O thats right, i forgot about that G. Thanks for the reminder.,

Can I get in on this?

Terry

You cerainly can Terry. Plenty of time to run and its just picking up the pace. Let me know what your bulding and i'll add it to the roster.

Normaly I follow the instructions, step by step, rarely jumping ahead by more then one step, maybe two if needed. With this one however, I am somehow all over the place...Built a bit of step  X, then move to step Y, then back to step Z etc etc. Chaos and dissorder . Yet however, the whole thing is comming together somehow.

Some times thats the best way. I can see why you doing it like that, it looks ready to be brought together.

Coming together...or maybe about to fall appart??

Hey CN, like the look there, I've never been good at getting beat-up to look right. Nice work!

I do like what you have done with that castel, really nicework.

Time for me to do a bit of catching up. First job on the list was to get some paint on. German dark Yellow of course.

Then a bit of light weathering. I was reading the article of the nashorn buld in the latest issue of the mag and liked the effect. So instead of dot filtering i applied a light overall wash useing MiG Brown Wash. This was followed with some dry brushing and light chipping.

I also got to work on the engine bay adding the PE from the Verlinden set.

This was given a coat of German red primer.

And finished off the rear seats.

I did some test fitting on the engine as i did not have high hopes it would fit well, and it didn't. So i trimmed it down a bit before painting.

Almost ready to get the top on, just needed to add the finbal parts to the inside. I used the radio frame from the Verlinden set. It seems a bit big, but the Eduard one was to smal for the kit radio and i don't like the PE one they supply, its just to flat. So i will live with the larger one.

I used some AK engine oil and engine grime on the engine and in the bay.

Then time to put the lid on and mask up for more painting.

And i got to work on the base as well. I used some strofoam to build up one side, covered with paper mache and put the edging on so its now ready for staining.

And thats all for now. Hopefully won't be so long again.

Looks good Bish, love all the extra goodies in the engine compartment.

Thanks G, and fortunatly you can still see quite a bt with the top on. Can't say the same for the drivers compartment though.

Bish,

I added some compartments to the 251 as well as backrests. This Tamiya kit is about as detailed as a garbage can. I'll toss some items of interest in them.

Nice job on those bins Steve. I did build this kit many years agobut don't recallany of the detail on it. Going by the water tank and lackof side bins, i would guess this kit, was originally based on the Ambulance but then turned into the APC but with out adding the interiour. That would account for the lack of detail inside.

Steve: That looks really good! When I did mine thirty years ago I built her right outta the box (in my defense I was in my late teens/early '20s at the time so I'll plead not knowing any better). 

Speaking of not knowing any better,

Bish, should I remove the water tank?

I need to add a little love to the drivers seats I think.

Steve, IMHO, it depends whats underneath.If its textured, like the rest of the hull floor, i would remove it and just fill the holes. If not, leave it.

I know what you mean about the seats. The Ausf D ones were not that good, and that kit is 20 years younger than yours.

Thanks, I'll take a look tonight.

I spent this last week painting and decalling. Its been a bit of a drawn out process and has taken all week. The vehicle i am doing belnged to the 2nd SS pz Div and was captured by Candian troops in Normandy. I first saw a photoof it in Squadrons book on SS armour many years ago. the book also has a colour drawing of the vehicle. O had originally intended to do that scheme. But then a couple of years back i got the Nuts and Bolts book on the /9 which has a close up but blurred photo and a colour plate of the same vehicle, but the scheme in the colour image is coimpletly differant from the Squadron one. Manageing toi find the same photo online, i took a close up look and despite it being blurred, its quite clear the Nuts and Bolts image is the correct one.

So i copied that scheme as best i could which is large areas of brown over the DY and small areas of green over that. I then did one pass with a very thin coat of DY to soften it a litle. I'd also noticed that the left side width indicator was bent, so i bent the metal one i had used. The bent one on the right was an accident and has been corrected.

While this was drying, i took a more closer look at the photo and noticed a few other things. The rear mud flaps were not fitted so i removed the PE ones. Also, the front left area above the wheel was more damaged than i thouht. Not only was the width indicator bent but the light was missing and there was a crack in it which bent the front down a bit. There was no sign that this could have been battle damage and tehre were no dents. I of course have no idea when this occured, it could have been just before capture. But despite me showing it in German hands, i replicated this damage.

The decals were a long process all by themselves. Both colour images i have seen have red numbers. A few years back i got a set of Bison decals for some Pz IV markings but they also had decals for this 251, only the numbers were in black. Its quite clear from the photo that the nubers are lighter than the black cross belw them. But i was not sure if this was because they were red or simply because the differant angle they are at was catching the light differantly. In the end i decided on red. The onyl problem was getting the numbers in the right style. The Dragon 251 kits include several decal sheets one of which has lts of nubers in differant colours. Though similar they were not exact. So i ahd to trim the number 4's, changing the angle of the long up stroke. The number plates also come from Draons 251 sheets and had to be pieced together, including the 2 piece Sigrunes. There is not pic of the number plate so i just made one up. The Div insignia and crosses were from the Bison set.

I have also got to work on the base. After staining and varnish, i started on a hedge along the side of the track. I am useing a similar method as i used for making trees, buts of wire twisted together. This were glued into the base and when set started on the celluclay. Once this is dry, i can finish the hedge.

And thats it. next up will be some minimal weathering and i need to start on a motorbike that will be added to the scene. O ye, and sort out some figures.

Wow, very cool camo Bish and I love how you replicated the damage to look like the photo.

Are you adding German figures to her? Personally I think I'd add Canadian infantry, I'd be a cool contrast and add something to the base about how they captured the APC.

Thanks G. The damage does seem a bit odd with just that fdrack, i have not seen anything like it before, but that is how it looks in the pic.

I am showing it in German hands, with the driver doing some repairs to the engine. When it was captured it was in an open field with a StuG. But maybe my scene is just a few hours before and maybe the driver didn't do his work properly which might explain why it was adandoned in one piece.

Here is as far as I accomplished so far. The interior is about done.

I don't know where I got the mechanic figures from but the commander is out of a 250/9 kit. I'm not sure I'm going to use them or any though.

Bish, what was the rank of a 251 commander?

Bish: Sounds like a plan!

Steve: Looks good I like how she's going so far.

Really nice there Steve, love the seats.

I am not sure about the ranks, i have never come across info like that. But the standard251 only hada 2 man crew, i would guess the highest rankwould be a l/Cpl or Cpl.

Hey guys, those halftracks are coming along nicely.

About the ranks question, it might be something found in the Kstn files database.  I think Bish is right about it being an NCO rank, though he probably has a  better grasp of reading the info in the link provided.

http://www.wwiidaybyday.com/kstn/kstn1114cgp1nov43.htm

This might be of some use, or maybe not.  The whole site is a bit of a rabbit hole trying to pin down specific info:

http://www.niehorster.org/011_germany/43_organ/kstn_0714_01-04-43-p.htm

regards,

Jack

Hi everyone, your halftracks are looking great.

Bish any way I can change my entry from the 250 to Dragons Sd.KFZ2 Kettenkrad w/ Puppchen. The wife picked it up for me the other week and really wants me to build it. Got to keep her happy she helps fund my hobby. 

Robert

Robert, o ye, definatly. I'll change it.

Jack, thanks for those links, i will have to shift through those.

Steve, i was a bit rushed eariler as i was at work. I am baseing my guesses on how modrn British Armoured Inf vehicles are crewed, i would guess the WW2 Germans were similar. I have just checked Pz Tracts and it lists the crew of a standard 251/1 as 12, which means that the 10 GRUNTs in the back are a part of the crew. That would mean that the section commander would be the vehicle commander.

But if you are just talking about the 2 guys who stay with the vehicle i.e. driver and co-driver/radio operator, i would go for a L/Cpl or maybe a Cpl in a Platoon Commanders vehicle.

Thanks Bish,

I'm not sure I will be using any guys but wanted to know how to paint them if I did.

You could paint them all the same, the driver and co-driver would have the same uniform as the dismounts. It would only be rank insignia that would differ.