Dragon Aufklarungspanzer 38t mit 2cm **Completed 3/2**

Holy crap, Eric!!! DUDE, you STOMPED this one!!! I especially like the attention given to the running gear--the silvering and wear just look like fine diamond on that grit and rust! Cool beans!!! Cool Jack-the-Giant-Killer beans! The camo colors are also spot-on!

The base fits it perfectly! High fives all 'round!!! 

Looks right at home on the base there Eric!

Very neat, like it a lot...cheers....Kenny

Thanks Eric! The set was turned brass and etch and looked right in the package to me. It does look kinda big in the pics but its very fine so not sure why it looks that way.

Yazoo, the kit uses 4 cans stowed in the side compartment of the superstructure and it looks like it could hold 1-2 more. Its just 2cm ammo so I would imagine that 6 cans with 2 mags each would be a fair and easy amount to carry.

Nice build Eric. I really enjoyed this WIP. Love the camo. Must say the base is cool as heck. Maybe it's me,  but the antennae looks too large. Again, it might be me, so don't take anything personal.

I built one of these and looking at the amount of space inside  where was all the ammo stored ? The kit uses 3 ammo boxes for the flak gun and nothing more.

I am pretty much considering this one done. I do plan on adding a headset to the turret radio and maybe an ammo belt to the mg at some point. Last thing to be added was the Orange Hobby star antenna, great little set! Tried my hand at painting a resin base that I had sitting around here for an eternity. Pretty pleased with how it came out. Maybe down the road I will work up the nerve to do some figs and make a dio of it.

Thanks for following along with this one. In all reality, I believe this little fella was started well over a year and a half ago and sat for a very long time till I got motivated enough to finish it. The build was ok other than a few quirks here and there, namely the fit of the road wheels onto the suspension and a bit of an awkward fit of the rear deck. Now off to finish this Dora for the 190 group build and back to armor. Thinking M51 maybe ...

All comments are welcomed!

Wow Jester, stunning build mate, sorry I missed this.

Nice job on the surgical transplant! DML just used the standard Flak 38 gun in this kit instead of the shortened KwK version, hence the 3mm or so disparity in the barrel lengths. Almost across the finish line with this one!

Thanks guys!! Your comments really mean a lot  to me!

Outstanding; interior and exterior. Very impressive!

Those gun barrels look nice. I think the metal flash suppressors add alot

Kris

looks great!

Superb job on the tracks Eric. That barrel makes a world of difference.

Jester, that is lookin sweeeet!!  The RB barrel is a great addition!

Well the barrel finally arrived from Poland today so I set off to attach it to the kit gun. After assembling the barrel I noticed a disturbing difference in the length when compared to the kit barrel

After doing some research, I found on Perth a review that measured up the kit barrel to the actual barrel and stated that Dragon's was 3 mm too long. Considering that its about 3.5 mm longer than the RB barrel, I was more than happy to deal with the difference and roll with it.

After whacking off the kit barrel, drilling, and gluing this is how it looks on the kit.

Primed both the main gun and the MG42 and painted them both with Alclad II Gunmetal. A little bit of Vallejo gunmetal dry-brushing and they were set. Looking at what few pictures there are of this vehicle, the guns look like they have a satin finish and are very clean so that's  how I will depict these.

In the home stretch now. A few more things to do here and there, then the star antenna. Still contemplating a small 5x7ish base for this one.

Thanks for looking! All comments are welcomed!!

Nice job on those grenade screens Eric. The RB barrel will add a nice bit of detail to this one for sure.

It's good to see you back. 

That finish is sheer "Perfection".

Really good work. 

This is looking great. Agree with doog about the GD insignia.

Acording to my referance, in April the unit was on the Romanian border and was in action at a place called Jassy. In May, most of the unit was re-equipped, which would suggest it was pulled out of the line.

Thanks doog!! I am pretty happy with how the tracks turned out!

On another note, finsihed the anit-grenade screens after much CA and dissolved putty to fill those silly gaps in the folds.....thanks Dragon! Went ahead and added just a little bit of chipping here and there, but not a whole lot. I believe this one is done till the RB barrel gets here which will hopefully be Monday or Tuesday. After that is on with the guns and the star antenna.

Maybe you gents can help me figure something out. Since this vehicle is part of GD and let say its sometime during April/May '44, where could it have been fighting?? I really want to try and put it on some type of small base and would like it to be somewhat accurate as to where it was located. Much thanks for stopping in!

LOVE IT, Eric---the GD helmet on the rear looks proper. Good call on that!

I have to say, your tracks and wheels look excellent all around. You've covered all the bases with them--bare rims, worn guide horns, sprocket contact points, etc---spot on!

Welp, tracks are done and installed along with road-wheels, idlers, and return rollers. After assembling these magic tracks this way and finishing them, its going to be hard to see the justification for a/m tracks sets if the kit has Magic Tracks!! I forgot the markings earlier in the build so went ahead and applied them. The kit markings are rather boring I think due to a lack of info on this specific vehicle but I did find several sites referencing Großdeutschland receiving about 20 of these vehicles in April of '44 so I added the helmet to the rear of the vehicle in the most obvious place I thought it would go. Not happy with how the pics turned out but oh well. Must get the camera fixed!!!

Next up, securing the already painted tools to the fenders and the etch anti-grenade screens. Actually going to have some quite nice gaps to fill with the way Dragon made the screens. Hopefully by that time my RB KwK38 barrel will be in and I can get the guns mounted. Still planning on some slight chipping as well but probably nothing crazy.

Thanks Bish and Winetanker!! Actually, if you follow doogs toot on magic tracks, they go together really really easy! The hardest part is forming them around the suspension but even that isnt that hard at all.

Here is a link to his tutorial for when you need it. Bookmark it for sure!!

doogs track tutorial

Looking REALLY nice, Jester!

How tough were those tiny Nagic Tracks to assemble? I've got a Marder II in the stash and those tiny tracks look scary!

Sorry Eric, forgot about this one. Lovely work, i like the camo. I swear by enamels, but of course they have their own down side's.

Thanks Eric!! My local Hobby Lobby actually started carrying some Vallejo paints so I picked up their Gunmetal and Oily Metal. I used the Gunmetal on the wheels and plan on using it on the tracks as well. They brush on very well, and dry brush better than any acrylic I have ever used.

The wheels look great Eric, as does the camo. What do you use for the metallic?

Excellent idea doog, thanks for the tip!! Will try it out tonight when fitting the other side tracks.

Eric,

Those tracks look good to me!

Hey, didja ever think of just gluing a small piece of thin styrene strip inside of the wheel hub and then using a "interference fit" type of mounting to the post? I've done that in the past and it works fine when I come up on a kit that has sloppy wheels. Just stick an .010 piece of styrene strip inside the wheel hub as you're gluing it to the post, and then trim it off from behind after it dries.