I always liked the look of the halftracks and had seen many built at shows. So I decided this would be a fun and easy way to ease into armor. I picked up this kit at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon for about $14.

The copy-write on this kit is 1973! The kit doesn't look bad off the sprues for a 40-year old kit, the mold seam lines are a little strong but otherwise no real flash and detail is good. I'm not worried about accuracy as I want to keep the build simple.

The kit goes together pretty easily and i was ready to paint by my second sit-down session. Before painting I soaked the sub-assemblies in a Simple Green/Water mix, I don't know if they really needed it or not but since i wasn't doing any priming I thought it wise.

I decided to go with a dark Panzer grey scheme for simplicity and used Tamiya XF-63, which is almost an EXACT match for the plastic. I also used a little XF-24 for some color variation (its a little lighter). I brushed on some Future as a gloss coat and than added a dark pin-wash of black oils later for recesses and than dry-brush of a medium grey to highlight areas. The dry-brushing also did a nice job of de-glossing the Future.



I used some instrument decals and a data plate on the instrument panel.



Putting the top to the bottom of the main assemblies was a little difficult. The parts are a bit warped due to age I suppose, so I had to use some aggressive clamping



Time to let is sit overnight

Next Tracks- which I've NEVER done before!

Any suggestions on what would be a fairly simple but effective way for These German Halftracks? I don't want to go too heavy on the mud but do want to do some washes, pastels and/or dry brushing.

As far as weathering, everything in moderation.

Great to see an old kit getting some attention . No I don't think its age that warped the upper hull , IRC the two I built in 1975 had the same problem . I also seem to recall that the water barrel between the crew seats was only installed in the Sd Kfz 251/8 Ambulance version. Guess thats the one ( minus the stretcher racks ) that Tamiya used as their template.

I just built this kit and had no issues with the hull.

A water tank! I was wondering what that was between the seats. I'll leave it in, no big deal.

I was wondering what a lot of trinkets were on this vehicle . Can anyone direct me to an online reference materials on the hanomag?

Decided to basecoat the tracks with Tamiya Red Brown. Ill dry brush them next with some steel


Those toothpicks came in handy for holding the tracks for painting. Much better than masking tape

Oh dear.....
My modellinglfe flashes befor my eyes....

Nice to see someone still brave enough tackling one. as far as accuracy goes.... well... It's gone. Actually was never there.
As far as building fun; you can go as nuts as you want to. You can cram it full of personal gear and weather it as much as you like. Colours range anywhere from dark grey to dark yellow as a basecolour, with dark yellow, dark green and/or brown in whatever pattern you like. These vehicles were workhorses and it often showed.
Just a quick google on sdkfz 251 or German halftrack should give you some ideas.

Enjoy!!

Hi,



Welcome to SdKfz 251.com

(Hanomag) sd. Kfz. 251

Germany's SdKfz 251 mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen half tracks


HTH

Open topped AFVs do provide a nice canvas to add lots of details and gear but don't go overboard. Remember that this was a vehicle that provided transport, protection and offensive capability for its crew -- it wouldn't look like a junkman's truck. The ability to access weapons and ammo, the ability to enter/exit quickly and the ability to stay mobile were of utmost concern. Modellers sometimes cram everything into the spaces to make it "look cool" without real regard to how would that impede the crewman's ability to do his job. Just imagine if you were in the crew stations: how much clutter would be too much? Certainly you don't have to leave it pristine but often modellers go too far here IMHO.

By the way, the term "Hanomag" is an incorrect term to label this vehicle. It's called a SPW (ess-pay-vay) or schutzenpanzerwagen (armored personal vehicle). Troops didn't even call it a 251. Hanomag was one of seven companies who built it and was involved in many other types of vehicles.

This is a mistake by Tamiya.

Good stuff. Thanks.

Yeah, I did read that about the name "Hanomag" being one of many manufacturers. I didn't know it was referred to by soldiers as the SPW (ess-pay-vay) or schutzenpanzerwagen or "251".

That's not necessarilly true, Roy.
There are pictures of 251's being quit full; http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Waffen/Bilderseiten/Unterbilder/SdKfz251A.htm
Off the latter one is at least another showing the other side of the vehicle. These vehicles were often the "home away from home on wheels" for some.

But you probably are right about the majority, especially the ones used by infantrysquads on combatduty. They most likely would keep their vehicles in shape or suffer the consequences quit fast.

Ron: I don't doubt that soldiers carried a lot of stuff. What I'm advocating is that it be stowed away logically -- as to not interfere with the weapons, mobility and protection of the vehicles. Not neat, but logical.

I've lost count of the number of panzerfausten or Walther pistol casually crammed on the floor of some German AFV.

Ah, you mean it like that. True. The numbers of builds with stuff (f)lying around illogically is large.

Decals on, wash and dry brushing applied, that went great.


Ok, need help, I'm putting on the drive wheels and rollers but they don't align well. they are a little loose so I applied some white glue and aligned them as best as I can. Will the better self-align when I add the tracks?

OK- put on the tracks and everything came out pretty well. This was my first time!

I'll go back and secure things with a little suprglue tomorrow.

Almost done. Decals, oil washes, pastel weathering, dry-brushin, and flat top coat applied. I tried to do a "medium" level of weathering and it turned out a hair light after the flat coat. My next armor kit ill go a little heavier.

Hey Toad,

Great job on this oldie....the roadwheels had rubber around the outer rim, are you going to paint them?

No biggie just asking....I remember this kit well, but I traded mine a few years ago.

Are you going to use the figures...?

Real nice, Paul

Looks good, indeed!
I like the way you attached the tracks.
But eehhmm you forgot the backrests/bins for the troops.

Thanks!

I forgot about the rubber rims! Ill go back and get those.

Figures- Yes, I will be doing them and the guns next. Ill also add some stowage.

Thanks. This will be an out of box build only. I'm aware of some of the kits faults and omissions. I wanted to keep the build simple.

Calling it done!

I spent some time on the figures both researching and painting. I used mostly Vellejo acrylics for them. These are the first figures besides 1/48 aircraft pilots I've really ever done. Had fun with them and they add a lot to the model.








I had some minor problems with those small antenea on the front fenders- kept breaking off! So I replaced them with brass rod.

More pics inbound

there seems to be some shininess with the figs. You might want to hit them with the dull coat. And those "antennae" on the fenders are actually distance indicators -- so the driver would know where the extreme edge of his tire/fender was.

Oldie, but a classic. I love that model. I got a few in my shop for sale. Unless I build them myself. So much added work can be done on this model when you use some mind. I got one with a starched built canvass. Looks pretty sweet, if you ask me.