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Ardelt 8.8cm Waffentrager

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DBridges

Guest
Here's my part in the Battle for Berlin group build: Alan's 1/35th scale kit of the Ardelt 8.8cm Waffentrager! I'm proud to say that this will be the third Alan kit that I've built. They're not always the easiest, but they always pick really great subjects.

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Hopefully, today or tomorrow, I'll get to start in on construction!

David
 
i'll follow this build very closely david! i love the ardelt waffenträger and everything 38(t) related and watching someone tackling an alan kit is something special anyway!
 
Cool looking kit you have there David . Looking forward to some progress on it !!! :cheer:



best regards
JOEY
 
Wow... a whatentrager? :laugh: Never seen one of these before. Should be a curious build. Are you going to include it in a diorama?
 
Nope, no diorama, just the vehicle. I finally got started on it yesterday, and I hope to make a little more progress today. I should be able to do a photo update later today. So far, it seems like a typical Alan kit...

David
 
A week later than what I said previous post, but better late than never...

Here's where I'm at so far:

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Right now, I'm sort of jumping around a little between the first five steps. As you can see, the model's hull is divided into two halves, and it'll stay that way until I can get the driver's station painted and weathered.

So far, it's been a typical Alan kit: unique subject and neat kit engineering ideas that only work so-so. The top of the lower glacis plate had to be sanded down a bit to get the upper and lower halves to fit right. Also in the fit department, the idler wheels when fitted won't allow the hull to join properly either. This is an easy fix, however, and a little groove in either side is cut into the lower hull to make room for the idler wheel axles.

You have to be careful with the drive sprockets. While the fit is positive, to get the teeth to line up right, the inner ribs have to be improperly lined up. The kit comes with two different types of roadwheels: Hetzer-style ones and later "38d" style wheels. The latter look way too small, so I went with the Hetzer type wheels. The couple of photos I've seen seem to indicate that Hetzer wheels were used on the two vehicles which actually saw service, so this worked out OK. Also, the wheels have details on the inner sides as well, so that's pretty cool.

The detail for the driver's compartment is very basic, and could be well served with some creative gizmology to fill it up. I'm not going to do this however, as I want this to be a largely out-of-the-box build. What I am going to do, I have decided, is to add both of these:

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Both of these figures are from Yosci, and I just ordered them from Colorado Miniatures. They look like two suitably used up and dejected fellows, so I thought they would be perfect for this build. They will also give me another valuable opportunity to get better with my figure painting skills (of which I need much work). Right now, I hope to place the seated one in such a way that it will take attention away from the rather spartan driver's station.

That's all for now!

David
 
That is gona be hot........ but I have to ask since you have done alan kits before are they as bad as they look....... I normally have a weakness for eastern european flat kits that need alot of reworking like the old MAC kits or Alanger that is now defunct. I have passed over some alan kits before like thye artillery tractor .
Can you share you aquired wisdom on alan?
 
DBridges wrote:
A week later than what I said previous post, but better late than never...

Here's where I'm at so far:

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That looks like the German version of the Dodge Deora! Great start, David! (y)

Admin Edit: Shortened full quote!
 
modelguru wrote:
Can you share you aquired wisdom on alan?

Alan kits generally aren't as bad as some people make them out to be, i.e. unbuildable. Though they can have some really serious issues. I've built their Bison I, Bison II, Panzer II ausf. J, and now the Waffentrager. They often have very ingenious ideas as far as kit construction goes, but these ideas generally end up being more trouble than they're worth. For example, the Bison I's lower hull was such that you could "insert" the floor area for the driver's compartment separately. I guess this was so you could paint it more easily. However, it just didn't fit well at all, and so created lots of work for me. The Bison I was awful in other areas too, and I got it built, but was so tired afterward that it never got finished.

This is their Bison II:

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It required at lot of work adding photo-etch, which I generally don't do too often. But the details were so soft of this kit, even for Alan, that I felt it was necessary. The roadwheels were awful, so the suspension was replaced by parts from the Tamiya Wespe. Additionally, the indy tracks that came with the kit were too narrow for the wheels (the wheels wouldn't fit between the guidehorns)! So, I had to use some Modelkasten tracks. I also added a Jordi Rubio barrel and stowage from various manufacturers.

This is their Panzer II ausf. J:

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This was the best kit I've built from Alan yet, and it really went to together quite well - no issues that I can recall. I replaced the headlights with MV Lenses units, and it could stand some photoetch to replace some soft details, but otherwise it was quite nice.

Overall, if you see an Alan kit that no one else makes subject wise, give it a shot, but come prepared to give it some extra love if you want it to turn out OK. Mostly this relates to parts fit and soft details, but these are things that can be overcome with patience.

David
 
jenny croft wrote:
I have to agree with "Boba" and Laura , the figures are superb , hmmmmm I wonder how we can get them in Oz ? :unsure:

Jenny :kiss:

Jenny,

Go to www.coloradominiatures.com, and if you see some figures you want, I can order them for you and send them to you. But I'm pretty sure they ship worldwide. They're the only place I order figures from, and they usually have what you see on the website in stock at all times.

David
 
David you are off to a great start and the figures are great!

Terry B)
 
Just figured I'd post a quick update. I haven't posted much lately as it looks like I may be moving in the near future, and my wife and I have been working on our house and getting things ready for the possible move. However, I have made some progress on my Waffentrager, and I'll try and post a proper update with some pictures tomorrow after work.

David
 
that would be very nice david! the update - not the possible move!

let's hope that

a) you won't have to move!
b) if you will have to move that it will be to your advantage!
c) that if you have to move, your finished models, in progress builds, tools and stash will survive it unharmed!
 
AND (d.), that it won't take you 5 years to unpack everything like I did!!:pinch:
 
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