Here we go again back at the bench with a new project, this time it will be the recent Trumpeter release of the E10 "paper panzer" i have always liked the look of the Hetzer and these look like they would have been the next step in the evolution of those small tank hunters.

This is a build review so i will keep it as close to OOB as possible for that purpose and my thanks to Bill and armorama for the kit and i hope i can do it justice.

For a full inbox review by Bill plunk check link below.
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/review/2877

First up is the boxart

And the paint scheme i am thinking of doing


The build.
Step 1 begins with the suspension which consists of 4 sets of 2 arms and right off the bat a small problem arises, when mating up the two halves of the suspension arms there are some gaps that will need taking care of but will be difficult to fill


so instead of trying to fill the gaps i simply removed the locating pins and using a sanding board layed flat i gently sanded each side.


the result was a much nicer fit with a little cleanup going to be required after they have had time to dry.


More to come,,

Ron.

Thanks Ron -- keen to follow your thread on this. Do you plan to build the "lowered" version as in the box pic? Tat

Hi Ron.

After seeing Robbert Blokker's ( Faust ) E-10 speedbuild, i'd had a few laugh's and it was great to see his very special camo sceme progresse.
It was nice but his build was a bit sloppy ( He build the thing in two houres. )

I think it's great to see how its properly done by you.
Show us the things we should take care of, like you did with the suspension.

This is gonna be a sweet build !
Keep those pics comming.

Frank.

Ola Ron Very nice... good solution on the Suspension arms of the E10 Nice built progress too so far.

@ Frank


Thanks for the compliments
May I add to my defense that I did not fill this because I went with the mud routine and that I knew this was not going to be really visible after the mud application. Therefore I could not really be bothered to fill it.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Robert.

In that perspective, your absolutly right.

Frank.

P.S. This was not meant to be an attack on your build or building skill what so ever.
Sorry if i offended you in any way.

Jouw E-10 was geweldig !

Off to a good start Ron. I've added a cross-link in the In-Box review to your thread here so anyone looking at the initial review will be able to see the build progress as well.

Ola Frank

No offense taken mate..

Nu ff wat anders... meld je eens aan op http://benelux.kitmaker.net ons eigen nederlandstalige stukje van Armorama. Uiteraard zijn we altijd blij met nieuwe nederlandssprekenden.

met een vriendelijke groet

Robert Blokker

Hello guys, i appreciate the support and interest in this build.
Robert i for one appreciated the pics you posted of your build they went far in preparing me for what i should expect from it and sometimes mud is the perfect filler for these types of problems i doubt there are many amonst us who havent done it in the past

Tat and Frank thanks for joining in i hope this very simple kit can be of some interest, Tat that is the only option we are given with the suspension without altering the holes where the arms insert so i will just go with it like it is.

Thanks Bill good idea on the link kind of like one stop shopping for people browsing the front page

Here is an update,

Step 2 After cleaning up the suspension i attached it to the hull along with the idler arm and front tow bracket


Step 3 and 4 is adding the wheels and what a simple task it is, the 8 wheels and hub caps clean up easily and fit without any problems



Now then the instructions go a tad screwy but its easy to figure out, step 5 suggests you put the tracks together but this cant be done untill the idler wheel and drive sprocket are assembled which is in step 6 so,,

Step 6, i assembled the idler wheels and drive sprockets for the drive sprockets you are given a choice of early or late, i chose the late ones.


the insides of the idler wheels had 4 knockout marks which could possible be seen after final assembly of the running gear so i sanded them down, they could have been filled just as easily though.


these were then added to the hull in preparation for the tracks.


Next up, the tracks,,,

Ron.

I want to see this one too. looks good and fairly straight forward so far.

Ron, there is always a lot of interest in your builds, have no fear of that! Tracks on or off before painting on this one? Should build into a pretty cool vehicle.

Ron,
I sure hope that's dried paint on your razor knife there and not something more vital
Rick

Gonna check this one regularly.

I've got Spielberger Spezialpanzerfahrzeuge, and in it is a very detailed drawing of the suspension unit. Gonna check that with the pics.

Also, Trumpeter calls it a tankdestroyer, but the E-10 wasn't a Tankdestroyer, it was a heavily armed reconaisance vehicle, hence the ultra low profile.

Looking good so far, I'm going to to be following your progress closely. This is on my list of stuff to build soon!

Thanks,
Phil.

Thanks guys.
Hi James i will be painting the tracks on the vehicle, on this one it should be quite easy

Rick yup it was something vital on that knife handle,, my bondo glazing putty heh cant build without it.

here is a link to a site with a couple of diagrams of this vehicle for anyone interested in building it they may be useful.
http://www.modelltreff.de/artikel/e10/e10.htm

a small update,

Next up it was time to tackle the tracks, although the one piece tracks dont look terrible i still prefer individual links so the choice was made.
The tracks take some time to clean up with two knockout marks per link to sand down but once done they do fit together ok and once on the vehicle looked quite decent.

The track links showing the knockout marks.


And cleaned up and on the vehicle.


one more side to go then onto the upper hull.

Making good progress Ron, looking forward to seeing it with some paint on.

Pity about the heavy and solid guide teeth, the tracks seem to be Pz IV ones.

this looks like a cute little thing to throw together and fiddle around a bit later on.

Quick update and a correction, after posting the above pic of the left side tracks i noticed they were on backwards, in a blond moment i had mounted them on the vehicle in the usual way as if the drive sprocket was at the front of the tank i realised in time to take them off and turn them around


here is the right hand side


also i test fitted the one piece tracks to see how they fit and looked and for those of you who prefere them i dont think they looked half bad


Well with the tracks on next up will be the upper hull.
Hi Herbert i think one of the perks of a subject like this is just about anything goes really, the kind of build to have some fun with

Hi Ron

Nice tread on the E-10. I have this kit in my stash waiting for the WWII experimentals campaign to start, so it nice to know any points of trouble early on before I start my build.

Thanks for the link.

Thanks for sharing - looking forward to see more as this one progresses

Ron,
Any chance pulling off those wheels to show us how you lowered the suspension?
If not maybe some detailed text on the proceedure?

Thanks

Hi Jesper, thanks for checking it out glad to be of any help

Hi Firecaptain the wheels are glued on but no surgery is required for this positioning this is the kit designed position, if you want to set them in the raised position then you would need to open up the holes in the hull where the suspension fits which are "keyed" and then realign them, the best i can tell.

Ron.

Moving on to the upper deck the first thing i noticed was a sink mark that run the entire length of the sides and need to be taken care of, for this i sanded it flush and rescribed the panel lines also i did not drill the holes for the schurzen brackets as directed because if i do add the schurzen i will use the PE ones and they dont require it.


The hatches and grab handles were next and went ahead without any problems


followed by the tools which cleaned up quite easily and the detail was suprising good i had originally thought here i might add some pe clasps and tools from the spares box but upon cleaning these up i decided to give them a go instead and i believe with some paint and weathering should look nice.



Ron.

So it's a kit option that is engineered to allow you to choose the position of travel or attack?
Looks like I need to get 2 of them then.
Thanks,
Joe

Hi Joe, the kit only gives the option i have depicted if you wish to set them in the attack position the keyed holes will need drilling out so the suspension arms can be repositioned this is something the builder will need to figure out the kit doesnt give any directions for this although it shouldnt pose too much of a problem other than figuring out the exact level the wheels will need to be set at but thats pure speculation on my part, other than the above link to those drawings i have no other refs on this vehicle whatsoever .

Ron.

Next up was the grills/intakes and the remote MG this is the first time using trumpeters PE and i must say its quite stiff i used sissors to cut it off and trim it because my exacto wasnt up to the job but that said it looks fine and fits well so no complaints here.


when attaching the grill to the deck i had to open up the holes a little it was a bit of a tight fit but simple to overcome


and the MG, only note here is when using the PE sheilds for the MG you must remove the plastic tabs where the shield fastens to the mount, they are locators for the plastic shields, other than that everything fits as intended and looks nice.


after this all the optics were added some of which from the inside and then the upper hull was attached to the lower hull, the fit was fine and nothing needed doing at all.


next up the rear plate,,,,

I test fitted the rear plate before attaching all the details and found it to be quite snug similar to the hatch openings but all that was needed was a light sanding of the inside of the upper deck to get it to fit nicely, so i added the details all of which gave me no problems except the plate that goes on the top end of the jack, it was misformed with flash and a knockout mark right in the center and because it sits on the top it is in plain view so i replaced it with one from the spares box. i also drilled out the exhausts a little.


once dry i attached it to the vehicle without issue.



all that remains is the gun and mantlet assembly and tow cables.