Tamiya 1/35th Sd.Kfz 251/9 Ausf D

[bish]

My next armour build is one i have been looking forward to. I have a bit of a fetish for the Sd.Kfz 251. And of all the possible variants, i have 2 favourites, the Stuka zu Fuss and the /9.



I'll be adding an Eduard PE set and i also have this from Verlinden.



While it says its for the Tamiya 251/9, it could be used on any of their 3 251 Ausf D kits. The only pars which relate to the /9 are some ammunition and wicker containers. The only thing i will be using it for is the engine as the Eduard set covers the rest. I'll also use a set of Dragon magic tracks from the spares box.

I also have the spares box to hand and a dragon 3 in 1 kit that's includes a /9

I started off with the hull floor. having done an AFV Club and Dragon 251 recently, its clear simpler but less detailed the Tamiya kit is. The ammunition bin in the rear left corner was replaced with the one from the Dragon kit which allows the option to have the box open. The rear seat was replaced with an AFV club one from the spares box but it had to be trimmed a little.





With that the floor was fitted into the hull and the hull sides detailed. Unlike the other brands, Tamiya moulds the lower sides onto the bottom of the hull. Which means less chance for me to mess this up.







And the hull top had a few pieces added. I cut out the engine hatch doors and added the inner rim from the Verlinden set.





And then the gun. I had thought about replacing this completely with the Dragon gun. But on checking, it turns out that the /9 Ausf C and early Ausf D have a different gun to the late Ausf D. While i could have modified the Dragon one, the detail in the Tamiya kit with the PE means it would not have been worth the work. I did replace the barrel with a rifled metal one from RB.





And finally a few of the bits left off for painting. On the kit drivers set i cut off the seat back and replaced it with a Dragon one. And i learnt on my last 251 to leave off the IP until after painting.



So now to get the inside primed up and painted. I am going to take a different approach to weathering on this, so will see how that turns out.

[dierk]

Nice start Bish!

[Leon]

Off to a really good start Bish!

[adt70hk]

Looking good Bish!! Keep at it.

Andrew

[bish]

Thanks guys.

[dupes]

251! How many different variants have you got completed so far?

[deafpanzer]

Great start Bish!

[bish]

Thanks guys.

dupes, this is only my 4th one. So far I have done a /17 D, /6 C and /3 D. Only 26 more to go

[tonylee-Rest In Peace]

Just like SPGs "You can't eat just one" huh Bish


Tony lee

[wbill76]

Looks like a fun project Bish, can't go wrong with a good HT build!

[bish]

Thanks guys.

Damn right Tony, just got to keep going.

No you can't Bill, and I certainly seem to be doing my share.

Time for me to do a bit of catching up. First job on the list was to get some paint on. German dark Yellow of course.







Then a bit of light weathering. I was reading the article of the Nashorn build and liked the effect the guy achieved. So instead of dot filtering i applied a light overall wash using MiG Brown Wash. This was followed with some dry brushing and light chipping.





I also got to work on the engine bay adding the PE from the Verlinden set.



This was given a coat of German red primer.



I did some test fitting on the engine as i did not have high hopes it would fit well, and it didn't. So i trimmed it down a bit before painting.



Almost ready to get the top on, just needed to add the final parts to the inside. I used the radio frame from the Verlinden set. It seems a bit big, but the Eduard one was to small for the kit radio and i don't like the PE one they supply, its just to flat. So i will live with the larger one.



I used some AK engine oil and engine grime on the engine and in the bay.



Then time to put the lid on and mask up for more painting.





And i got to work on the base as well. I used some Styrofoam to build up one side, covered with paper mache and put the edging on so its now ready for staining.



And that's all for now. Hopefully won't be so long again.

[deafpanzer]

Fantastic work on the engine bay!

[Tojo72]

Nice work sir

[charleygnarlyp290]

Excellent work, Bish.
I bought this kit recently and am building it as a British capture vehicle in Holland. I found a good photo while researching the vehicle, and was able to find a booklet with decal set of that very one.
Are you using the kit tracks?

[wing_nut]

Fine work buddy.

[bish]

Thanks guys.

charley, no, I tend to avoid using Tamiya tracks. I usually replace them with Fruils. But some of the Dragon 251 kits come with two sets, and I am using one of those on this. And I need to make a start on those pretty soon.

The one your doing, is that the one with the 76 on the back and the .50Cal MG up front.

[charleygnarlyp290]

Yes, bish, that is the very one. The interior has been painted and weathered, and the exterior yellow basecoat applied. My paint order finally came yesterday, so now I can spray the OD paint for the capture color.
I am using the AFV Club one piece tracks on mine, at the recommendation of a few of my online buddies. They look really nice and should work well.

[bish]

I look forward to seeing that. I am a sucker for a 251, even in foreign markings. Not often you see German equipment being completely re-painted and used by the Allies. I have a couple of sets of the AFV Club Indy link 251 tracks, but wasn't sure if their AM one piece tracks were just the same as the ones in the kit.

[charleygnarlyp290]

The strip type track is very nicely detailed. I'll try and post up a photo later.

[TRM]

Nice job on the interior...Looking forward to you slinging some paint soon!

[Leon]

Great work on that interior Bish!

[dupes]

Time for paint! What scheme are you going with?

[bish]

Thanks guys. charley, I look forward to those pics.

The painting is now done, so I am onto the decals, which is a bit tricky as they need re-working. I am doing a vehicle of the 2nd SS Pz Div in Normandy. Its mainly red brown over the DY with small pieces of green. A pic of the vehicle appear in the Squadron book on SS armour. Theres also a colour drawing of it and a colour plate on the nuts and Bolts book on the /9. But the two colour images differ a lot. A close look at the photo shows that the nuts and bolts is the more accurate, but the photo is blurred so its hard to tell the exact pattern, So I have had to interrupt it as best I can.

[bish]

I spent this last week painting and decaling. Its been a bit of a drawn out process and has taken all week. The vehicle i am doing belonged to the 2nd SS pz Div and was captured by Canadian troops in Normandy. I first saw a photo of it in Squadrons book on SS armour many years ago. the book also has a colour drawing of the vehicle. O had originally intended to do that scheme. But then a couple of years back i got the Nuts and Bolts book on the /9 which has a close up but blurred photo and a colour plate of the same vehicle, but the scheme in the colour image is completely different from the Squadron one. Managing to find the same photo online, i took a close up look and despite it being blurred, its quite clear the Nuts and Bolts image is the correct one.

So i copied that scheme as best i could which is large areas of brown over the DY and small areas of green over that. I then did one pass with a very thin coat of DY to soften it a little. I'd also noticed that the left side width indicator was bent, so i bent the metal one i had used. The bent one on the right was an accident and has been corrected.





While this was drying, i took a more closer look at the photo and noticed a few other things. The rear mud flaps were not fitted so i removed the PE ones. Also, the front left area above the wheel was more damaged than i thought. Not only was the width indicator bent but the light was missing and there was a crack in it which bent the front down a bit. There was no sign that this could have been battle damage and there were no dents. I of course have no idea when this occurred, it could have been just before capture. But despite me showing it in German hands, i replicated this damage.



The decals were a long process all by themselves. Both colour images i have seen have red numbers. A few years back i got a set of Bison decals for some Pz IV markings but they also had decals for this 251, only the numbers were in black. Its quite clear from the photo that the numbers are lighter than the black cross below them. But i was not sure if this was because they were red or simply because the different angle they are at was catching the light differently. In the end i decided on red. The only problem was getting the numbers in the right style. The Dragon 251 kits include several decal sheets one of which has lots of numbers in different colours. Though similar they were not exact. So i had to trim the number 4's, changing the angle of the long up stroke. The number plates also come from Dragons 251 sheets and had to be pieced together, including the 2 piece Sigrunes. There is not pic of the number plate so i just made one up. The Div insignia and crosses were from the Bison set.





I have also got to work on the base. After staining and varnish, i started on a hedge along the side of the track. I am using a similar method as i used for making trees, buts of wire twisted together. This were glued into the base and when set started on the celluclay. Once this is dry, i can finish the hedge.





And that's it. next up will be some minimal weathering and i need to start on a motorbike that will be added to the scene. O ye, and sort out some figures.

[Leon]

Camo,decals and base are looking really good Bish!

[deafpanzer]

GREAT work on the camo!

[TRM]

Nice play on the camo!! She's looking good with the decs in place as well! Enjoy the base-work!

[bish]

Thanks for the comments guys. Going to be a little side tracked this week getting the bike and base done and hopefully make a start on the tracks.

[Deleted]

Looking good, nice camo.
Good start on the hedge too.

Eddy

[Tojo72]

Really like th Ed look of that camo