Well, here’s what I’ve done so far to the interior of the fighting compartment. I’ll take you through the pictures and call out what I’ve added/deleted/corrected from the Verlinden interior set:
1 & 2. First, heres two overall views, left and right…
- A closer view of the left wall…You can see the completed shells in place. Each one is secured by a lead foil strap and plastic buckle. They were painted in a mix of Testors copper, brass, gold and black, then washed with black acrylic to give 'em that oiled look, which was done to protect them from corrosion. I added a crew compartment heater duct under the radio on the wall; the Verlinden interior lacked a loader’s seat so I made one from an old Panther (?) engine deck intake cover, carefully filing it with a needle file to shape a leather seat pad from it. The tranny is painted Tamiya XF-24 Dark Gray and weathered with oils and light DB in chrome silver, while most everything else got “reverse highlighted” with a steel-brown oil mix…I just realized that that curved pad to the left of the driver should be painted in leather; I’ll do that right away-it was a pad of some sort; I added the strips and bolts securing it to the wall…handles were added to the steering arms…the various lettering on the walls was done with a sewing needle…
4.The right side: a fire extinguisher from the SP box was added above the rear storage bin; Verlinden had a seat there but my photographic reference proved that inaccurate. I added a “lid” to the bin, sawed off the backrest on the upper wall and added another little bin and lid where that was…that wierd thing on the side wall ain’t some kind of Nazi mace for close combat!; it’s a “Hulsenzieher”–a tool to help pull jammed shells; I made it out of strip. Lets see…made the bin on the fender base, put a bunch of bolts all over the hull walls…HELP!..can’t…stop…super…detailing…!..
- How it’ll look with the hull top on,
6…and why I just had to saw the roof off; I couldn’t see doing all that work only to have a gnat’s-eye view of it!..hey, I managed to get the sight lined up through the peekaboo hole![:D] Of course the engine still has to be finished and dropped in…
- Overall view from the front…
and 8: a shot of the upper hull and gun…I muffed up the actual Verlinden gun mounting by working too late into the wee hours and not reading directions properly! Luckily I was able to salvage it. I actually had to cut about 2mm out of the breech guard because of the fiddlin’ necessary in order to get the sight to line up through the hole; then the gun extended way too far back. I think that the kit that this interior was designed for-the Italeri Hetzer-was quite a bit dimensionally different from the DML kit, so this may explain all the extra work. The ammo rack was scratchbuilt and the shells inserted properly–Verlinden had them portrayed UPSIDE-DOWN! ( must’ve been a particularly good bottle of rose that night!). They’re secured by lead-foil straps as well…all the fuse boxes were added…the handle added above the instrument panel and the black traverse wheel on the gun is from the SP box…
PHEW! Well, that’s it for now…gotta start detailing and weathering the engine!–any questions, comments, and criticisms are welcomed and much appreciated!
WOW!
…WoW!
…WOW!
Looks great, right now, I think my models stink compared to that.
David
Thats really nice work…thanks for sharing.
absolutly stunning doog. its amazing how small and cramped those hetzers were inside, and we’re trying to superdetail them in 1/35 ha! i’m so ready to start on mine. looking forward to more pics and tutorials, and i love the detailing. [bow]
Great work Doog. I look forward to the exterior as well.
Thanks guys, for taking the time to respond!
I’m working on engine compartment now…I think I should say that when I went into this model, I kinda thought that it would be a pretty standard build, but I was surprised at some of the inaccuracies in the Verlinden kit. I have to say that knowing that all of you would be looking at it and critiquing it led me to resolve to improve it even more than I might have otherwise, so I appreciate the feedback![;)]
I didn’t have a plan for all the stuff I added, I just kept looking at my reference photos, saying, “ok, got that,…and that…hmmm, I could add that next…” [:-^]ya know, just doing one more thing after the other til it looked suitably “busy” inside…maybe that knowledge will help inspire someone else to go the extra mile![:D]
I’ll be posting the engine compartment and complete interior soon! Thanks again!
hey doog-[:D]-super nice job on the interior of your Hetzer so far-- man those things were small inside!-- you have done a great job cramming alot of ‘action’ into a small area-- the ammo looks real good and [tup][tup] for cutting the roof off so all can see your work when the whole build is complete!-- can’t wait to see shots of the motor compartment-- p.s. nice webpage you have man-- tread[8D]
hey doog, what are you using for references? since i’m nest in the chute for the hetzer, i have to anty up right? lol
Treadwell: thanks again for the reply and I’m glad you like the website! I tried to get 'em to put some of my models up there but got overruled by management![(-D]LOL!
Roosterpelo: I’ve got quite a few books here, but the ones I’m using most for reference are:
“The Modeler’s Guide to Jagdpanzer” by Military Miniatures in Review–can’t say enough about this book! Tremendous photos and step-by-step write-ups of Hetzers,(early,mid & late) Jgdpz IV’s,Elefant, Jagdpanthers/Jagdtigers…also has color reference photos, interiors, etc. AWESOME AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
“Hetzer & G-13 vol 1” Photosniper Series published by Kagero. Also has interior shots, many in color; another indispensible book if you’re doing a Hetzer! Most of my interior work came from these two books.
I’ve also got the Osprey book, the “Tanks in Detail”, “Tanks~Armour: Pzkpfw 38t” by Ian Allen publishing(just found this in “Borders” this weekend!) and several “Armor” mags; the ones that Squadron pushes all the time-great!
You also might want to see if you can get a back issue of “Military Modelcraft International” - Sept. 2006–it has a full-color build/write-up on the Eduard Hetzer that you’re about to begin. If you can’t find it I may be able to get you the article and throw it in the mail for ya…[;)]
When I go to alot of model contests/shows I alwats blow all my money on books and reference stuff; it’s times like now that I don’t regret it! Be watching the mail![:D]