Next on the chopping block,,,

Today i began work on the Marder II from Dragon, my first impressions when opening the box was there is a lot to this kit and most of it is small but it is one i have wanted to do for some time now so onward i went. Click the link below for a full review of the kit by Terry Ashley.

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/dragon/dr6262.htm

The Boxart.



I havent decided what markings or paint scheme i am going to go with yet i will see how i feel as the build progress's.

Step 1 is quite comprehensive and includes assembling and fitting the suspension, the wheels and the front and rear plates, so far i only tackled the front and rear plates which went together as per the instructions without any issue and the only changes i see that i will make at this point will be replacing the kit supplied PE tool clasps for the easier to assemble Griffon one's.



Ron.

Hi Ron , I've always thought of getting this kit so your build will be helpful in that regard.Coming along nicely.Looking forward to some more Bob

Thanks Bob so far it looks to be a very detail intense kit i will try keep it interesting

Update,,,

Continuing with step 1,,

I began with the assembly and fitting of the suspension.

each set consists of three pieces and beside a seam that needs cleaning on each one goes together well but care needs taking to make sure they all line up correctly, i advise to do the whole stage in one go with all the stops included because some adjustments are nessesary to get it all to fit and be inline.





The drive housings require you to add 4 bolts per side which are to be scraped of the sprue but its a very simple process.



And lastly to finish out step one the wheels are added, there is a choice of 2 drive spockets and three idler wheels the configuration i chose is one that appeared in several of my refs.



Ron.

nice build so far! looking good.
looking forward to see more!

Thanks Jens glad to have your company

I have narrowed down the finish i will be going for to one of the following,




And one last update for the day,,

Step 2 consisted of 3 small sub assemblies for the interior.



And fitted.



Step 3 the assembly of the transmission.



Step 4 involved fitting the transmission, a crossbar over the drivers area and the details on the front plate.





Also included in step 4 was the tracks but i will wait on them for another day.


Ron.

Nice work thus far Ron.Clear and concise as always.
The first colour plate looks to be more unique to me as far as colour schemes go?
Both state that the untis are unidentified. Will this in any way hinder your search for accurate markings, or are you happy to go with whatever?
Brad

I admit I prefer the first colour plate as far as paint options are concerned Ron

Been away a few days But it's coming along nicely. Won't be going out anymore Bob

and like Tamiya's Marder 2's moulds date back to the 1970's so if dragon couldn't better Tamiya's kit then serious questions would have need answering about DML or any other model company for that matter

and yes it is looking a nice clean build

Looking good Ron, what scheme of the two are you doing? I like the one on top myself. But my skills are far from being able to even try that one!

Ron-- either camo scheme would look impressive....great job
DJ

James ,you could probably pull off that scheme no problem with a good Iwata airbrush and some confidence........set the air pressure low and paintflow low ..get close and take your time ....its not hard really...

Thanks for the comments and interest guys, Brad im fine with unidentified units and although i do prefere the upper one i am not sure if i could really pull it off so the jury is still out on that

Well after a couple of weeks off for vacation its time to get things rolling again


Next up was step 5 which began work on the upper hull by adding the front fenders and driver side armour.



Step 6 is more interior detail work this time on the inside of the upper hull as you can see in the pics some parts did not fit very well and required some filling and sanding etc,







step 7 was more interior details



before moving onto step 8 i went ahead and dryfit the upper hull to the lower hull and several spots on the underside of the upper hull need sanding in order to get a nice snug fit.

step 8 starts on the right side fighting compartment wall and everything goes according to the instructions, i added a clasp on the box from the griffon set and also the MG barrel clamp, the kit supplies tools with molded on clamps and a plain set without to use with the supplied PE clamps, i opted to use the molded set except i removed the handle and used the PE one





once the details were added i test fitted the wall and discoved quite a gap at the upper front requiring a bit of sanding in several spots along the bottom to get a good fit.





Ron.

Glad to see you're done playing in the sand and right back to the bench! This is shaping up nicely, Ron. Were the tie downs(?) for the camo wire included or did you scratch them?

Hi Ron. Looking good so far.
Thanks to another recent thread, Ive actually purchased a few of those Griffon sets. They look very nice and should be a lot easier to use than Voyager or Aber.
If its of any interest, Id prefer the second camo/marking option ... France 44. It has a little more colour contrast than the other.

looking really nice with all those PE clamps. Are you going to paint the interior before the upper hull comes on?

Lars

I've really got to try the PE as it sure does make a big difference Your doing great Bob

Thanks guys,
James the kit does supply the PE tie downs seen in my last update but i really didnt like the way they looked so i scrapped them off and sanded the plastic blocks smooth (the instructions suggested they should remain when using the PE) then i found some smaller ones in the spares box which i think look better.

Hi Frank after using the griffon PE on quite a few builds now i am sold on their ease of use and looks, the jury is still out on the paint scheme

Hi Lars, yes i will paint the interior before the hulls are glued i wanted to make sure everything that was going in there was attached first as the steps seem to jump around a bit.

Hey Bob as always i appreciate your comments and following along


I have had quite a few fit problems so far with the upper and lower hulls needed work to get together right and both left and right side fighting compartment walls have needed work to get correct also the radio rack would not fit where it was supposed to and i have had a couple of seams to fill, this is definatly not an easy build also im not sure how the changes i have made to get these things to fit will effect the parts i add later, basically i am just crossing each bridge as i get there.

moving on a little,,,

I did not like the molded on tie downs or the PE ones supplied so i scraped them back off and found some smaller ones in the spares box.

step 9 is the construction of the radio rack which took no less than 22 parts without adding any extras like wiring etc (i may add a little before im done)



in order to get the radio rack to fit i had to reposition it along with a couple of things already attached to the inside wall, (the optics and the mg) then fill its location holes.





step 10 jumped across to the left hand wall which again i had to sand in several places to get it to fit properly. i noticed in the pic i forgot to add a clasp to the box it will get added.





Im not sure if i have done something wrong along the way that triggered this chain of things not fitting or if its the kit itself and although it is taking some extra work im still confident it will be ok in the end.

Ron.

Hello Ron. Your build looks great so far. I just finished building this kit and I am just waiting to get the paint I need. I also had a lot of difficulty fitting all the parts that you mentioned, so I think it is the kit.

Ron, do you happen to know of any online reference photos of the Marder 2? I have looked all over and have not found anything.

Looking forward to the rest of your build!

Hi Dabitup i found most of my refs on the web using google/images and have been collecting them for over a year now PM me with exactly what you are looking for and i will see what i have


Another small update, i am slowly beating it into submission bit at a time,,,

step 11 begins work on the upper hull details and for once most things fit well and are straight forward the only things i added was some scratch built brackets on the spare wheel after scraping the molded on ones off and wiring for the light.



steps 12 and 13 consists of assembling and fitting the ammo boxes on the rear engine deck and as par for course this needed quite a bit of fiddling and a little filling but they did fit eventually and once again i removed the molded tie downs and used some from the spares box.



With one or two small details added that were overlooked earlier (the instructions are very busy and need to be looked over very carefully)that just about rounds this stage out and all that remains is the gun assemble and the tracks.






Ron.

Okay, thank you. PM sent.

Ron , how difficult is it to paint the fighting compartment after it's assembled?All those nooks and crannies. Bob

Hi Bob, not everything is bolted down yet and will be dissassembled for painting see pic below


Another update,, almost there,,

steps 14 through 19 are the assembly of the main gun and shields which except for a little filling around the breech went together very well and should look very nice under some paint. Sorry the pics are not great i was tired tonight and couldnt be bothered to redo them







Here is all the assemblies dry fit



And broke down for painting,



All that remains is,,

The tracks

PE skirts around the bottom of the gun shield

some simple wiring for the radio

gas cap (wasnt included in the kit)

Ron.