Sd.Kfz. 7 half-track, post-war

[Guest]

Thanks I try to avoid overall coats of varnish, because of all the things that can go wrong with them … The model is matt enough for my taste as it is — it looks slightly glossier in the pictures than in the flesh, probably because of the lights I use.

By now I’ve fitted the exhaust pipe:

[ATTACH]446249[/ATTACH]

Dragon’s way of fitting it is just plain stupid. It’s split into two parts: the upper half of the muffler with one of the pipes attached, and the lower half with the other pipe. Dragon wants you to put the upper half into the chassis and then add the lower half. This means that you either need to paint it after installation or will have to deal with seams on the muffler’s sides after it’s gone into the chassis. I wanted to paint it off the model, so I put it together and then cut the front pipe off, drilling holes so I could insert a pin into the rear end of the pipe. That let me fit the whole muffler and rear exhaust pipe into the chassis, and only then insert the front pipe.

At the front, I put some matt varnish over the license plates, both to get rid of any shine and to glue the numbers down better. I next put a little grime on them by drybrushing a little bit over them, and installed the headlamp glass:

[ATTACH]446250[/ATTACH]

The engine and exhaust manifold are also in, but still loose. I drybrushed the engine with progressively lighter shades of dark to medium grey, to bring out detail and add highlights, but that’s better visible in this picture:

[ATTACH]446251[/ATTACH]

I also repainted some details, as they had gotten washed out by the drybrushing.

[JR]

Nice idea with the exhaust, why they have you to try to fit it the first way is beyond me , typical Dragon mind set .

[outrunner]

Great looking model and I just love the exposed valve gear.

Andy.

[Guest]

Nice idea with the exhaust, why they have you to try to fit it the first way is beyond me , typical Dragon mind set .

Yes, I can’t figure out the reason either. Once more, just going by the instructions, Trumpeter’s kit is likely better here: it has the front pipe separate, and is in fact where I got the idea that doing it this way would work on the Dragon kit too

Great looking model and I just love the exposed valve gear.

Thanks. It’s come out better than I expected it to when it was still unpainted, I must say. The saw cuts I made to turn a plastic disc into a cog were barely visible until I put some paint on it, for example.

[minitnkr]

I'm amazed at how the rockers etc. came out so real. Great finishes overall.

[Tim Marlow]

Looking really good Jakko. Streaks are certainly adding life and realism to the build.

[Guest]

I'm amazed at how the rockers etc. came out so real. Great finishes overall.

Same. When it was all white plastic it didn’t look that great, and though the misalignments still nag at me a little, the whole thjng has come out far better than I expected it to before I painted them.

Looking really good Jakko. Streaks are certainly adding life and realism to the build.

Thanks — now I need to not ruin the whole thing when I dirty up the undercarriage

[Guest]

The finish line appears to be in sight now …

[ATTACH]446432[/ATTACH]

I added some more bits to the engine compartment:

[ATTACH]446433[/ATTACH][ATTACH]446434[/ATTACH]

Chiefly a pipe between the compressor on the side of the engine and a filter on the cab wall, as well as the two rods that ran to the carburettor, which is missing here of course, so they hang down instead. Also the grill and the rods linking that to the cab at the top. These still need a bit more painting to tie them into the rest of the vehicle. I also still need to put a bit of matt varnish on the glossy superglue I used to attach these parts.

I also put on most of the wheels:

[ATTACH]446435[/ATTACH]

Only the drive sprockets and idlers are left, because the track is impossible to put on unless you do it together with those wheels. Also note the spots in which I scratched off the paint, for the load bed to be glued to later.

Talking of the tracks:

[ATTACH]446436[/ATTACH]

These were first sprayed with a semi-random brown colour, as mentioned before, and then I applied the Mig dark brown wash over them. This didn’t have the intended effect: rather than creating shadows in the deeper parts, it just made the whole track evenly darker. I then drybrushed with an earth colour to add highlights, and painted the track pads with thinned East Indian ink. However, they are too dark, I think. If you look at the photos of the real vehicle, the track is about the same tone as the rest of the suspension, but it’s clearly not all covered in dirt because you can clearly see the tyres and the camouflage on the wheels.

Here’s a quick demonstration:

[ATTACH]446437[/ATTACH][ATTACH]446438[/ATTACH]

This is a simple black-and-white version without trying to emulate the properties of the film likely used to take the picture, but I think it shows well enough that the track is a fair degree darker than the wheels. I think I’ll have to highlight it more, that will probably work to get them closer.

[Jim R]

Hi Jakko
Great work all round but that engine is superb. I think you're probably right, the tracks are uniformly a bit dark.
Jim

[Guest]

After a quick wash over the rods etc., I drybrushed the tracks and rubber parts of the wheels with a sand colour to highlight them, and then installed the tracks:

[ATTACH]446466[/ATTACH][ATTACH]446467[/ATTACH]

Then all that remained was adding the load bed and steering wheel, and it’s almost done:

[ATTACH]446468[/ATTACH][ATTACH]446469[/ATTACH][ATTACH]446470[/ATTACH][ATTACH]446471[/ATTACH][ATTACH]446472[/ATTACH][ATTACH]446473[/ATTACH][ATTACH]446474[/ATTACH][ATTACH]446475[/ATTACH]

I’m waiting for the order that also includes the Zvezda M4A2 kit, as that includes a figure set that I want to use one of to add a figure to this vehicle, and I also still need to make the junk in the back before it will really be finished.

[Nicko]

That looks superb Jakko...

Nick

[Jim R]

Hi Jakko
The tracks and wheels have definitely benefitted from the dry brushing.
A stunning piece of modelling.
Jim

[Guest]

Thanks, all Here’s the figure to give the model a sense of scale:

[ATTACH]446633[/ATTACH]

One from the MiniArt Auto Travellers set, the man intended to be stowing a suitcase in a car. I’ve turned his head and left arm a bit as well as replaced his left hand, so he can hold a length of rubber hose with which to try and get the last bit of fuel from the tank I think I’ll still turn his right hand a bit so he’ll be able to hold the hose better, and add copper wire inside the hose to have it hang a bit more convincingly. The bucket he’s going to collect the fuel in, is from the Tamiya Churchill Mk. VII, I think.

[outrunner]

Looks great Jakko, typical, you look away for five minutes and somebody is stealing something! :smiling:


Andy.

[Mini Me]

Looks great Jakko, typical, you look away for five minutes and somebody is stealing something! :smiling:


Andy.

It's not stealing Andy....the new term is "entitlement".