Thought I’d share the latest completed project with the group! This is Dragon’s 1/35 251-C/7 from the 3-in-1 and have to say, the kit is a real goldmine both in terms of the kit itself and all the included goodies. I built it from the start planning to also conquer another first for me, placing it in a dio along with figures. Since I opted for the Kursk tiger stripe green over dunkelgelb scheme, it was only fitting that it be placed on the grassy steppes of Kursk. The kit and figures were built OOB with the tarp a scratchbuilt addition from tissue paper.
wbill, isn’t it a great kit? i’m doing the Pak37 version (it’s on hold now while i catch up to my group builds)… great job, love the paint job and the dio. thanks for sharing the pics
Great job! I am in the middle of this one as we speak. I was contemplating a white crew compartment but I think you convinced me. Great dio. The figures are superb.
Ryan
All right[:D] Bill! You beat me to the dio building part of modelling, and very nicely done at that. Love the job you did on the camo of the 251. Your ground work looks great! I’d really like to get a similar affect for a dio I want to do for my Early Tiger on the Russian plain. It’s OK buddy if you tell me how you made the tall grass![^] I’m still grasping for the courage to attempt what you have succeeded in doing. Thanks for sharing with us, always enjoy your work Semper Fi, mike
Thanks everyone for the kind words! One of my new year’s resolutions was to build a dio complete with figures, so looks like I can scratch that one off the list. [:D].
Mike,
I used the “hair plug” method (I didn’t invent it but happily borrowed it from another modeller [:)]) using Woodland Scenics static grass and Hob-E-Tac cement, also from WS I believe. This has several advantages over regular white glue as it 1) dries faster and 2) remains tacky even when dry so the clumps stay together well on the base.
Used my Dremel to drill holes into the plaster base at somewhat random intervals, cut the static grass to an even length on one side (leaving the other side irregular) and dip into the Hob-E-Tac, then plug it into the hole. I let this set up overnight. Next morning I came along with a pair of regular scissors and trimmed it up where needed. I also filled in any holes that hadn’t been completely filled with the grass, placed the figures and vehicle. Pics I’ve seen of the steppe grass shows it at around 3-4 ft. in height for the most part so I tried to keep that same height more or less (1.25 inches give or take) as I did the trimming and voila!
I would also say great, I am working on step 3 of mine, and I plan to do the box cover version, because I do know that it was real…I will just have to extrapolate the interior…a bit…call it, artistry.
Just another quality build that we expect from you Bill. That’s the first I’ve seen of a built one in the Dark Side. Wondering when someone was going to get one done. Very nice camo and weathering. Dio looks inspirational. Thanks for sharing.
Do you mean you are doing the hybrid /7 and /10 mounting the PaK 37 and the assault bridges? If so, ought to look neat when finished.
Pmm,
The driver’s compartment is supposed to be elfenbein (I used MM enamel Panzer Interior Buff) along with the engine compartment on any vehicles finished in the dunkelgelb scheme. Early versions done in the panzer gray scheme had the driver’s compartment done in dark gray but were later re-painted in the field. So it all depends on which version/scheme/timeframe you are going with. If you browse through the gallery here http://www.achtungpanzer.bos.ru/gallery/g_251_34.htm you will see some shots of the engine bay and driver’s area on a vehicle undergoing restoration/rebuild and the elfenbein areas are clearly visible.
J-hulk, sasd, Tigerman, Anthony,
Thanks as always for the support, always a pleasure to share a finished build with you. [;)]
Excellent build. I’m about to start my 3-in-1 this week. Does anyone have any details about the variants in the kit. The box art shows the version you built, but with the cannon instead of the smg mounted. Did these variants exist?
You won’t be disappointed. Very fun kit with lots of extra goodies included. [:D]
Zokissima,
Apparently they did (although I haven’t seen any photo references showing it) have some /10s that were converted to /7s and kept the Pak mount. The key when doing your build is the rear seats will have to be converted to ammo storage instead of munitions storage as on the /7. I think beav mentioned he had some reference proof that the box art is of an actual vehicle?
