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

[Philipp Gross]

Regrettably it's very much standard that any driver figure will never fit into a vehicle, especially not the one they are supposed to fit into. You can imagine what happens when you try to put an American Jeep driver into a German halftrack. After several hours of cutting, re-arranging and more cutting, I managed to get him into position. He's from Miniart set 35047, by the way.



The other fellows come from Bronco set 35159, assembly here took only a few minutes...

I also added a few Pak 43 ammo crates made by AFV Club to get a first impression of the internal layout.



For obvious reasons I need to finish the interior work before I can glue on the top half.

Thanks for looking.

Philipp

[Vincent Power]

All the hard work assembling the hull is going to pay off Philipp. I like the figures you've chosen. Nice touch with the puppy too!

Vincent

[Philipp Gross]

Thanks Vincent

The puppy comes with the Bronco set. It's my first attempt at their figures and so far I like them. Sharp details, few mould seams and natural poses.

I also found out why the upper hull refused to fit - the floor plate ended up 1-2 mm too high and the firewall with it. Since I couldn't correct it any more, I ended up sanding away the excess lenght from the top. Thankfully it'll be hidden afterwards.

The problem with Dragon's 251s is that they require a high amount of precision during assembly to go together without problems. However the kit makes it very hard to achieve that since neither parts nor instructions give any clue about the proper position of the major components. It wouldn't be much of a problem to mould the entire lower hull of the 251 as a single piece with all plates at correct angles. Maybe Tamiya will make a new 251 some day...

Philipp

[Gary Boxall]

Those figures look like they were made to sit in a 251. Excellent work Philipp

Gary

[Philipp Gross]

Thanks Gary!

I was lucky the other two fit in without much struggle

Just a few more pieces left to add before I have to paint the interior. The next unholy heat wave is coming (up to 38 degrees celsius are predicted) so that may take a little

Philipp

[John Everett]

38c is the best temperature for painting. Everything dries super fast.

[Shawn Ramsey]

The figures look great. Cant wait to see some paint.

Shawn

[Philipp Gross]

Thanks gents!

We had peak temperatures of about 39 C during the last few days so you can imagine my motivation to do just about anything. It's slightly cooler now, so here's a little update:



I'll have to paint the interior next before I can glue the upper half on, which I should do before I add the missing external parts.

Philipp

[Raoul Kunz]

Nice!
It looks more ordered than my 251C .


Best regards

Raoul G. Kunz

[Philipp Gross]

The simplified construction of the original is definitely a benefit for both the kit designer and the modeller

Methinks I'll try my luck with the Pak 43 next before I start painting. Knowing the weather here in the Hessian Death Valley I'll probably won't be able to paint for at least another month.

Philipp