Talking
about this particular kit it certainly lacks the
finesse of actual models and has some errors
and simplified details that definitively makes
it not worth the money. Better idea may be
waiting for other company to release a better
rendition.
The hull parts have a nice cast texture but
not everywhere and the union is too evident so
some putty and texturing will be needed.

It’s important to align the hull parts as best

as possible to minimize the further correcting
job. Lucky enough these union lines are placed
in easily accesing zones.

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 The synthetic mud can provide both the filling
material and the cast needed texture. You can
apply it with abrush and even the surface with
water. Possibly the worst part of the kit is the
unfamous DS tracks, too soft and with too
evident mould seams that are very hard to
eliminate.

I started painting the kit with an Olive drab

primer and later airbrushed some light green
and dark yellow filters to enhance the volumes
and imitate the zenithal lightening. These two
filters were enough to provide some modulation With the basic painting done I airbrushed a
on the base colour as well as for highlighting layer of gloss varnish to prepare the surface for
the details. the decals placing.

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The decals were placed with the aid of the
Vallejo decal softener that allows it to adapt
to uneven surfaces like the cast texture of the
turret.
After the the red brown primer I applied a
black wash to add some depth to the tracks
elements.
A second wash using a dark rust colour
provided some more variety to the base colour.
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The DS vinyl is a very unpleasant material
that is both difficult to sand and paint. The
tracks had an oily coverage that made it
necessary to wash it with warm water and sopa
several time before trying to paint it.
I replaced the springs at the hatch with a
twisted copper wire ones as the plastic part
was engraved together with the hatch with a
very poor result.
 Some subtle chipping was provided by the After the chipping I used several acrilyc
sponge technique using a mix of dark brown washes specling them randomly over the wet
and black colours. surface to provide some stained look.

The washes staining is subtle enough to add

some tonal variety but avoiding high contrasts. The engine cover grilles benefit from the
The most dark ones provides some shadowing darker tones washes that provide some
too. contrast to enhance the details.

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 Further dark brown washes with a home
made mix of oil and enamel paints provided
some more depth to the shadows at the engine
deck grilles and details.
I used the Vallejo rust special effect paint
for the exhaust. This product has a very
convincing texture and look that can be
increased with a few later rust tones washes.
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As the M103 didn’t see much action I didn’t
want it to spoil the model too much, just some
subtle chipping and dirt. I started applying
an earth tone wash using a standard acrylic
paint diluted in much water and poured over
the horizontal surfaces with a brush. I tried to
cover the surfaces completely before the paint
started drying to avoid creating halos.
Using the same colour than I used with the
previous wash I applied with a brush I prepared
a second one to airbrush directly all over the
model. The air flow made the wash drain the
colour at the recessed vertical lines , corners
and details.
 Dry pigments can be very useful for
achieving different effects, here you can
see how I used black pigment to imitate the
remains of soot at the exhaust.

After aplying a subtle earth pigment wash

I used the oil and fuel special effect paints to
provide some stains at the deck. I applied them
bot directly from the can and diluted with water
to imitate older spills and marks.

The last touch was rubbing metallic pigment

at some zones like the sprocket teeth, guards
edges, hooks, etc. For this I used a cotton
swab and also my own finger tip, an old trick
that benefits from the body sweat to adhere
and polish the pigment making it look brighter.

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 Our friend from
The Martin Germany shares his
beautiful designs.
Another altruist
Csanadi gift modeller that joins
Blitzscales to provide
us with some very
galore useful stuff for our
models, just print and
enjoy.

1/35 scale
Sprite cartons

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M108
Scale; 1/35
Producer; AFV
Conversion; FCModeltips
Decals; FCMOdeltips

In the Spanish army

The M108 Howitzer program started in 1958 as the T195
self-propelled howitzer, after changing the petrol engine for
a diesel one and correcting failures of critical suspension
and final drive components the T195E1 was classified in
1960 as the howitzer, light, self-propelled, 105 mm, M108.
The M108 was produced only for one year when the US
army decided to concentrate in the M109, basically the
same vehicle but equipped with a larger 155mm howitzer.
The M108 was send to Vietnam in 1066 and saw action
with the 3-6 Field Artillery Battalion deployed to Pleiku on
June 17, 1966. and the 1-40th Field Artillery Battalion in
Dong Ha in October, 1966. By 1970 both battalions were
withdrawn and the M108 definitively replaced by the
M109.

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 I used the FCModeltips decals to depict one
of the M108 of the Regimiento de artillería de
campaña 41 in 1974. Possibly one of the most
attractive decorations in the set.

The 3d printed parts were designed
specifically for this AFV Club kit so the fit is
guaranteed. Just some cleaning preparation
and a little ciano and the job is done.
Once built I airbrushed the model with a layer
of Vallejo OD primer and later applied some
filters using dark yellow colour diluted at 75%
insisting on the upper surfaces.
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 After painting the basic colour and the The decals were then placed using the
lighthening modultaion I airbrushed a layer of Vallejo softener to ensure a perfect adaption
gloss varnish to prepare the surface for the and avoid any silvering.
decals placement.

When the decals were completely dry I The tools were painted with a steel base
protected the model with a layer of matt varnish colour and then darkened with a black wash
and proceeded to paint the details using acrylic using a standard acrylic paint diluted with
colours. water.
The Spanish army received 48 M108 in 1973 that were distributed between the Regimiento
de ArtillerÍa de Campaña nº41 (RACA 41- Campaing artillery regiment) the Grupo de artillería de
campaña autopropulsada XXI - (GACA ATP XXI- self propelled campaign artillery group) and the
Regimiento de instrucción de la academia de caballería (Training regiment of the cavalry academy)
In 1986 the M108 were redistributed to the Jarama and Castillejos II brigades
and eventually all of them were updated to M109A5E at the Centro de
mantenimiento de sistemas acorazados in Segovia.

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 The kit

Even when the old Italeri kit is still available it’s

certainly not up to the nowadays quality standards so
I decided to create the 3d printed parts to transform
the AFV M109 into a M108.
The resin parts are easy fit and require little or
no adaption as most of them are just to be
glued over the plastic parts.
Many times some modeller friends
ask me what kind of glue must
be used for the special 3d
printer’s resin? This material
can be fixed using ciano,
good white glue and even
varnish. The key is to wash
them first with warm water
and soap to eliminate any
wax rest.
The AFV kit is an excellent base
and builds very easily following the
instructions.

Sometimes sh... happens. At this stage I

Having painted the tracks with a dark red
primer I placed them on the kit and applied a
couple of rust tone washes to bring some life to
the dull bases colour.
realized I should have removed a part of the
turret hull that is not present on the M108.
Some surgery and filling with ciano and
bicarbonate did the job. After that some acrylic
putty and sanding and then repainting that part
of the turret.

I moistened the model with thinner and

The SKP lights are a very nice addition to the speckled many acrylic washes to create a
model, they look great and need no preparation random stained look. The little wash dots
just fix them with a little white glue or varnish. melted and blurred creating this effect.

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 Another acrylic rust colour wash, this time
mixed with some talcum to add some texture.
Mixing paints with texturing materials and
thickening agents has been a constant in the
arts world but surprisingly modellers rarely
make use of this trick beyond creating mud.
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I applied a subtle pigment wash to create a
dust layer. I used a mechanical sprayer that I
filled with water and only 5% pigment to avoid
clogging it. After pouring the mix all over the
model I let it dry and then I swept the excess
with a dry brush.
 Once dry the pigment deposited absorbs the
humidity of the special effects paints creating
very convincing stains. If you dilute the paint
you can achieve more subtle stains as if
produced long time ago.
I mixed the oil effect paint with some black
pigment to imitate the grease stains at the
wheel hubs and other movile parts.
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The Panzerkampwagen
V was the first production version of the
was put in service before fixing some serious
battle where the tank debut was completely
The constant upgrading made the panther
together with the Tiger the most recognisable
The Ausf D can be externally identified by
cupola, with viewports for periscopes low
mount. Instead the crew fired the machine gun
Powered by a Maybach petrol engine, the
the engine at the back, a central positioned
crew of 5 men; commander, driver, loader,
The most noticeable characteristic of the
influenced by the Soviet T-34 design that was
Scale; 1/35
Producer; Dragon
Turned barrel; Aber
tank and
problems that showed up during the Kursk
deception.
become one of the best tanks of WWII and
German tank of the conflict.
two main features. It had a “drum” commander’s
down on the side, and no hull machine gun
through a narrow slit in the hull front.
panther had a classical German tank layout with
turret housing an overhanging long gun and a
gunner and radio operator/MG gunner.
Panther tank was its slopped armour, clearly
implemented on German tanks for the first time.
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Although the Dragon kit is not up to the
nowadays quality standards is still better than
the old Italeri kit. In my kit the photoetched
parts were absent so I had to use the outscaled
palstic details. Surely the worst part of the kit is
the DS tracks, a very unpleasant material hard
to sand and paint.
I replaced the mantlet MG
for an ABER turned metal one,
better detailed.
After filling and sanding the joints I
primed the whole kit using Vallejo 73604
German dark yellow.
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This kit includes the zimmerit anti magnetic
paste that was applied on the German tanks
from 1943 onwards.
The kit
The Dragon kit 6428 was released a few
years ago; although including many optional
photoetched parts for the most demanding
modellers, the barrel provided n two plastic
halves and the DS tracks made it very
unpopular between the AFV fans and nowadays
nobody would prefer it over the RFM or Takom
kits.
I decided to use the kit to exercise some
painting techniques and give it as a present
once finished so I didn’t worry about upgrading
and detailing and just
changed the
plastic gun
for a turned
metal one.
The next step was modulating the base colour
with a couple of filters to highñight the centre of
the bigger surfaces and the details.
Before going on I cleaned the DS tracks with a
warm soapy bath, then I primed them using a
dark red colour and applied some rust tones
acrylic washes.

With the tracks in place I added the metal side

skirts and painted as the rest of the tank. It’s
important the metalparts to be clean for the paint
to adhere correctly. Then I used the colours in the
Vallejo special German set to
paint the camouflage using
the airbrush with little
pressure.

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A layer of gloss varnish is always a better
surface for the decals placing, no matter the
decals quality and it’s also a good practise for
protecting the painting job already done.
Adapting the decals to the zimmerit surface will
require a softener. Just add a dot over the decal
once is placed and let it act.
Time now to paint the details, I used the rust
special effect paint at the spare tracks and
exhaust and steel colour for the tools. Then
I altered the base a little using dark tones
washes.

A general dark brown acrylic wash airbrushed

all over the model emphasized the shadows
between the zimmerit lines. The air flow made
the wash deposit the pigment at the reccessed
lines.
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Dry pigments can be very useful, not only to The exhausts are a perfect place to replicate
create a dust coverage but to imitate rust, the soot, you can simply deposit a little pigment
ashes, or soot. I rubbed a little black pigment amount and fix it with a thinner drop.
around the muzzle.

The metallic pigment acts like the graphite,

rubbed with a cotton swab, an eraser or with
the fingertip at the exposed to friction parts
imitates the exposed and polished
metal.

After a subtle earth tone pigment wash I used

the special effects paints to imitate guel and oil
stains over the engine deck.

The petrol effect paint mixed with a little black

pigment created the grease stains at the wheel
hubs.

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www.fcmodeltrend.com

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www.fcmodeltrend.com

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