Eric: very nice vehicle. I'd love to take that camping!!

Bob: It looks good! And with all the variations, yours might be "correct" anyway

Happy Modelling, -zon

Thanks Zon,

Yep as a camper it would have the space, a generator, great cross country mobility and of course a 50 cal. to keep away those pesky squirels and racoons.

Eric

Ok Boys, been a while since I posted any progress here, but things are moving along (slowly) once again. I think all I have is one more coat of Future and then onto the weathering process, assuming that I can get some more stowage done soon. Cheers.

Looking good Damon. Definitely need to busy up the top of the vehicle.

Not to worry Matt, I plan on loading that bad boy up with tons o crap! Working on getting all the stowage painted and will add a few more items then begin the weathering. I plan on adding a bunch of stowage once the weathering is 80% or so, just before pigments. . . .cheers.

Damon: if you want some paper soda boxes, send me a pm with your address.

Matt;
many thanks, but I am trying to stick to only ODS stuff. We did not have access to cases of soda unless the PX truck came a calling (and you had your check book-WTF?) and they only had the old school flats of soda. So I am gonna go with personal gear, some ODS era water bottles and boxes and lots of MRE's and such. Maybe even a flight helmet bag, if I can find one. . . .cheers.

Nice lookin' ride, Damon!

I'll echo a previous.... you gotta clutter up the top! (But I'm sure you will, as you already saw this carp, so I'm just squealing! and besides which, who can resist tossing some soda boxes up there!). I'm no sort of fan of most modern stuff nor to be sure knowledgeable about it (my military "career" ended in '78, so I missed out on the Stryker world and other similar stuff - though I drove a host of Sov wheelies, and almost everything in the US, Brit and Bundeswehr , inventories...) but these big 8-wheelers sure stir some juices! (Ah, but they're really just SdKfz 234 / x - one of my fav subjects - slightly modernized! ). It's gonna look sweet when you get the crap loaded on and a bit of dirt kicked around!

Bob

Cheers Bob!

Looking good Damon!! Nice work on the stowage and straps.

Happy Modelling, -zon

It's SdKfz 223 Funk update time!

OK, I did, I think, promise I'd wrap the insides up and throw paint in by Friday last... I admit I fibbed a little . But I DID get much of my replacement of HobbyBosses' missing funk interior done by T-Day eve. T-Day came along, and I went into ale stupor and tryptophan over-load, so nada got done later TDay nite (I had dreams of... but no dice.). Friday came and went without much modeling done - family and stuff. Sat saw some work, and Sunday I wrapped it up. So it's about as built as it will be inside, and paint WILL get in Friday this week.

PS: For those interested in the HB 223 kit - the supplied interior is really that of the SdKfz 222 and matches photos thereof fairly well. So, I suppose, if you get the HB 222 kit, you'll get the same goods!

Here's what I have going:

The overview of the hull top and bottom spaces...



the bottom hull... I have added in pretty much the major goods that show in some 223 photos - gasmasks, grenades, a radio rack, a power-supply, storage box, a folding seat in the rear, a light-weight radio-op's chair up front, a swing-out coding table with telegraph key (yeah... those guys sent a lot in Morse...) and cable to the radios, spare MG barrel box, MP-40 and ammo-pouch, etc. The PE is the kit's but in the "right" places. One of the big misses in all of the 221 / 222 / 223 kits is the failure to supply any ammo for the guns... MG-34 belt ammo was stored in tall metal boxes held in those racks (PE) on the hull sides. I created 4 boxes from wine-bottle tin... actually pretty easy! Same "tin", along with stretched sprue, was used to build the radio rack pretty much "to picture".



The top inside... This part got some hand-grabs, "leather" bolsters on vision blocks, a goose-neck lamp, mount and cable for the radio op's table, some mess tins and a storage box and the kit wire-cutters. I fixed up the antenna operating assembly with a hand-crank (over the radio op's head, per photos) and a junction box and antenna cable. I MAY add some weld detail as the whole body was welded - the kit has great weld lines outside, but not inside... I've found that stretched sprue softened in the cement jar works like the Champ for this stuff!



I also have started into the turret... this is one TINY affair - and needs some work to make it come out up to the kit's otherwise high standard. The kit is a later-war 223 built on the 222 hull. Most of these cars had only 2 viewports on the turret - the kit wants you to add 4. So I filled and sanded the rear 2 locations. I thinned the turret walls (yeah, a little thick...), cut out the vision-port holes, made vision block frames for inside the turret for the 2 ports used, and added the weld-lines (more sprue). The gun and mount is pretty nice, but needs another of those ammo-cans for the loaded look. The wire mesh screens need some mount stuff on the turret. I will also add on the "after-market" field-mounted rod antenna often seen attached to the rear of the turret on these things. This stuff will appear next post



Fortunately, the outside will go quickly, as there is little I want to change (other than detailing those side hatches with handles and latches, adding on gascan racks, detailing the antenna mounts a little? and maybe opening up parts of the big outside storage bin? )...

I must admit that I've been slightly consumed by this one... and actually nobody can see much of the insides even if all doors are wide open, but hey! I'll know it's in there!

Enjoy! I welcome any comments and suggestions you may wish to offer. Paint starts on Friday!

Bob

looks really good Bob, nice work on the interior details. Can't wait to see how it wraps up. Cheers.

Managed to get some actual weathering started the other day. Used some umber and ocher (I think?) and varied the washes between those two. Results are good, in my opin, but I know that there is some issues that will need to be cleaned up. Also I have managed to break one antenna twice, now and have managed to also break one one on the same side. Will wait until I have finished the washes and such before adding new ones. . . here are some pics, cheers.

Damon: Looking really good. Nice job on the weathering, so far. You've definitely put enough work into this kit. But, it's the details we enjoy.

Damon: it came out well. Congrats on the finish.

Nice Roman! Looks good.

Happy Modelling, -zon

Racing towards the finish on this one! I am determined to finish this before the new deadline. There are still a few more items to do but here are the updates:
I have replaced the two (yes, two) broken antennas. I think the last one that I made is the best so far, shape is good and size seems appropriate. I think that we need to post a video tutorial on how to make the modern antenna toppers on here. If i can ever find some time, and figure out how to make a video (did I mention that I used to work in film?) then maybe I will, although I think someone like Nick, aka Angry Dog, could probably do a much better job than me.
I have added the matt coat using MM Arylic Flat. Big thanks to SSGT Toms for his "Finishing and Weathering Sequence" thread and for continuously answering stupid questions that I have. Really useful for us less than seasoned vets. . . .
I am hoping that I can add some pin washes in the next few days, as well as start drybrushing and chipping. Then add the stowage, pastels (pigments to you lot) and call it game over. I have managed to make some MRE boxes, a crago net from lead foil, and two cots and duffels from the Tamiya set. I still need some water bottle boxes and other gear, once all that is done, I will post pics of those prior to sticking them all on the vehicle. Cheers.

Looking good Damon. Can't wait to see this one finished.

One step closer to the finish line, now we just have to work out the stowage and one final layer of dust. . . .I think. . . .cheers.

Next update:
Added some stowage, still a few more items to add like ammo cans and water cans and then a final dusting and were gonna call it. Should have more time Sunday and Monday to work on it. Cheers.

I'm glad to see the lav comming along for you Damon. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Damon: the weathering looks really good, particularly the stowage.

Happy Modelling, -zon

Aloha all,

Some small progress over the Holiday. Decals are on. Since the photos I've managed to do a filter and hope to do a wash tonight.





Happy Modelling, -zon

Zon: If you used pigments on your muffler and haven't sealed them yet, you can achieve a more realistic effect by smudging them with your finger. I'm came across this by accident on my Hornisse. The rest of the build looks superb. Can't wait to see a little more weathering on it.

Matt: I haven't received the pigments yet (indeterminant back order), so currently the muffler is just painted. I will keep that in mind when I get them though.

Happy Modelling, -zon,