Sd.Kfz 247 Armoured Car with motorcycles
1/35th scale kits from ICM and Tamiya
Assembled and painted in 2021
ICM were a new company to me, and what made my buy this kit was simply that I’d never seen this vehicle in 1/35th scale.
Opening the box, and I can honestly say I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality of packaging, the amount of parts, the detail on them and how cleanly moulded they were.
Photo #1 shows the rather lovely box art, really I should have assumed the contents would be great quality from this alone, but I’m just not that type to such thoughts.
Note that the front and back wheels are angled, this is a four wheel steer vehicle, so I thought I’d have that reflected in this model.
Photo #2 shows the main parts of construction having been completed, although a lot of this is still just balanced together.
The tyres would be removed, and the upper hull is still loose both of these to allow easier painting to take place.
With the upper hull removed, I painted the inside of the vehicle, mainly using an off-white / grey acrylic applied with an airbrush, adding muddy marks with thinned Vandyke Brown and Mars Brown oil paints, and touching in some of the dials and details with these and other colours, the seats representing leather coverings etc. etc.
Photo #3and I’ve primed the model with Pale Grey, followed by spraying a darker brown ( Tamiya Nato Brown ) under all the lower sections and overhangs.
Oh, and the side door was removed and painted separately, the opening for that and the open roof being filled with sponge to prevent the external colours from getting on the already painted internal areas.
Photo #4.
So you’re going to ask, why the Nato Brown ?
Well I thought it might give the grey colours to follow an amount of pre-shading, darkening them where they fell on areas that would be in shadow….. Not sure that it worked, but it was worth experimenting with the idea.
It’s worked with desert colourations, but I guess that I should have used a very dark grey for it to show through better.
As it is, this shot shows the German Panzer Grey having been sprayed on, with the centre areas of each panel given a further light coat of grey that has had a few drops of Tamiya White added.
Photo #5 The addition of the white to the grey can perhaps be seen better in this shot, I’ve dusted it on in a cloudy pattern, so that it’s not too stark and visible, just a gentle change of colour is all.
The tyres have been added, although not yet painted, and the side door glued in place.
Photo #6 There aren’t may decals to add to this vehicle, the crosses towards the rear end and tyre pressure digits over each wheel are about all that’s required.
In this shot I’ve also dusted on some light layers of Tamiya sand and Deck Tan to act as weathering, using brass masks with random holes etched in them to produce a mottled pattern.
The plinth in the shot is what I was going to have the car on, but I changed my mind before fastening things in place.
Photo #7 and the car is still on the smaller plinth, but gives a view from the opposite side.
Photos #8 and #9 show a rear view of the vehicle and little bit of the interior too, there’s a lot of detail available for the modeller to paint and weather to add interest to the piece.
Photo #10, now that’s better, there’s a lot more room for “stuff” to be added.
The edges look a little messy at this point thought, that’s because I haven’t cleaned up the pastel dust that I’ve added to the cobbles and then sprayed on some matt varnish to fix the pastels in place.
Photo #11 and you can better see the additions of pastels to the cobbles in this shot.
Photo #12. To fill the space I thought I’d add some figures and some motorcycles. Here’s a picture of the Zundapp and BMW bike’s I thought I’d use, Tamiya kits, which while getting old, are still superb little pieces with options to super-detail them if the modeller wishes.
Photos #13 and #14. Of course we need some soldiers to ride them, and this one from Scale 75 is perfect. The head on this series of figures are somewhat small compared to say Tamiya or Tristar, but the overall appearance of the Scale 75 pieces is very good.
Photo #15 is an Alpine Miniatures tanker, I thought I’d have one of the armoured car crew on the radio, so this one with headphones is perfect for that job.
Photo #16. As for plastic figures, I think Tristar, now taken over by Hobbyboss, are some of the best posed and best produced plastic kits you can get. Hobbyboss have retained the box art from Tristar, so it’s easy to tell which ones are originally from them. This one checking his watch is just so good, it’s a simple pose, but one that I really should do as a single figure sometime.
Photo #17, the timekeeper and a figure from Rado if memory serves. Again good quality resin figures with some clever action poses, although this one is more relaxed.
Photo #18 and showing the way I paint the figures. Parts kept separate whilst being painted, most of them – if possible – are drilled to accept a small piece of wire, which itself is fastened to a piece of wood to make it easier to hold.
Photo #19, with the parts painted and dried, I can begin fastening them together.
Photos #20 and #21. This is a figure I was going to use on the diorama, but having got it painted decided against adding him. The lower legs seem a little on the narrow side, and I just didn’t like him in comparison to the other figures I’d begun painting up.
At this point the jacket is finished but the trousers are rather shiny because the paint on them is still wet.
Photo #22, A study in black. Well, at this point again the clothing looks very shiny – maybe I should get a “wet paint” sign made ?
The trousers are a slightly lighter grey, because I wanted them to look like a soft cloth as opposed to the jacket, which I wanted to suggest was made of leather.
Photo #23 and still my favourite figure from this selection for the diorama is this Tristar plastic offering, fully painted now and ready to be added to the base.
Photos #24 and #25 show the radio officer fully painted and then in position inside the back of the armoured car.
Photo #26 shows the diorama set up and basically finished. The figures are posed to look like they’re discussing something, with one checking the time.
The armoured car has almost become secondary to the scene, something I didn’t really intend when I began building it, but I think it works with the focus now being on the three figures.
Final thoughts.
So what began as a vehicle build, ended up as a diorama, and incorporated a lot more than just the armoured car.
I think this is what I enjoy about the way I make models – there isn’t usually a definite plan for how things are going to end up, or if there is, it’s only a loose idea, and things tend to mutate as time goes by.
This may be why I also shelve some projects for ( occasionally long ) periods of time. Some I return to as they catch my eye in from the “Shelf of Shame”, whilst others may never get finished.
Trying out different ideas or methods broadens the skill-set, and whilst they may not work to our satisfaction on the first try, it does sometimes either lead to something else that is a “happy” accident or shows the way to how a new method can be made to work.
It’s how we grow as modellers.
