For the past few months I have been working on building a more detailed replica of the rare Vskvz 617 Minenräumer in an environment where some reports indicate it was actually used as designed.

Overall view of Dio:
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This was general theme: Uncovering the mines being transported in the wagon. Looking back I could have improved on making this more obvious:

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The main subject is the MENG Minenraumer VsKfz 617, 1/35 scale - Kit No. SS-001. With its odd looks and rarity I thought it would make for an interesting build. The single surviving vehicle was captured by the Russians when they overran the Kummersdorf testing grounds in April 1945 (Alkett VsKfz 617 / NK-101 Minenräumer). It eventually found its way to the Kubinka Museum outside Moscow.

The first prototype of the VsKfz 617 was produced by Alkett in 1942. It was designed to detonate mines using its weight with three large wheels providing full ground contact at any given time. The vehicle was steered by the rear wheel using chain linkages and worm shafts. Vskfz 617 is armed with a Panzer I turret with dual MG34s.
I wanted to model this vehicle with as much detail as possible so I researched pictures and data on the vehicles exterior and interior. I first started easy with the turret. I wanted to build this with at least the turret hatch (and hopefully the vision blocks) open to give the kit a little more punch. I traded online for the interior parts to the highly regarded Tri-Star Panzer I A turret. Both the Ausf. A and B turrets were equipped with two 7.92mm MG-34 machine guns, which I used for the interior of the Ausf B turret. Also used were the turret seat, hand controls, sights, etc. To provide that extra punch for the MG barrels, I added a set of brass replacements from Schatton Modellbau.

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Exterior hull details were replicated pretty accurately by Meng, with some additional details provided by a Voyager Exterior PE set. Detailing the hull interior however proved much more problematic. Research only uncovered one picture of the hull interior (see above). It seems the one surviving prototype underwent such bad storage conditions by Russia that the hull received a lot of damage. Therefore, not much is left of the interior of the original vehicle.

Based on the photo included above, I was able to add some detail of the driver seat area by adding a spare seat, steering wheel, and pedals from various bits in the parts bin. Sadly, most of this is barely visible through the two open hatches (turret and hull). For the area behind the driver's seat area I used a bit more imagination by taking some ideas from the interior of German halftracks. I even used half of a toilet paper roll to represent where the wheel shafts should be, while adding fire extinguishers, controls, and grab handles from other German armored vehicles.

Diorama Environment
Finally, I wanted to model this vehicle in actual action versus merely a testing ground. Evidence is not conclusive but there are references that the vehicle was used in 1943 during the Battle of Kursk. I could not find any documentation of this with the exception of the occasional reference on the internet as well as the actually history write-up by Meng in the kits manual. Regardless, it is obvious that “if “the vehicle was used near the front, it was not used for long and it appears that the Battle of Kursk would have been the likely place3. Thus, this diorama represents just such a possible encounter.... that is the Minenräumer slowly crossing a Russian minefield somewhere along the front where upon reaching the other side they located some badly needed water supplies. Upon disembarking they uncover the source of what had been transporting the mines. Perhaps the menacing strange looks of what is best described as an armored tractor scared the Russian mine laying troops away before they felt the wrath of its Panzer I guns.... No one will ever know.

Other kits used to complete the diorama for an accurate Eastern Front include:
• Royal Model East European Well
• Stalingrad Ukrainian farmers cart - Nr. S-3010
• 617 Crew - combined various figures of Panzer crew from both Dragon and MiniArt
• Various diorama accessories from Mini-Art and Royal Model

Below are some more views of the completed build:

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The following are some pics taken in order of the build for models and base. First couple of pics are before/after adding the primer of the 617 and shots of the scratch built interior before completing hull:

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The following pics show the base coat of Panzer Grey (Tamiya mixture with some light and dark modulation). The wheel shoes are painted a dark grayish brown color I mixed up with various Tamiya paints. This color was chosen after looking through a few pictures of the completed wheels of this vehicle and similar wheels Germany used on early 20th century artillery pieces:

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Gloss coat in prep for vehicle weathering:

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Dio accessories with just primer:

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Site layout planning prior to building base:

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Buildup of terrain using Styrofoam:

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Celluclay and natural sand and pebbles to create the terrain. Used a cheap can of brown spray paint as a base coat but followed up with airbrushing Tamiya earth tones to create the different colors and lighten/darken certain parts of ground cover. This is prior to any dark washes and dry brushing:

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Drybrushed and washed groundwork (using thinned enamels) prior to adding static grass:

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Base after adding static grass but prior to adding additional shades of green, yellows, and browns from airbursh to tone down the bright manufactured look of the grass. This also shows gluing the barbed wire to terrain using epoxy. This was to make it appear embedded into the muddy road after the 617 drove across the fence:

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Completed vignette:

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That is very cool and unusual.

Gaz

This is a really, really nice dio ! And the follow on pics of your"how I did it" were REALLY informative !
Thanks for sharing with us !

I am really impressed by the work you have done on this dio. I really enjoyed the "how to" of the build. Keep up the great work!

vr,

Tim

Really nice concept for a dio and great execution as well !
J

Stunning and amazing work!! Wow!! especially the figures

Great job Bryan! Appreciate the in progress photos, I always have a hard time remembering to be consistent with that. Love the composition and the groundwork; I enjoy checking out the latest Panther or Tiger but these oddballs always make me smile. Now, I would love to see you model the beast running over that wagon!!

Cheers,
Rick

Hi,

Thanks guys for all the good feedback. It probably took me about a year to build this as I am pretty slow and mostly work at night or some on weekends. But was a lot of fun and I got to learn some new tricks! Still trying to decide what to tackle next!

Great work on that strange monster!! The entire scene has all the elements covered beautifully, and your "how to" is really well done. Thanks for sharing your fine scene!

Bryan, excellent work-- I've always wanted to see somebody do one of these things in an "in action" diorama, and you've done it justice. I'm not sure of the premise you use about "finding the source". Seems to me this thing was designed to "find" mines by setting them off, but it's an interesting vignette idea. When I was a Cavalry Officer many years ago, I once stepped on a "training mine" -- a P3 "toe popper" we used in the 70's to simulate an anti-tank mine. It was designed with a small explosive charge that detonated when the weight of a vehicle went over it, and there was a quantity of white powder which would go off, simulating contact. They were not designed to be detonated by a human. Thinking it was safe to walk in the track pattern of an M113, traveling along a "seeded" road, I stepped on one the vehicle had merely "grazed" and my weight was enough to set it off. I went airborne about three feet, was stunned for a minute of two, and my lower body was covered in white powder. My left foot, ankle and lower leg hurt like h--l. I dusted myself off and limped along finishing the evaluation I was doing-- embarrassed and to proud to get carried off by the medics. The next day my foot was so swollen, I couldn't get my boot on. After a long trip to the hospital, the docs informed me I'd broken two bones in my left foot! From then on I rode in the vehicle rather than walking behind it. I've had problems in cold weather ever since. Bottom line-- I have great respect for minefields and the engineers who deal with them. They are a most "unfair" way to conduct a war, if war can even be considered "fair".
VR, Russ

Very impressive Bryan & some of the best mud I’ve ever seen. Maybe the upper surfaces look too clean? – crew with muddy boots etc yet the hatch edges are spotless but hey I love the concept & execution. Sceptical any of these were used at Kursk – a couple of heavy arty rounds from entrenched Russian positions would have seen these slow-movers off in minutes. I guess it’s just possible they were used behind the front line, but they were so outlandish there ought to be plenty of photographic evidence, yet there’s none. Great stuff all the same, hope you stay with Eastern front as it’s way under-represented here.

Wow Russ, thanks for sharing your story. Yes I can only imagine what it would feel like trying to traverse an area on foot (or vehicle for that matter) knowing there is a possibility of mines. Really an unseen enemy.

Yes, uncovering the source ended up not being such a good title for this since the actual uncovering was hard to spot right away (soldier removing the tarp with a stick to find the mines). But yes, that is what made it ironic that after clearing mines the way the vehicle was designed and reaching the other end of the minefield (see sign in Russian) only to find where the new mines not yet placed in the minefield were being stored/transported. I originally wanted this to be a diorama but after discussing with others, I decided the story doesn't jump out fast enough to be obvious in a few seconds. Thus a vignette it became!

Very good advice. I actually entered this into a recent AMPS show and received the same comments on the boots, mud etc. All good stuff to learn from.

Yes, I too am skeptical it was used under fire at Kursk. But I did find it interesting that there is some reference to that actually happening while others feel it never left the testing grounds. Sadly, this is probably something we will never know. But it does make for an interesting story!

Amazing ground work! I love the Mineraumer too!