Greetings fellow Braillers.

Quite a while back I did an In-Box review of the following:



For those that haven't read the review, you can find it HERE. You can also see that this kit contains a second gun, the PaK 35/36 that I've built prior in other reviews. Due to various life interruptions I never got around to building the PaK 40 cannon.

While I have other outstanding builds in progress I've decided to tackle this kit as a distraction. In the review I noted that the original kit may not be suitable for a beginner or novice and my experiences to date support that view. While the detail of the parts is amazing, the tiny size of many of them can be a challenge.

First off is the three piece shield. There is a front and back styrene piece and a PE part that will be sandwiched between the two.

The back of the front piece.


The front with PE placed.


The front of the front.


With the two plastic pieces together there will be a trough that the PE part will fit into. This metal part shouldn't be glued as there is no telling what its actual positioning will be until the build in further along.

There are three barrels provided in the kit to represent an early, mid and late production version. Dragon provides no information as to which barrel is for which version. Basically, part H27 is early, H25 is mid and H26 (double disk) being the late version.. For no other reason other than looks, I decided to build the mid production version with the front flange and rear disk muzzle brake.

The breach of the gun is a four piece affair and for the flange type muzzle brakes you'll need to make sure that you orientate the pieces so that the wide part of the flange is horizontal compared to the breach. There are no definite positioning features to assist with this and will have to be done by eye.

The first two halves.


The top of the breach attached.


The back of the breach.


As this post is long enough, I'll save the further steps for the next instalment. Questions and comments welcome.

Cheers,
Jan

Maybe you can find these of some use. There is a Pak 40 outside a local VFW hall. I can better pics, or of a different part, if you need them.

http://s7.beta.photobucket.com/user/wing_nut_5o/library/Pak%2040?#/user/wing_nut_5o/library/Pak%2040?&_suid=135250389024203854589190834231

Plenty of scope for small part fiddling to take place with this kit... good job you have the part-catching tray in use.

I see this one has been hibernating in the cupboard for some time, and I must say I am looking forward to seeing it built with - pleeease - all of the figures too!? A Dragon braille kit with a full complement of figures; an opportunity that just can't be passed up.

@wing_nut - Marc, thanks very much for the link and it did help with one particular sticking point. Namely, how does the gun cradle sit in relation to the carriage body. From the second to last picture I see that the back of the cradle is flush with the back of the main carriage piece. There are no locating features (pins, slots, etc) and the instructions are not at all clear on the positioning.

@firstcircle Matthew, if the parts were merely small it would be a blessing. Some are positively TINY. I would suggest that anyone building this kit have a good selection of fine tweezers at hand and yes, the building tray has already proved invaluable in restraining parts trajectory.

Actually, the kit was lying at the bottom of a cupboard for quite some time. I knew that it would be challenging but decided to build it as an ordnance entry for next seasons model shows. To use the figures I need to build it in the deployed posture as the figures' poses would not work otherwise. This was my intention but the figures were still up in the air as my figure painting skill is quite minimal. I'll see what I can do!

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In this instalment you can see the main carriage body assembly. Here we see the start with the first few pieces.





Next is adding the upper carriage shield, a reservoir/tank that attached to it and the brakes and brake levers/handles. All locating features for these parts are quite "soft" (minimal).





The carriage more or less complete with the brake drums added.







You can determine the overall size by the #11 blade in the first image above. This is a time consuming process as the small size of the parts necessitates each one being fully dry before attempting to place the next. Also, a pair of self locking tweezers greatly assists in the building as there are few areas to grip the assembly with Mk 1 fingers. :-)

Cheers,
Jan

WOW, another Blog going? How many is that now? Seriously, I appreciate these things as they give good insight into a kit. I actually got out a #11 Xacto blade to get a better idea of the size of this thing and it is small! Looks to be coming together fine and the detail is quite amazing. Can't wait to see more and I too vote for the figures. You didn't do that bad with those Russian Marines in their review.

Regards,
AJ

Thanks for the comments, AJ. I actually have four Blogs started and a tentative time frame to get them done. As for the size, yes it's small but still a lot bigger than a PaK 35/36. While the detail is very good, once the entire thing is together I have to wonder how much will be visible. It's a pretty busy subject.

Those Russian Marines I did weren't that good but were simpler than the figures in this kit. If you check the review you'll see that they are multi piece with separate arms, legs, torsos, heads, not to mention all the separate equipment pieces. Each is virtually a model kit in it's own right. To top everything off, there are no instructions for how they go together! I'm not looking forward to the exercise of trying to puzzle them together.

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While waiting for paint to dry on another build, I started on the gun slide and cradle. The slide fit fairly nicely under the gun. There are only two parts to attach to it, one of which is the choice of one of two end caps (H7 or H6). I haven't been able to determine the significance of these so based purely on looks, I used H6. The other part used is H12 which I guess is some sort of guard along the slide rear on the gunners side.

The slide with gun sits in the cradle and here again we have no positive locating feature. You just have to eyeball where it looks appropriate.The gunners side of the cradle has the elevation and traverse wheels and the gun-sight. The first two are multi part and the sight is just plain tiny with a very light locating tab. I have left off the traversing wheel and the large guard until later.







So here's where things are at this point.


Next, I put the three parts of the shield together and dry fit them on the gun/cradle.







The next hurdle is to attach all the inner (back) shield equipment. The difficult part will be attaching the shield support arms between the cradle and the back shield piece. At this point I am thinking of replacing the plastic arms with brass wire as things are going to be very cramped with all these pieces together.

Cheers,
Jan

Wow, 1:72nd scale... kudos to you! I can't even hardly see stuff that small anymore. It's looking good. Sorry if I missed it, are you going to do the crew too?

Hey there, Mike.

Thanks for dropping by, having a look and I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Don't sell yourself short as you'd be surprised what you can see when you have the assistance of an Optivisor. So I take it that you're another person wanting to have me torture myself by doing the gun crew? I'd like to but I don't know if my painting skills are up to the task at this point. Although, I could perhaps put a few of them together to at least see how they assemble.

Here's a hint what I'd have to deal with.





Each figure body is five pieces, then you add the helmet, entrenching tool, bayonet, gas mask container, magazine pouches, satchels...and on and on. First though, I get to get this darn gun finished.

Cheers,
Jan

If you keep at it, after a while you start to go numb and don't notice so much the torture of building the crew!

@tread_geek – Jan,

YES! This build log was worth the wait. I think this is the best-detailed molded rendition of the Pak 40 in this scale available but it could stand a little help with some of the details. The scan of the figures on the instructions sheet over in the review that you did looks a bit intimidating and could present some difficulty for the modeler if the parts are mislabeled?

The up close photographs of the figures and gear look promising. I need to get this kit into my stash!

~ Eddy

@T.Mike Curry - Mike,

This hobby is supposed to be a relaxing and fun thing. The numbness you speak of could only, at the least, lead to eventual and total incarceration in a rubber room!

@Braille -Eddy,

I'm glad to see you interested in this one and I am starting to feel cornered by everyone pushing for the figures to be included. With Dragon's less than stellar reputation as far as instructions go, I can foresee the figures assembly being time consuming at the least.

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Limited progress but, progress all the same. The gun shield rear stowage was next on the agenda. What at first looked like a quick affair slowed right down due to small size of parts, lack of positive mating features and determining proper positioning of the respective pieces. The instructions give a vague idea of where pieces are supposed to go but the locating pins are near microscopic when compared to the crater sized depressions that they are meant to mate into. This was definitely a "two-tweezer" process. Three tubular storage containers and a box needed to be crammed into the tight confines of the shield and each required time for the adhesive to set up before attempting the next piece.







While I've already built two PaK 35/36 guns I decided that I might as well throw the one from this kit together during glue set up time. After all the practice with two previous pieces, the 20 parts of the little gun weren't quite as challenging as the first ones.

Here's a few shots of of the more or less completed smaller PaK with base coat and the PaK 40 shield for size comparison.






The next fun part will be attaching the shield support arms between the cradle and shield rear. If things were tight while placing other parts the amount of room left for manoeuvring the support arms is almost non-existent.

Cheers,
Jan

Jan

I have to say, the detail on this kit is phenomenal! Having the Pak 36 in the last set really showed me a lot as I've built it. I can now really relate to how congested it must be working on this gun. And I thought the Fujimi Pak 40 was good. I can also see it being a dickens to paint. Can't wait to see more progress.

Regards,
AJ

Excellent models Jan. Thanks again for your reviews.

Best regards.

Pedro.

Thanks AJ and Pedro. I appreciate the two of you commenting, as I am sure the staff of this site also do. Without feedback it's hard to know if these blogs or articles are actually helping anyone.

On with the build. As I had imagined, the little (and believe me they are little) shield support arms were quite the adventure to get placed correctly. Believe it or not it took the better part of an hour and a half to get them and the shield finally secured. In the pictures below the upper gun is just resting on the partial carriage. The PE shield piece was not positioned for the image.





Now it's funny that AJ mentioned the Fujimi PaK 40 as I dug through my model boxes and found the one I did decades ago. It's actually not a bad kit for it's age but the Dragon one is obviously greatly superior.



I started on the left trail arm and chose to fit the spade on the end. Imagine my surprise when the thing wouldn't fit flush. I had a good look at it and this is what I saw.



That raised moulding flaw (plug) needed to be taken down before it would sit properly. As you can see there's quite a bit of detail around it so that made the entire process take longer. I managed to cut away a bit of it with a sharp #11 blade without damaging the surrounding detail. I smoothed it down further using the sharp pointed end of a pattern makers micro rasp. Thankfully it worked but now I have to try to do the same with the right arm.





As per normal, the instructions for placing this part and the 10 or so other pieces on each trail are definitely not the greatest when it comes to showing exact location. I'm going to be digging through a lot of pictures for clarification.

Cheers,
Jan

Since the last update I've spent my building time working on the trails. I can't count the number of times that parts have flown out of the tweezers. Here's a few shots of the progress on the gunner's side (left) trail.







Those handles at near the spade are extremely finicky as the tab on them is smaller than the locating hole. The second trail (right) went together a bit quicker. I must warn the builder that by this sage it gets trickier to hold or manipulate the pieces as there are many very thing and delicate pieces that can be easily crushed. the use of self-locking tweezers and tiny alligator clamps becomes a must. It's also important to try to get both trails as symmetrically even as possible or the model will not look right. Secret hint: Take Your Time, Check, Recheck and Check Again!!!

Here's a few shots with the trails mostly complete and attached. The wheel hubs are just dry fit for the sake of the pictures.







Like its little cousin (PaK 36), the trails can be made operable. However, in the towed orientation the trail end handles should face in the opposite direction compared to those in these pictures. Separate parts are provided for that purpose.





All considered, I think that it's progressing fairly fast, under the circumstances.

Cheers,
Jan

Ah, the good old tweezer-pult. Lost many a part that way. Looking real good though.

Jan,

This blog is fantastic and I must say that I admire your hand control and patience. It was also cool to see the picture of the old Fujimi Pak compared to this newer one. Even without paint this could pass for a larger scale; it's so detailed.

Regards,
AJ

@tread_geek – Jan,

Sure is coming along nicely. Looking at the weapon from the confines of the operating position is looks real busy back there and crammed with an awful lot of detail. The weapon looked kind’a strange at first with the wheels in place and then I realized that you had not installed the tires yet. With all of the parts being so small it would require a lot of patience and care to get everything where it should be. Good job thusfar Jan!

I spent some time yesterday afternoon surfing the net and managed to find and acquire this kit at a very reasonable price. I also found and aquired the LAH Panzergrenadiers as well as both King Tiger sets with the paratroopers. It comes up often enough on auction so I’m going to check ‘EvilBay’ for the Acthtung Jabo set. It sure would be a plus if Dragon would include their 35th scale Panzer IV Panzergrenadiers into the 72nd scale figure series sets.

~ Eddy

@wing_nut - Marc,

Thanks for looking and I just love that term "tweezer-pult." The Israelis have that system called "Iron Dome," I think that us modellers need something called "Plastic Dome," that knocks down airborne parts safely to the cutting mat.

@weathering_one -Aj,

Happy that you like the progress and was pleased with the Fujimi version that I dug up. I recall you trying to finish one for the BB Campaign so I thought you (and others) might get a kick out of seeing it.

@Braille - Eddy,

You are right on two counts! The Wheel rims are separate pieces and the operating end is extremely busy and still isn't finished yet. I've seen the kits you mentioned and you might get a surprise with one or two of them. I don't recall which, but one of them has eight figures (sitting and standing).

I appreciate you all taking the time to leave a comment.
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About eight more tiny parts made it on plus the gunners recoil guard. Every time I thing that I'm close to the end I find more pieces to put on. I found some pictures of the 1/35 version being built and it appears that this one is very close to it in parts count.

Now for some progress pictures. The gun is just placed on the carriage as it makes it easier to place parts on with these two assemblies separate.



I'm down to the near some real tiny parts like what I believe are trail lock pedals (yellow arrows in the next picture). You can see how super busy things are getting.





We are getting there with the traverse wheel and about a half dozen parts left to go. A note for photographers, most of these pictures are taken with a 4X macro filter.

Cheers,
Jan

Jan that looks terrific. You need to put a penny or something in there for scale

Thanks Mark, and here's a couple of shots with both US and Canadian pennies.





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Now for a bit of clarification (or confusion), thanks to Dragon's instructions. First a reference picture from the instructions .



As you can see in the above, they have Part J10 being glued onto the left (gunners side) trail. Nope, no way, nada!!! J10 has a small lug that fits into a slot on the right trail (J16).



Here's J10 with part J26 attached on the right trail (J16).



One further confusing issue is how the tires fit on the wheel hubs. If you are using the solid disk hubs (J3), just follow the instructions. If you want to use the hubs with spokes (J2) the tires fit is reversed. (See images below)









In all these pictures the gun is just resting on the carriage and the wheels are not yet glued. There are two parts remaining to be attached, the gunner's traverse wheel and the lower gun shield. The former part is proving to be a nightmare as the tiny wheel is meant to fit onto a shaft projecting from the cradle. There are absolutely no solid mating features, just a small short stub on the wheel that is to mate with the longer part of the shaft. I've tried a number of times without success. If I ever get these parts on then the base coat painting can begin.

Cheers,
Jan

You could have bevelled the inside facing edges of the gun shield for a better scale appearance.

I knew it was small but more so than I expected.

@Biggles2,

Most of the edges on both styrene shields are bevelled. If you look back at some of the previous images you can see the effect, especially on the back shield sides. Obviously the best option might have been Dragon providing PE shields but then how would one "sandwich" them together.

@wing_nut - Marc,

Haven't I mentioned enough how miniscule this thing and its parts are!
Even the largest parts are almost impossible to manipulate with fingers making assembling it, let alone cleaning up things, a royal challenge.

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***FINALLY*** I got the traverse hand wheel on this sucker. I had to make a near microscopic sleeve that at least gave me something to attach the two rod ends to.



The rims and wheels are finally glued together but they are just dry fit at the moment. The cradle is also dry fit (sort of) on the carriage for effect. As there is no mating pin, I'm working on a fix to mount a pin on the cradle underside to go into a hole I've already drilled in the carriage. The lower shield was dry fit in front (and it also has some factory bevelled edges) but it'll need more work. Still a far superior kit to either the ESCI/Italeri or Fujimi offerings.



Cheers,
Jan

@tread_geek – Jan,

Just as you mentioned in your last posting that by comparison to the earlier ESCI / Italeri or Fujimi releases this looks miles ahead on the detail making this a far superior offering indeed! The two photographs showing the office end of the weapon with all of the parts installed looks impressive and as AJB ‘weathering_one’ put it, ‘could pass for a larger scale’.

I still remember, after all these years, when my then Airfix army men (Company size) went against a fortified gun emplacement that housed the ESCI, now Italeri, Pak 40 that was part of a friend’s small-scale army and losing half a platoon in the process before overcoming his emplacement. I was impressed with that anti-tank gun model but back then could not find one at my LHS and although I won’t be using it to play war games, as I before, acquiring one now with much better detail is a plus.

My copy of the same kit you are putting together here 'Finally Arrived At My Front Door' just ahead of the Thanksgiving holidays. Of course I did the slow ‘FAAMFD’ ceremonial dance upon opening the box when I found how well detailed all of the parts and figures are. Thanks for the parts assembly clarification photographs this will come in handy when I put mine together. Also, thanks for the note on the 4X macro filter, I have a few different filters and lamps / light stands now on the way.

Waiting to see some paint on this weapon,
~ Eddy