SimonT - 1/35 Tamiya Sdkfz.223

[stillp]

You've seen them things that stop you knocking over your Micro-sol?........

Blobs of blu-tack?
Pete

[SimonT]

Only managed a few small details today


the aerial poles - you are supposed to carve the kit brackets off and add the etch ones

I decided that the better option would be to just replace the whole thing with brass tubing and add the etch to that


the poles in place


keyhole cover added to engine deck



etched width pole bases added to front wings - leaving the poles off for now as I will only snap then off


lastly I made up a shovel

the flat etch shovel head was curved with a ball ended embossing tool

I then made a handle from brass rod and ca'd the two together

bent up the etch brackets and added to the vehicle with ca

[Si Benson]

Very nice :thumb2:

[scottie3158]

Excellent

[rtfoe]

:thumb2: :thumb2: :thumb2: Simon.

Cheers,
Richard

[David Lovell]

Simon I'm always stuck for something to say as usual a master class well done sir .Dave

[SimonT]

Si, Scottie, Richard, Dave - thank you one and all

Dave, wouldn't exactly call it a master class but if you can't see any glaring errors then I'm happy :thumb2:


Some further small updates.....


turret gun mounting rod that sits in the cone mount added from aluminium armature wire

before you all point out the mould line on the gun this is just a stunt double playing the part for test purposes

the text in the book says the gun mount could be raised and lowered but since the entire mechanism including the cone is missing from the reference vehicle I have no idea how - shall have to cobble some sort of winding wheel. Guess it would be on the right as the left would have had the large capacity magazine



stowage box locks added to door and front wing bins


radio aerial bracket added to turret

lock covers added to engine side access doors


jerrycan added to left upper hull

can is from the Minicraft set - features an etch flange that sits between the two side panels


trafficator housings have had etch support brackets added


looking at the reference pics it was clear that the kit tropical air filter was too small so I scratched a larger item

unfortunately all the pictures I have are rather indistinct when it comes to the detail

the caption states that the filter comprised felt circles in a tube so it is fair to assume air entered from the end so I punched out a 3mm circle of fine mesh and added it to the end of the tube

brackets are from bits of etch fret with hex bolt heads added from hex rod


a start made on an armature for first figure based on reference photo - boots are sliced from some dodgy old Tamiya infantry with detail removed

[Neil Merryweather]

ooh, looking forward to the figure sculpting, Simon.
And the rest is awesome ,of course

[Guest]

shall have to cobble some sort of winding wheel. Guess it would be on the right as the left would have had the large capacity magazine

I’m a bit confused what magazine you mean there. The 50-round drum that held a belt?

The Hobby Boss web site has this pic of its efforts:

[ATTACH]393990[/ATTACH]

There seems to be a vertical rack that I guess is for raising the whole mount, but you can’t tell how it actually works. For all I know the handle near the top just unlocks it and the gunner would manually lift the whole thing up, then re-apply the lock with that handle?

[SimonT]

Cheers Neil - the figure may get replaced with a butchered kit item

Jakko - cheers for that pic. According to the books the mg in 222/223 used a large rectangular vertical magazine but none survive - will try and find it again. Maybe I imagined it or got the wrong impression :thinking:

[Guest]

I wonder if that rectangular box in the Hobby Boss rendering is meant to be the ammo bin? I’ve never heard of a magazine like you describe for the MG 34 — 50-round belt drum, yes; 75-round double drums, yes; 150-round cloth sack, yes. Of course, it could be it was unique to this type of vehicle.

[SimonT]

Found the relevant text - wasn’t dreaming it after all

”to date a specially designed Gurtkasten MG34 (metal box) containing 150 Patr SmK linked rounds has not been found. No photos or manufacturing specifications have been upturned, making it impossible to remake any of the 10 boxes carried inside”


The racks are present in the various museum vehicles, just nothing to put in them

[Jim R]

Hi Simon
Wonderful added detail. I build one of these a few years ago and it looks toy-like next to this.
Jim

[Guest]

If the racks are present and the capacity of the ammo box is known, it shouldn’t be too hard to come up with something approximately the right size. Finding out the size of the racks may be the tricky bit, maybe?

[SimonT]

Already on that Jakko - handily there is a hand grenade rack next to the ammo racks, c/w grenade

I estimate the ammo tin as being 400mm tall, 110mm wide and about 80-90mm deep