With the Hetzer out of the way, finally, it’s time to choose the next victim. One of the very first kits I built when I first started doing armor was the Tamiya Wirbelwind. That build had a lot of “firsts” for me at the time…it was the first time I’d attempted drilling out gun barrels for example (with a Dremel no less!) and first time I had attempted an open-topped vehicle. So while this subject isn’t a “first” for me, it’s ground I’m happy to revisit using the relatively recently released DML Smart Kit.
So with that out of the way, this thread will serve as my build log for DML kit #6540 Sdkfz 161/4 2cm Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind with Atak zimmerit, MK SK-17 workable tracks, and RB Models turned aluminum and brass 2cm Flak 38 L/65 barrels.
Don’t know if I’m going to be able to keep to the regular clock-work-like schedule I used to last year in terms of updates but hopefully will be able to make faster progress on this one vs. the Hetzer bulid, we shall see. [;)]
This is going to be a treat
Followed your Hetzer closely, excellent build.
Have yet to build a dragon Vierling but I am sure they match the Monogram 1/32 I remember from the old days…
Can’t wait to see this one Bill. Hey have you ever tried to make your own Zimmerit? I just about finished my Jagtigers Zimmerit. I used Aves Apoxie Sculpt. It works pretty well. You should think about trying it. For a 1LB package it costs around 15 bucks or so and I didn’t even begin to use more then 20% or so with such a big project. To make the Zimmeret I used colour shapers. They are like a paintbrush but made with a rubber tip. There really nice to use. It took me about four to six hours or so to make the Zimmerit and for my first time I think it looks great. The more you buy of the Apoxie Sculpt the more you will safe and it has freeze thaw capabilities. I think that the 4LB cost like 50 bucks or so. Here are some links for you and others to ponder.
I started this one when it first came out, and used an Atak sheet for a panzer IV H because they hadn’t done a dedicated sheet for it yet. I got about a third of the way done, and it kinda stalled on me. I’m looking forward to watching your build, and hopefully getting mine kick-started because of it.
Jim, nice to see you post, it’s been a while! I have tried in the past to make my own zim and ultimately decided I was better off time-and-effort-wise to use AM stuff like the Atak sets instead. Nothing against those who go that route of course, but it’s worth the added expense for me to use the resin sets especially when they include resin replacement part goodies for the complex surfaces.
Nate, sorry to hear your build got stalled, will do my best to provide suitable inspiration where I can. [;)]
Bill I tend to use Model Armour site now more than anything else. BUT I check your own website almost daily. If we could post over there you would here from me MIUCH more often. Take care.
Another great choice Bill, seem to remember you done wonders the last time you got to work with weathering over zimmerit, was it your stug IV ? I just spent the last hour stash surfing I was sure there was one of these in there somewhere.
I bought it as part of a job lot from some guy who was selling off his stash, the real surprise was that I was interested in a Brumbar after seeing Tony “PVT. MUTT” Lees great work on the brumbar and this guy offered me the M10 Panther, Wirblewind, PzII F with interior all for about €150, couldn’t resist. I hate the Wirblewind since I built a 1/72 one as a kid. When I seen your post earlier I had to find mine, and low and behold I must say it is one beautiful kit, oozing quality.
Does your Zimm kit include zimm for the hull roof, I think the wirblewind is the only time I have seen zimm even on the driver and radio operators hatches.
Anyhoo good luck with your build I’m sure it will be a top notch build.
Jim, makes sense but still glad to see you pop in here from time to time. [B]
Anthony, glad to have you along!
Terry, yep the last zim vehicle I did was the Stug IV. The Atak set for the Wirbelwind does indeed include zim for the roof and also provides resin crew hatches that are also zimmed. It was fairly unusual for zim to be applied to those areas on the Pz IV but it did happen and I have at least one pic that shows a Wirbelwind on a G hull with zim there and on the crew hatches…so the Atak set provides for a lot of flexibility in that regard. Since all of the Wirbelwinds were produced on reconditioned existing IV G, H, or (a few) J hulls, the presence of zim was due 100% to when the hulls themselves were originally produced and not down to a deliberate practice to zim the Wirbelwind differently. All kinds of combinations are possible as a result ranging from no zim at all, zim only on the lower hull, to full zim include the hull roof. HTH! [B]
So Bill your saying you have plenty of scope to vary your approach. Should be interesting as you could also make the hull with a different weathering aproach and maybe have the turret brand new.
I do remember the photo of the full zimmed hull, seem to think that it was in the encyclopedia of german tanks and armoured cars… not sure. One thing for sure is that the barrels will definitely make a difference to those in the kit.
I was going through the instructions and there seems to be plenty of food for the spares bin as well.
Yep, lots of room for variety when it comes to the Wirbelwind. It offers one of the more interesting design/construction stories when it comes to German equipment. A special detachment of 80 men was created whose sole job was to assemble the Wirbelwinds at Sagan in Silesia and they were essentially equipped to the level of a field repair shop and nothing more. The specially-modified Flakvierling 38 guns/mounts and elevating and traversing mechanisms were supplied by a subsidiary of the Hermann Goering Werke Vienna Arsenal while the finished turrets came from Famo in Breslau. All the crews had to do was the final assembly of the turrets to the hulls and mount the radios, small equipment, tools, etc. This is what the work area looked like, so there’s all kinds of possibilities as a result as you can see from just this one batch in progress.
Since it was essentially a field repair shop, additional photos of finished Wirbelwinds show that they applied the 3-tone scheme there also, so the paint schemes would at least be close between the hull and the turret IMHO once they issued them out to the combat units.
Oh boy, you sure caught us off guard! I think it is a great choice and it will be fun to watch. I nearly brought this kit at the show last week but the vendor was asking for no less than $40 or $45 so I declined but I got Panzerjager I B for only $30… always admired its unusual look.
Safe to say that I was planning to buy this DML Wirbelwind one day and you have absolutely no influence on my decision this time… [:D] You have been tagged!
Glad to know I’m off the hook Andy! I picked this one up off a Dragon Models-USA sale for $30, so if you time it right you could probably do the same, they have periodic sales going all the time for whatever season/event seems to be on the calendar. [B]
Plasticjunkie and Taps, thanks for the support and interest!
Work is officially underway with this build effort. Step 1 has been completed and deals with the usual first step requirements, the road wheels, idlers, sprockets, and return rollers. I left the road wheel halves separate to facilitate their painting later on but each one had the molded-on seam (accurate if you wanted to show brand-new wheels) removed using a sanding stick. The step includes the option for two different types of steel return rollers featured on the Pz IV H (but not the G) and I opted for the “fancier” type for pure variety’s sake. The step also provides a choice of idler types between the earlier tubular style and the later cast style. All of the pics I’ve got to hand for the Wirbelwind show that the tubular style was the most commonly. That’s logical given that the hulls available in 1944 would most likely have been produced before the switch-over to the later cast style idler, so the tubular parts were used.
That’s as far as things will get this session as the next few steps deal with the various parts of the lower hull and those will need zim panels as well as their normal details/assembly, so that will have to wait until the next session when I have a good enough block of time available to tackle that.
Steve, I lean more towards the odder conversions/vehicles and the Wirbelwind has always been a favorite…got to be the menacing look of those quad 20mm I think! DML is in the process of mining this variant even further by releasing a new kit of one based on a G hull instead of an H, capitalism at its finest!
Kenny, glad to have you on board! I too built balsa wood models as a kid…I’ll never forget the hours and hours spent building a rubber-band powered Corsair with my dad only to have it crash and get destroyed on its first flight. [:(] After that I just stuck mostly to the styrene versions. [:D] I got hooked on armor in 2002 after I had returned to the hobby and built a few airplanes and have never looked back. [B]
