ICM Sdkfz. 222 Part1½ – It pays to do your research

While looking at contemporary photos (warning, nazi symbol in the link) of the Sdkfz 222 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug, German for "special purpose vehicle") I noticed that what I thought was some detail on the hubcaps actually was sinkmarks – or whatever its called when they are inverted – and not some round thing that was supposed to be there.

Now I really could and should have left these there. The wheels will eventually be covered in dust and grime. But once you know there's something wrong you will always know it, even if no one else does. So I had to sand it down and repaint. Woe be me!

Unfortunately my sanding stuff still hasn't arrived from MicroMark. So all I had was some diamond files. Which left a rather rough surface. That of course later showed up when I applied the wash and looks just awful when taking photos with a macro lense...

At least it got the same tonal value as the rest of the wheel, and of course... it will be covered in dust later on anyways.

-.-

FML! :)

ICM Sdkfz. 222 Part1

While waiting for some stuff to arrive from Micromark so I can finish up the SAFS suit I built I decided to build and paint a kit from ICM (some Ukranian maker) depicting a Sdkfz. 222. Or as we like to call it "a Frog".

The kit itself is pretty basic. Two sprues, a two part hull, photoetched copper (not brass) and some decals for vehicles from 1941 to 1944. Building it was also pretty much straightforward. The instructions are sparse, though since this isn't a 1/35 kit there isnt much detail to glue on the wrong way. Which led me to add some stowage from Black Dog as well. Without it the car would look rather bare...

One surprise is that the hubcaps are separate from the rubber tires, which made painting them -much- easier. The hassle of painting roadwheels is almost as coma inducing as putting together link-by-link tracks. That made me happy :)

I'm just gathering up strength to glue on the last pieces of stowage and then it's time for a coat of future and time for weathering.

At least it wasn't a year ago...

... more like six months ago.

So you might wonder, what happened? As written earlier, both me and Boomo got new jobs, 40K got in some sort of a standstill for us. Hordes turned more and more into the Games Workshop syndrome with more than 35pts being the norm (at least in our metagame). Boomo became a father, I somehow ended up in a relationship even though I do my best to dress and live like some redneck white trash dude.

No time for either 40K, hordes, hobbying or stuff. Which meant no more time for blogging as well.

But... the 6th edition of 40K is around the corner. Hopefully that will mean some more action on the tabletop for both us writers on PX40K. I've also gotten bit by the modelling-bug and just recently finished building and painting a 1/35 Tamiya Stug IIIb. Sitting on the workbench is a 1/35 T72 waiting for the second layer of wash. And when that's done, this little fellow just begs for me to be painted.

Maschinen Krieger S.A.F.S. in 1/20 scale.

So, hopefully some more content during the next months. Perhaps not as frequent as earlier, but I will promise at least one post every other week.

I leave you with some pictures of my StuG. Not the best modellingwise (straight out of the box) or paintingwise (I hadn't touched my pigments or airbrush for about six months). But hey... it's a tank!

The Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun was Germany's most produced armoured fighting vehicle during World War II. It was built on the chassis of the proven Panzer III tank. Initially intended as a mobile, armoured light gun for infantry support, the StuG was continually modified and was widely employed as a tank destroyer.

The kreuz-decal broke while I was applying it. So I had to improvise a little.

Boomo once showed me pictures of his platoons IFVs after one outing. They were far more dirty than this StuG is. But Lifter said to me when talking pigments/weathering that I usually just have a pile of pigment and a tank under it. So I tried to restrain myself this time. 

Tools for tools.

"Hey, is this the way to Warzaw?"

MIG Oil Stain mixture for the engine hatches. Works out really nice when layering it on.

I was thinking of leaving the hatches closed. No matter how realistic the 1/35 scale figures are I cannot shake the feeling of them making the whole model feel "goofy". They do add some scale reference to the model though.

I opted out on the commander for the T72 I'm currently working on, mostly because it's such a hassle painting the insides of the tank and then have it covered up by the turret/cupola. In the case of the T72 (Tamiya version) there was no insides so it would be kinda silly to be able to look inside.