Airfix 1/76 88mm Flak en Sd.Kfz.7 tractor

[huib]

Thank you, guys!
This build stalled one-and-a-half year ago, because me organising a French aviation group build on another modelling forum. But it is resureccted now.

Where have I been? Ah, this far:



Only the gun itsself has yet to be constructed. And after that time for paint.

[JurgenH]

I like your build here too. I am excited which way it will continue.
greetings
Jürgen

[Wiking]

Most impressive !

And a good use of Arfix parts.

[C M Dodson]

You have worked your magic with this Airfix classic.

The finished product will be excellent.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Peter]

Just confess it Huib, you took a very long holliday!

Looking forward to the progress of this tractor and gun!

[Santi Pérez]

As always, I'm really impressed by the amount of handcrafted detail you add to all the military vehicle conversions you do, huib.

Go for it, the result will be a superb piece without a doubt.

Santi.

[huib]

Thank you very much, guys!

Gun and cradle
Well, it took a while. Because of the technical issues with the site it lasted days before I could even visit it, let alone post something. In the meantime a lot has been done.


These are the main parts of the Airfix kit. Not bad at all, and apart from the shield I will use them as a starting point for further elaboration.


The Bunkerknacker has adapted rotation and elevation mechanisms from the anti-aircraft gun, optimised for direct horizontal fire. This demanded some changes to my model. The gunner is facing forwards instead of sidewards. The elevation mechanism is served by a chain which I imitated using sewing thread. And a gunsight for direct fire was added.


On the left side of the cradle the fusesetter of the AA gun is omitted. Instead four pieces of plastic rod are added as struts for the six shot magazine.


The barrel demanded two ugly extrator pin marks too be removed from difficult places. The barrel was drilled open and the slide rails was filed open. Two valve rods are added to the barrel.


The protective shield of the Bunkerknacker was a bit bigger than that of the AA gun and had a different layout. So I had to make a new one.


The steel profile above the barrel even makes its use as an AA gun impossible.


Scratchbuilt six-shot magazine.


The most challenging part to scratch was the loaders platform.


Which moreover was attached to the cradle with a quite complex construction.


All subassemblies attached to the cradle.


From the other side.


Barrel inserted.


From behind.


Gun ready!!
Now for a lot of wheels to clean up and prepare for painting.

[MABO]

I am so happy, that you are back here. Maybe you can offer a look on the airplane project? It would be interesting as well. The gun is mind-blowing for me again. I can not imagine how you constructed this model with all the additional details. My hands and fingers would not be able to do anything like that. I hope you can post the following steps, even the forum has a lot of problems.

[huib]

Thanks MABO! As the forum is running reasonably well this afternoon, I immediately post my next update:

Paintjob

But first I have to pay some attention to the wheels:


All wheels removed from the sprues and cleaned up where necessary.


All subassemblies prepared for the spraying booth.


The wheels primed.


After the first layer of primer the mudguards of the back limber showed they needed some extra attention from filler and sanding paper.


Preshade on the wheels,....


....and on the rest of the model.


The tractors interior was sprayed in cream.


I made a coloursheet to decide which colour to use for German Panzer Grey. In reality this is a very dark colour of grey, showing almost black. I have lot of these colours as you can see, but my perfect colour was not there. In the end I choose for Vallejo antracite.


Antracite sprayed. The preshade is still a bit visible, as it should be.


The wheels sprayed and all rubber tyres and rims brushpainted using black-gray. The contrast is low, so it is difficult to see.


All details brushpainted, and few touch-ups to remove overspray.

Now for a few tiny decals.

[Peter]

You're making something very nice again Huib!

[huib]

Decals

I raided the sparebox in search of some suitabele decals for this model, and succeeded!


An old pinkish Esci sheet for an Sd.Kfz.11 sported some suitable tactical signs from a tank hunter unit. And no lack of license plates. That's all I need.


The fun was shortlived however, as the ancient decals disintegrated after contacting water. I managed to more or less salvage one Panzerjäger emblem for the front fender. The other was lost. As was one of the license plates for the front bumper.


On the back a license plate from another sheet.

And now on with weathering.

[huib]

Weathering
For dirt and grime I took out the oil paints.


A sloshwash of mudbrown oilpaint was applied on the undersides of the model to create a base of dirt.


Then a darkbrown pointwash to suggest more depth to the model.


Followed up by drybrushing using light gray and light brown colours to create highlights. The whole was finished using a matte varnish.


And as the finishing touch lots of half dried mud on the underside.

Now for the final assembly.

[Peter]

Always great to see these step by step post of you Huib.

Was it that bad with the decals? I have some old ones in the spare box to.

[huib]

Yes it was. But only those with the pinkish backing paper. The others were alright.

[huib]

Wheels and tracks.
First step in the final assembly.


All wheels finished with dust and mud.


The tracks of silver plastic.


painted and weathered.


The overlapping roadwheels glued in place and carefully aligned.


The trackend should be melted together, but as this connection tends to break under tension I add an extra safety measure using sewing thread.


Tracks in position. As these plastic tracks are quite insensitive to gravity I forced some gravity upon them using iron wire pressing them on the road wheels.


All wheels installed.

On to the last parts.

[Peter]

Thanks for the information about the decals!

Great work on those wheels and tracks.

[huib]

Final assembly
The last steps in constructing gun and tractor.


The transport limbers are glued to the crucifix platform. It took some filing and drilling to make everything fit an to get six wheels and two support legs all touch the ground.


Mudflaps were made from tinfoil and glued to the mudguards. A rope was added to the front right mudguard as a nice extra detail.


The upper body of the tractor glued to the lower body. And also mudflaps added behind the tracks.


And here as a finishing touch a towing cable behind the drivers cab.


A detail that I didn't invent myself!


Gun attached.


Now for a small base!

[Peter]

Impressive! Can't wait to see it on a nice base!

[huib]

Thanks Peter!

Base
This model can use a small base. I keep it simple not to distract too much attention from the model. For the 'mis-en-scene' I was inspired by the photographs below.












The starting point is a scrap piece of plywood.


I used clay to sculpt a sand road, shallow ditch and a stone wall.


Painted.


Grassed.


Some dried twigs from the garden, made into a tree using CA glue.


I nicked the 'Herbes Provencales' from the kitchen, glued some to the twigs using thinned PVA glue, and quickly put it back before someone noticed.


The Herbes Provencales were sprayed green using the airbrush. Now you will think, weren't they green already? Yes, but from experience I know they will turn yellow quite quickly if not painted.


And what's this? Ah, off course, a bramblebush under development. Some iron and copper wired glued on a piece of paper using CA glue.


Bent into a bramble.


Painted brown.


Now the dill was nicked from the kitchen, glued to the branches, and quickly returned. A narrow escape this time.
Hm, it looks more like a conifer...... Well, whatever.


Finished! Now for a few figures.

[steve_pickstock]

I wondered what had happened with this and I so pleased to see it pulling up to the finishing line. I really am a big fan of your work - the detail and just the effort you put into a piece.

I always liked the Revell early war German both the infantry and the crew figures for the horse-drawn 105. However I am sure that whatever you choose to do will be perfect.