Slow and Steady

Progress has been rather slow as of late due to scheduling conflicts and the works.  With my wedding only a few weeks out, I trust that it will only become a little more hectic!

I managed to get the initial coat of the washable sand applied to the Alte.  I'm in the midst of creating a full-length tutorial that will be published here in the next week or so.

Additionally, I broke out the dremel and decided to refit the 88mm to the PZ IV by lowering the deck down a bit.  I'm still on the fence with adding the shield (even though the rules give it to you) as I've seen the actual vehicle with and without the shield in place.  If did add the shield, it does obstruct the gun's ability to swivel.  I'll make a decision soon enough.

Thanks for looking,

Jake

And so it begins!

I'll be creating a step by step-by-step turorial of how to paint Rubicon's 250/1 Alte.  Despite the heat and humidity of yesterday evening, I managed to get a good application of Alclad black primer on the model.  I did have to contend a bit with the dreaded orange peel effect as my garage is rather warm, but I was able to knock it off with a light scrubbing with an old toothbrush.

Now to let it cure and I can begin the actual painting process!

Rubicon’s Panzerspähwagen Sd.Kfz.250

(SdKfz 250/1 Alte) – A Review

 

Today’s review is of one of Rubicon’s newly-released kits, the Sd.Kfz.250/1 Alte or SdKfz.253.  The “two-option” kit gives you the ability to create two interesting variants of a small, yet effective, transport.

Image courtesy of Tanks-Encyclopedia.com

The German army was a fan of motorized transportation for its army.  Many different kinds of vehicles were developed in the inter-war period and with the outbreak of the Second World War, various vehicles such as the Sd.Kfz.250 were used to hold and increase the Axis Powers’ reach over territory.

The Sd.Kfz.250 was conceived in 1939 upon the request for a small, yet armored, transport to fulfill multiple rolls on the battlefield.  The Sd.Kfz.250 was given a 6 cylinder Maybach, 4.17-liter gasoline engine capable of delivering 100 horsepower for its size.  The engine was able to produce roughly a 17.2 to ton horsepower ratio.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia



Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Given its size, the Sd.Kfz.250 was capable of transporting half a platoon and could be outfitted to meet various roles.  The angled armor, while only 8mm to 10mm thick, served as sufficient armor and bullet deflection towards small-arms fire.  The roof of the driving compartment was usually outfitted with a ring to mount a pintled MG 34, however necessity would later see the Sd.Kfz.250 being equipped with forward mounted anti-tank guns and anti-aircraft defense.  Aside from fighting roles, the Sd.Kfz.250 also served as a great transport for medical personnel, recon work, artillery observers, and was even sported by Erwin Rommel himself in the popular Sd.Kfz.250 designated as “Greif”.


Image courtesy of Tanks-Encyclopedia.com

Rubicon’s depiction of the Sd.Kfz.250 comes neatly packed in an attractive box that doesn’t kid you with what it holds.  Aside from the great box art, the rear of the box gives you a brief history of the vehicle as well as examples of two different layouts of the kit: the Sd.Kfz.250 or the SdKfz.253.  For my sake, I will be building the kit as the Sd.Kfz.250 version and will be doing a bit of a kit-bash by adding my own Pak 36 to the top of the kit.  (Rubicon will be releasing a version with a 28mm schwere Panzerbüchse later on, but I enjoy modifying my own vehicles and I admit, I’m tad bit impatient.)  Let’s get on with the unboxing.

Out of the gate, you’ll see that the kit arrives in two packaged sprues; there’s really not much to this kit at all for how well it turns out.  Again, you’ll see that each sprue comes individually packaged to avoid any pieces escaping during transit.  Along with the sprues, you get a set of detailed instructions as well as a sheet of decals.  Prior to building, be sure to look at the instructions.  The kit is designed to be made into two different variants, you’ll see steps being explained with alternate parts.  Rubicon is very good about telling you which steps to follow for either a) or b) model, but it’s good to be aware of this.

The instructions start off with having you build the support structure of the vehicle.  You begin by pre-drilling holes in the formidable fenders.  From there, you attach each fender to the sloping sides of the vehicle.  Rubicon placed shallow slits in the side of the slopes so that the fenders lock slightly in place with the aid of some plastic glue.

With the sides in place, the instructions whisk you away to the trademark German suspension arms.  For the sake of your sanity, Rubicon made the lower assembly, arms, and drive into one simple piece for each side!  After applying each suspension arm assembly to its corresponding side, it’s time to move onto the fully detailed interior and the first-of-its-kind in 1:56 scale: a smiling German driver.

From here, the instructions go pretty in-depth about how to build the fully detailed interior.  The kit provides many different options and bits to be included on the interior racks.  For my sake, I put the driver in as a test fit and filled out only a couple of the racks as I intend to outfit the interior with a couple of crew members.

At this point, I went off the rails from Rubicon’s instructions as I intend to use a forward-mounted 28mm schwere Panzerbüchse on the driver’s roof.  As Rubicon’s rendition of the gun isn’t out yet, I scavenged one from a Warlord Hanomag kit.  With my setup, this armored behemoth will fill the “armored car” slot in my DAK army at 135 pts.  Sure, it may die relatively quick during some games (Steven, I loathe your mortars), but with the 28mm schwere Panzerbüchse, it’s capable of delivering a bad news and then exiting faster (thanks recce!) than I did at a restaurant during a bad date four years back.

Outfitted with the 28mm schwere Panzerbüchse, the Sd.Kfz.250 was ready to be outfitted with its means of propulsion.  Once again, Rubicon saves your sanity by molding the interlaced wheels and tracks together!  With the wheels and tracks in place on the arms, the application of two final road wheels on each side (to secure each wheel and track assembly to the body) mark the completion of the kit.

For a comparison, here’s how the Sd.Kfz.250 compares to a Stummel Hanomag.

This kit was a great, and very quick build.  It combines detail with practicality to create a great model.  Well done Rubicon.

If you enjoyed the review, feel free to leave a comment below as it really helps the site out.  Additionally, if you'd like to pick up this reduced-fat version of a Hanomag, head on over to Rubicon or follow this link to the direct listing.

I’ll be following up with this post as I begin to paint the Sd.Kfz.250.  In a future post, I will be reviewing one of Warlord’s kits: the 88 Flak!  Until next time, have a great one.

Warlord’s JS-3 (Objekt 703/ Josef Stalin Tank 3) – A Review

Warlord recently released this pike-nosed monstrosity in an anticipation of Konflict ’47 and the appearance of late, late war tanks that will be making their way to Bolt Action 2nd edition.  In this review, I’ll provide a brief history of the tank, features of the kit, and give a generalized walkthrough of the building process.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

The JS-3, also known as Objekt 703, was one of the first tanks developed by the Soviet Union to adopt a semi-hemispherical turret.  It was developed very late in World War 2 and left factory doors for deployment in May 1945.  Although it did not see combat during World War 2, it was said to be the “strongest tank in the world” at the time of its release.  The JS-3 was innovative with its soup-bowl styled turret, low height, 122mm D25T gun, thick armor, and its well-angled pike nose that earned the tank the nickname “Shcuka” (Pike).  The JS-3 made its first appearance to the outside world during the Allied Victory Parade on September 7, 1945.  While being innovative, the tank was plagued with problems ranging from limited gun depression, various mechanical issues, and an issue regarding cracking in hull weld lines.

Photo courtesy of World of Tanks/ Wargaming.net

Released recently for the game Bolt Action, Warlord did a great job bringing this tank to life.  Rules-wise it lives up to its reputation of being a hefty tank to brawl with.  Given a 12+ to penetrate the tank from the front, the rules distinctly reflect the pike nose and the 60 to 230mm of armor the tank sported.  The armament is no joke to mess around with as Shcuka is equipped with a heavy anti-tank gun with its own special rule (HE 2D6 hits!) and a pintle-mounted dshk heavy machine gun to spread love to planes, troops, and light armored vehicles.  Russia’s fighting bear comes at a hefty price though; if you’re looking to run this at a “regular” level, be prepared to pay 600 points for it.

Each JS-3 from Warlord is made to order.  The kit is supplied with the hull, turret, and tracks in resin.  The barrel, heavy machine gun, tank commander, fastening points, crew hatches, fuel barrels, and spare tracks are cast in white metal.  With the majority of the tank in resin, there are actually very few pieces to this kit, making assembly time relatively short.

Upon unwrapping Shcuka, I got the chance to scan the pieces over carefully.  I was very impressed by the detail that Warlord managed to include with this kit.  As it was resin, I did notice some slight warping with the tracks.  Slight bends and warping are a common evil with resin kits; it’s certainly nothing to get upset about.  To remedy this, I placed the two track pieces under warm water for 30 to 45 seconds.

With the pieces heated, I was able to place them on the main resin body of the tank and straighten them.  To set the tracks to the hull, I used CA glue with some zipkicker to speed up the setting process.  Once applied, you would never have guessed that the pieces had been slightly warped.

With the tracks in place, I moved onto the turret of the vehicle.  The first order of business was to do away with the excess resin from the pour points on the turret.  This was a quick fix with my dremel.

Once the excess resin was removed, I went to work on following my OCD tendencies and actually magnetized the turret.  I accomplished this by drilling hole in the hull and then drilling a corresponding one in the turret.  If you do this, be sure to make sure the depth of the magnet in the Goldilocks zone.  If it’s too shallow, the magnets will stick out and the turret won’t sit right; if it’s too deep, the magnets won’t be able to touch and your tank will look like it just got ammo-racked if it tips over.

After the magnets were in place, I noticed that the turret was too smooth to my liking.  Russian armor was notorious for its rough casting texture on its turrets.  In effort to keep Gunzo Sangyo in business, I reached for my Mr. Surfacer 500 and began to dab it on the tank.  By dabbing the lacquer-based primer on the model, it becomes slightly tacky and takes on a rough look to it.  This is perfect for emulating the texture that the rough sand molds left behind during the casting process.  (This is a neat trick I learned from Mig Jimenz of Ammo of Mig).  Adding a subtle texture adds a bit of character to the tank once paint and washes are applied.

With my texture fetish satiated, I turned my attention to the fearsome 122mm D25T gun.  Be it in plastic or metal, odds are that a barrel will have a mold line.  This barrel certainly had one so I went to town on it with an Xacto knife and some fine grit sandpaper.  With little effort, the mold line was gone and I was on my way to my next task of fixing the barrel to the turret.  I did this by using a healthy amount of CA glue and zipkicker to fix the barrel in place.  I then followed up with some modeling putty and filled the gap using a sculpting tool.

After the barrel was in place, I went about securing the crew hatches and the tank commander himself.  I used some modeling putty to create a nice base for the hatches and the figure.  I did this so that the hatches sit naturally and that the figure wouldn’t be “floating” inside of the tank.  I may have been a little messy with the putty, but it cleans up easily after it dries and can be removed with an Xacto knife.

While I had the figure in place, I arranged the ring mount and the dhsk heavy machine gun to the turret.  I did this as to check the amount of clearance I would have with the figure in place.  With the correct spacing established, I glued the ring mount and the heavy machine gun in place.  The tank was now ready to turn away unwanted solicitors at a moment’s notice.

With the turret correctly situated, I turned my attention to the various bits around the tank starting with the improvised track armor.  These were easy enough to clean up and glue into place.

From there I attached the fastening points on the front and rear of the tank.

After the fastening points, I turned my attention to the fuel tanks situated around the tank.  The rear ones went on easily enough.

The side ones were easy as well.  I did have to remove some mold lines, but they went off quickly enough.

And there you have it, Shcuka is ready for a fight.  In all, the kit only took about 30 minutes to build.  I probably could have gone faster, but I took my time with the putty and also adding some loving texture to the turret of the tank.

Verdict:

While I love this tank and the amount of detail packed into it, I’d say it’s not for the faint of heart if you can’t part with points when creating a list.  At a regular price of 600 points, many people will fail to regain color in their cheeks as they shove on to finish a list.  However, if you’re up for scenarios, larger point games, or are an armor whore like me, then I certainly suggest picking this tank up.  Warlord did an outstanding job of creating this tank at a 28mm scale and I can’t wait to put it on the table.  My only regrets is that I wish I could use it against Stefan Kraut’s Tiger II or throw it down against Andy Singleton’s Germans sometime in the near future.

If you enjoyed the review, feel free to leave a comment below as it really helps the site out.  Additionally, if you'd like to pick up a JS-3 of your own, head on over to Warlord Games or follow this link to the direct listing.

I’ll be following up with this post as I begin to paint it.  In a future post, I will be reviewing one of Rubicon’s new kits: the SdKfz 250/1 Alte!  Until next time, have a great one.