Well it is about time that I take the plunge and try my hand at a build log. I will be building the Einheitsdiesel Kfz 61, or the easier on the tongue, Heavy Telephone Exchange Van (at least easier on the English trained tongue, like mine). I will be building this strictly OOB, no metal, no resin, etc. I will even try to refrain from using any strip styrene to improve things. The kit features a completely featureless interior of the van area; I have heard rumblings of a coming kit that will cover the interior areas so I will leave the top of the van body loose on the outside chance that; A. it actually materializes, and B. That I get a second wind for this beast somewhere down the road.

Rick Cooper
Somewhere in Sunny California

Hi

There is an interior set for this kit available, in resin and being resin is fairly expensive. Don't know where you'd get it from in the US though.

Interior set IN-07

Alan

Hi Rick
Got one in my stash, so I'm gonna follow thisone with interest. Do you know of any AM wheel set for this baby?
Jacob

Hej Jacob,
Take a look here ( almost at the bottom ) :
http://www.airconnection.on.ca/SOON.htm

HTH
Heinrich

THank you Heinrich!
Jacob

Thanks for taking the time to follow along. I don't know about any AM wheels, I am going strictly out of the box on this one, but the wheels could clearly use an upgrade. Mostly I want to get this one built so I can try out some new weathering techniques and see how some of these AK Interactive filters work out.

Here is the van body after step one. I am a bit disappointed, the kit uses 6 pieces for the entire van body but something close to 100 for the suspension. For crying out loud, even the frame alone required nearly 15 pieces. I would much rather have IBG give a little bit more detailed treatment to the parts of the vehicle that the majority of modelers actually see rather than such an incredibly detailed treatment of the underside. I rather like the ease of construction that is evident in older kits that provide only rudimentary undercarriages (not many people see them anyway) and more detailed handling of everything above the frame.

Anyway enough rant, here is the photo of the van after step one. Does anyone know what I am doing wrong here, why don't the photos show up in the text?

Rick

Here is the completed cab from step two. I have left the windows off in order to make painting easier later on down the road. If you build one keep a square handy to make sure that everything stays squared up. A lot of the mating surfaces do not have very positive locating tabs, generally very subdued throughout.

On to the frame!



The parts for the cab



Pretty straightforward so far, only issue the lack of strong locating surfaces as noted above.

On to the frame! Keep the square handy and watch out for the handed parts.



Sorry for the poor image, like a dummy I deleted the clear image and kept the fuzzy one. So this is up until I can get the correct one loaded!

Sorry for the delay in posting; was having trouble with the camera interface (that means I lost the camera to computer cord!) and a fun episode with some kidney stones.
I have finished the frame/engine.


Some of the issues I have with this kit; the undercarriage is incredibly intricate with a boatload of parts for each step, yet the parts of the kit that the average joe modeler, i.e. me, will see are terribly under detailed. I am wishing for a Tamiya like treatment in the frame/chassis area with just a few pieces and more effort in the upper body (I'm thinking that the LRDG Chevy, for example, only has a few pieces, certainly no more than two or three steps in the instructions for the undercarriage, while this kit has 17 of 27 steps devoted to the same area) I hope that IBG will get some good feedback on this and keep that in mind with the next release. Also, the attachment points for the parts and the attachment points for the sprue runners are sometimes one and the same, which is okay if you know that going in, but most of the time I cut the part of flush only to find that in doing so I cut off the attachment point as well!


Here is an example of how underdetailed the cab area is.

Well, for the most part everything is together. Despite all my gripping about the over detailed undercarriage, the under detailed van body and cab, the kit does go together very well. At times the directions seem like a mess, CAD drawings with arrows going in every which direction, looking akin to a Green Bay Packers pass play or something, but in the end it all works out. You do need to be careful, sometimes the arrows point only in the general direction of the part location, a careful study of the next steps CAD helped a lot.


Ready for a good undercoat of German gray before sealing and the hairspray treatment can begin in earnest.

Didn't do a good job of taking many photos with the dark gray blue undercoating. I used Vallejo Model Air 054 Dark Gray Blue, it may not be the perfect color but it has been my favorite for awhile now.



This shot shows the masking tape applied in anticipation of the hairspray coat to come.

This is looking very good so far Rick, I've been wanting to pick up one of these IBG kits for awhile now and after seeing your build I'll need to get one very soon

I do think I'll have to get the upgrade set for it though since, as you pointed out, the interior is pretty naked.

....Like a naked mole rat

Hairspray, cheapest I could find (dollar store variety, takes a good fifteen minutes to dry)


Thin coat of Vallejo White 001 applied, one section at a time.


Got a bit heavier than I wanted on the rear of the van body, but no big deal as it is mostly coming off anyway.

Here are the first set of results after removing much of the winter white overcoat.


And the rear of the van

A bit more weathering now done, still need to do the mapping of the white color, a little more work with washes and filters, some extra detail painting, and some mud and dirt effects added before she is done.

Latest iteration of the beast. Another thing to note if you plan to build one, no windshield wipers or their motors are included in the kit. I left mine out in order to keep it as a true out of the box build (okay, I added the Tamiya shovel, but I broke the one from IBG taking it off the sprue). Also, the windshield sits to high if placed as marked in the instructions, the roof piece won't fit properly with out trimming it down, a pretty easy fix but worth noting.



And because that big bare top just looked to big and bare, I added some Lego stowage boxes and covered them all with an Apoxie Sculpt tarp. I'll try and get this piece painted and installed which means the finish line is getting real close. I still want to put this on a base. I had more than a struggle trying to get the wheels to all sit evenly, I finally gave up knowing that I was going to put it on a scenic base anyway.

Well, it looks like I have reached the finish line on this one. I have placed the model on a 'scenic' base, not really very scenic but hopefully enough to give a bit more atmosphere and to give the impression of a 1st Infantry Division signals unit near Leningrad in an early spring 1943 setting.

This is before much has been to the base, just my normal ground work mix of dirt from the backyard, white glue, and water.

Here is the base finished off with some snow effects and future floor wax for the wet areas.

And a couple of final shots before this one heads off into oblivion on the shelf!

Excellent Rick, I really like this one and the base sets it off perfectly. Overall thoughts on the kit? Would you build another from IBG?

James- - Yes, I would build another IBG kit, not because they are particularly well designed or anything like that but more because they seem more likely to offer the esoteric stuff. I'm hoping that they will scale up some of the 1/72 scale stuff in the future. It would be cool to see one of the Bedfords they do in 1/35th scale.
They do have some issues, overly complicated undercarriage, overly simplified most everything above the frame. Some little things; no fuel filler cap, no windshield wipers (none that I could find anyway!), soft details on the auger pieces that are so prominent on the vehicle and the box art.
But, with all that it still is a fairly easy build, especially when you get past the suspension areas. It provides a nice big canvas for painting and finishing, which is always my favorite part of the build anyway. I would recommend the kit, but it would be with some reservations (it sure ain't no Dragon or Tamiya kit!)

Rick