Marder 1A2 Schutzenpanzer

Modeling Subjects Armor
1

I’ve been trying to be dilligent this year to post the work that I am doing in GBs in the Armor thread as well, since I know many of you don’t spend too much time in armor. I am currently building the Tamiya Marder 1A2 Schutzenpanzer for dupes’ Winter Warriors GB.

This is a pretty interesting kit - it was one of the kits that Tamiya intended to be motorized, so there is not a lot of interior detail, despite having functioning hatches all around. The one exception is the engine which is pretty nicely done:

As I have said in several other places, when I started this last week, I determined that I wanted to add some sort of detail to the interior so I could leave at least a couple of hatches open. I have also been inspired by the recent work of several of you guys who have demonstrated some serious scratchbuilding skills (Schnobs, please step forward and take a bow). So I have concluded that it is time to stretch my skill set and tackle a scratchbuilding project:

I’ll start by adding a floor to the troop compartment and fill in the open sponsons on the Tamiya kit:

My ultimate vision for this is to put it in a modern winter scheme. I cannot find any images of Marders painted wiith one, but have found several Leopards:

I realize the one significant challenge I will face is finding crew gear (the kit does include a nice set of duffles and packs, but I am specifically concerned about finding personal weapons - does anyone make modern German military gear and weapons sets??)

I’ll do my best to keep this current, but I’m no WBill…[:P]

2

Hey everyone

Judging by the overwhelming response to my intial post, I can tell that a lot of you guys have been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for another update on this project [A]…

Seriously though, I hope some of you take an interest in this project. I’d love to hear your feedback.

As I said in my opening post, my goal is to add some detail to this kit, but to do it only with what I have available - I’m not going to dump any money into it, I’m just going to see what I can do with little bits and pieces that I have lying around, and with some imagination…

I started with the rear troop entrance. The kit part, which is workable, lacks any detail:

Compare that to the real deal:

So the first order of business was to add some thickness to the kit part, and draw on the detail that I wanted to include. Enter sheet styrene:

After scribing the lines for the access doors, I made some door latches from thin brass wire:

Next, I needed six hinges, and two plates for the shackles that secure the ramp when it is closed. Again, enter styrene sheet:

Some stretche sprue approximates the actual hinge:

And some cut up aluminum from a soda can was bent to replicate the shackles:

And, voila - a semi-close approximation of the interior of the door:

I still have to add the pulley and cable that close the ramp (on the right side of the vehicle/ramp as you exit) and hope to get to that tonight.

I also may go back and replace the shackles. I am not getting wrapped too tight about precise measurements with this - I’m kinda giving things the eye-test: if they look OK, then that is good enough, but when I looked at the shackles this morning, I thought they looked kinda small, but we’ll see.

There is one thing I can say abou tthis project so far - it has been a LOT of fun. It is great to sit at my bench, see the photo and think, ‘Alright, what stuff have I accumulated over the years that I can use to make a close approximation of XXXXX…’ This is the most fun I’ve had on a kit in a long time - both because of the challenge of it, but also because, as I said, I’m determined not to get bogged down in details - I just want it to look ‘close’ to what it really is. Perfection is not the goal.

Well, I hope you all enjoy and, as always, I’d appreciate any feedback…

3

Sorry buddy… didn’t see the start. But it is sure looking good now. I like those hinges. Simple enough. So keep posting. I’m watching… now[whstl]

4

Hi Marc

Thanks for popping in. No worries about missin’ the start - I was just bustin’ folks’ stones a little bit - couldn’t help myself [6]…

I’m pretty pleased with the hinges too. Not supreme detailing, but I certainly think they get the point across…

5

Some very nice details going into this one. looks great so far [Y]

Rob

www.scratchmod.com

6

Nice…that engine is very cool for OOB…looks like you got a nice start here----keep it up!

7

Rob,

Thanks for popping in.

Manny,

You are absolutely right - that engine is probably the best part of the whole kit. I was really surprised with how well done it is.

8

Consider the stones busted![:'(] Fantastic work on the hinges. Very nicely done. I think TANK makes modern personal weapons.

Cheers

Dave

9

Dave

Hey, thanks for the lead on TANK. I never would have even considered looking there.

Glad you like the hinges…[8-|]

10

Very nice work on the added detail for the ramp Boyd, keep us posted on your progress! [B]

11

DUDE !!! Wicked job on the hinges, if I tried to do that, It would look like the swedish chef with stuck fingers !!! Now, don’t quote me on this, but I THINK I saw verlinden has modern german weapons…I may very well be wrong, but worth lookin into.

12

YEEEE HAWWWW !

YEEEE HAWWWW!!

.…ah Shootinpanzer!

Looks like you’re off to a good start; good techniques here.

!http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b232/gluetank/Decorated%20images/th_T1-4-copy.jpg

13

~Eh Ya Boydd!

Cool looking kit of a killer looking 'lil AFV

Great start—dig the door work

All nicely blogged too—I stay tuned just no more swings at the sizzak–OK?[:O]

14

Bill, Disaster, Brutus, and Indy,

Thanks for the support, guys.

INDY - I promise, no more… your stones are safe from here on out (at least in this thread)…[;)]

Brutus,

Thanks - I’ll check Verlinden. I did find some on TANK, but most are Soviet bloc weapons that might technically work, but I’d really like the H&K (I think?) weapons that they use now…

Been messin’ aound with the engine, so I’ll try to post a pic soon…

15

Hummm…I’m a bad boy!!!

Nice scratch work…always enjoy details…especially scratch details, a dying art!

Rounds Complete!!

16

Coming along well there. As far as a winter camo goes, it looks like the Germans use a temporary whitewash and no pattern is followed. So no worries there. As far as weapons and personal gear goes. Dragon did do a G3 family set which which was the old standard weapon of the Bundeswehr for many years. any MG-42 will do for a modern MG-3, the main difference is the chambering of the two weapons, 8mm for WW2 and 7.62 NATO for the modern one. Trumpeter has a couple modern German figure sets due out so you may be able to get some personal gear from those of they are out in the near future before your build is complete.

17

Thanks for the info, Stik.

Yeah, looking at the pic, it looks like they covered the brown with brushed on white. It looks like most of the green and black is still there. I kinda like how the NATO camo base is pretty ‘precise’ and the white is just slopped on…

18

Hey guys,

I wanted to give this a little bump as I prepare to go back down and put some more time in on this build. I had set it aside a couple weeks ago as I was prepping some other stuff for ValleyCon, and then got busy at work so had to delay returning to it. But, I’ve got a couple of ‘quieter’ days at work so I hope to spend a few hours at the bench this week. I’ll actually be headed down there as soon as I am done typing this, armed with a pile of reference photos.

Hope to have a real update up soon!

19

Post pics![8-|]

20

Fine start…Good luck…:slight_smile: