Zvezda M-3 Scout Car ~FINISHED Pg. 9~

I finally got around to having a good modeling session and did some major work on my build. Yipee! I connected three of the hull sides to the fighting compartment. Suprisingly they went together like a dream, compared to some of the other parts. Just a slight seam has to be filled and some excess glue removed and sanded(but that was my mistake). Then I have to start weathering the bottom of the hull. For some reason the instructions say that the fighting compartment should have been glued on to the main frame a few steps back, but if you do that, you just made weathering a hundred times harder for yourself.

The counterweight in the front of has been connected. Scratched the springs out of some copper wire, and filled in a few holes and etc. However the fit of the counterweight holders to the main frame is terrible. I started filling in some gaps with crazy glue, because it's next to impossible to get putty in between the parts and actually sand it smooth. Argh! I can see this will take alot of time and some luck.

All comments, questions, and suggestions welcome!

Your right you did get a good session at the bench. Great progress with the work. Good luck.

Terry.

terry35- Thanks for checking out the scout car and for the comments! Lookin' forward to seeing that resin Minenraumer 100% finished, weathering and all.

Yep, it's been awhile since my last update(about two weeks).....probably because I got lazy with fixing all the imperfections on this kit, so it's been sittin' to the side of the bench for awhile. However, I finally got around to doing some much needed work on the scout car.

I was pretty dissapointed with the kit supplied jerry cans that were pre-attached to the holder(poor detail & bad molding), plus they would be a prominent piece on the hull, thus they had to be replaced. So I scrapped those pieces, only after using one of them as a guide to scratching my own. Used some Tamiya jerry cans, then scratched the holder out of some stryene and alot of putty. Not to worried abot the interior of the holder, since the jerry can will hide any imperfections when it's glued on.(the jerry can straps will be scratched at a later time)

 I also started the weathering process on the bottom of the passenger compartment. First had to apply a coat of Future to protect the enamel paint dry-brushed on. Then two washes went on, first was a burnt umber/burnt sienna, over that went another burnt umber wash.

All comments, questions, and suggestions welcome!!

MECHTECH wrote:

Michael would the jerry cans still have the [U.S.] on them? I really don't don't know about that one, ie. if the Soviets would have had a different one.

I'm pretty sure that since it was a Lend-Lease vehicle, the Soviets would have recieved the vehicle with the US jerry cans. (the very crude kit supplied jerry cans seem to american in design) Plus, after I scratch the straps that hold in the jerry can, the "US" mark won't even be visible, so I'm not worried about it.

Very cool and unusual build, MG, I like it and your tires look photorealistinc in the pictures.  That silly putty realy has a million uses, huh?

Bill  

Dre- Yeah progess has been goin' slow, but it's not my fault blame Zvezda. As for what I'm gonna fill in the fighting compartment with, I'll make a couple maps and documents to put near the drivers seat. I also got quite a bit of Ruskie guns to stuff in the fighting compartment, also have some other things planned, but I have to see if they pan out.

Citadelgrad87- Yep, silly putty is the solution to pretty much everything......now only if you could eat it. Thanks for lookin' in on my build.

Dre- Yes, it would be nice to see one of the more higher-end companies like Dragon or Bronco release a new mold of this kit, but then again I guess it's false hope. Since it doesn't look like any company will be releasing a new mold anytime soon.

wbill76- Thanks for lookin' in. Hope to make some progress this week by attaching the hull parts to the frame.

Dre wrote:

Didja ever find some better decals for this, or are you going to tempt fate and use the ones in the box?

Luckily I did. I found a set of Soviet red stars and the ones with the red flag w/gold wreath in a past kit I built, the Revell 1/35 Katyusha set. So all in all, I have decals I can subtitute in for 90% of the kit's decals that I actually plan to use. The red star in the circle(that is very prominent on the hood) is one of the few I can't replace(but I think I may have a few tricks up my sleeve.)

Dre wrote:

Nice.LOL But I think he should be sayin' something more politically correct like....."Comrade, where's my vodka?!"  Just thought of a new one....."Comrade, where's my borscht?!"

Had quite a bit of time on my hands today.....so I finally got around to attaching most of the hull together. The fighting compartment was attached to the frame. The frontal hull was put together(the top of the engine compartment can't go in, untill I fix some pin marks and seams.) The radiator was also put in.

The radiator of which you see below had a major opening between two parts. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be there, but I felt it looked better filled in. So I filled it with putty and slightly sanded it out. It's not nice and smooth, but their will be some armor slats that will end up covering it from view, thus I'm not worried about it.

All comments, questions, and suggestions welcome!

Zvezda seems to be fighting you all the way mg.Mikael but you are definately winning Looking good and you added a couple of things I must remember (counterweight springs and the tissue covered cushions).

Grem56 wrote:

Zvezda seems to be fighting you all the way mg.Mikael but you are definately winning Looking good and you added a couple of things I must remember (counterweight springs and the tissue covered cushions).

Thanks for the comments, Grem56! Glad you like it and I'm glad it's giving you some ideas. 

Looking better now that it resembles a vehicle!  You might want to consider filling in those trenches that Zvezda has provided for the headlight guards- I didn't and it shows. 

Thanks for the comments, Dre! I got alot more work done yesterday and today, so it looks alot more like a vehicle, then it does in those pics. Thanks for the tip about the "trenches."

I'll try to get another update tommorrow.......I would have had one today, but I just bought a new MP3 player so I'm rippin' a ton of music from my CD collection and playin' around with all the other gizmos.

Hello from Poland

I have this kit in my stock and your report inspires me to start it. I will do it in version of the 1. Tank Division (polish) in France 1944.

Your progress is great really and I wish you all the best with it.

Best regards

Dirk

dbaumi60 wrote:

Hello from Poland I have this kit in my stock and your report inspires me to start it. I will do it in version of the 1. Tank Division (polish) in France 1944. Your progress is great really and I wish you all the best with it. Best regards Dirk

Thanks for the comments and for checkin' out my thread, dbaumi60! Glad my WIP inspires you to get the M-3 out of the stash and onto the workbench.

Okay, here's that update I'd said I'd get up. Been doing alot of work in the front, back, and inside the scout car. In the back I've started putting in the handles and support truss for a step plate. The pieces fit in quite nicely, but a seam does have to be removed on every truss piece.

The doors have also been fixed and painted up. Eash door has three major pin marks on the interior, so those have to filled in, no doubt about that. On the exterior their aren't pin marks, but theirs some shallow marks that could use a bit of putty.

As for the dash, I painted the dials and then filled them with a little Testor's clear parts cement & window maker. The engine wall behind the dash needs just a base coat and nothing more. Thank goodness. When the hood goes on, the engine wall completley vanishes from view(since the dash is in front.)

Finally here's all the work done so far. The hood is on, the window frame is on(front winshield to go in later), and the round frame going around the top is finished. Now, I just got to put in the doors and etc.

All comments, questions, and suggestions welcome!

Great progress there mg.mikael, fair play for sticking in there for so long with this one. The project now seems to be comming together at last, keep up the good work.

Terry.

  Mg been checking out your build and it looks like your gonna have your self a keeper when its finished. Kits like this, though challenging, are well worth it since the subject is not covered by other manufactures. 

terry35- Glad you like it, hope to get some more work done on it soon(sorta been busy lately.)Anyways, thanks for lookin'!

panzerguy- Thanks for the comments!

newarmorman- Thanks for the comments and for reading my entire WIP! I don't mind the question......so are you gonna have the Sd.kfz.7 towing the 88mm Flak 37? I assume so, because the Sd.kfz.7 never mounted an 88mm. If your gonna have it towing the Flak, I don't forsee any serious problems. Though it is quite an undertaking for your first WWII German build and for that I gotta give you a thumb's up. Lookin' forward to seeing how your build turns out! By the way, here's a review of the Dragon 3 in 1 Flak 37: http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/dragon/dr6287.htm              Hope it helps.