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This project took on a life of its own. The more I looked the more I had to do! 

Test fit interior parts.  

 

It was a pan to get rid of the battery housings moulded in the bottom of hull. A circular hand held cutter would have been beneficial (always with mask and maybe googles) 

The sight cover was all wrong. Tamiya had the gunners sight fitted way too far over to the right - actually over the gun breach - an impossibility.  

nahverteidigungswaffe (grenade launcher) was removed - and plate was added (due to non availability of launcher) 

Easy enough to do but good for just getting back into scratch again) 

 

Periscopes, hatch latches and shells added 

Some attempt at riveting- there were none on kit 

 

Gun pinion added - barrel secure bolt recess added 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For me the most difficult thing to scratch was the gun breach. The transmission was not seen so luckily not added 

Rear wall was Radios, transformers and batteries with some basic generic crew equipment.
Interestingly, the shell ejection pad can be seen but there was no shell catching bag. The reason I assume is that the low height of this vehicle made it prohibitive. The Camden haft was also below - so a bag would have made elevation a problem especially after and during action.  

 

Sight needed adjustment - gun breach guard can be seen - this is most definitely needed as very visible through hatches (without crew) 

 

 

 

 

Basically- the interior would have looked ‘pretty’ without the ammo. But really inside is just a box with breach, seats, radio, Camden shaft, fuel tanks and any empty space was filled with shells. Crew survival was better for commander and loader but for the gunner it was bad - for the driver it was the most terrible. He was sat in front of the fuel tank and surrounded by ammo. 

 

The MG hanging on the straps was pretty much like the early Panther - in any case it cannot really be seen 

Using an airbrush for the first time was very tragic! Enamels was add and spray - 2 or 3 decades ago but with acrylics you have to worry about pressure and mixture ratios that can take along time to master 

The ionised shells were very interesting to track down and get the colour down!  

 

 

The side skirts were one piece. After much measuring the dimensions were found wanting but luckily it was mainly the fault of the last panel. Skirt chopped up and/or scribbed for more realism 

 

 

 

For discussion only  

The travel lock had to be scratched - it was the wrong size, shape and detail was poor. Here the headlight wire and port were added 

 

The tools were ok but placement on instructions was wrong! 

A little scratching here - the tow shackle and I think (don’t quote me) a coolant lid with chain tie. The Jack block holder needed a little work 

As I got the metal barrel (and breach!) for the much newer kit, I took the gun barrel and replace this kits one - it was a little too short 

mud flaps adjusted 

 

The shovel was cut off and bracket added. It was missing just because these things happened! 

 

The pre shading was ok but you can see how poor I was with spraying 

 

 

 

 

 

The cam was hand painted. It was fun but tricky trying to stay random means you are setting a pattern! 

 

So here you can see that the weathering is not a total disaster but nevertheless it did show my limitations. A lot was learned! 

 

The build was not bad but the paint job/weathering dropped the level - still, to raise your level you have to go through these processes- as painful as they can be! The exhaust muffler is a case in point! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The periscope in commanders hatch along with port was rebuilt - much was needed to fix 

 

 

 

 

 

And here was the profile - to prove the schemes validity! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spare tracks replaced from some old spares 

 

 

 

 

The interior has lost its clean gleam! In reality these things stank of oil, cordite and unkempt sparsely supplied rugged men of war! 

The scissor scopes were added from spares. Not every vehicle had them but they do make the profile a little more interesting