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

[Jakko]

Not entirely sure about the fun OTOH, it’s usually like this when I get to the end of a model and only little details that need a lot of work remain to be done: I kind of want it finished but don’t feel like actually doing the work As for a real one … I think I would do a better job than the person who restored the one featured mainly in the Wings & Wheels Publications book. It appears to have all kinds of not-quite-right details. Though maybe that’s just me not being an expert on the vehicle, of course.

 

[outrunner]

A splendid job going on there Jakko.

Andy.

 

[stillp]

Not entirely sure about the fun OTOH, it’s usually like this when I get to the end of a model and only little details that need a lot of work remain to be done:

I bet the last 10% of detail accounts for 90% of the work Jakko!
Pete

 

[Jakko]

Something like that, yes … case in point:



The side panels for the load bed have hinges moulded into them that are far too massive compared to photos of real late-model Sd.Kfz. 7s, so I chiselled and filed them off, as you can see in one of the two above. I next had to build new ones from three pieces of plastic strip each, assembled into a U-profile:



Plus five bolt heads in most of them, of course. On the front panel in the picture, I only added them to the rearmost hinge, because they won’t be visible on the other two, as it will be hanging down; the second panel has bolts in all three hinges since both sides of it will be visible. I’ve shown its inside here, though, to also illustrate the rivets Dragon has missed for the step (the board that sits above the panel).

In the engine compartment, here is everything I have so far assembled:



The engine, radiator and grill are still loose, because I want to paint the engine separately but you can’t get it in (or out) with the other two pieces in place. The air filters are glued in place, though, with most of their pipework cut off and the remaining parts opened up.

 

[scottie3158]

It's the little details that add the most

 

[Jakko]

It’s largely those that really make a model into a miniature of the real thing, agreed.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Jakko
Definitely the little details which raise a model from very good to a WOW. It's coming on a treat. The engine is a real credit to you.
Jim

 

[GerryW]

It's at the 'wow!' stage for me at the moment, the scratchery going on is well above my level.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Excellent scratchery and up cycling going on here Jakko. Really starting to look the part.

 

[Jakko]

The engine is a real credit to you.

Thanks, though it’s not completely finished yet — it still needs sparkplug leads, and those turn out to also fit differently from how I would have thought

the scratchery going on is well above my level.

To be honest, this kind of work is not as complicated as it looks. The most important skill involved, I think, is being able to figure out how to break larger parts up into small bits that you can easily make from plastic card, rod and strip. It helps having tools that make your life easier, and the first one I would recommend (after a good knife, of course) would be a punch and die set, because small discs are the hardest thing to make without one, yet crop up everywhere once you start adding detail to models.

Really starting to look the part.

And I’m glad it does, it means I’m getting close to being done with it Though I still have a fair degree of wiring to add in the engine compartment, and that is never one of my favourite parts of detailling models.

 

[Jakko]

The load bed is now mostly finished:



As you can see, I decided to also replace the hinges on the other panels, as well as add detail to the front one that Dragon conveniently omitted. Well, they do give two things that seem to be vertical wooden slats, but that’s about it, so I cut them off and replaced them by more plastic strip. The hinges on all of them are made from grey plastic rod, so they’re hard to spot in the photos.

The rear one hangs down well enough by being glued to the stops under the supporting beams, but the one on the side would only be glued to its three hinges, which in turn are even more precariously glued to the bits of plastic strip, so I felt a more secure method was needed:



This is 0.5 mm steel florist’s wire, inserted into holes drilled into the load bed frame and through two bits of plastic strip I glued under the load bed for this purpose (drill first, then glue in place with the wire through both holes), then superglued to the side panel. They will be entirely out of sight like this, and give the thing enough strength that it can stand like it does in the first photo without bending or breaking. Yet

What it still needs is a few details, mainly the handles that lock the panels together when they’re closed, plus the eyes they go into,

 

[scottie3158]

That's a great idea with the wire.

 

[Jakko]

It helps that I built a good number of wargames models, and that has rubbed off on my normal modelling a bit, I think … almost every joint that looks weak, I look at ways to strengthen it, even when it’s completely unnecessary on a display model Here, though, it’s probably vital if I don’t want to have to glue the thing back on every time I pick up the finished model in the future.

 

[Jakko]

The details on the load bed are now done. I added the few remaining kit parts, plus built the hooks and the eyes they go into:



Plus some more rivets and things, of course, because there are always more of those when you look hard enough Talking of which, here’s some more detail of that kind on the cab, plus etched bits, a short piece of brass rod as the thing that holds the wing mirror (which itself was gone on the real thing), etc.:



And at this point, I felt it would be nice to see what the whole vehicle looks like:



All the subassemblies are still loose, but they fit together well enough. There is a certain amount of work left to do, but we’re getting there

 

[adt70hk]

Simply outstanding Jakko. Very well done indeed!!

ATB.

Andrew

 

[scottie3158]

Jakko,
The finished result of the nose down stance has worked out a treat.

 

[Jakko]

Thanks guys, and yeah, I’m pleased the vehicle sits so well with its nose towards the ground

 

[Jim R]

Hi Jakko

but we’re getting there

... definitely getting there.
Really neat way of strengthening the hinges with wire. The underside is more complicated than the top. Certainly right about the stance of the vehicle looking right. Thanks to that work right at the beginning.
Jim

 

[minitnkr]

Beautiful job Jakko.

 

[Jakko]

Thanks I would have liked to have put in thicker wire (0.8 mm florist’s wire is very noticeably stronger than the 0.5 mm I used) but there wasn’t room to drill a hole big enough for it. This appears to be strong enough as it is, though, so all is well. And yeah, thinking ahead pays off with things like suspension adjustments, but I have to say this is one of the more complex ones I’ve done of those.