Here's where I'm at, so far. I started on the easy stuff first. Stripped down, modded, and repainted the lower hull. Here's the new paint. I measured and cut a hole in a couple of paper plates and used them as a mask to keep paint off of the "rubber" tires. While I had the suspension arms off, I noticed that there were two holes for the springs to mount into on the hull. Looks like you can increase the tension on the springs, if needed. Might need this after I get all the goodies on the upper hull. The treads are a little tight, but as soon as there is some weight on the suspension, they loosen up a bit. Should have some slight sag to them once all is said and done.
Here's the inner hull. I sealed the battery door and cut out the box. Installed rare earth magnets to mount the upper hull to, and painted the inside white. Since this is going to be a "clean" build, I kind of thought it appropriate to have the interior bright white. Kind of looks that way in the pictures I could find with the hatch open. I'm going to move the on/off switch to just under the hatch.
Here's the upper hull, so far. I had the turret left over from my Pantiger to Jadgpanter build and it was the same size base as the T34. I cut up the bottom plat to make the base for the upper works. Looks like I'll be able to mount the elevation motor to it as well. I cut off the M/G mount, but have yet to fill it in. I'm planning on using some Sculpy putty to fill in and texture it. Should also work on filling in the rest of the unused mounting holes. Removed and cut open the rear vents, and installed screen. I'm going to install a couple of baffle plates under the screens.
I started to move the hatch to the other side, but I came across some pictures that show it on this side. I think I'll just leave it where it's at and save some hassle. I have noticed that there are several different vehicles, so I'm not really going to pick out one individual machine, but just try and capture the overall effect. Most of them appear to have the same overall design of the upper works.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated!
Bill
