Cyberhobby Panzerjäger Sd.Kfz. 164 Nashorn

[Tim Coulson]

Very nice work John.

[Dario Risso]

Man, a lot of detailing here!
Very nice, keep posting updates, please!

Darío

[Laurent Moitrot]

very impressive ! highly detailed ! hats off !

[John Mohnen]

Hi Guys,
Finally some updates on my progress, haven't had much time lately. I am out of the workshop where I was doing the model and been engaged in a maintenance role for a naval combat trainer. Work is busy and lunchbreaks are smaller but managed to do some work.
Still a lot to go in the detailing of the driver and engine compartment but started to have a go at some other parts to see what extra work will be required.
Added the hinges to the floor plates, ythey are part of the voyager set and will give nice detail when painted.
1 Floorplate01.jpg
They consist of three parts and are glued with CA to the floorplates.

This is how they look when in situ.
1 Floorplate02.jpg
Next was the rear hull side. Some filing and sanding required to get a correct fit. The voyager set came with a scaled version of the footstep to get in the fighting compartment. Also added the rear convoy light also included in the voyager set. the bracket for the towing hook will be added later.
2 RearPlate01.jpg

Here a view from the inside, there were some press holes which needed to be filled in with some putty and sanded smooth. The big toolbox or storage box would have hide these in the final fit but this is only a small addition which will ease my own feeling. Also shown in the pic are some scratch built floor support brackets again the side hull as shown in the Nashorn Nuts & Bolts. Centre support bracket over the Fual tanks will be added at a later stage.
2 RearPlate02.jpg

View from the rear. Removed the plates from the sloping engine cover and drilled 2x3 holes for the access holes which wewre located behind these plates. Don't know yet if they will be shown open or closed in the final model. The voyager set includes some etched covers as replacements if required.
2 RearPlate04.jpg

[John Mohnen]

Next up was the assembly of the side fenders of the voyager set. The detail in them is excellent, wished only that my brass skill were a bit better but hope that that will go better by experience.
3 Fender 04.jpg
And a view with the mud guard in the upper position.
3 Fender 05.jpg
Here some comparisation pics with the kit part. the bottom one hasn't got the boltheads added.
3 Fender 01.jpg
And a front on view
3 Fender 03.jpg
And a top view
3 Fender 02.jpg

[John Mohnen]

Here some more pics of the fenders
Even the inside of the fenders has nice detail.
3 Fender 06.jpg
3 Fender 07.jpg
3 Fender 09.jpg
3 Fender 10.jpg
Will need to see if the fenders can be glued to the hull sides but belief that I will need to fit some location pins to keep them in place during weathering.

[Dario Risso]

Looks wonderful, John!! Those thin fenders are specially suitable for damages and bendings.
Waiting for updates
Darío

[Dan Reed]

impressive John!
Dan

[John Mohnen]

Well slowly getting a bit impatient and thought to get my head around something else and have a crack at the enormous 88mm PAK43. To decide which way to go I temporary put two of them together. I still had the Modelkasten replacement kit laying around which includes a white metal version of the beast.
Here are some pics, please don't look at the finish yet as said before I only temporarely stick them together to see which has the best realism.
The left haned side view of the cradle.
4 Gun MK 04.jpg
A view of the breech blok.
4 Gun MK 03.jpg
A view of the right hand side of the cradle.
4 Gun MK 02.jpg
And last a view of the gun which shows the enormity of the beast, Hard to believe they managed to get that also fitted in a tiger turret.
In the background is the Kit assembly.
4 Gun MK 01.jpg
In my view both guns are suitable to get a correct looking item for a model. I decided to go with the kit model which has a bit more crisper detail. I like the breech block of the modelkasten gun and will see if i can combine some of the parts.
The second gun i am planning to utilise in the old dragon (6001) nashorn kit which i hop e to utilise in the diarama but that still a long way off.

[John Mohnen]

As said before I decided to go ahead with the kit gun, the assy has nice crisp detail and comes with a alu barrel. The kit parts are nice and crisp and will make a well fitting assembly. I already bought the 3 voyager edged sets which include some parts for the gun which iI am planning to utilize. As said before the unused kit parts I will use with the modelkasten set and the gun of the old nashorn. Anixious to the comparision view when they are both assembled and painted.
Here are some pics of the Kit gun.
4 Gun Kit 02.jpg
The left hand view with some edged parts attached. A little bit of filing and sanding required to get a nice fit.
4 Gun Kit 03.jpg
Still have to go thru my reference books to see if there are some enhancements needed.
The right hand side of the cradle, comparison with my previous posts shows clearly the more crisper details of the kit assy to the modelkasten assy.
4 Gun Kit 04.jpg
Here another view with the voyager gunshield which needed a bit of cursing and swearing to get the correct angle because the PE sheet was quiet thick.
4 Gun Kit 05.jpg
And finally a view of it in its full lenght.
4 Gun Kit 01.jpg