One of the great things about having a spouse that supports the hobby is that even when it's Valentine's Day weekend I'm still able to get some time in at the bench. A box of Godiva chocolates and a promise for dinner later this evening goes a very long way indeed.
Since the last update all of the efforts have been focused on the interior details and getting things squared away before assembling the panels of the fighting compartment. The loader's side got the majority of the attention. Using the pics in N&B 14, I decided to add the missing gas mask containers and holders for this side of the fighting compartment. I used a left over Eduard fire extinguisher bracket to rig up a holder with straps by cutting it down and using only the strap portion and combined that with a spare gas mask container from a Gen2 infantry gear sprue in the spares bin. The kit also didn't provide an MG34 so I scrounged one again from the spares bin and added it along with, you guessed, scrounged spares ammo cans to go in the bracket. I had to fold down the sight in order for i to fit in the space provided but otherwise it fit perfectly into the holders.
The panel was weathered first with an overall wash of Raw Umber. Since the paint had a full week to cure, I didn't seal it with Future but instead just applied the wash directly to the paint. The key here was to insure I didn't flood the surface to avoid it lifting the paint and letting it air dry. The photos show it a little darker than it actually came out and some of the areas are of course hidden by the ammo boxes so I didn't do much more to that space. For those areas that remained visible, I used a round 0 sable brush and prepped the brush as if I were going to dry brush but instead stippled the brush and applied some fine scratches/scuffs of Burnt Umber. This was followed up by stippling and dry brushing some of the original base color back over it to provide some depth and variation while still retaining the "grungy" factor.
I applied the same weathering approach to the gunner's side but left off the rabbit ears scope for now as I want to paint and detail that later after the exterior has been painted. Same thing with the MG34 swivel mounts, those will be added at a later step. I'm leaving them off now so I can have a clean masking surface to work with to protect the interior when the exterior is painted.
The rear plate was weathered as well and received the two crew MP40 weapons. The kit instructions have the wrong part numbers for these, you should use WB9 and not WB1 as called for. WB1 is designed with a separate folding stock and is meant for use if you were showing the gun in actual use vs. stowed in the holders. The instructions also don't tell you that you need to add parts WB5 to complete the full gun so watch out for that as well. I removed the clip magazine with sprue cutters as instructed and hollowed out the receiver using a #70 finger drill and very carefully squaring the opening with the tip of a #11 blade to add a little more detail here.
That just left the floor of the compartment to work on. I added the 2nd gas mask container and holder here as well and decided to add some crew helmets for the empty space at the rear. These were provided courtesy of the same gear sprue as the gas mask containers and glued in place after a quick check with the rear plate to be sure there wouldn't be any interference. I also added the cable for the remote release on the travel lock using a short length of 0.008" diameter waxed ship-rigging thread cut to size and glued in place with regular glue. Once the glue dried, I painted the cable with non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal.
For the floor itself, I added the weathering using the same process as the side panels but added some dirt/mud accumulation in the form of stippled Raw Sienna. I added some of this to the angled plate under the gun as well where the gunner's feet would likely rest or make contact for a little extra "lived in" feel.
This cleared the way for me to begin installing all the components into the fighting compartment and get the compartment itself assembled. Prior to installing the gun, I had given it the same weathering treatment as the rest of the compartment but with a lighter touch since the crew would've kept it well maintained for obvious reasons. The gun and splinter shield were installed and I permanently placed the loader's ammo bin as well while I still had plenty of room to work with.
The fighting compartment panels were then installed, starting at the front and adding the sides with the rear plate added last. The fit was ok for the most part but there were some areas where the angled front plates needed some putty work to fill small gaps that couldn't be addressed any other way. These gaps were filled and the joins lightly sanded with a sanding twig to round things out.
That clears the way for the rest of the exterior details to be added which means the exterior will likely get paint and camo next weekend!