Greetings all. I just completed my fifth campaign and sixth build since returning to the hobby. This was my effort for the Wheeled AFV/Tracked APC campaign. As the title suggests this is a German SpPz-2A2 Luchs reconnaissance armoured car. It's the Revell kit 03118 in 1/72 scale.

I've had two of these in my stash for over a decade. My original impression was that it would be a quick and simple build. That wasn't the case and the complexity of the suspension alone nearly made me give up more than once.

Anyway, on with the build...

The Kit



The body was simple enough.





The suspension fun begins!

Each axle:





The wheels:





Starting the front suspension:



The arrows show a few of the individual parts for each suspension component:



Here's the suspension details pretty much complete. I painted them black for both pre-shading and for contrast.





Starting on the body and turret.







Assembly more or less complete and first painting started.







I thinks that's enough for now. BTW, this is my first attempt at camouflage and with a new airbrush to boot!

Comments or questions always welcome.

Cheers,
Jan

I really appreciate these construction posts. I'll be interested to see how things turn out as you move along. The detail on the suspension looks amazing considering the scale (is it really 1/72?).

Thanks for commenting! And yes, it is 1/72 and the suspension is/was a nightmare at times.

Here's a couple of more shots of the preliminary painting. The red-brown doesn't really stand out in the pictures as it does in real life.









Next are the gloss coat, decals and preliminary detail painting.







More details and the initial weathering.





Questions or comments?

Cheers,
Jan

Here's the progress to date. Considering the problems that this build presented, I am actually starting to like this beast. There's still a bit more I'd like to do. BTW, I am trying a few different camera/background experiments. Comments, suggestions?









Thanks for looking.

tread_geek

I like your build here Jan, it's helping to motivate me with my first attempt at braille scale. I think it would've been sweet if you had removed and recast the becon(?) in transparent amber. If I ever get one of these I may actually try that.

Thanks again for commenting in my query thread!

Hi Jan,

Really nice model, all that effort on the suspension and you can't really see it when it's on a base - that must be very annoying. The airbrush seems to be working ok, nice camo. Keep up the good work.

All the best,

Paul

Thanks for looking and resurrecting this ancient (relatively speaking) build, Jeremy. It was only my fifth build after returning to the hobby a couple of years ago. I had a lot to relearn. ;-) Now with window/glass making materials I might be able to do something more with the "beacon" but I'll let this one stand as it is. I have another in the stash that I can "experiment" on in the future.




Paul, you are correct that in many cases that wonderful suspension won't be seen (especially if the vehicle is affixed to a base). However, in my case I have it displayed on a shelf and am proud to show inquiring minds the underside.

Surprisingly this thread got very little reaction when it was originally posted so I am happy that you two discovered it. It was around this time that my SWMBO and I got a DSLR with several attachments and were experimenting with it's operation.

The pictures above aren't too bad but I created a thread in the "Modern Armor" sub-forum with more and better pictures of the completed build. You can find it HERE.

Thanks,
Jan