Scratch build SDKFZ 251 / 23 Ausf D Recce vehicle in 1:11 s

[Barthez]

Excellent stuff I need to up my game
bart

[Sub]

Hi Mr Bart,
Thx for your interest,..... i think that's what most of us want to do lol.

A pic of the MG42 muzzle flash inhibitor i cobbled up on the lathe, could do with some 0.3mm holes around the circumference but i dont have a drill at the moment, probably would fill up with paint any hoo. Maybe add them later.......will see.

Sub.

[Sub]

Hi.
Its getting that time now when some of the sub assemblies are getting ready to be fitted onto the model.

Here is the drivers armoured vision port, another update to the original SD.KFZ. 251 is that the vision ports on the outside are just flat plate steel instead of the complicated original ones, again less expensive to make and quicker to produce.

The photo shows the outer plate with the inner double hinges and the drivers armoured glass vision block which can be angled to whatever position i put the outer plate in to have correct sight line, also is a photo of the vehicles internal hinge which fits onto the arms on the port hinges, its painted on the inside prior to fitting as when fitted i wont be able to paint it without messing up the glass vision block keeping it clear.
Sub.

[43rdRecceReg]

Lots of fine details add up to a big impression.

[Sub]

Hi Folks,
Well, finally after a few weeks work got the MG42 to where i think it looks reasonable to share...scratch made from brass, styrene card and wood, and turned Aluminium bar, not the best, but i think it looks like a "well used " example with a few dings here and there...which is what i was after, ...well that's my excuse any hoo.
Sub.

[Sub]

Hi good people.
So after the MG 42 i thought i would make something a bit easier so i made and added the armoured storage boxes on the rear of the turret, quite an interesting design i thought,
( must get out more)
The lattice bracing on the rear of the boxes are one piece of cut styrene sheet.
Sub.

[HERMAN BIX]

That '42 would look good as and real display piece.
Top job.

Those stowage boxes are over the top, surely the Germans were not getting over engineered like a F1 car is back then !!

[Sub]

Hi Mr Bix,
I thank you Sir for recognising the time and effort that went into making that 42, it is a very difficult weapon to make from scratch and very time consuming.

Regarding the storage boxes, its possible they are for the 20mm cannon mags as the lids open from inside the turret outwards, and are armoured as this veh is intended to go into harms way as a recce vehicle rather than just a troop transport, the last thing the turret crew would want is a stray round going into an unarmoured box and cooking off a bunch of 20mm shells directly behind their ears...lol.
Thx again for your interest.
Regards
Sub.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Sub: about the MG 42: "not the best." Are you kidding? C'mon: yours is so realistic looking, and I enjoy the crossbuck stand, too.
I have always painted the stock on the stock HL or Torro/Taigen or aftermarket MG 42s as wood. Interestingly, the paint instructions in the new 1/16 Das Werk Sturmgeschütz IIIstatic kit I just received calls for the stock to be matte black. I always thought it was wood, although it has looked black in some photos. Do you know if both were common?

[Sub]

Hi Herr Dr,
Thx for your interest and comments, as far as i know they were all wood, some were just painted black, i have seen photos of the all black ones with the paint starting to chip and wear off the wood stock where you could see the wood underneath, there were as far as i know 2 types of MG 42, the earlier ones were all hand precision made but as the war progressed they made them from pressed steel parts much, much more cheaply...but i am no expert.
If you do an internet search on MG42 there are several photos of MG 42's with well used stocks with the paint worn off and the wood showing through.
Thx again for your interest.
Regards.
Sub.