Hetzer 38(t) for Bolt Action Rescue Build - Part 2

 Today, we create some Schurzen for the Hetzer build.

Luckily, the bread tag I used for this had a piece of cardstock attached to it that was eerily perfect length for this next step. it took a few cuts to get it down to the right size, but the advantage of using cardstock paper over some thick plastic or metal, is that we can bend the spaced armour up like often happened in real life.

The nature of Schutzen and tank drivers (and tank life) was such that these thin pieces of metal routinely banged into things, or rubbed against trees, walls, fences, etc. Being that they were less than an inch thick, we also have the benefit when using cardstock of making them approximate more closely the accurate thickness.

If this wasn't a "low budget" build, I might go digging up some old scraps of photo-etched brass pieces I have, see if any would work for this!

First up, we measure and cut the paper in half, for obvious reasons. In dry-fitting and testing, I discovered that the paper was actually way too thick for the Hetzer, whose schurzen barely reached past the top of the road wheels. You can see in the second image where I was drawing an indicator line for how high up it will need to be trimmed back.

Next up we cut down the pieces, and glue them in place! Simple and quick, and looks as good. At this stage, don't be afraid if the pieces aren't entirely lined up. In most cases I've seen, these plates were fairly roughly held in place as well, and often look like no one who stuck them on was aware of what a level even is.

Also at this stage (but unphotographed for the time being), I took a set of tweezers, and delicately bent the plates, trying to simulate the typical damage and weather these would see. Don't go too extreme, unless you really want to indicate severely damaged plate and a tank that has seen some heavy combat!

Now that the mudguards and spaced armour is done, we can have some fun with those tiny details that will make this project feel 'just right'.

This is the top of the gun housing. For anyone who's really up on their Hetzer tech, we are missing the gun swivel! This gave me pause for a bit, since it requires me to somehow carve in an almost-bullseye shape.

After overcoming my fear of potentially messing something up, I carefully traced two circles in the right location, and as close as I can figure to the right size.

Next, using a metal dental pick I was very kindly given years ago, I gently and repetitively gouged a trough following the outer circle line. It's best to do this carefully, assuming it'll take a few times around to get to the right depth and width, as pushing too hard could both break the pick, and if it jumps, scar the model in the wrong way.

Finally, using a drill bit, I cut out the inner circle, followed by a bit of a touch-up with a 1/8" drill bit. Later, this will get filled with a bit of liquid greenstuff to flatten out the divot, but still a world better than "no pivot at all"!

And now we're pretty much caught up to where the build is. Unfortunately, in process of receiving this as used, one of the commander's hatch covers has gone missing (if it was ever there to begin with.) To fix this, we will be using more bread tag pieces, magnets, glue, and just a little bit of madness. That's all for next time though, since the build is still in-progress.

See you in part 3

Hetzer 38(t) for Bolt Action Rescue Build - Part 1

I have finally gotten off my rear to start posting something again! I am terrible at taking pictures, so many of my builds pass quietly without good documentation or stepping.

That said, I was lucky enough recently to secure an old, second-hand, Resin-and-metal Bolt Action Hetzer! It is definitely showing its wear and missing a few details and components. I of course do not hold the seller or the original owner to account for this, because the more I dug into the research portion for this kit, the more I discovered apparently Warlord just didn't supply some of the gubbinz visible on real-life models of this tank!

I obviously needed to bring this up to a rivet counter's standards, but also wanted to experiment with 'low tech' solutions along the way. Sure I could just order a parts kit, or 3d-print components I need, and sure I have access to fancy plasticard, but what if someone doesn't? How would someone go about making a higher-tier looking kit despite not having higher tier supplies?

First and most importantly, why not try replacing Plasticard of various thicknesses with... a bread bag tag! (Or in my case, a bulk food store tag.)

Note above that the Hetzer has had a nice long bath in some Simple Green, followed by a gentle scrubbing wtih a metal brush I have. Whatever primer first base-coated the tank, it was better than any I use! Normally just a toothbrush clears it off, but this one I had to scour.

The easiest place to start getting this up to needed shape, and the one that required only a pin drill (not shown), was to hollow out the exhaust tube.

Next, we fix the gun. It glues on strangely at the best of times, but as I looked to see exactly how it should go together, I also discovered it sits in a really odd spot on the vehicle anyway. "Shot Trap" immediately came to mind. For my purposes, even after gluing it in place, a casual side-on glance shows a weird terminus to the gun I could not allow for.

Luckily, some greenstuff crammed under covered the problem nicely, and adds some much-needed stability not provided by just pinning the thing in place. Also visible here was my drilling out holes for the tow cables. Curiously, while I know there should be horseshoe connectors here, I can't find a single period photo that shows any in place! I'm going to leave mine off in solidarity, and totally not because I don't want to bend modelling wire into consistent size and shape four times...

Now, on to those mudguards.

First up is measuring out the space for the mudguards, adding a bit more for 'shrinkage', and cutting them out. The Hetzer mudguards have an interesting L-shape, so those were glued in place using a scrap cut after the first pieces were removed. As always, I glue more in place than I will need, and then trim down to exact size after.

Next, once the angled pieces are dry and cut down, we glue in the square sections. The left front mudguard has a waffle pattern on it, which was accomplished by shaving down some of the pieces to very, very thin, and then spreading superglue across the entire mudguard, gluing the pieces in place, and then trimming them down when dry.

Since I have fat fingers, I was using the craft blade itself to 'stick' the pieces to, trusting that once in place  the glue bond will be stronger than the knife bond.

Once the mud guards are well and truly dry, we can use strips of the paper part of the bread tag to form the front flap of the mud guards. Especially for these, glue in more than you think you'll need, and then shave it carefully down. It's tough to guess beforehand and not worth being wrong.

Finally we can see the sloped front of the mud guards, as well as some liquid green stuff to gap-fill and assist with curving. The last step is to glue in a small piece of wood (craft wood stick is almost ideal thickness) to represent the wooden block I believe to be used as a base for the jack.

On part 2 I'll show the process for Schurzen, as well as a few other next steps.