Hello all, Here we go again with what promises to be another awesome kit from Dragon thank you Jim for entrusting me with this little gem i hope i can do it the justice it deserves

The SdKfz 234 series was designed as a replacement to the earlier SdKfz 231/232 eight-wheeled armored cars and there were four versions built, the 234/3 was armed with a 7.5cm KwK51 L/24 and a 7.92mm machine gun in an open-top superstructure and was produced starting june 1944 and phased out towards the end of 1944 in favour of the 234/4 which was armed with the 7.5cm PaK 40 L/46. The vehicle carried 55 rounds of ammunition and weighed 9.8 tons.

Whats in the box.
12 large sprues.
6 small sprues.
3 small clear sprues.
1 lowerhull.
1 drive train housing.
1 small PE fret.
4 metal width indicators.
2 decal sheets with options for 3 vehicles. ( 226.Aufklarungs Abt., 116.pz.Div., Normany 1944.) ( Div. "Ullrich von Hutten" , Germany 1945.) ( Unidentified Unit, Normany 1944.)
This kit includes the extra "road" patterned tires also which is a nice touch more on those later.

The Boxart.


Getting started,
Building the lower hull and running gear.
The build began as usual on the lower hull and running gear with steps 1 and 2 focusing mainly on the axles, ball joins and their supports, at first glance this looks quite complicated but after studying the instructions for a few minutes and taking it slowly it really wasnt too bad at all the only small problem i had was the ball joints themselves being a tight fit but a little sanding took care of that and everything else fell into place, the most important thing to watch for was making sure everything was in alignment.




Continuing on i attached the leaf springs which rounded out step 3.


now i deviated from the instructions which would have you working on the lower hull interior and instead jumped to steps 8, 9 and 10 which finished out the running gear up until attaching the wheels and once more this looks a tad confusing but is in fact very straight forward and everything fits together perfectly.






What can i say but so far this is everything i hoped for, thanks for looking and comments are welcome.

Ron.

Going to follow this one with interest, mine arrived from GM yesterday. Looking forward to it Ron!

I to, will be watching this blog with great interest while waiting on mine !

Cheers
Greg

If you could see me I'm green with envy. I'm building the old Italeri kit, not as nice as this one.

Excellent start Ron, I've been waiting for this one to appear.

Thanks guys, due to work and family commitments i didnt get to do much for a short while there but the last few days are back to normal and i have a bit of an update.

I moved on and finished the drive assemble to the point of attaching the wheels i will put those on later, so then jumped back to steps 4, 5, 6 and 7 which is the lower interior.

A few bits and pieces here that finished up the drive assemble, the brake drums? and four protective plates on the front and rear.


step 4 focuses mainly on the rearward driving station, the transmission cover and a large floor plate, the wall that divides the drivers compartment from the engine compartment (part E30) was a bit of a tight fit and once it was in i did a test fit of the upper hull and found it was holding the upper section off just a little so i sanded the top of the plate down a bit until the upper hull was a snug fit once more.


Step 5 consisted of 8 small sub assemblies which are to be added during steps 6 and 7, there are 2 seats, one ammo box with attached seat, a radio, a set of pedals and a steering column and finally a storage box, the only thing to note here is during step 5 on sub assemble "E", the ammo box with attached seat the brackets (parts H4 and H5) are backwards and should be switched around.


steps 6 and 7, i had no problems with and everything fit inside perfectly and looks very nice and busy although i dont think too much of it will be visible in the end.

step 6, the right side


step 7, the rest



and what can be seen with the top on


Thank you for looking and as always all comments are welcome.

Ron.

Another promising build Ron. Looks great so far. I have the PUMA in the stash so there will be a lot of useful info for me here as well. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Frank, yea i have the puma also and if this one is any indication its going to be an awesome kit, the detail and fit so far is fantastic.

Ron.

Following this one with great interest Ron, keep up the good work.

Thanks Bill im really enjoying this one.

Another update.

Once the lower interior was finished i moved straight onto the upper interior, steps 11, 12 and 13, there is quite a lot of detail involved here and all the vision slits are workable if so desired but i found them to be a bit fiddly and i had no reason to want them workable so i fixed all mine closed as i went except the drivers slit, i left it open but it is glued and not workable.


It is also at this point the vents on the engine deck are fitted and there is a choice of open vents or closed and i chose to go with the open ones because i just think they look better.


I began step 14 but only mounted the inner forms for the fender boxes and the rear plate, the rest of this step calls for you to join the upper and lower hulls and mount the fenders but the interior will have to be painted before that is done


because i wasnt ready to paint the interior yet i jumped forward in the instructions to step 27 which is the armor for the gun position and the guns mounting plate, all the parts are on the H sprue and there are a couple of mistakes in the instructions, each side armor plate consists of two parts and we are told H29 mates to H10 and H30 mates to H12 but this is infact opposite and easy to spot also the gun mount calls for a bolt, H32 and the mg mount on the rear plate, H2 these are backwards and should also be switched,



Thanks for looking and any comments are welcome.
Ron.

I have a question about the interior color, im not sure which way to go with it i understand "off white" and "red oxide" are probables but what about the same as the base color "dark yellow" which i would prefere, any input is appreciated.

Ron.

Hi Ron,
Dark Yellow is a distinct possibility for the interior, at least the area directly visible from above, the drivers areas could well be ivory though.

I'd go with Dark Yellow-I built the 234/4 and went with yellow for that kit. Dan

Very impressed with this build log...this is by far my favorite armored car.

Mine should arrive by this weekend. I ordered it through my LHS. Don't know when I'll get a chance to build it, but this build log will be referred to when I do get started.

Thanks for your efforts and keep it coming.

Dammit Ron, you build through kits like a man on fire! You have no idea how hard it is on the egos of those of us who cannot keep up. Darn wipper-snappers!

Hey Ron, when I went to Aberdeen in the late 80's, I wrote beforehand and asked if I could get a tour of some of their warehouse where they had stuff that wasn't on public display. In one of the houses, they had one of these, believe it or not, and I got to crawl in it and photograph the interior--which was Dark Yellow throughout. Of course it's possible that it had been repainted, but I'd bet it WAS Dark Yellow. Primer Red was too dark for interiors; the crews complained enough when they tried it in the Panzer IV's that they went back to off-white. I can't say for sure but I think off-white just wouldn't look right for the interior; in an relatively open-topped vehicle like this, it could catch glare and possibly enough to be seen by the dreaded "jabos"!
I'd post you some shots, but that was WAY before digital cameras, and I don't have a scanner!
Hope the info helps!

Wish I had time to build my copy, but it's just as well you are blazing a trail on this one. I wonder about the interior colour and such. Also -looking at my old Aber set instructions for the Italeri update it appears they have two ammo cases mounted on either side of the body inside. I think I read somewhere that considering the uses for the piece of equipment the small amount of ammo indicated in the single case of the DML interior may not be exactly as represented, but resources are limited to confirm or deny this.Go here and download instructions- look on page four. (BTW this set does not fit the DML version although some of it maybe used such as tool clasps and such.)
http://www.aber.net.pl/store/cataloque_parts/35077/35077.htm

Thank you all for the reply's and in helping me with the choice, i decided on the "Dark yellow" and went with it,
Hi James that set looks real nice and i see exactly what you are saying but i have no refs about what is right or not so i decided to just go ahead with what i have so for sure now photo evidence will show up and prove me wrong so you all will know the right way funny thing is though i was wondering about the ammo storage myself i had read that this vehicle carried 55 rounds and wondered where they were stored?
Jacques i just get in the build zone sometimes lol and cant stop.
Hey Karl i appreciate the assistance on the interior color and really nice to see you over here

Update on the painted interior should be up later, thanks all.

Ron.

Well here is the interior painted and weathered and closed up so i can continue with the build, i didnt photo the SBS of painting the interior but i used the same methods i normally do and will be using on the exterior,

I began with "red oxide" auto primer then a basecoat of Tamiya "desert yellow" then using a wet cotton bud i removed some of the uncured basecoat to allow the primer to show through to resemble scuffing and followed up with a drybrushing of "off white" mixed with oil paints, next i did some wear and tear using "van dyke brown" oil paint applied with the sponge method then sealed all this in with a heavy "dullcote" before drybrushing the entire inside with Reaper Masterseries "shadowed steel" and finally a couple of oil washes with "van dyke brown".
For the wood i did a base coat of craft paint "stone" then using a combination of "yellow ochre" " burnt sienna" and "van dyke brown" i added the wood effect.
The maps were pics of the web downsized and printed off i think one of them is of pittsburgh heh the rifle and bino's were from the spares bin and the headset was scratched.


The base coat.


And the finished product before the hulls were joined.




And a view after the hulls are joined, once the guns inplace not much will be seen.





Ron.

Superb interior! Great work!

Gulumik

yes great work, hope to see the outside!
Ron

Ron very nice work. I have one question. Can the wheels be positioned(turn)?

Hello Ron,

I notice that you list Testors Dullcote as your flat finish. Do you have any problems with the flat coat and the oil washes since neither of them is an acrylic? I hesitate to make a big-boo boo if i am using the wrong stuff. I am using Turpenoid (oderless) for my thinner.

And as for using the "Dot" method of filter, do you primarily end up with a muddy mess, with the colors mixing? I do not get much left over areas with any tint of either brown or yellow, mostly a mix of whatever colors I "dot" with.

Thanks for the help...the JS-II I am experimenting on looks better.

Just wondering but you use pretty much the same meathod for everything dont you?

Looks really good by the way.

Hello guys, been busy this past week so sorry for the last reply, i really appreciate the comments and interest,
Hi Mike, yes the wheels can be positioned but you have to remove a pin from the end of the ball joint that centers the wheel and also the tie rods are keyed and will need opening out so they can be turned it is simpler than what it may sound the only thing would be getting the wheels at the right angle to each other.
Hi Jacques, i have never had a reaction with the thinner i use (the hobby lobby masterpiece brand) other than the watermark effect which i rarely have a problem with because i generally do all over washes, i havent used the type you have so i can only recomment a couple of test runs to be sure as far as a muddy mess goes yes i generally do, it all depends how much i work it in, if i want less of a mixed look i use less dots and dont blend it around as much, for the russian stuff i think a good mix of brown and yellow really works well and will show more after you get a coat of future on it.
Hi David generally speaking i do tend to use the same methods simply because i like the results, i have also found that i can pretty much achieve any look im wanting with them, sometimes going a little heavier on one and lighter on another etc,,

Another update,,,

After the inside was painted i was able to join the upper and lower hulls and add the fenders which were slightly out of alignment and required me to glue one end and then applying a little pressure work my way down until i had the entire length on without any gap this could simply have been a result of something i did in a previous step but either way it wasnt difficult to overcome.


Step 15 takes care of the front bumper which comes with optional plastic/PE side mounting brackets also metal width indicators and this step finishes with the light, horn and wing mirror.


Moving on with Steps 16 and 17 which focus on the rear of the vehicle with the spare tire and its mounting bracket and the mufflers, it seems you have three choices with the spare tire situation, 1, no spare and no bracket, 2, bracket but no tire and 3, bracket and tire so its nessesary here check the instructions carefully and decide whcich way to go i decided on adding the whole thing although i will leave the wheel off untill later after i have painted the model, the mufflers require a little filling around the exhaust area which i did but quite roughly as i intend to add texture to the muffler later anyway,


Steps 18 and 19 consist of the on vehicle tools, water/fuel cans and the rest of the exterior details all except the main gun, i began with the water/fuel cans of which six are required the only thing i might recommend changing here is the straps, they look a little thick but the cans themselves are very nicely done and when on the model the whole thing looks good, everything else fits well and without problem the only thing to note is the model calls for ten tie down brackets and there are only 8 PE ones supplied so i used them on the left and right of the vehicle and used plastic ones on the rear of the fighting compartment



Only the wheels and the main gun left. Thanks for looking and as always all comments are welcome.

Ron.