Hi. I've started Dragon's Sd.Kfz.251/23 Recon Version. I've weathered the guts of the vehicle[under the floor] the floor itself and the interior of the side walls. 95%of this won't be seen as there is a roof on this vehicle. I will leave the back doors open. I wanted to practise my weathering so I decided to weather all these areas anyway. I tried to simulate dust and and what not settling in the along the insde edges. The handles for the doors are photo-etch items from the kit. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

wing...;

Nice start! I have this one, too. A cool - looking version.

What will be your paint scheme?

I'll be watching as you go!

Hi Bob. Thanks. Not sure about the paint scheme yet, might go with the box top. Just applied a wash to all the wheels and painted the front suspension. It's nice that you can turn the wheels without doing any surgery. I plan on having this vehicle parked next to a section of park fence by Verlinden that I picked up pretty cheap. I need to find out if there were any wires or cables exposed by the radios that are at the rear end of the vehicle. The great website,Sd.Kfz.251.com does not show any photos of this area. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Wing...;

Those radios... They will be the typical versions found in various SdKfz 251/x (other than maybe the command and observer tracks, which will have more sets) and in tanks and spg's.

From this, I would think that you can add a mic and head-phones and power-in and loud-speaker out lines as folks have done in various Marder builds, etc. It would look pretty sharp to peep in the open rear doors and see a head-phones hanging on the radio rack (maybe with a small hook added?)!

After seeing this and checking your pics, that's what I think I'll be doing - wiring those radios up and hanging a 'phone set!

p'bob

Thanks for that info Bob. I'll look into some Marder builds to see where to place the wires and such. I'll keep your idea in mind. I would like it to look a bit busy even if just the rear doors are open. Thanks again, Wingman out.

Fantastic start! How did you do the guages so well? They look great.

Hi Sprue. I used the kit decals. Used a lot of setting solution to get them to settle down and then some dullcoat. Getting ready to apply some dried mud to the bottom of the vehicle. Thanks for the kind words, Wingman out.

Hello. A quick update. The firewall has been attached along with the wheels. The front wheels are dry fitted for now. Real dirt was mixed with Testors Liquid Cement and some Mr. Surfacer 500. This was applied with a stiff brush and then dullcoated. I might add some wet mud later with some gloss added to the mix. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Hi. Just wanted to post my attempt at German headphones. Their not totally accurate but I think they get the point across. Some photo-etch frame and some disc's punched from styrene sheet with some stretched sprue for the wire make up the set. I bent a section of photo-etch frame to make a hook and attached it to the radio supports. All of this has to be painted. I might add a stool later on. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Wing:

SHARP! The radio set-up looks good, and the phones are great.

The sprue "wire" might give you problem as you try to form it to hang for your install. Why not use a piece of thin wire strand pulled from a lamp wire or something? It'll form easier, I think.

Depending on how focal you want to make your radio and phones... and they are the nearest piece of the interior for one to see thru the open door(s):

Couple of easy "near over the top" tricks to add could be the wire that loops the two phones together along the head-band. Another could be a hand-mic on a cord also hung from your neat hook.

And wire up your radios! ALWAYS a popper, that! The units have a bus wire connection between them on the front, and a nice, fat power cable to the rear of the units, and also (maybe not as visible in your interior set-up) a conduit from the power servo box forward to the engine compartment.

Get an antennae lead in somewhere - look at some other set-ups to see some ideas, but I think the antennae jacks are to the L side of each radio and probably lead to a commons box with a cable out to the ant-mount. There will be an internal base for that mount up top- a conduit or cable should go to there.

Your phones and mic (if you do it) hook into jacks to the lower left corner of the respective unit.

Something which may be surreal but which seems (to me, anyway) likely in an enclosed vehicle would be some sort of operator's lamp- maybe a small "goose-neck" and shade deal. Some sort of note-board or ledge by or beneath the radios might be approp. "Metal bracket and tin top?" Snazzy if a funky wood top! Hey, you gonna put a stool in, he should have something to write on, no?!!

Thought just occurs: Maybe you can get some dress-up ideas for this rig and its commo bits from looking at some sdkfz 250 or 251 observer or command-track set-ups! I would bet that a recon track could have some of the bits those set-ups have! (Having said this, I am going to go look that up myself!)

Hey, Just some wild notions to keep you busy (just in case you find yourself drifting off to the telie and the pop-corn)! Your set-up looks really good as it is!

Hi Bob. Thanks for all that. I was thinking later on after I used the stretched sprue for the radio wire that it was going to be to stiff. I'll see if I have some soft wire available. I wish I could find some photos of this radio setup to get the wiring right. Thanks for the tips. Wingman out.

Hi Wingman, This is shaping up nicely. Looking forward to more updates.....Vince

Hi Vince, thanks. I'm going to replace the wire that is on the phones with some that is more giving. Bob gave some good tips so I'll look into those. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Hello. I've added a writing table from spare photo-etch. A lamp has also been added. The lamp was made from a part from the spares box that was hollowed out and a clear part installed from the spares box to act as a bulb. The adjustable neck was made from thin copper wire wrapped around a paperclip. The mount for the lamp is also spare photo-etch along with the switch for the lamp. Some touch up painting needs to be done yet. I stuffed a Verlinden map between the boxes. That's about it for now. thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Wing;

That gooseneck lamp is HOT! I like it- gotta do that in mine for sure!

Nice touch to stick the folded paper bit in.

Get on with the cabling to the various boxes you have and this will look really really sharp. (Heck, it already looks sharp. Who am I kidding, here?! )

P'Bob

Thanks Bob. I wasn't able to find any photos with the wiring of the radios so I stuck with what I had. The main gun has been assembled and is a gem. The shield is supposed to be photo-etch but I messed that up folding it. I removed the molded on gun barrel and used the photo-etch part from the kit. The screens are dry fitted for now. They can be attached after painting. I preshaded the panel lines on the half track, not sure what paint scheme I'm going with. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Looking really nice.

José César

Thanks Jose.
I decided to go with a two color scheme with ModelMaster Dunkelgelb and ModelMaster Panzer Olivgrun. I might lighten up the green with some white added to the green. Can anyone suggest a filter color for this scheme? Filters are new to me. The grenade screens and turret are taped on for now. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Very good so far cant wait to see it finished.

Hello. A quick update. Thanks Mike. The guns have been painted and weathered along with the seats. It's nice that you can elevate the guns to any position you like. A set of headphones will likely sit on top of the stowage bins on the rear of the turret. The decals have been applied and a very, very thin wash of raw umber has been applied to the model. That's it for now, thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Wow! Looks great. Very nice details.

Looking forward to see more

Thanks Jesper. This question is for the armor experts out there, I hope you can help me out. The camo netting on the roof, is this plausible? I'm going to tie it down via the antenna mount and the hole for the machine gun mount. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Loving the build up to this point.
Do not recall seeing many picture references of WWII German vehicles, even recon vehicles with stowed cammo net.

the rest of your build looks great, but the net just looks like painted gauze.

besides the stowage of the net would seem to interfere with the turret roatation and that's a big no-no in any mans army in any era.

My US$0.02, your mileage may vary.

Mike

Hi Mike. I'm going to omit the camo netting. The tracks have been assembled and installed. They were painted flat black, dry brushed with toned down chrome silver, a dark brown wash from artist chalk and Tamiya X-20 was applied and then some mud applied. The antenna's have been painted with a new star antenna made from stretched sprue. Just about done. The Verlinden park fence will be going together soon. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Hello. Started on Verlinden's Park Fence Elements. I think the ivy is from Hudson and Allen, I've had it for years. The antennas have to bee attached yet and it should be done. This is the layout I would like to go with. The gates and column tops have to be fixed in place along with some touch ups to do. I think I will include some figures, my figure painting isn't all that. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.