Sd.Kfz. 222 Leichter Panzerspähwagen 2cm - FINISHED

Finished! I have to admit, this was a fun group build.  I learned a lot and for my first 2 armor builds and, all things considered, they didn't come out half bad.

For comparison, here are a couple of photos of both the M3A1 White Scout Car and the SdKfz 222.  I'm actually surprised at how small the SdKfz 222 is.  i don't think it's much bigger than my Mini Cooper - :)

Very nice work there! Welcome to the Dark Side ;-)

Excellent work, Alan!

Now that's nice Allen. Your first armour builds, could have fooled me. Lovely.

Alan, I'm partial to the Sd.Kfz. 222, but both are great.

Looks like you are a latent armour builder.   The potential was always there, just waiting for an opportunity to burst  forth - nicely done!

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Ernest - excellent updates in both content, and presentation!

regards,

Jack

Alan, gorgeous work, they look like the product of an experienced hand, I foresee a great future for you in armor!

M/TB379

Wow those do look fantastic Alan, you really need to do some more AFVs now (hint, hint)!

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. I learned a lot for everyone here. Just seeing everyones posts and finished models are really inspirational.  Right now I have a JRF Goose to finish (that kit hates me) and the Revell Stearman, but I'm itching to get in another armor model.

I think I have the armor bug now - just what I need an excuse for a bigger stash!

So, keeping with the WW2 North Africa theme (I'm liking this area), what would you suggest for my next armor build?  I think I would like to try something in the Allied Tank category that is fairly accurate out of the box.

You could try to get your hands on one of the Tasca Shermans. They make several kits that would fit the Africa theme. Tasca kits are not cheap, but I'll just quote Cliff (Gamera) and tell you they are the Rolls Royces of Sherman kits.

You like older stuff might be fun to do the M3 Stuart.

I am a big fan of Italeri's 1/35 Crusader kits, Mk.I, II and/or III.

I agree with everyone Alan - fantastic looking 222!! Its a great companion to your previous M3 Scout Car!  Now that we've got you hooked on armor, I'm eager to see what your next builds will be!  Lots of good ones available for the North African campaign....now that you've done an U.S. and German vehicle, maybe a British or Italian? 

stikpusher

I am a big fan of Italeri's 1/35 Crusader kits, Mk.I, II and/or III.

I've got the Mk. I in the stash....looking forward to building it, maybe in the next North African GB?  Stik, do you know what major improvements it would need?  Probably new tracks?

Update

I've got the Italeri Befehlswagen caught up to the Dragon build.  First I had to work on the commander's cupola.  The bottom of the viewport sections are molded as strips onto the top of the casemate roof (you can see this in my previous update post on pg 60, second to last photo) .  I wouldn't have minded this except that they are too short and leave sizable gaps on the sides.  Instead I simply used .030 x.060 styrene strips to fill the bottom of the ports on the cupola and then cut off the undersize strips on the roof.

Here's the modified cupola:

After the two halves of the cupola were assembled it was attached to the roof and then I sprayed the interior flat black prior to gluing the hull halves together.  

Most photos of the Befehlswagen showed the front curved fender sections missing.  To do this on this kit I needed to thin out the front fender sections which are quite thick.  This photo shows the results with the right side fender compared to the unmodified left fender....big difference!  I used a small metal file for this.

Both fenders done and the upper and lower hulls glued together. 

Looking Good!!  Compared to the Dragon Pz. I Ausf. B DAK at about the same stage of completion.

Now that the major assembly for both is done I can start working on the details.

alan,those builds look terrific. I like the subtle weathering. I'll get them posted on page 1. I also shout out for the Italeri Crusaders.

Thanks for sharing those pictures Ernest. Some very nice builds indeed.

bufflehead

stikpusher

I am a big fan of Italeri's 1/35 Crusader kits, Mk.I, II and/or III.

I've got the Mk. I in the stash....looking forward to building it, maybe in the next North African GB?  Stik, do you know what major improvements it would need?  Probably new tracks?

Under the side skirts, replacement tracks are not a "must'. I have not checked my stash Mk.I kit against my Osprey Crusader book, but off the top of my head the only possible upgrade that I could recommend would be to get some of the nice Eduard side skirts rather than using the early ones that the kit has.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.  I ordered the "Introduction to Tasca Sherman M4A1 DV type" with N. African markings. That should be a fun build. I'm also going to pick up a Crusader II if I can find a good price on evil bay. The Stuart might also see a place in my stash!

Nice finish Alan with the 222, I will have to review your build notes when I get around to building mine. Noted the interior detail and will leave the crew hatches open.

Ernest - nice looking 265 and Pz 1 B - I have a couple Dragon 265s in the stash ... when I got back into the hobby, the Dragon Panzer I A kit was my first build, I personal found it difficult to paint the lower hull & road wheels after assembling. I now paint the road wheels & etc. before assembling. Armor86

You are really making that old kit shine, Ernest! Very impressive work so far!

Ernest: Very nice work, the thinned out fenders look really good!

I've enjoyed the Italeri Crusader, only issue I've had was kinda funny fit to the front fenders, though I may have messed that up. I just need to add some pastel dust and I should be done, have been putting it off since I'm worried I'll make a mess with it.

If nobody has any objections, I'd like to push the deadline to the end of August. I think I can hit the bench this week and we'll see what we can get done. I have 3 days off in two weeks too. I need to get going. I'm missing the fun.

No objections -- that gives me some elbowroom as well, I might even crank out something extra, beyond the Pz. IV (which I promise I'll get back to soon!)

M/TB379

Yeah, a little extra time sounds good to me as well.

Sounds good Eric - Just finish the Rad 8 232 - finally get start with the Dragon 6779 Smart Kit Pz IV Ausf D DAK I signed up for. I likely need the extra.  Armor86

No objections from me either. I am still going to start my build after my current one and hope to be done by the end of June, but nice it have a bit of room to manoeuvre. My Panther is nearly done, but I have given myself a deadline of the end of April to finish the dio. So I will be starting my Pz III not later than May 1st.

Eric-thank you for pushing the end date out-I'm still having trouble getting started-I have a Tamiya SAS Jeep in transit and if you don't mind, I would like to enter it.  Hoping that something small (and hopefully simple/quick) will help me get back in the groove.  I still want to build the Sherman.

Been following everyone's builds-all very impressive.  

Eric: Sounds like a good idea, I hate to see you miss the fun of your own GB!

Thanks Eric, I'll take whatever amount of extension you can offer.  I can see it being another good month before I can get back to my L6/40.

regards,

Jack

Thanks for extending this one, Eric! My Pz.IV is going to take quite some time...

All the resin sets arrived at my LHS yesterday and the Voyager stuff should be here on Monday, so I'll start on the interior next week. I have a few more armor models to complete though, so I can't concentrate on this build only...