The beautiful thing about a 3-day weekend is that it usually results in extra bench time! I made good progress as promised with the first dose of attention going to the PaK 40 details. I applied some light chipping/scuffing using MM enamel Burnt Umber and detailed the breech, hand wheels, and sighting scope off the gun before installing into position.
The recoil tray's bare metal contact surfaces were done using a base layer of MM non-buffing metalizer Steel followed by some dry-brushed enamel Burnt Umber and a light wash of enamel Raw Umber. The block and inner surfaces of the round chamber were done using non-buffing metalizer Steel that was then toned down a bit with some black artist pastels. The rest of the gun will get weathered when the exterior is done so it's not complete, just the details done and installed at this stage.
That brought me back to the exterior and the remaining elements called for in Steps 13 and 14 of the instructions. The bins and fenders were added to both sides with the left side requiring some gap-filling with putty to correct a slight fit issue with the top hull on that side. I added Griffon PE clamps for the axe and pick on both sides and used the kit-supplied brass width indicators. These come straight and a bending guide is provided on the back of sprue C to help get them into the right angle. I lost the kit's mirror due to tweezer-pult and grabbed a replacement off an older HT build that had become a practice/donor kit some time ago. I also used a #76 finger drill and some 0.5mm diameter solder wire to add the missing Bosch headlight wiring conduit that feeds down under the fender and into the hull opening near the front suspension. I also added the empty MG42 swing mount to the top of the hull rear.
The rear hull received some detail attention as well, the fragile details that I'd left off in Step 12 were added in the form of the tow pintle and the rear door handle. I also replaced the inaccurate kit-supplied rear Notek convoy light (it has 5 lenses and is too big) with one from the spares bin that had the correct number of lenses (4) and a better profile. Used the same drill-and-solder combination to create its wiring as well.
The last little detail involved the travel lock from Step 20. The kit instructions are vague and suggest that it installs to the top flat plate over the driver's compartment. This is not the correct position, it actually installs to the angled front plate between the two view port covers. The design of the lock is also incorrect, it has handles on both sides when it should only have a handle on the side facing the driver's visor. I corrected those issues easily enough and also did away with the "pins" on the sides as the kit-provided PE part is too flimsy and too small to be of any use. The lock was glued into position and the gun test fit on the base mount with a bit of blue-tack putty to make sure everything lined up. I'm not showing the gun locked down since the handle is in the "open" position but same sanding/trimming was required at the tops of the lock opening to allow the barrel to fit correctly if the gun were positioned in the slightly downward pointing locked elevation.
That's where she stands so far, next up will be getting some paint on the exterior and perhaps assembling the tracks.