SdKfz 234/1 Completed 5/10/12

I've done the 234/2 last year. The suspension was a joy to build because of its complexity and good fit. Keep us posted on you build. Thanks.

great start Blitz i'm with constructor. suspension was fun. some complexity adds interest in kits.

Clay 

Loved this kit... I had so much fun building it three years ago.  The turret guards was so fragile that I managed to knock them off few times...

DML's 234 family of kits are fun builds, looks like you're off to a good start! As to your question on the paint scheme, factory hard-edge schemes no longer called for the application of a single color over the primer coat before the camouflage pattern was added as a paint conservation measure. That meant that the dominant dark yellow base coat gave way to a 3-tone pattern that had more prominent brown and green sections. Dark yellow continued to be used in the scheme though and different factories and vehicles sported some interesting schemes as a result. HTH!

Thanks guys and I'm happy to hear that the kit is a good build.

Deafpanzer -  Those guards on top of the turret are what drew me to this version over the puma in the first place and yeah those connection points do look very fragile. I'm still planning to have them open at this stage though.

Wbill - That information is great thank you very much. Dominant green scheme it is.

I'm thinking of a scheme something along these lines. 

Blitzwing that is an AWESOME build & paint job on both.

Clay

As much as I would LOVE to take credit for those builds, alas they are not my work. I am hoping with fingers and toes crossed that my build will be finished as well as those.

I haven't done too much work on the kit as of late but what is the best way to paint the spring detail on this seat? The only way I can think of is dry brushing but is there any other way?

Drybrushing will be your best bet...either that or working with a micro-brush and an Optivisor!

Good start Blitzwing. Keep it up.

Got more work done on the weekend and so now the interior is pretty much ready for some paint. 

I am going to do the interior walls in red primer and have the floors and turret interior in olive green which will be the dominant colour outside. 

The instructions say that these ammunition racks shouldn't be used but I am tempted to use them as otherwise there will only be loose magazines. Haven't decided yet, maybe I'll come to a decision after I've painted the interior. 

After being inspired by another build I've also decided to splash out on an RB barrell to replace the one in the kit.

In terms of weathering, seeing that the vehicle barely saw a few months of service I'm thinking that there wouldn't be a great deal of weathering needed, inside and out. With that in mind I was thinking about the mufflers which are usually painted quite rusty but being a fairly new vehicle what colour would the mufflers be?

Looks ggod blitz.  I have some extra PE springs for the back of the seat.  PM me your address if you want them.

Thanks for the offer Wing Nut but I'm happy with the detail on the back as pretty much none of the interior will be visible once it is closed up unfortunately. 

I've managed to get some spraying done on the weekend and did the interior hull walls in Tamiya XF-9 Hull Red and the floor and turret interior components in Lifecolor UA 206 Olivgrun.

I haven't done a particularly tidy job with the Olivgrun on the floor as I figure by 1945, neatness was not on the German list of priorities so there is a bit of overspray at the base of the hull wall and the floor so that is deliberate. 

I'm not going to weather the interior too much as the vehicle only lived for a handful of months so I'll probably just do some dry brushing and line washes. 

The turret is very cramped already but I'm hoping I can fit at least one of these if not both in there which unfortunately makes the interior even more invisible but at least the visors are operable so I'll probably leave them in the open position. 

lookin' good so far!

WOW AWESOME WORK Blitz great paint work on the figure. got to like german camo so much to work with.

Clay

Making good progress! I think you'll find that you will have difficulty mounting the ammo rack anywhere in the hull due to interference with the turret and the hanging mount on the 2.0cm gun. Space is pretty tight inside the hull of the 234s as you've discovered! Swapping out the kit barrel with an AM one will provide some nice extra detail. Looking forward to seeing this one move along!

Great process on your 234.  Glad you are going to include a figure... nice work on the camo too!

Spray the whole back of the seat the color you want the springs. Use a metalizer lacquer from MM. after that is dry (10 min) use a very dark wash and let it seep all around the springs (make sure it gets dark enough for your taste.When fully dry, just wipe the metalized springs with your finger tip or something small to get any wash residue off the springs.... takes longer, but it will look better than dry brushing....Wbill's way is the only other way...if you do the wash carefully you may not have to wipe at all.

good luck,

tread

Thanks for all the encouragement and feedback guys, I really appreciate it. I've been dry fitting some of the turret pieces and this is one heck of a cramped vehicle.

Bill: You are right about those ammo boxes, they don't fit in there so I'm just going to rummage through the spares box and see what else I can put in there.

Vonryan: That's what  I love about WWII German stuff, so much variety whether it is armour, aircraft or uniforms.

Treadwell: Sort of a reverse dry brushing, that's a pretty neat idea too but those seats are practically invisible once the turret is installed so I won't use it this time but it's a technique that is definitely going on file for the future. Thanks for that one.

Out of curiosity, anyone know how they actually did store ammo in this vehicle?

Blitzwing

Out of curiosity, anyone know how they actually did store ammo in this vehicle?

 By that time in the war there wasn't enough ammo to store any extra?? - the German Barnny Fife syndrome -Sorry couldn't resist

I'm enjoying seeing your build and paint techniques and am fileing  many away for future use

Thanks for the comments Duster. 

Just a small update. The barrell has arrived and I've grafted it onto the gun. 

I've also done some weathering on the interior and am pretty happy with the results. I'm just going to add a third helmet and two Dragon DS jackets I found in my spares box and I think the interior will be complete.

Nice job on the interior weathering! As for where they stored the ammo, interior layout/specs on the 234 family are hard to come by. What I can say for sure is that they had stowage provided for 250 rounds of 2.0cm ammo in 10 round magazines along with 2400 rounds of MG42 but where exactly inside the hull is a bit of a mystery.

Lovely looking build.

This is the end result of the interior. 

And this is probably the most heartbreaking moment for all armour modellers.

Now unfortunately some gaps appeared at the join lines when I sealed the hull. While the majority of the gap will be hidden by the side fenders when they are attached there is a smallish but noticeable overbite on the top hull at the front. 

I want to sand it but wouldn't that change the lines of the forward section? How else can this be fixed?

The gun has also been painted and attached to the gun cradle and ready to go into the turret once the exterior is painted. 

Awesome work Blitz. Guns look sweet. Can I ask how you painted them?

Mike

Thanks Mike. All I did was paint the guns black, in this case I used Humbrol 33, and then just a dry brushing with Humbrol 53 Metallic gun metal.

Gun detail looks nice! As for the gap issue at the front, use some putty and sanding to correct it, that way you won't radically alter the join lines or look in the process. Use the putty to blend it back into where the join is correct and you should be ok...especially since 99% of it will be invisible once the fenders and other elements are in place.

That looks great! to bad it will mostly be hidden but the main thing is you know its there and you have the pics to remember it by lol.

Thanks for the putty suggestion Bill it seems to have worked a charm and like you said it's pretty much hidden by everything else once construction is complete. I've painted the lower hull and have dry fit the side skirts for this picture.

I'm going to do some line washes before attaching the sides and preparing for painting the camo on the upper surfaces.

The instructions ask for the wheel hubs to be sandwiched in between tire halves so for ease of painting I've assembled the wheel hubs and painted the side surfaces of the tires. Once the wheels are sandwiched in between, I can the work on the seam at the join if required and paint the tire tread.

Annoyingly, somehow I managed to lose the little tub with the antenna inside. I have no idea how something like that can go missing, but using an unused antenna and base supplied in the kit as well as some PE sheet from the fuel cans inserts, and some scrap resin sheet I constructed a new tub. I have no idea how it is dimensionally but it looks fine to me.

The figures are also finished although looking at the interior I am getting some reservations about the both of them fitting inside that extremely cramped turret.