Friday, December 6, 2013

King Tiger Build- Painting Guide by Adam Wilder

After building the King Tiger (KT) kit and painting preparation now comes Painting and Weathering. Doing it for the first time, I did my usual research and prepared some painting guides based on techniques I came across with that seemed simpler for me to understand- or so I thought. The first guide I used is the Painting and Weathering Technique by Adam Wilder as published in missing-lynx.com. Adam's article discussed in detail and demonstrated the painting and weathering techniques he used to achieve  realistic weathered finish on his armor models. Actually, it follows the Scale Model Painting and Weathering Process Flow I posted previously.

I summarized in a table format the systematic group of processes for painting and weathering as Adam laid out, which helped me out in my first attempt to paint a scale model ever. Some of the techniques within the guide  are already used and discussed in other publications which were adopted. Credit was given by Adam to Tony Greenland and Makoto Takaishi for some of their techniques.

I'm not sure actually if it can be of help to you but I just wanted to post it also just in case it can be of use to some newbies like me.

Painting
STEPS
Paint/Thinner/ etc.
Amount/Application
Comments
A) Airbrushing
base coat
Tamiya dark green XF-61,
3 parts

Tamiya thinner X-20A,
one part


Tamiya semi-gloss varnish X-22
one part

Shadowed appearance-
Tamiya dark green,
1 1/2 parts
AB flat open surfaces with a lighter shade of base color
flat white XF-2,
1 1/2 parts
AB flat surfaces between any extrusions (grab handles, rivets, bolts, and weld seams).
Tamiya thinner,
1 part
Keep AB perpendicular to the surface of the model.

Tamiya dark green XF-61,
1 part

B) Applying a Wash

Thinner (Better Way brush cleaner)
1/4 a glass paint jar
Toothpick to apply small paint amounts to thinner allows you to easily regulate wash tint .

Winsor & Newton ivory black oil paint
15% paint and 85% thinner.
When wash is blended, put in a dust free booth and let dry for a day.

Winsor & Newton burnt-umber
# 2 round brush to mix/apply paint over the entire model
When the wash is dry start adding oils.


After 1st coat, continue brushing the model (without adding any more wash) with downward strokes to blend paint evenly over the surface.

C) Adding Oils- to give base coat a semi gloss finish to add depth that resembles painted steel; manipulate base color to a more desired color and further blend the base coat with the over-sprayed areas.

Winsor & Newton artist oils- black, white, and the three primary colors
toothpicks to mix artist oil paints
use color wheel to aid with mixing the colors

Linseed oil and varnish


Russian armor
light coat of red-brown oils
1. Dip # 2 round oil brush in red-brown mixture; brush off almost all from brush to sheet plastic.


Tamiya dark green
2. Brush over entire upper hull and fenders using downward strokes. Ignore from under the fenders down and running gear as these will be over-sprayed with earth colors later.

German Tiger tank
brown or red-brown color (artist oils)
3. When the paint stops spreading, re-dip into paint and wipe clean onto the plastic. Continue brushing until the model from the fenders up is completely covered. Let this coat dry for two days.


Talens Dammar picture varnish glossy 081 (varnish for oils)



Alkali linseed oil (artist grade)

used to improve the distribution of the paint over the surface of the model




On adding oils....
The mixed color of artist oils along with the makeshift pallet of sheet plastic.
Note how 99% of the pant is brushed from the brush before its applied to the model.
from missing-lynx.com

NEXT:


King Tiger Build- Weathering by Adam Wilder 


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Thursday, December 5, 2013

Hitler Stole Volkswagen Beetle Idea from Jewish Engineer


Ferdinand Porsche (left) and Adolf Hitler examine a prototype model that will evolve into the Volkswagen Beetle.
JOSEF GANZ (1898 - 1967) was the TRUE engineering father of the iconic and most enduring car ever built- the German Volkswagen (VW) Beetle Ironically, he was a Jewish engineer who was eventually forced to abandon Nazi Germany

Josef Ganz, 1946

Ganz had numerous drawings,letters and documentations to prove this claim. As early as 1923, he made his first sketches  of an innovative small lightweight car with a mid-mounted engine, independent wheel suspension and an aerodynamic body which is the concept of a German VW. Lacking the money to build a prototype, he started publishing articles on car designs in various magazines to earn a living. In 1927 he became  the editor-in-chief of Klein-Motor-Sport which he used  as a platform not only to promote innovative designs and his VW concept but also to criticize heavy, unsafe and old-fashioned cars. 


Front cover of Klein-Motor-Sport magazine with a design for the 'car of the future' (1928)

 The magazine gained in reputation and influence and was renamed Motor-Kritik where Ganz attacked the old and well-established auto companies who responded with law-suits and an advertising boycott. 
Josef Ganz in the Ardie-Ganz prototype, 1930
Josef Ganz in the Ardie-Ganz prototype, 1930
IN 1929, he colaborated with German motorcycle manufacturers to build a VW prototype- the first built at Ardie in 1930 and a second completed at Adler in May 1931 nicknamed the Maikäfer (May-Beetle). 
Josef Ganz in the Maikäfer prototype, 1931
Josef Ganz in the Maikäfer prototype, 1931

He was assigned as a consultant engineer at Daimler-Benz and BMW where he was involved in the development of the first models with independent wheel suspension: the highly successful Mercedes-Benz 170 and BMW AM1 (Automobilkonstruktion München 1).
Brochure for the Standard Superior, 1934
According to the many patents of Ganz the first company to build a VW was the Standard Fahrzeugfabrik, which introduced its Standard Superior model at the IAMA (Internationale Auto- und Motorradausstellung) in Berlin in February 1933. Here the new Chancellor Adolf Hitler expressed great interest in its revolutionary design and low selling price of 1,590 Reichsmark. 
Standard Superior, 1934 model
Second model of the Standard Superior, 1934
IRONICALLY, while German car manufacturers one by one took over the progressive ideas that had been published in Motor-Kritik since the 1920s, Ganz himself was arrested by the Gestapo in May 1933 based on falsified charges of blackmail of the automotive industry. He was eventually released which lead to his escape from Germany in June 1934 the very month Adolf Hitler assigned Ferdinand Porsche to realize the prophecy of Josef Ganz- designing a mass-producible Volkswagen for a consumer price of 1,000 Reichsmark.

JOSEF GANZ eventually settled in Switzerland where with government support started a Swiss Volkswagen project. The first prototypes were constructed in 1937 and 1938 and were for mass-production inside a new factory. With the start of World War Two, however, Josef Ganz was again under serious threat from the Gestapo and corrupt Swiss government officials who tried to claim the Swiss Volkswagen project as their own. After the war in a desperate attempt for justice, Ganz took his Swiss enemies to court. After five years of fruitless court battles, a dejected Ganz left Switzerland in 1949 and settled in France where he still worked on a new small car but could no longer compete with the German VW which was now conquering the world. 

In 1951 Josef Ganz emigrated to Australia..  He worked there for General Motors Holden for several years but became almost bedridden after a series of heart attacks in the early 1960s. In 1965 the Federal Republic of Germany sought Australian Government permission to bestow on Josef Ganz the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. The request was denied.[7] however due to regulations existing at that time in relation to foreign awards to Australian citizens.


Josef Ganz posing with his Holden in Australia (1960s)

Josef Ganz died in obscurity in Australia in 1967.













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Monday, July 22, 2013

Volkswagen Karmann Ghia: Three types.

The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is a sports car marketed in both 2+2 coupe (1955–1974) and convertible (1957–1974) body styles. It combined the chassis and mechanics of the Type 1 (Beetle)styling by Luigi Segre of the Italiancarrozzeria Ghia and hand-built bodywork by the German coach-builder KarmannThe Karmann Ghia was internally designated as Type 14 followed by a 1961 variant, the Type 34, featuring angular bodywork and based on the newly introduced Type 3 platform.
There are actually three types of Karmann Ghias.  Commonly known is the Type 1 (Type 14) Ghia; lesser known is the Type 3 (Type 34, razor-edge, or European Ghia); and the least known, Karmann Ghia TC (the Brazilian Ghia). The Type 1 KG's are known worldwide while the Type 3 KG's are a little more scarce. The Karmann Ghia TC was made in Brazil, for Brazil, and was never exported. 

Karmann Ghia Type 1 (1956-1974)- 

Karmann-Ghia-Type-1
Karmann-Ghia-Type-1
The Italian designed unibody construction and German craftsmanship makes the Type 1 a timeless work of art. It was built virtually unaltered from 1955 to 1974 where a total of approximately 340,000 coupés and 81,000 convertibles were manufactured in Osnabrück in the north of Germany. 14,000 Type 1 Karmann Ghias were also produced in Brazil. 

Karmann Ghia Type 3 (1961-1970)

volkswagen_karmann_ghia_type3
1966 VW Type 34 in Melbourne, Australia
The Type 3 Karmann Ghia was the second model of Ghia produced in mid 1961 till July 1970. A total of 42,505 Type 3 Coupes were built at the Karmann factory which were sold and serviced by VW dealerships around the world. They were originally intended for the American market but they were never exported to the USA which explains the similarities in the Type 3 Ghia and the Chevy Corvair. The major changes were in 1964 (dual carburetor domed-piston engine), 1967 (12 volt electrical system), and 1968 (IRS suspension & automatic transmission). The Type 34 is considered to be a rare model today, with less than 2500 existing worldwide. 

Karmann Ghia TC (1972-1975)

Volkswagen-Karmann-Ghia
Unknown to many, Brasil produced a Karmann Ghia from 1972 to 1975. The American market considered that the athletic character of the small cut typical Type 14 was not enough asserted to the eyes of several consumers. So Karmann Ghia had VW of Brazil build a more athletic model, on the basis of the Type 3 and more or less inspired Porsche 911, the Karmann-Ghia TC (Touring Coupe). 

The Karmann Ghia TC is thought of as a Type 3 Fastback Karmann Ghia. Only the ventilations on the nose panel, the logo on the rear deck lid, and the rounded characteristics of the fenders recall the original shape of the Type 14.  To the back can be seen the original four series of cooling vents placed to the very rear of the wide decklid. The turn signals are very wide and comply to the requirements of 1970. The oversized Karmann Ghia logo is placed horizontally on the left side of the cover motor. The smaller TC logo is positioned on the opposite side. The motor is a 1600 cc originating from the pancake style of the Type 3. Added performance was obtained by the adoption of a horizontal cooling system and by the addition of two Solex 32 PSI carburetors, which was what placed the TC to the same level motorization as the Type34 of the European market. 

The Karmann Ghia TC was never officially distributed to the USA. The only inventoried copy in Europe is preserved in the private Museum of Karmann in Osnabrück.

















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