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

[Tim Marlow]

Channelling my inner Chico here Mike, “there ain’t no sanity Claus”….

 

[GerryW]

Those hub bits with the studs, I was expecting you to start saying what thread you'd threaded them! talk about disappearing down a rabbit hole, fantastic work on the whole of this.

 

[Jakko]

Sorry for the late arrival to this remarkable build.

Thanks, as I said before it turned out to be a bit more involved than I had expected. But it’s just a few small bits left now and I can start putting paint on.

I agree with you about modelling the real item and then seeing the things that are missed or could have been done better or another way.

It’s something I’ve learned to live with Though there have been a few times with other models where I seriously considered going back and correcting a glaring mistake that nobody else would spot — but I managed to not do that so far.

Those hub bits with the studs, I was expecting you to start saying what thread you'd threaded them! talk about disappearing down a rabbit hole, fantastic work on the whole of this.

Thanks. If I thought the thread would remain visible after painting I might have gone that far … but I highly doubt it The bolts are uneven as it is, not all nice and straight and some of different lengths. A better builder than me would probably have made less of a mess of them …

 

[GerryW]

Thanks. If I thought the thread would remain visible after painting I might have gone that far … but I highly doubt it The bolts are uneven as it is, not all nice and straight and some of different lengths. A better builder than me would probably have made less of a mess of them …

Not sure if you're joking there, but the levels that you show puts my attempts at kit bashing somewhere around a five year old to Rembrant or DaVinci

 

[Jakko]

I wasn’t joking — I don’t think the hubs have been built all that well because a lot of the bits are crooked or a little misaligned. The same goes for things like the rocker arms and even the back plate of the cab. This is because of a lack of skill on my part, in things like actually drilling holes straight rather than at a slight angle, for example.

But it doesn’t actually bother me that someone else could have done it better — as long as I’m not dissatisfied with what I’ve made, it’s all good. (If I am, I pull it off the model and try again, like with the cab.)

 

[Mini Me]

That's right Jakko.....if it looks good to you, job well done. Rick H.

 

[Jakko]

Is this mad enough yet, @John Race?



I added more detail to the engine, such as missing linkages you can see fairly well when it’s in place, plus spark plug cables (thin stretched sprue) while on the radiator grill, I added bolt heads and the hooks that the upper engine covers attach to to keep them closed.

By now I think I’m done adding and improving details on this model now, so here’s some pictures of everything I have at the moment, assembled without glue like last time:

 

[Mark1]

Taking shape nicely.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Jakko
Well looking at the page 1 ref. photo I reckon that's pretty close. Most certainly it's a model of what remained of that Sd.Kfz. 7
Jim

 

[yak face]

Superb work jakko , the additions and alterations are excellent . It looks exactly like the photo , cheers tony

 

[JR]

Is this mad enough yet, @John Race?

View attachment 445422

I added more detail to the engine, such as missing linkages you can see fairly well when it’s in place, plus spark plug cables (thin stretched sprue) while on the radiator grill, I added bolt heads and the hooks that the upper engine covers attach to to keep them closed.

By now I think I’m done adding and improving details on this model now, so here’s some pictures of everything I have at the moment, assembled without glue like last time:

View attachment 445423View attachment 445424View attachment 445425View attachment 445426View attachment 445427

Yes that will do nicely .

 

[Mini Me]

........as long as it's painted 4BO!!

 

[Jakko]

Thanks, everyone I’m pretty happy with the way it’s come out so far. Now I’m going to have to try and not ruin it with paint …

 

[Graeme C.]

That's looking very good indeed Jakko.

 

[scottie3158]

I wasn’t joking — I don’t think the hubs have been built all that well because a lot of the bits are crooked or a little misaligned. The same goes for things like the rocker arms and even the back plate of the cab. This is because of a lack of skill on my part, in things like actually drilling holes straight rather than at a slight angle, for example.

But it doesn’t actually bother me that someone else could have done it better — as long as I’m not dissatisfied with what I’ve made, it’s all good. (If I am, I pull it off the model and try again, like with the cab.)

Jakko,
That is what it's all about, the only person you have to please is yourself. But I think you are being unfair on yourself the detail you have added given the size is superb.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Fabulous work Jakko. Up there with your best I’d say, and far beyond my best. Fabulous

 

[minitnkr]

Excellent detailed representation. A faded/oxidized finish will top it off nicely.

 

[Jakko]

Thanks again, all

That is what it's all about, the only person you have to please is yourself.

That has long been my philosophy in life, not just in modelling Always measuring yourself by the standards of other people is the road to unhappiness, if you ask me.

But I think you are being unfair on yourself the detail you have added given the size is superb.

Oh, I agree it’s well-detailed. I just don’t think it’s as good as it could have been

far beyond my best.

I remember some photos you posted of aeroplanes you built, and mine come nowhere close

A faded/oxidized finish will top it off nicely.

It will probably not be faded much or at all. This vehicle can’t have been very old as, off the top of my head, this late version only started being produced in mid-1944, and this photo probably isn’t later than the spring of ’45. If you look at the real-world photos, the vehicle has paint that covered pretty well and doesn’t look faded or worn at all.

Will you add the tipped ammo locker?

No, the idea is to build it in the state it’s in in the first and second photos, so I’ll add that twisted wire and whatever else I can make out in the load bed, but nothing more. Well, maybe a figure, for size, but I haven’t found one yet that is easily converted to what I have in mind.

 

[Jakko]

All the main parts are now painted, with Mr. Hobby H403 Dark Yellow (aqueous, not lacquer ) into which I mixed a little Tamiya XF-55 Deck Tan to flatten the colour slightly, as I think it’s a little saturated straight from the bottle. The tracks were given a semi-random mixture of Tamiya XF-52 Dark Earth and XF-1 Flat Black (more of the former than the latter) and when I still had plenty of that left in my airbrush when they were done, I threw in some XF-69 NATO Black to make a dark grey colour that I sprayed the engine with, too. All of this thinned with isopropanol, again more or less randomly until it sprayed well If I had to guess, I’d say somewhere between 2:1 and 1:1 paint:alcohol.

Those tracks were fun (not) to paint, by the way. I first laid them on one side on my spray booth’s turntable so I could spray them inside and out, then turned them over and repeated from the other side. That done, I hung a track over my left index finger (wearing a rubber glove to spray the joint between the two links there, pushed the track on by one link and repeated until the whole thing was done. Checking them now, I see I still missed bits despite that … oh, well, that’ll disappear with more painting and washes and things.

 

[Graeme C.]

Looking good with paint Jakko, like you say, the vehicle wasn't very old, be interesting to see how you do distress & weather it.