Cyberhobby Panzerjäger Sd.Kfz. 164 Nashorn

[John Mohnen]

Hi have been busy at work but managed to get a bit done on the model.
Mounted the bumpers for the suspension wheels.'
Had a look at the ones supplied in the kit which come in two parts and the ones from the Modelkasten detail kit.
Here are some pics of them
Bumper.jpg

Bumper-2.jpg
First from the left in pic 1 and second from the left in pic 2 are the two part kit parts.
The other ones are the white metal ones from the MK kit.
The detail in the MK parts is more crisp and they have the bolt details included so I decided to use these.
Here they are installed
Left the kit and on the right the MK parts
Bumper-3.jpg

and a wide shot
Bumper-4.jpg
The two on the rear of the AFV is a mix to show the different.
After this I replaced the kit one and glued the MK ones in Place.

[John Mohnen]

Next I glued the triangle supports from the AFV detail kit in the corners. These corners are cut out from the kit roof because I decided to shown the finished model in a maintenance diarama with the roof removed. Added some brass squares to the triangles which will be the base for the armored Brake ventilation covers. Again I used the ones supplied with the Modelkasten kit which have more accurate dimensions than the kit parts. Had to drill out the vent openings which were widened with Nr11 knife.

Here are some pics of the items installed. Weld seams will be added on a later stage as will be the brackets for the Gun support brackets. The support would have been removed ones the roof would be removed so these will be added and displayed next to the SP.
Brake Vent.jpg

Brake Vent-2.jpg

Brake Vent-4.jpg

[John Mohnen]

The transmission will be detailed and painted seperate and will be added ones the compartment has been painted.
I added a support frame for the Tranny over the crossbeam support and aligned the tranny with the shaft hole in the firewall.
The front support brackets need to be included in the compartment so I drilled some support holes in the the support brackets and the tranny.
I then fitted all together with some steel rod so I could glue the support brackets to the front sponson. After this I can removed the4 steel pins and remove the tranny.
During final placement I will add correctly cut hinges to install the tranny.
As always a pic can show more than I can describe in my double dutch description.
Here they are.
Tranny Align.jpg
Tranny Align-2.jpg
Tranny Align-3.jpg
Tranny Align-5.jpg

[John Mohnen]

To replicate the brake ventilation piping I first had a go at it with some stiff steel wire. the piping goes from the brake drums to the front firewall and the negative pressure in the engine compartment would suck the brake fumes into the engine compartment. The wire was hard to bend in the small area and the reference3 pics don't really give a indication which holes in the firewall were used for the starboard piping so this had to be a guess. I believe the only option would have been the hole on the right of the drive axel hole. This is different in various PzIII and PzIV tanks and variants.
Here are some pics of the port metal wire template.
Brake Ventilation.jpg
Brake Ventilation-3.jpg
After this I used some alu tubing of 1.2mm and filled this with a wire stripped of its insulation to prevent the tubing of kinking or breaking during the bending process.
It was not as I expected it so I am looking for some alternative method.
For the Stbd side I tried some teflon tibing stiffened with an internal wire and this gave a satisfactory results.
Here is what i mean
Brake Ventilation-5.jpg
The whole was then glued in place with CA. The joint on top of the brakedrum wioll be scalped with some model putty.

[John Mohnen]

Added the remaining roof support brakets on the port side wall and the bottom triangle supports.
Again aligned with the bolt holes in the roof and drilled the bolt holes in the brass strips.
roof support wiring-2.jpg
Also added the support frame against the front firewall which I believe would hold a first aid kit. Straps to be added.
Made a box which held the spare vision blocks and positioned it temporary with blue tack.
Wiring was added which ran from the front to the rear for communication wiring to the connect boxes where commander and gunner could connect their mike and headset
and the wring for the rear convoy light. Nuts and bolts reference gives nice pics where this wiring ran. The wiring would have been run and attached to the bottom of the roof so with the roof removed they are planned to ,be hanging loose or hanging disconnected with a junction box.
I decided to use some small scale solder wire for the wiring and made some brakets from spare brass strips and superglue to the side wall.
roof support wiring-4.jpg
roof support wiring-3.jpg
roof support wiring-5.jpg

[John Mohnen]

Temporary added some kit parts to test fit these with blue tack. Here you can see driver chair, brake handles and the fire extinguisher.
Hope to add some more detail to them but need to have them in position to make the linkage for the coupling pedal which ran left of the chair towards the end of the compartment.
Chair Controls.jpg
Chair Controls-4.jpg
Chair Controls-6.jpg

[John Mohnen]

To get my brain out of the driver compartment I had a go at the rear firewall.
this was a double plate and the exhaust would be routed top the two side boxes and exit the hull above the track with an armored cover. This doesn't line up with the kit location so this will need to be amended.
Thye airfilter would be located at the side of the fighting campartment and the one included in the CMK STUG IV engine kit is the correct type.
The connection hose went thru the firewall so I will need to add this as will be the hole for the start cranker.
Here are some pics with the hole hold together with blue tack
Rear Firewall-2.jpg
Rear Firewall-3.jpg
Rear Firewall-4.jpg
Rear Firewall-5.jpg
Rear Firewall-7.jpg

[Tony Lee Watts]

WOW Mercy Me

Tony lee

[John Mohnen]

Thanks Tony, Your built of your Hummel was one of the models I found online I use as a kind of inspiration. Haven't touch a model for some 10-15 years and this is my first one with an interior.
I had another go on the chairs for the driver and radio operator. The CMK kit is based on a STUG III and only contains one chair. The chair included has terrible detail for the springs so after seeing Jamies Chairs for the SdKfz250 I had another crack. Not the masterpiece Jamie created but I believe after a lick of paint they will be an improvement over the CMK one.
20110823Radio Fans-5.jpg
I bend a piece of wire in shape. Flattened the ends with a plier and drilled a hole thru the flattened end.
20110823Radio Fans-8.jpg
Did this for seat and back part. A piece of wire was used as a hinge which was covered by a piece of alumininum tubing in the middle of it.
20110823Radio Fans-2.jpg
Apiece of brass was added to the seat as support for the cushion.
20110823Radio Fans-6.jpg
Here is the base hinged to the seated position
20110823Radio Fans-4.jpg

[John Mohnen]

I made a template for the springs from some pins of a high density D-Connector.
20110824Radio Fans.jpg
Here is the result
20110824Radio Fans-3.jpg
Bend the ends over the frame and glued with CA
20110824Radio Fans-4.jpg
20110824Radio Fans-5.jpg
Here they one of them temporary in place
20110823Radio Fans-14.jpg
The seat and back cushion will be made from some milliputty