Tim’s Sd.Kfz 263 started Autumn 2014

[Tim Marlow]

Hi all
After clearing the bench of ongoing figure goodness I’ve decided to start my shelf of doom group build entry….
This was started in Autumn 2014, just after the kit came out. I was not on any forum at that time so no one has seen this before…..
I was pretty far along with it, initial painting being done, and was at the detail painting stage when I lost a rear hatch door. I searched the then cave top to bottom three times but never found it….this meant I had to scratch a replacement. For some reason this threw me a bad curve and I put it on the shelf while I calmed down. After a couple of years up there (about five LOL) it was boxed up, with the rest of my cave , for our move to Somerset. It has stayed in the box for a further two years…but now it’s time has come!


This is the box front, and is the version I am building.

In the box I found these remaining parts…

Not much on the sprues. I think all of this is spare.

Clear sprue and remaining etch. I think the etch is spare…..

No instructions left….no idea where they went….I may have to source them from scale mates to check I have completed the assembly….I’ll check my spares box first though…..

I will post the unboxing of the part completed model in a minute….

Cheers all
Tim

 

[Tim Marlow]

OK, the bit you’re all waiting for…..the model itself. Well I was pleasantly surprised, but let’s not spoil the entertainment….


Here she is, boxed and awaiting the great reveal…..


There was a small shot glass with a few parts awaiting addition….not sure where…great stuff!


Wheels painted and awaiting weathering and assembly….still don’t like rubber tires though…..


Etched exhaust covers…need to paint the exhaust before these are added…looks like a glue issue to deal with on one as well…..


Looks like the gear stick has broken off…might be a ticklish refit…might not happen This was the only detached part I could find.


….and….here’s the old girl herself….


Spot the missing bit that stalled the build…..


Seen it yet


That’s where I need to stick the gearshift….right in there….


Last place to look…underneath…looks like some of the minor linkages may need to be put on …..plus a bit of dust here and there….

Anyway, search for the instruction next….they would have build notes on them so are a bit of a loss…..then make a plan and start start detail painting….

Cheers all.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Well, that was easy…
I found the instructions in the spares box…..see what I mean about build notes…..





Now to work through these and see what I need to do….after scratching the missing door and sticking the gear shift back in…

 

[Tim Marlow]

Oh, and just in case Ol’ boaty sticks his head in, this has one of those bed frame aerials we discussed a little while ago

 

[Jim R]

Hi Tim
I like these big old, multi-wheeled armoured cars. This poor thing has languished in the box long enough. Looks as if you have already made a good job of it. As you say the first job will be to figure out where you're at and what's next. Good luck fitting the gear lever and scratching that door.
Jim

 

[rtfoe]

Very interesting Tim, I've never made points in my instruction sheet before, only to dry off extra glue and paint when tissue is not available. Pretty good paint job and initial wash highlights and looks like you just stopped an hour ago and not the seven years it's been shelved.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Mark1]

Only seen yours figures so far so look forward to this, looks like the majority of work is done already.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Tim
I like these big old, multi-wheeled armoured cars. This poor thing has languished in the box long enough. Looks as if you have already made a good job of it. As you say the first job will be to figure out where you're at and what's next. Good luck fitting the gear lever and scratching that door.
Jim

Thanks Jim. Yep, first thing is to get it back to where it was, then pick up where I left off. I also love these over complicated beasts, so will be pleased to finish it.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Very interesting Tim, I've never made points in my instruction sheet before, only to dry off extra glue and paint when tissue is not available. Pretty good paint job and initial wash highlights and looks like you just stopped an hour ago and not the seven years it's been shelved.

Cheers,
Richard

Yep, my thoughts exactly Rick. It looks in pretty good nick for its age and lack of attention….needs a bit of oil work as well as detail paint I think….be glad to get it on the shelf now…

 

[Tim Marlow]

Only seen yours figures so far so look forward to this, looks like the majority of work is done already.

Yes I think most of the slog is done as well Mark. Just the fun bits, and scratching that flip pin’ hatch door….the difficult bit will be getting the paint the same. I think this was painted with Modlemaster enamels.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Right, made a start on the missing bits….not much to be honest. There was one steering rod missing, so that was bodged up from an unused linkage. The bits on the sprue won’t be used, they are there because I can’t get them in now the body is on….you’d hardly see them anyway…..
The gearstick is back in as best I can get it….
One rear number plate was loose so that’s been fixed….

So, onto the missing hatch door….
I thought some of you might be interested in how I do this so a little more detail….

I checked the thickness and 20thou plastic card is as close as it needs to be, so I got some out of my scrap box.
Next thing….how big is it.
Now, this beast is a bit fragile with all the sticking out bits so I needed to measure the part without either removing it or trying to get a ruler in there.
The answer is this little beast…

It’s a spring divider. I’ve had it for many years but I’m sure they are still around….you use it like this…

As you see, you can gauge the size of the part using the points, and the threaded screw means the points can very easily and precisely be adjusted until it is spot on for size.
Once you have them set for the required size you can transfer the measurements to the card or what have you using the points like this…

Once I had this I cut the plastic card to width by scoring and snapping the sheet. The same technique was then used to set the length. I have used this method for transferring measurements for many years. If you have an accurate drawing the it save an age of measuring and eliminates errors.

Once I had the blank I filed the curves on the back corners by eye. I do this by clipping off the corners then just rounding them with the edge of a file.

The next job was to clean up the cuts and get rid of the furrows made by cutting plastic card. If you don’t do this they stand out like sore thumbs after painting…..
I do that using a sanding plate…

Bit of a Simon T moment here, jeans and knee……
As you can see this makes it easy to clean both the edges and faces to get a nice smooth part for the next stage.
Very occasionally I need to swap out the Emery sheet, but it lasts many years once made (the 360 isn’t used much and is at least fifteen years old)…..this board has four sheets on it, 100, 280, 360, and 800. It is just an off cut of Melamine board with the sheets Evo stuck to the faces….
Back once I decorate the blank with the detail….more scrap plastic work…..
Cheers all and I hope this was helpful!

 

[adt70hk]

That's looking very good already Tim.

Looking forward to it cruising the finish line.

ATB.

Andrew

 

[Tim Marlow]

That's looking very good already Tim.

Looking forward to it cruising the finish line.

ATB.

Andrew

Thanks Andrew, so am I after all this time…..might be some dusty weathering in my future as well……

 

[papa 695]

Just seen this one Tim, nearly completed, but some scratch building needed. Nice start on the hatch and really glad you found the instructions.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Hi all
Not been at the bench much recently. I’ve been trying to complete the outside jobs before the weather finally gives up.
I’ve completed the scratch built hatch door though…..the squares are 1cm in size, to give you an idea of scale….

Front view. Hinge was a bit of a pain, but it’s not completely on view so a little bit of fuzzyness is OK.

Back view. This is more on view so I tried to get it a bit cleaner. The clasps would have been better in 15thou, but I didn’t have any….bolts are made by carving twenty thou stock into a bolt shape then cutting off sections and gluing them in place using a sharp scalpel and liquid glue on a fine brush. When they were dry the height was then evened up using by trimming with a very sharp blade. The bolts and handles on the locks were added using the same techniques. The hinge detail and bolts on the front side were again made the same way, but the strengthening webs were added using slivers of five thou which were cut back to size when dry.
For those that wonder, I don’t have a rivet/bolt punch so had to go back to the way these things were done before off the shelf punches were invented


Here they are in place. I’m quite pleased because I haven’t made them grossly over scale and the scratch part pretty much matches the kit part.

Next job is to leave it to dry properly, then try to match the paint finish….not out of the woods yet then!

Any comments or questions are welcome, and as always if don’t know the answer I’ll make something up!

 

[Jakko]

Nice scratchbuilding of that door I bet once it’s painted you won’t be able to tell it didn’t come with the kit.

 

[scottie3158]

Tim,
Lovely work and some great scratched repairs. I do the same right notes in my instructions and tick off the bits I have done.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Nice scratchbuilding of that door I bet once it’s painted you won’t be able to tell it didn’t come with the kit.

Too kind mate, I’ll know the difference…..

 

[Tim Marlow]

Tim,
Lovely work and some great scratched repairs. I do the same right notes in my instructions and tick off the bits I have done.

Thanks Scottie, appreciate the kind comment.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Well, this thing is really giving me the hump now…….not only is detail painting really hard because there are so many sticking out bits making it really fragile, but this just happened!

Remember me saying why I abandoned this build seven years ago…..I lost a rear hatch door, couldn’t find it, then got angry with it and stuck it on the shelf of doom…... I stripped the then man cave twice but it never appeared. Nothing rattled when I shook the model violently so it hadn’t got inside……so as you can see from the start of the thread when I restarted this build I scratched and fitted a new one.

Well, I’ve been unable to get on it much in the last couple of weeks due to a bad RA flare than made my knuckles swell like a cage fighter…..

Started the detail painting this morning. I was doing the wheel brake hubs, holding it in various orientations to get at everything and guess what….

The missing bloody hatch fell out of the inside……

Here it is……I am absolutely amazed….missing for six years and never moved when I shook the build during the searches…..
Well it’s not going back on after the effort of scratching a replacement, even if I have missed off the closing flange!

Must be some sort of record for a missing part! I think it’s time for a cuppa and a calm down!