RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

This is a very cool build. I especially like the recoil mechanism you made. Please post youtubes once you get it finished.

Thank you Herman, EAO and quitcherbitchen

HERMAN BIX wrote:Keeping one of these weapons in service back in the day must have been extremely difficult.
The open fighting compartment in all weathers and no doubt constant demand for availability must have tested the crews.

I can see that the fighting compartment had a tarp that covered the whole area when the crew needed it. This certainly help during bad weather. This post is for the frontal shield.

As seen in the few reference pictures available of the gun shield, it is even more complicated to reproduce than it looks. The shield has curves, uneven shapes and is installed at a specific angle. It is held in place with small rods linked to the gun mount. Meant to rotate, such arrangement is quite weak in 1/16 scale and in hobby material.
The Dragon 1/35 does not provide much help in figuring out and building the shield, other than some basic dimensions that somehow were not right. None of the attachment points are reproduced, shape is not good compared to ref pictures. The Bandai 1/15 kit was also of very limited help, practically no details. I can see that mainstream modeling firms had issues with it.
The Ludwig kit parts, designed for the different Nashorn shield, only provided basic material for the round shield. Whoever has build this vehicle know the complexity of dealing with the shield, especially with any plan to make it movable. Keeping the frontal armored plates evenly flush with the curved shield as it rotates will test your skills to the maximum.
Gun shield need to have its curves recreated by eyeballing references and constant dry fitting, and it somehow need to keep its shapes... Bending 1mm thick metal plates would not be easy.
Because my gun mount is fixed due to the recoil mechanism, i built a frame to which the shield is firmly resting on the hull, while also keeping it with the proper curves given to the plasticard. The frame won't show much, unless you look for it.
The curved shield is glued solidly in place, with the proper shape, with strait and horizontal lines when required, while allowing the howitzer to elevate and recoil with realistic firmness. The gun mount is very loose and weak on my Bandai Hummel, something i did not want on this model.
The frontal armor plates of the Hummel, different than the Nashorn, are scratch built in 1mm plasticard, same as the rest of the armor. This is a very risky and dusty operation to get all the plates with the various angles to join. Some compromises were needed in some of their dimensions. The building of a scratch built Hummel or Nashorn is for experienced modelers. This kit should not be your first Ludwig kit. Their M113 is a better starting level model.
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View of the base of the gun shield on a surviving Hummel
View of the model with the basic armor plates in place
The brackets on the Hummel shield were hand built, showing differences between vehicles. You can see that thin 10mm armored plating used. Having plasticard keep its shape with such thin material is an issue.
I tried to repro what i saw the best i could. With the gun mount and shield solidly anchored to the hull, i am not worried about the brackets, they will hold. If the shield was movable and made to swivel against the frontal armored plates, these brackets would not last long.
The finished gun shield and frontal armor.
View of my old 1/35 kit. Careful study of all the angles and dimensions is required. And the modeler cannot assume that the brand got it right. Reproducing this look and feel is more complicated than it looks.
The keen eye will notice a few mistakes or compromises here and there compared to references, but i think it is actually not less accurate than Dragon, Tamiya and Bandai who over simplified whole areas on their shield and kits, specially the interior.

Aligning the shape of the shield on both sides, making them similar, is not easy.
Overview of the model as it stands today.
Next step, the glacis.

Regards, Louis

I find your build threads to be educational and inspirational in equal measure Louis. Thanks for taking the time to post such detailed information on your methods.

Your skill level is pretty much in it’s own category. I can’t even think of anything to say without sounding redundant.

Thank you B-man and Jimster. As I usually try to pick rare subjects and doing my best to make it interesting. My style is a rapid 2-3 month build with a good level of details and electronics, but avoiding complexity and pitfalls that would make me loose patience or interest.

This post is for the glacis containing the driver and radio operator compartment.

RC modelers are usually familiar with the Bandai 1/15 Hummer which represents the early version with a glacis similar to the Nashorn. The radio operator on the left is cramped into a compartment without any visor.
View of the early version driver compartment. This vehicle has been restored with non authentic modern tread plates for the fenders.
The Late production version has a much improved larger compartment. The radio operator has more head room and can actually help the driver.
As usual, my old Dragon Hummel that i built almost 30 years ago with a Commander series resin Late conversion kit is a good help for extrapolating dimensions and shapes.
The Ludwig part for the glacis is for the Nashorn, reflecting the early version. It contains trench like lines, deep and misplaced positioning holes that i dislike. I cannot be used. Everything will be scratch built.
A new base plate for the glacis is created.
Work will progress in a telescopic method. The most important is to create the upper roof section with the hatches. A cutting compass bought on Amazon for a few dollars is a big help.
The hatches are made. As the plasticard is quite thick, it is actually simpler to cut the plasticard by running the compass in the other direction using the back of the blade to slowly carve into the plastic. Perfectly round hatches are made in a couple of minutes each.
This is the top section with the hatches. Hinges from eBay Germany seller Dioramaparts were purchased for a few Euros, a big help here.
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The upper roof plate is glued to the base plate of the glacis, ensuring no glue is touching anything else because the base is removable in order to provide access to the electronics under. The top roof needs to be horizontal and flush with the upper hull of the chassis.
Close up of the hinges for the radio operator hatch.
View of the frontal visor hatch. Nothing too complicated here other than the hinges, specially when the hatch is not made operable. I did not see the value of leaving it open either as the gearbox is right under it.
A different style of hinges was purchased from Dioramaparts, but the pointed hedge needed to be made square, a conversion that takes one minute each with a metal file.
The frontal section is installed. The top section need to be horizontal.
The side sections are cut and installed. The lines on the front are carved with the back of a blade and a metal ruler.
Metal detail hooks from DIoramaparts and Mato Panzer IV parts for the glacis.
Overview of the finished Hummel Late production glacis, a rare sight in 1/16.
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Some close ups. The viewer will notice that i use superglue as filler. This is why some of the joints seems to have gaps in them but it is actually clear superglue that was sanded smooth for a strong and perfect joint, with some remaining cut marks from my pen.
The glacis is removable to provide access to the electronics.
Some more glacis details, such as the fragile barrel travel lock bars and the tow cables with holders will only be installed at the end of the build.
Overview of the model as it stands today
Regards, Louis

Looking solid so far. Good luck with the rest of the build!