Sd.Kfz. 251, Pak 43 and an unhealthy dose of olive drab

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Shawn Ramsey
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Re: Sd.Kfz. 251, Pak 43 and an unhealthy dose of olive drab

Post by Shawn Ramsey »

It is really coming along Philipp.

I have to start moving on mine. I promise to post some pics soon.

Will someone please hold me to it. :roll: :oops:

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Philipp Gross
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Re: Sd.Kfz. 251, Pak 43 and an unhealthy dose of olive drab

Post by Philipp Gross »

Thanks Shawn! :)

The weather has finally cooled down so I might get a chance to continue with this. :roll:

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Re: Sd.Kfz. 251, Pak 43 and an unhealthy dose of olive drab

Post by Philipp Gross »

Fantastic weather with 18C and a long soft rain all day, so I made a start on the Pak 43. :mrgreen:

You may know that the Pak 43 came in two flavours - the "original" one on a cruciform platform with detachable wheels similar to the 88mm Flak and the more traditional Pak 43/41 on a split trail carriage. This build concerns the former, although I also have the Pak 43/41 made by AFV Club. There's a picture of one being towed by a High Speed Tractor...hmmmmm...... :roll:

The first impression - Trumpeter's kits still might have their flaws, but their packaging isn't one of them:

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The finished Kreuzlafette:

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The seams on the folding arms are supposed to be there - the original was made from stamped halves with a weld exactly where the kit parts go together:

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Overall fit so far is reasonably good, though not perfect. The wheel assemblies involve a ludicrous amount of tiny parts to clean up. Gotta love hypercomplex German engineering :roll:

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Vincent Power
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Re: Sd.Kfz. 251, Pak 43 and an unhealthy dose of olive drab

Post by Vincent Power »

Good tip on the weld seams Philipp. ;) I would have just blundered in with a sanding stick :? :lol:

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Re: Sd.Kfz. 251, Pak 43 and an unhealthy dose of olive drab

Post by Philipp Gross »

Luckily I remembered that detail from when I last saw a real one :lol:

Luckily there is a real one in the Bundeswehr museum in Koblenz :lol:

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Re: Sd.Kfz. 251, Pak 43 and an unhealthy dose of olive drab

Post by Philipp Gross »

Still not in the mood to further build the Pak 43, so here's a start on the interior instead :lol:

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I'll need to paint the driver before I can glue on the upper half, otherwise there's no way I could possibly get him into position.

(please disregard the silly people on the newspaper :? :lol: )

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Re: Sd.Kfz. 251, Pak 43 and an unhealthy dose of olive drab

Post by Philipp Gross »

Doesn't look like much, but I spent about 2 hours assembling these 4 wheels:

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The whole Pak 43 undercarriage is a ridiciously complex piece of machinery. All four wheel hubs are different. I have seen tanks that are less complicated... :?

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Vincent Power
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Re: Sd.Kfz. 251, Pak 43 and an unhealthy dose of olive drab

Post by Vincent Power »

It looks complicated Philipp but there is some nice detail :)

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Re: Sd.Kfz. 251, Pak 43 and an unhealthy dose of olive drab

Post by Philipp Gross »

Thank you Vincent :)

Another two hours of work went into the first of two bogie assemblies. You may be glad to hear that the kit is just as overengineered as the real thing :lol:

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Also, have another picture of the Pak 43 in US service:

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Looks like the bloke 3rd from left underestimated the bang :lol:

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Re: Sd.Kfz. 251, Pak 43 and an unhealthy dose of olive drab

Post by Rob Matthews »

:lol: :lol: - made me laugh.

Nice work Philipp - time well spent ;)

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