Scratch Built Sd.Kfz. 251/7
I am currently working on a German Engineer Platoon (along with about forty other projects...) from the Rapid Fire! rules book. The unit calls for two Sd.Kfz. 251s, one a Flamm version (/16) and the other the bridging version (/7). As I had two spare Plastic Soldier Company 251s I thought I'd use them and helpfully PSC also do the conversion kit with the Flamm version. Not as helpful, there isn't one for the bridging version. So, rather than buying another model and against my better judgement I thought I'd scratch build my own... What could possibly go wrong?
Phil on TMP provided me with measurements, taken from his Skytrex and Quality Castings models, which were 30mm long, by 4mm wide with a height of 3mm at the highest point.So I cut out a strip of 2mm depth plasticard and glued another smaller piece on top to give the bridges their height (not exact, but it's only 1mm...). I also cut two strips of some thin and bendy plasticard to go over the top:
The bendy pieces were glued in position, trimmed down to the right size and the gaps between top and bottom were filled with plaster and filed down smooth. Here they are by the side of the hull top of a 251:
I then added the ridges of the bridging equipment, again from slivers of platicard. This is not the neatest I could have been, but at arm's length it should look OK. I operate under the auspices of 'that'll do':
These were then glued in place on the hull top:
Here I added the support columns that sit underneath the bridging equipment, made from small triangles of plasticard:
And finally, using this picture as a source (a Bolt Action 251/7, I think), I glued on some tree trunks which could have been picked up by the engineers on their travels:
I did realise that the bridges are actually a little shorter than in real life, but there seems to be a difference in most of the manufacturers models anyway, so it doesn't bother me too much (that'll do...). That's it so far, I have to build the 251/16 and paint them both before I work on the figures that will complete the unit. Thanks for looking and check back as I will post more pictures when the unit is finished!
Phil on TMP provided me with measurements, taken from his Skytrex and Quality Castings models, which were 30mm long, by 4mm wide with a height of 3mm at the highest point.So I cut out a strip of 2mm depth plasticard and glued another smaller piece on top to give the bridges their height (not exact, but it's only 1mm...). I also cut two strips of some thin and bendy plasticard to go over the top:
The bendy pieces were glued in position, trimmed down to the right size and the gaps between top and bottom were filled with plaster and filed down smooth. Here they are by the side of the hull top of a 251:
I then added the ridges of the bridging equipment, again from slivers of platicard. This is not the neatest I could have been, but at arm's length it should look OK. I operate under the auspices of 'that'll do':
These were then glued in place on the hull top:
Here I added the support columns that sit underneath the bridging equipment, made from small triangles of plasticard:
And finally, using this picture as a source (a Bolt Action 251/7, I think), I glued on some tree trunks which could have been picked up by the engineers on their travels:
I did realise that the bridges are actually a little shorter than in real life, but there seems to be a difference in most of the manufacturers models anyway, so it doesn't bother me too much (that'll do...). That's it so far, I have to build the 251/16 and paint them both before I work on the figures that will complete the unit. Thanks for looking and check back as I will post more pictures when the unit is finished!
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