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