Hello

For my next game of Warhammer Panzer Battles I needed a German Sd. Kfz. 233 self-propelled scout gun. There was no model of it in my local hobby shop, and even though I know one is available in excellent quality resin, I thought it would be too expensive, and too fragile to use in wargaming. So instead I bought the old Airfix kit of the Sd. Kfz. 234, which looks a lot like it. Especially since Airfix made a few mistakes with the model, it looks a lot the older 233.

So I hacked away at the model and here the result, still a work in progress:



The fenders look the right way thanks to Airfix' error, so the main thing to change was the gun. It had to be shorteded and moved to the right side of the vehicle. It also needed a new gunshield.

It's not a very exact model, lots of small things are still wrong, but I think it looks ok, no one should be in doubt when it is used in a wargame.

Look's like a good start.
Paint it up.

Just wondering, what colour should I paint it on the inside? On the outside it will be panzer grey, but inside??

Thanks in advance.

I think...



I'm not a German AFV expert by any measure but I think either the same as the outside or white. You should get some other opinions from some of the guys here on the site. Someone here will know for sure.



Tom

The usual ex-factory internal colour from most references is a brick red colour, whether this is a red lead anti-rust coating that just wasn't painted over or a concious colouring I don't know. Don't think white would be selected on an open topped vehicle, too conspicuous. There may have been overpainting at unit level in outside colours for this reason. A recent reference source shows the 234/4 with a red/brown interior as above. The engine deck on the 233 vehicle should slope rather than be flat, but in this application that probably doesn't matter . Incidentally photos of HitlerJugend Division taken in Normandy show the "old" 231 2cm gun version still in use.

Sorry, should have clarified, my comments relate to later war vehicles, early ones (while the Germans still had air supremacy) may have been white inside, but I think my comment on conspicuity is still valid.

Thanks for your help. I think white would make great sense in a closed vehicle, but in an open topped it would seem rather strange. As far as I can read on the net, the red interiour was just in use in 1944, so perhaps the most sensible colour to use would be panzer grey like on the inside?

Thanks in advance...

hej
the "normal" colour for open topped grey vehicle was grey.
if a diffrent colour was usede on the grey out side(green, white), they still would have just the grey colour.

valle

Here it is again, this time painted and just waiting for the crew members who are not finished yet:



And another photo, this time in a recon convoy with two Sd. Kfz. 222 across our kitchen table...



Comments are very welcome...