Dragon's ancient StuG IV late.

Thanks fellas.

And I am still just kind of muddling my way though and deciding as I go as to how much interior I am going to put in there. I think if I fill every hatch with a figure I won't go to crazy. But if there is only maybe one figure in a hatch, I may go a bit farther, and be more concerned about accuracy.

Gary

Ok now. It seems that the now regular every two week post is due on what I have been doing to this. And it has been almost all down inside stuff. I am hoping that with open hatches all around that there will be enough of it still showing to make the work worth it. But I figure that even if it is mostly lost, I still had fun (most of the time) figuring out where what went, and how it was used by the crew. So enough of the blah blah blah, on to the pictures.

First is a maybe better picture of the back end of the thing. I got the upper flange on and some sort of bolt looking bits where the bolts go on it.


And I got that jack completed with a scratched crank handle and mounted in the fiddly construction of the year winner of a jack mount.


Also put a pair of them towing shackle mounts and the start of a whole new set of exterior weld beads on the front plate.


And this is sort of what it looks like with the top kind of in place. Also with the two giant wrenches mounted on the fender behind the fire extingusher .


Here is the basic fighting compartment floor that I have come up with.




And here I have put in the radios on the commanders side with transformer underneath and the beginings of the wireing job that will go with it.


And the radios on the loaders side. I want this to be at least a platoon leader so I wanted the extra radio in there. But I didn't have one, so I had to scratch build this one. It is not perfect, but it should do the job well enough buried down inside with lots of other stuff to distract anyone looking in there.


And it seemed kind of silly to have all these radios if the crew didn't have anything to listen to them with. So I made some headpones real quick with some plastic rod, tube and brass rod and wire I had laying around. Again not perfect, but they should be enough when they are buried down in the vehicle I hope.


And lastly a shot of the engine firewall that I have come up with. Lots going on there, but that is pretty much what the real thing looked like I hope. Any ways, it is almost all visible through the hatches, so I am happy with it.


And now I am not really sure how I am going to handle the drivers compartment. I shouldn't really have any difficulty in scratching up the detail that goes around his station. But I am just totally stumped on how in the world I am gonna do that great big transmission that is going to absolutely HAVE to be there if his hatch is open. And his hatch will be open. I've got panther transmissions. I've got tiger transmissions. I've got Pz III transmissions, and even Pz II transmissions. But nothing that is for a Pz IV . But I think I will let that pot just sit at the back of the stove and simmer a while. Because I will be working on the ammo ready racks that go inside. There are 5 ammo racks that go in, and it shouldn't be any difficulty in coming up with those. So that will keep me occupied for a week or two, along with the rest of the outside stuff and finishing off all the new weld beads I will be putting all over the outside.

Till next time, have fun and open a window every once in a while if you are gluing stuff together


Gary

A splendid piece of scratchbuilding and kit-bashing there Gary. Have you considered an AM driver's compartment to drop in there? Must confess to using one on my StuPa IV, but it did save me from scratchbuilding the gearbox and transmission shafts.

Oh and if you need one I have a technical document on German AFV radios, which includes photos and wiring diagrams for the various sets and configurations. It's in a Word file so I can either email it over or if it's possible add it as an embedded object on the help with StuGs topic.

Hi Gary
That is some NICE scratch work there!! Brilliant!

Cheers
JT

Looking superb Gary Pyrogoatherdinglumberjack , I have the big boring book of german radios with wiring diagrams but by the time I would find them I would be asleep ! The marshamamallow cookers look nice but all that interior stuff is the real eye catching great stuff

Jenny

Why thank you all for the comments. But I'm a little worried . If I'm brillilant now I'm affraid that I will have to get me a pair of them more smarterer looking glasses like JT was wearin a few weeks ago .

Gary

Well Gary to pull them off you need to have your mid forehead shined to a high gloss , either that or surgically implant a lightbulb to make it all shiny

Jenny

Well I see that it has been all the way back to december since my last update on this kit. Part of that is because I haven't been doing anything for most of january . But I have started up again here in Februmarary starting with some work on my Tiger II. Anyways, enough of the boring excuse stuff. Lets just see the pics.

This is going to be the transmission. I know it doesn't look llike much, but it doesn't really have to. All I need is a dark shape down in the lower hull with some bolts and an instrument panel with a gear shifter for the driver.



And just the other night I fiddled up some driver controls. And one of the brake housing thingys sitting next to his seat.






And you unfortunately the photo is not that good, and you can barely see it. But I put in one of the intercom thingys for the driver.





And I spent a couple nights working just on replacing almost all of the weld beads that are all over the outside of the thing.







And also because I only had one photoetch rear mud flap I decided to scrratch build a set. Along with a pair of spare wheel hangers for the back plate. But I think I will rebuild them as they are juuuuuust a little bit to small.





And also just a little bit more work on the radios. I put a pair of jumper cables on the loaders side, and set up the power supply for the two transformer thingys.



And also the begining of the ready racks for the main gun ammo.



And finally a few over all photos of where I am right now. And please remember that the upper hull parts are not glued together, or to the lower hull yet.









Next I will finish up the radio wiring and plug in the headphones. Then I will try to figure out how to do the gunners station. Then I think it will be time to paint the insides and button it all up.

Gary

Superbness , I love all the interior details , how did you make the little wheelie dealies on the brake housing ?

Do not change the spare wheel holders , they look excellent . The welds are way nice , the tool holders are kewl , I particularly like the crew repaired spanner bracket . One thing , you still need to add the bump stop on the back of the commanders hatch so it does go back so far . Do not glue your finger to the side of the model niether

Jenny

Thank you Jenny:

The wheelie dealies were easy to do really. Just take piece of thin sheet styrene and drill the smallest holes you can in a circle pattern. Then cut out the piece with a pair of scisors. And finally use a small file to make the indentations. In that scale it looks pretty good.

Gary

Shalom.

Glad to see you building again. Sometimes getting back into the model building groove can be hard after a hiatus.

Love the separation of the hull and the top. Looks like an internal explosion. ;<) I know it's not glued together.

Those spare wheel hanger look fantastic.

How do you make your weld lines?

Cheers

With all the aftermarket interiors and stuff these days it's really great to see this very very nice bit of scratch work!! Awesome!! I really like that bin thingie behind the seat with the embossed lid (for the sides it looks like you've made good use of your current...bank...card )! Brilliant!! Brilliant!!

Cheers
JT

Howdy yall :

Thank you TB2. I am going to have to decide if I want to keep those spare wheel hangars or not. Either way I need to take them off, because these are just a little bit to small, and a wheel doesn't actually fit in them. And you are not the first one to ask about the weld beads, so I will probably end up doing a quick little SBS on how I do it. It's rather easy really. Just plastic rod (or stretched sprue works just as well) glued in place and soaked in some slow acting glue and then just "worked" with an X-acto #11 blade.

Thank you also JT. This interior was actually kind of like putting two snow flakes together on the top of a hill and pushing them down. It just grew and grew and grew until it became an avalanche . All I wanted when I started was a pair of MP 40's to see inside the hatches, and then I found some old resin pieces for a StuG III interior and I was off and running . And as for the ammo bin, well , when I was a young boy my father told me to start a good line of credit somewhere, as it would serve me well when I became an adult. Well. I'm still waiting to become an adult , but the credit thing is indeed finally doing me some good. As it is both the ammo bin, and also the basic shape of what is going to be my transmission .


Gary

Looking REALLY good, Gary! And thanks for the explanation on the weld beads. I was just about to ask the same question before I screw-up my StuG III (Fl).

I just finished scratching a new mantlet cover and need to decide whether to add weld beads or not. The one photo doesn't show how it's held together and the drawing I've seen doesn't show either weld beads or bolts. I'll post pics in the next day or so and ask around.

Mark

Thanks Mark:

This is just a mini update, as I have decided it might be easier to do it this way rather than waiting to post like 20 pictures of a months worth of work at once .

This is what I came up with yesterday as my idea of a transmission for the thing. I also have replaced the brake levers with round rod instead of the flat pieces that I had earlier, as this is accurate, and the flat is not.









And now I get to tackle the gunners station and all those wheels and cranks and stuff.


Gary

Spiffy job on the trans and all those other fiddly bits . . . can't wait to see this interior painted and weathered!

Mark