SdKfz 164 Nashorn

The kit went together well, almost too well! Because I like to build subassemblies for painting ease(read 'ship modeler'), I really had to plan my attack. The main gun was a kit all by itself! I wanted to maintain free movement for elevation changes on the cannon, but some of the parts around the hydraulic rams interfered with it, so some slight modification was in order. After the entire gun was assembled, the gun sheild was the next major problem. I didn't think I clould place it on the mounting struts and align them properly after the gun was on the chassis, so I glued it to the gun before mounting the entire gun assembly to the chassis. This made it easier to paint the gun and chassis, but slipping the two together without marring the finish on the sheild was anightmare!

The indy links were surprisingly easy to use. My kits' were beautifully molded, crisp with little flash and just a few ejector pin marks. I made a jig with a straightedge and double stick tape. Each side was done with 4 sections (top, bottom, idler and drive) using a pair of dividers to lay out the length of each secton on the jig. Once they were completely dry, I brush painted a mix of black with a little blue, then drybrushed graphite on the wear areas.

Overall this is a fantastic kit, my only major gripe is the assembly photos are hard read when building the gun, soooooo many tiny parts with only a vauge idea where to put 'em!

Hope that helps

Nice, mgartner. I agree with all the above comments. I'm really glad you got that pic to post here. As for my small part in helping you get it posted, you are most welcome. The picture was definately worth waiting for. I have the same kit, also. Did you run into any particular problems with the build? Any advice you can give me? Did you use Dragons indy links?

More pics are coming, just gotta fill the roll and process it.

Anybody use pastels to weather. I did a wash in the running gear, but Im afraid of over doing it on the rest of the Nash'.

Any Tips?

Ditto the other comments. Would like to see more pics of the gun compartment.

Cool camo! Nice job.

I can finally see it (and it was worth the wait)

Outstanding camo!

Now we need more pics

Mgartner: Nice job on the camo!

My friends and I recently completed building this beats, 3 of us posted pics, go to the link below and go to Nashorn builds and look, maybe you will see something you like. Good build, I really like the colors for the camo.

Anybody have and suggestons on lightly weathering this beast? All of my research photos of Nashorns in Italy (this one in particular) show them to be fairly pristine, except for the usual muck it the tread and road wheels. According to operational accounts, they would be placed on high ground in lightly wooded areas with a good downrange view of a pass or road into a contested town. The effective range of a 164 was out to 2500 yards, with reports of Shermans getting popped open at 4100 yards!! Talk about a stand-off weapon

I see it know. Very nice!!! Thanks for sharing the picture with us Mgartner.
mark956

Stretched srue is easy once you get the hang of it. I use it alot for ship rigging, and you don't end up with delicate yardarms getting bent by monofilament.

Thats not blue, its panzer olivgrun 1943, its a greyish green, but certain lighting gives a blue-green cast.... not to mention my lousy photography skills and poor choice of lighting....well, better luck next time!

i see it now!!
looks cool! how do you get that stretched sprue thing done? i can never get it to work!!
oh, and is that blue in that camo scheme?? or is my dodgy eyes/monitor??
regards,
nick

looks great Mgartner realy nice build
whats the dark colour green or grey?

OK....I think I got it...

Thanks to wipw and Capt'n Caveman for the help, and to Ron for making the storage site for all of us...good show :)

Hope ya like the Nash.... and, yes, the weather is coming...

for rons site http://rongeorge.com/modules/Gallery/
go to the upload area and logon
the Username is newfsm
and the Password is models

mgartner, try posting the pic to Ron's site. Then we'll be able to see it. I know we'd all love to see your Nashorn!

Neither here

d'oh. I can't see anything. J-Hulk's link included..

Yup, it does for me too, now.
It was rockin' last night, though!

I get the Red X and J-Hulk the link you posted shows a error message.
mark956

I cant see the link or the image here too..... Drat!!

Dan

I think not only does Yahoo not allow hot linking but the links on the pics are periodically changed as well.

i cant see it in the link or the little red X
all i get is "The page cannot be displayed"

Hmmmmm...... I wonder why some people can view it and others can't?

Thanks for the critique J-Hulk, Iv'e been busy but a weathering job is next, right after I finish my Tiger Meet Tornado ECR.

Wow! This is the first time I can see pix while nobody else can!
I'll try to post it here, too:


Can ya'll see it?
If not, here's the link:
http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/bc/40670feb_712b/bc/ModelPhotos/Nashorn%20Model%202.jpg?bf_PxZABO0rewTLx

Anyway, nice clean build, Mgartner.

Which would be my only criticism: it's too clean! It's got that "fresh off the showroom floor" look to it.
A bit of weathering would really bring it to life, in my opinion. Even just a wash and some drybrushing would do it.

Thanks for sharing your work, and welcome to FSM!

sorry no pics
i dont know if Yahoo lets you post pics?

Sorry no pics

sorry mgartner just see a white box with cross