¹⁄35

Adler Sdkfz. 13

This is the Bronco Adler Kfz. 13, the detail on the kit is quite nice with some very fine parts. However, my kit had some issues. The biggest of these issues was that the chassis was warped and needed to be straightened out. This was accomplished using glue, bracing and some small relief cuts. Getting the chassis straight was crucial to achieving a flat-sitting vehicle. There were also a number of superfluous parts, especially on the chassis and steering linkage. Another gripe is that the wheels are attached to the axles by a mere nub of plastic. I'd recommend cutting them off and using brass or plastic rod for strength.

Bronco would have you add superfine etch fender supports that cannot be seen. I left mine off as a time and frustration saver. The etch mud-flaps are beautiful, but very challenging to anneal to match the curve of the front fender. I made mine from wine foil, this was much easier to deal with, I added punched discs to detail them. I replaced the driver-knows with brass AM ones and the mirror on the fender is a piece of wine foil polished on auto sanding cloths until I got to 12000 grit. You can actually see your reflection in it, a fun little add-on.

I added Hussar wheels and I flattened a portion with a file to make the vehicle look heavier, I highly recommend the Hussar set.

The decals are excellent, mine went down great and I buried them under clear gloss and then weathered the vehicle.

I painted this vehicle a shade of British Naval Blue from MM. As I find that the panzer grey shades often become too dark once weathered.

I am still unsure if I like this figure for this vehicle. I am open to suggestions. Now that I am done with this kit, I am going to take a break. I am also going to take a really hard look at my painting style and just build for a while without worrying about my next finished model. If you have critiques on how I can improve my painting, on this or other vehicles in the 'Gallery', please let me know your thoughts.