Marder 1A2 Schutzenpanzer

OK, so a real quick update with (gasp) pictures - not real good ones, but they'll do...

So I've been working on the driver's station. 

 One of the challenges with this thing is that the engine actually mounts to the top of the hull rather then the lower hull.  The result is, alot of the work has to be done with the build upside down and backwards.  It makes for a lot of pausing to make sure things are lining up right and test fitting with the lower hull, etc.

Anyways, today I finished up the instruments on the drivers station.  In the Marder Schutzanpanzer the driver only has a steering wheel and a couple of levers in front of him.  All his dials, indicators and switches are on a panel to his left:

I have used an assortment of stretched sprue, bent wire, sheet styrene, sheet metal (thanks Marc!!)  and other bits and pieces to recreate this, as close as possible.  One challenge I initially had was wresting with tiny little bits of streched sprue to get them in place and glued to represent the indicator lights, both on the right side of the panel and along the lower left.  Finally it dawned on me (I'm not the brightest bulb) that all I had to do was drill holes and stick the sprue through to make the process a lot easier:

So here is the finished product minus two things - the row of indicators on the right (5 from top to bottom) and paint:

Any comments are welcome.

EDIT - I just noticed how glaring it is in the pic, but that grab handle on the left is not nearly so bent as it looks.  I'll give it a nudge to straigten it out once all the rough handling is done...

bbrowniii

Oh Stik,

Those Trumpy items are PERFECT.  Do you have any idea when the are going to be available?  I looked, but didn't see it - was it there and I just missed it.

Thanks for the links, man!

Boyd

You're very welcome Boyd. The one set of Germans in Afghanistan is already out. The KSK guys are not yet. All the weapon sets were announced recently so my guess is they will be out by late summer to fall.

Holy Odds and Ends, Boyd!

You MODEL too?! lol!

I thought you were just one of those "O&E" scrappers who spent more time in the rhetorical battles then at the bench! lol!

Good to see your work going down here---it's looking like you've taken an ambitious bent to it!

the doog

Holy Odds and Ends, Boyd!

You MODEL too?! lol!

I thought you were just one of those "O&E" scrappers who spent more time in the rhetorical battles then at the bench! lol!

Yup, in all my copious amounts of free time I actually do spend some time pushing pieces of plastic together!!

the doog

Good to see your work going down here---it's looking like you've taken an ambitious bent to it!

Yeah, like I've said, this is really just a creative project for me - seeing what I can recreate solely from bits and pieces of scrap I've been accumulating over the years.  Won't come out 'PE-Quality" but it is definately a lot of fun!

Boyd,

The build is looking good my friend keep at it, fun is seeing the bits and pieces come together and start to form something that actually looks like the part your striving for.

Quality in this hobby should be measured in how much you enjoyed what you worked on.

Cheers, Thom

Egads! Now I know why this didn't get finished for WWII-TW!

What did you make the lower-left-hand-side knobs from? Is that stretched sprue? I'd like to see this with something next to it to get an idea of scale. Probably MUCH smaller than I think it is.

So if you're planning on going to these lengths, I can see how the Squadron book might help you out a bit still! Going to be a while, eh? Maybe those Trumpy equipment sets will be out by the time you're done with the vehicle part of the build.

ALSO glad to see that that sheet metal worked out for you. Good? Bad? Going to try some stuff with it tonight myself.

dupes

ALSO glad to see that that sheet metal worked out for you. Good? Bad? Going to try some stuff with it tonight myself.

dupes

I'm sure I'll talk to you long before your archaic internet allows you access back to this thread , but for everyone else - yes that sheet metal worked great.  It is a little thinner than a soda can, so it is a little easier to cut and to bend.  I suspect I'll be using it for a host of various items in the troop compartment!

OK, the last time we left our intrepid adventurer, I believe I was working on the driver's station.  Well, I've pretty much finished up everything for that position:

Other than the instruments, which I believe I posted some in progress pics of already, the seat was the most tricky.  (By the way, before I continue, if you look at that photo, you'll see I put the knife in the pic for scale ref.  As you can probably tell, that instrument panel is a bit oversized.  Two reasons: first, I was eyeballing it, and the ol' Mk I eyeball ain't what it used to be, and two, I don't know that I could have done all the little bits if it was any smaller...)

So, the seat in the Marder looks like:

To roughly approximate that, I started with your standard issue soda can (Ginger Ale for all you rivet counters ).  I drew the basic outline on the can:

Cut it out with scissors and did a 'test fold':

Then, using the tin can as a template, I cut a piece of sheet styrene to shape:

I used my scriber to scribe the folds between the cushions, attached it to the tin, and refolded to shape - you can see the finished product in the first photo.

So that is about where I stand.  I am only a little surprised by how time consuming it can be to make each piece, but it sure is satisfying to work it out...

And, by now, you know the drill - comments of any form are appreciated (well, you can hold off on the 'YOU are a BIG, FAT, DUMMY' - I wouldn't appreciate that one...)

Boyd,

Looking very good there, its great to see it all come together. Keep up the great work and sharing the progress pics.

Cheers, Thom

It has been over two months since I have updated this.  Partly because I had a bit of a lull in building at the start of the summer and partly because I just fell behind.  So, here is a pretty big update (sorry for all the pics - I'll try to select a few).  I've basically finished up the details on the interior and am preparing to paint and install everything so I can button it up.

Last time, I had just finished up the driver's area.  Moving into the troop compartment, I knew that I did not want to spend the next five years on this project, so I was not going to do any detailing inside the turret.  Still, since the back hatch will be down, I need to mask that area off to give the impression that a turret basket is there, so away to the styrene I went, cut out a piece of the approximate diameter (a little large actually), dropped it in some boiling water to get it to stay 'round' and, voila, one turret basket:

At the same time, I realized that, if the troop ramp is going to be down, I needed to add the ceiling above it and the walls on either side, as well as the two bulkheads that are visible just behind the turret basket.  On that third pic, you can also see the rifle rack that I fashioned, again with metal foil (one more THANK YOU DUPES, shout out!):

Next, work began on the troop seats.  Just like with the driver, the seats themselves are cut from an aluminum can with a styrene 'cushion'.  The 'mount' for the seats is made from styrene I-bars and squares, ultimately laminated over with sheet styrene because I thought it looked too skinny:

And a test fit:

On the right side (facing aft) bulkhead, is the lever to drop the troop ramp. 

Made that out of metal foil:

More to follow...

In the pic (above) that I posted of the actual vehicle, you can also see that there is a grenade pouch mounted to the bulkhead.  There are actually several various pouches mounted on the opposite bulkhead as well.  And there my problems began...  I initially tried to fashion them using tissue paper wet with white glue and water, but was not satisfied.  So then I tried sculpey clay:

First, try to get it flat and thin enough:

Use the kids' playdough cutter to make the basic shape:

And VOILA:

Problem was, I could not get these things anywhere near 1/35th scale.  So it was back to the drawing board and tissue paper.  After a few more attempts, I made a set of about five that I was realtively pleased with, though they are far from perfect:

(Trust me, as bad as that picture is, they don't really look much better in person, but they'll do...)

Then it was time to fashion some periscopes for the boys in back and the driver.  Again, to the styrene and foil:

First, laminate three thin sheets of styrene together, then cut to length and file in an (approximately) 45 degree angle:

Then, cut some foil nice and thin, and put it in the 'Cube' to bend it to roughly assume the shape of an eyepiece:

Mount on a piece of tape and prepare to paint...

So, there you go - you are pretty much up to date on where I am.  I am still really enjoying this project, although the very nature of it results in a two steps forward, one back affair.  It is a challenge to figure out which details to include and then how to make them, but is a also a ton o' fun.

Comments are always appreciated.  Trust me, I got a thick skin.  Be honest...

Wow, you are really going to town on this one Boyd! Your scratch-building is very impressive. I don't think I would have the patience to add all of the details you are adding. I'm glad to see it progressing , and I look forward to seeing it in person.

Nate

 I must have missed this post. Never seen it before.

Looks good so far. I really like the scratch building. I think on the first page you said you were going to paint the winter scheme. That should be pretty interesting.

Thanks Nate.  I'll try to make a point to bring it around the next time we get together.

Jetmodeler,

Thanks for checking in.  You are right about the scheme.  Originally, this was going to be built for the Winter Warriors GB, but I pretty rapidly realized it wouldn't get done.  Still, I do intend to paint it in winter cammo.  I don't think there is an 'official' winter scheme for it, but I found a couple of pics of a Leopard that 'changed its spots' so I figure I'll mimic that for this:

Very impressive.....nice job....I have not seen this scratch side of you before.....excellent stuff

Rounds Complete!!

redleg12

..I have not seen this scratch side of you before....

 

Hey Redleg,

You know how it is... gotta mix it up every now and again.

Thanks for coming by...

Nice work on the added details Boyd, definitely going to add to the interest level on the interior for sure!

wbill76

Nice work on the added details Boyd, definitely going to add to the interest level on the interior for sure!

Thanks Bill.  The problem I am now running into is deciding when to stop.  I keep thinking, 'Well, you could probably see that, so should I try to add it...??', then I think, 'But if I do that, this thing will NEVER get done...'

Boyd,

Decisions, decisions

The modeling is looking really good, keep up the scratching my friend.

Cheers, Thom

Sounds like you're suffering from a full-blown case of Advanced Modeller Syndrome (AMS)!

I know exactly how you feel, at some point you do have to draw a line but that point is often a moving target itself!

tlivancso

Boyd,

Decisions, decisions

 

Ain't that the truth...  Thanks for stopping by, Thom!

wbill76

 at some point you do have to draw a line but that point is often a moving target itself!

You know of what you speak, my friend!!

Yo Boyd!  Sweet scratched details my friend.

wing_nut

Yo Boyd!  Sweet scratched details my friend.

Thanks Marc!

Holy smokes! Dude, that looks great!!!

Thanks for having a and checkin' in dupes!

See you on Saturday!

Great stuff Boyd.

I especially like the fact that you're minimalistic with the AM stuff like PE or resin. Scratch building your own is all the fun, once addicted, you've got to have a stop button. I know what it's like. Sometimes I kid myself when I say my kit is going to be an OOB build.

The drive to see it on the shelf or a GB meet helps a bit to curtail the addiction of over scratching for me.

Looking forward to the completed troop carrier.

Cheers,

Richard.

Thanks for the support Richard.  You are right about needing to have a stop button.  I think I am pretty close to pushing it on this one... pretty close, but not quite...

Hey guys,

Some of you may remember this project that I started a while ago... (last year... ). I got a little burnt out on it and set it aside, but have pulled it down and have been puttering away at it for the last couple of days, so I thought I'd offer an update:

I want to be able to open both the driver's hatch and the engine compartment, to show off the scratchwork I did in each. The challenge is that the two hatches interfere with one another. That left me with the option of leaving them both open permanently (the Tamiya kit has a 'functioning' engine hatch, but the drivers hatch is not) or making the driver's hatch 'functional'. I chose that route.

The process is simple, really. Start with the hatch and appropriate diameter styrene rod:

Remove the kit 'hinge':

Cut new 'hinges' from heavy foil:

Super glue to the hatch:

Now, take a deep breath and pull out the dremel tool - grind off the attachment points on the hull:

Apply styrene rod:

Wrap foil hinges around rod:

Glue them back onto themselves (I'm leaving them loose to remove for painting), and you are IN BUSINESS:

Well, I hope to have some more in progress pics of this puppy soon - my goal is to wrap it up in the next couple of weeks.

You know the deal - comments of any sort are welcome.