Airfix 1/76 88mm Flak en Sd.Kfz.7 tractor

[huib]

Thank you, guys!
This build stalled one-and-a-half year ago, because me organising a French aviation group build on another modelling forum. But it is resureccted now.

Where have I been? Ah, this far:



Only the gun itsself has yet to be constructed. And after that time for paint.

[JurgenH]

I like your build here too. I am excited which way it will continue.
greetings
Jürgen

[Wiking]

Most impressive !

And a good use of Arfix parts.

[C M Dodson]

You have worked your magic with this Airfix classic.

The finished product will be excellent.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Peter]

Just confess it Huib, you took a very long holliday!

Looking forward to the progress of this tractor and gun!

[Santi Pérez]

As always, I'm really impressed by the amount of handcrafted detail you add to all the military vehicle conversions you do, huib.

Go for it, the result will be a superb piece without a doubt.

Santi.

[huib]

Thank you very much, guys!

Gun and cradle
Well, it took a while. Because of the technical issues with the site it lasted days before I could even visit it, let alone post something. In the meantime a lot has been done.


These are the main parts of the Airfix kit. Not bad at all, and apart from the shield I will use them as a starting point for further elaboration.


The Bunkerknacker has adapted rotation and elevation mechanisms from the anti-aircraft gun, optimised for direct horizontal fire. This demanded some changes to my model. The gunner is facing forwards instead of sidewards. The elevation mechanism is served by a chain which I imitated using sewing thread. And a gunsight for direct fire was added.


On the left side of the cradle the fusesetter of the AA gun is omitted. Instead four pieces of plastic rod are added as struts for the six shot magazine.


The barrel demanded two ugly extrator pin marks too be removed from difficult places. The barrel was drilled open and the slide rails was filed open. Two valve rods are added to the barrel.


The protective shield of the Bunkerknacker was a bit bigger than that of the AA gun and had a different layout. So I had to make a new one.


The steel profile above the barrel even makes its use as an AA gun impossible.


Scratchbuilt six-shot magazine.


The most challenging part to scratch was the loaders platform.


Which moreover was attached to the cradle with a quite complex construction.


All subassemblies attached to the cradle.


From the other side.


Barrel inserted.


From behind.


Gun ready!!
Now for a lot of wheels to clean up and prepare for painting.

[MABO]

I am so happy, that you are back here. Maybe you can offer a look on the airplane project? It would be interesting as well. The gun is mind-blowing for me again. I can not imagine how you constructed this model with all the additional details. My hands and fingers would not be able to do anything like that. I hope you can post the following steps, even the forum has a lot of problems.

[huib]

Thanks MABO! As the forum is running reasonably well this afternoon, I immediately post my next update:

Paintjob

But first I have to pay some attention to the wheels:


All wheels removed from the sprues and cleaned up where necessary.


All subassemblies prepared for the spraying booth.


The wheels primed.


After the first layer of primer the mudguards of the back limber showed they needed some extra attention from filler and sanding paper.


Preshade on the wheels,....


....and on the rest of the model.


The tractors interior was sprayed in cream.


I made a coloursheet to decide which colour to use for German Panzer Grey. In reality this is a very dark colour of grey, showing almost black. I have lot of these colours as you can see, but my perfect colour was not there. In the end I choose for Vallejo antracite.


Antracite sprayed. The preshade is still a bit visible, as it should be.


The wheels sprayed and all rubber tyres and rims brushpainted using black-gray. The contrast is low, so it is difficult to see.


All details brushpainted, and few touch-ups to remove overspray.

Now for a few tiny decals.

[Peter]

You're making something very nice again Huib!