Looks real nice Tat.

Got started on my Tamiya SdKfz 232 while the primer dried on another build. Being one of Tamiya's older kits, this was promising to be a pretty basic build so I thought I would spice things up by having a go at showing the suspension turned. Knew it would be tricky with 8 wheels to keep in alignment, and ironically the more basic the kit suspension the more challenging it is to change the position.

First step was to drill out the connection between the ball joints and the swing arms so I could insert pins to keep everything aligned properly once I started cutting it apart. Since the chuck on my drill press is too big for a 1mm drill bit I needed another way. Hobbyist minilathe+aftermarket drill chuck+scrap+minivise+clamp=success:



After inserting pins made from brass rod I cut the ball joints loose from the swing arms and drive axles. My initial plan was to use the steering linkages to keep all wheels aligned, but found out quickly it just wasn't going to cut it. After beating my brain for a couple of days I hit on this:

When I discovered I had a piece of tubing that would slide snugly onto the axles, I used trig to figure out the dimensions of a triangle that would give me the steering angle I wanted then laid it all out with a carpenter's square. One axle at a time:



First try at this so even if it fails miserably I will consider the learning curve a success.

Looks great, John. I like the unusual markings and camouflage. What is the unit? Some kind of Russian interior police or militia?
Are you going with a clean build or are you going the weather it?