I have finally gotten back to the work bench. I am building a early late StuH from Aug - Sept 1944 at Arnhem. The kit base is Tamiya with a CMD conversion, DML parts, Fruil Track, Aber PE, MK tool holders, Elephant gun cleaning rods (Not all yet visable but on the way!) The Zim is Magic sculp 2 part epoxy putty.

Looks like your off to a great start Sticky, sounds like you have your work cut out for you with all the am stuff. Keep us posted.

Nice work on the zimm.
Will this be in a dio?
Will there be a cow?
Can I touch it?

(++) (++)

Welcome Back John! I've got my hand on a kit, signed up for the wheels campaign and one of these days I've gotta get started.

-that pretty much summed up how I feel! :-) Cool, another Stug.!!!

Thanks Guys.

Carl and Alex

No Dio
Thus No Cow
Thus Thus No Touching of the Cow

Dissapointed? :-)

Anybody want waffles?

Great start! Can't wait til you finished... how long would this take?

Looking at your gallery and really impressed with the Russian tank's camo. How do you achieve the hard edge camo?

WC

Hi WC,

The build will probably take about 1.5 months, then another 1.5 to paint and finish. That's getting in at least 4 hours a week.

the hard edge camo is done with a brush, but very thin paint - just a little thicker than a wash. Each brown spot received about 8 coats. By keeping the paint very thin you can acheive slight feathering of the edges, and no brush marks!

HTH

John ...excellent start on this project I was planning to make my tamiya kit into a later model...I was wondering about how to add the thickness to the front armor plates instead of the bolted on armor ...what did you do up front ? Are you going to do an article on all the changes you made ? I could use a tweak list as to what need to be fixed on this kit.... Keep the pictures coming .

Rick

At least name it "Cow".

In German at least!

(++) (++)

Richard,

All I did was shave the bolts off! With the Zim in place you really cannot tell its an addon piece. For the ones with out zim, I will add some sheet stock. As for a tweek list send me you e-mail address and I will send you the one I have.

Hi John model seems great so far, lookin up to see the end result. (just orderd tamiya's latest model (stug III B) can't wait to get it
greetz 043

Hello all, a quick update:

Here is a modified and unmodified DML return roller. The DML ones are too wide, and when the width is corrected, they sit in too far to engage the guide horns, so I added styrene tube over the pin, and drilled out the Tamiya hull accordingly.



Here is the gun and manlet progress.

Nice clean and tidy build so far John. Love the waffle zimmerit. Keep us posted!


LOL :-) :-) :-) :-)

Thanks Frank! More pics to come.

I like STuG's - I'll be following this one as you complete it!

Gunnie

I just got on the Sticky bandwagon of 2006 looks like a wild ride already :-)

I absolutely love the fact that you are doing a waffle zimm. You don't see it that much at all. Great execution of it by the way.

Looks good so far John,

I like the zimm. Got any close-ups?
Cant wait to see this one finished.

Go take a peek at the Stuh 42 I've been working on, she is almost finished. Made a couple of mistakes, but overall I think it turned out pretty decent for my first conversion. I scratchbuilt the ammo bins and all the gunsights/controls.

I'll have the exterior finished in a few more days.
Now, to Dio or not to Dio, That is the question!

If you take a peek, let me know what you think!

Nice Job,
Steve

Thanks Jim, Scott and Steve. A wild ride it will be!

Steve your StuH looks nice!, especially the interior! I don't have any close ups yet, but they will be happening soon, I promise.

I have made some more progress thanks to SWMBO watching the kids.

Here are 2 over all shots of where I am now - The tracks are complete - Fruils - just a pain to put them on just for the photo's. This is the first time I have soldered PE, I'm never going back.





This shows a MIG Notek light, the DML barrel support with ABER extras, and a home made spring


This is the engine deck all Aber'd out. Also visable is the elefant barrel cleaning rods, and one of the Model Kasten clasp.

I'm glad you finally found your way back to the work bench.
Your Stug sure looks good so far. Another masterpiece in the making, I'm sure.

Thanks Jesper, I appreciate the feedback.

Here is a quick update. Since I am now a solder freak, I had to come up with a way to do the lower holder on a schurtzn. The braket is made from 3 parts, then this sub-assembly is soldered to the shield. How to do with out melting the previous solders? Here is what I did.

I carved a wood jig to hold the bent bracket and the two cross members!



So half the thickness is below the leve of the wood. I then solder the parts with a hi temp silver solder.

Then I position the bracket on the shield and clasp it with tweezers down low to act as a heat sink, then solder it in place with a low melt tin solder! Viola!



I still need alot of practice as my solder joints are a little sloppy! :-)

Progress update.

Here is the CMD coupola with Aber PE, and some small added details


Here is the spare bogie wheel holder, modified to hold the Artisan Mori Cable end.


The Parts of the assembly


The Artisan Mori Fire extingusher and wire cutter in the Aber holders - My soldering is getting better!


Overall Progress shots

Hey John,

Looking good so far and welcome back. Good to see that you are still kicking and perhaps we will see one another some time again.

Dave