Great to see you over here panzerwerks!
betiobob, I don't know where to begin! This started life as an M5 which was available at Toys R Us. I cut away about 50% of the original upper hull and augmented what was left with styrene. All of the hand holds, tie downs etc were made from brass rod/wire which are inserted into holes I drilled for each piece. I used a hypodermic needle and spot glazing to simulate the welds. The turret was a the big challenge and again styrene was used. The front cheeks of the turret were formed from foam, then covered with resin. The Howitzer is several pieces of PVC pipe with laminations of styrene to get it to the correct diameters. I then used lots of brass wire/rod and sheet for the details. The gun bolts into place ala the real thing with small brass bolts and nuts. This large scale is alot of fun and I use my usual 1/35 scale tricks to get things done. The only real difference is that these things need to be built to be handled, so things like hand holds and tie downs can not be simply glued to the surface, but rather must be "anchored" via holes drilled through the plastic. And of course the styrene must be quite a bit thicker, I use alot of 1/8" and 1/4" thick styrene which I purchase directly from a plastics supplier. I'm surprised by how inexpensive 4x8 foot sheets of styrene are after buying all those little sheets at the hobby shops all these years :lol