To cfbush2000, or any other Steyr Tractor fans:

After seeing past models built by cfbush2000, I became interested in this nifty little vehicle.

I finally went out on my lunch break today to my local hobby shop and picked up Italeri's Steyr Tractor No.227 kit. Is there anything to watch out for while constructing this kit? Are there any aftermarket parts that might be interesting to add on?

Thanks and have a great day!

It is a nice little model. The only thing to look out for is the usual Italeri occcasional poor fit - and simplifications (if you're a rivet counter!). Italeri also makes a Pak wagen version mounting a Pak 40 on the cargo deck. More of a suicide wagon as the only armor is the gun shield. The gun is Italeri's rather poor Pak 40 and could be replaced with Tamiya, Dragon, or AFV versions. Aber and Edouard make AM PE for just about anything

If you got the rso/01 with the metal cab, the first hurtle is the largeplastic horn in the middle of the cab roof. All you can do is saw it off and do a lot of sanding.
As biggles2 noted, I remember some fit problems in the cab area. Nothing too big though.
The weakest part of the kit would be the tracks. They are stiff. I remember soaking them in hot tap water. Also, painting them can be a pain. I used a very light coat of Model Master Acrylic Gray (medium gray, I think) followed with a light drybrushing with silver. A little Rustall was also applied. To get a passable sag, I tied the tracks with clear fishing line.
I'm now working on the RSO/03 with an ambulance body for the Medic campaign. I've also done the Pakwagen version, but due to not being satified with it, I've posted no pictures.
I have another RSO/01 in the stash. It just may be one of my all time favorite kits.
Post some pics of yours. There are a few more on the site that are better than mine, but thank you for the kind words.
Chuck

Another point I forgot to mention is to replace the Notek light and bracket with those in Tamiya's Pz lV accessory set. Italeri's light has the wrong shape and Tamiya's is better detailed.

Hi Armorguy, I have pics of Italeris old Steyr RSO/1 in my gallery that I did about 2 years ago if you are interested.
It was an enjoyable build and I was happy with the result.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Russ, you built the Italeri kit and not the Peerless kit? I thought that the Peerless kit was the one that came with the Nebelwerfer. I may very well be wrong though as this subject is new to me. Maybe you added the Nebelwerfer from another kit? At any rate, it's a great looking model you built. It really looks nice. Your tracks and paint job look great!

Speaking of that, does anybody know of a nice kit for the Nebelwerfer?

cfbush2000, I really like your ambulance that you're doing. It's going to be really cool. I may have to do an RSO/03 if I end up liking the RSO/01 after I build it. Are you using an aftermarket kit to convert it into an ambulance?

Have a good one!

Hi,
The only Nebelwerfer kit I know of is the Italeri one , 324. I'm not sure if it is OOP.
The Italeri RSO/01 (and the one Tamiya does) is the same one as the Peerless kit.
The conversion kit I'm using is Real Model 35 012. It may be hard to find. The one I got (ebay) actually contained the higher house body. The body on the kit box is lower. I decided to use what I had as I figure, in a pinch, it may have been used as an ambulance.

Here is a link for an excellent book on modelling the RSO series:


http://www.rjproducts.com/Catalogs/MK/MK.html



The book is in Franch with an English Translation. There are excellent detail pics as well as build atricles on several varients.

Chuck

Thanks for the link to the book, Chuck. I'll have to check that one out.

Have you or anyone else ever used the canvas cover for the RSO/01 that's made by Trakz?...as seen in their advertisements on Armorama. Just wondering what people thought of it.

I haven't tried it. I like to fill the beds of my vehicles with cargo. The messier the better.

Yes that is the Italeri Steyr and Italeris Nebelwerfer #324, I had to modify the towing hook to get the Nebelwerfer on but that wasn't hard. Both kits were simple enough to put together and as I have said I enjoyed the build and have had alot of possitive feedback.

Cheers Neil