Project - Wehrmacht on the move - Sd.Kfz 250/1 - Ostfront

[SteveKrieg]

G'day all,

Given my first three projects relating to German Army mobility dealt with horses (one of which still awaiting parts for completion), I've moved onto one of two vehicle projects for the year relating to the theme. This particular one a TAOWAN 2013 release of the Sd.Kfz 205/1 in the livery of Grossdeutschland's Reconnaissance Battalion (2 SQN) 'Hussars' circa Kharkov early '43.

I'm working on it in three distinct phases given the model itself is light on detail with some minor inaccuracies and casting flaws - the former I'm dealing with by scratch-building, the latter by weathering effects.

Phase 1 is the exterior hull, Phase 2 the interior and the most tedious - Phase 3 being the wheel and track.

As you can see from the first series of pics, the model arrived in a winter livery however I was not particularly happy with it so some slide sanding followed by primer coat, German grey basecoat, matt-white camo followed by some wear/tear.

Some of the pics show another TAOWAN Sd.Kfz 250...this one a '3' variant comms fit which I did in the livery of Rommel's command track ("GRIEF") back in 2013 which I intend to spruce up and put in this year's model show also given I'm always asked about it.

More to follow and I hope everyone is travelling well, enjoy. Steve

[SteveKrieg]

Coinciding with the halftrack, there'll be 20-odd German troops in winter garb pulling sleds. The aim, in-keeping with the theme of mobility, to showcase three differing sleds in-use by the Germans given, as with most things encountered with winter fighting, they were largely unprepared for the conditions and got by either by using captured Russian equipment or copying it. The sleds, in order, are the transport sled used for carrying supplies, the sled specifically designed to carry light-wheeled equipment such as handcarts and light artillery pieces such as the PzB. 41 A/T gun seen here. The third was one I did up for an aborted project back in 2017 - a Russian bootskaya or 'boat sled' used to move around an MG34 fitted to a heavy mount with required ammo.

Enjoy, Steve

[SteveKrieg]

For the 'Ground Pounders' aspect, I'm using my German infantry (winter) platoon which I had assembled for the aborted 'Aerosan Assault' project back in 2017 and will be re-posed to suit this one.

Enjoy, Steve

[Kapernakis]

Very nice , the 250 looks sooo much better. The weathering is excellent.

[tankfan0720]

Very cool 250. The metal bodies look really good.
Will make a great dio.
B

[Hammer's Africaners]

Awesome, keep those photos coming!

[montañes]

Nice 250 Steven, and the winter german squad looks great too.

Jaime.

[Panzercommander HOH]

Nice work on the 250, the sleds, and the figures, Steve!

Fred

[thegreatshaggy]

Love it especially the MG34 sled. The weathering is dead-on for the cruel harshness of the Russian winter.

[SteveKrieg]

G'day all,

Just a quick update but not on the 250/1 but more so on one of the accompanying pieces - the PzB 41 on sleds. The CHE model comprised plastic parts in the main however the trail appears heavy and is either polystone or metal?. Whilst easy to assemble, it took a whole day to paint/weather and detail. The anchors on the sleds and chains proved fragile and broke easy and had to reinforced with glue (was close to changing them out with metal hooks but all is good now).

Whitewashed and worn before applying a light dusting of snow effect and though I intend to snow-up the sleds some more, the gun will remain as is as I figured too much snow would take away some key detailing.

The aim, once dry, is to mount the gun on the sleds and have several figures pulling/pushing it. It'll be one of several accessories to the 250/1 halftrack.

Enjoy, Steve

[SteveKrieg]

Will post pics of the gun with figures when done. Cheers, Steve

[The_Dutchman]

Looking good Steve!

[ROB48]

Very nice. I also have one of these Panzerbuchses from Cyber Hobby and one from Dragon. They are different sizes. The Dragon is smaller. Any idea as to which one is correct?
Bob

[SteveKrieg]

They are different sizes. The Dragon is smaller. Any idea as to which one is correct?
Bob

I'm unsure Bob, I don't have the DML variant in my collection and though the Germans produced two variants (the other being the S.PzB 41F designed for airborne use - the difference being a lighter trail, no shield and smaller wheels) both are of similar size in terms of gun carriage. I suspect perhaps a difference in model production but given DML and CHE are (were) co-partners in 1/6th figure production I can't imagine why one would be bigger than the other as wouldn't it be rational to utilise the same moulds?. I have the same query at the moment with two differing IF8 carts...one variant produced by CHE is elongated however there's no photographic or written evidence to support the longer version so hesitant to employ it.

Cheers, Steve

[SteveKrieg]

'Don't waste time removing the chains and sled, we won't be here that long - we move forward'

So an angry platoon sergeant conveys to the gun crew of a PzB.41; an anti-tank rifle that was actually more of an A/T gun given it's mounted on a wheeled carriage with gun shields for crew protection. It might look somewhat puny however because it fired a tungsten-core round (the gun employing a 'squeeze' gun principle) its high-velocity penetration made it capable of knocking out any enemy armour of its day (circa 1941-43) but a critical shortage of tungsten reduced the gun to a certain shelf-life (that and improvements in enemy armoured thickness) and once rounds became few and far between the guns were largely left abandoned.

The model is only a 'sideshow' piece to the halftrack scene and save for some minor weathering (snow effect to the helmets), this little vignette is complete. Enjoy, Steve

[SteveKrieg]

G'day all,

Been awhile and I hope everyone is travelling fine in this seemingly unusual times. I've finally finished, save for the crew which will go in shortly, the Sd.Kfz 250.1 in Ostfront livery (in the markings of Grossdeeutschland's 2nd Squadron, 2nd Armoured battalion (reconnaissance). For those that are famil with the TAOWAN duo of all-metal 250s (the other being the 250.3 command track), you'd appreciate the frustration of a rather spartan model - particularly with regards to its interior.

The next few entries illustrate the before and after process...enjoy, Steve

[SteveKrieg]

The 2nd Battalion's four squadrons harked back to its commander - Horst Von Usedom who had a strong family linkage to the Prussian Hussars which was why it utilised the title 'squadron' rather than the more modern term of 'troop'.

As the battalion's only armoured squadron, the 2nd made good use of its halftracks at a time when the infantry division was still classed as 'motorised' (early '43 around the time of the Kharkov battles). As such, the markings are those of the standard recon circle as opposed to the rectangular symbol it would switch to several months later when it was again refitted and turned into panzergrenadier formation.

[SteveKrieg]

The model utilised parts from Cyber Hobby Exclusive (the radio) and Armorpax (the rifle rack) along with stock-standard Dragon Model Exclusive MG34's and accessories however many other parts (the vision blocs, MG stay, interior vents, F/A case and rack most notable) were scratch-built from plastic cards. The entire model was repainted first in oxide primer, then dark grey over which a coating of matt white. Weathering effects to the 'winter coat' were done by drybrushing dark grey where required. The balkenkreuz was initially not to my liking so I made a larger more appropriate stencil. A light mud effect was then applied over the vehicle and finished off with a light 'dusting' of Testors Snow Effect. I was going to apply Tamiya snow effect (paste) in areas to represent snow build-up but decided against it in order to not detract too much from the detail (given the end of the snow and the start of the thaw experienced around that time). All-in-all, a time-consuming process from start to finish but one I can no look back on and enjoy...next up...some lessons learned from this one will be retro-fitted to my 2013 TAOWAN 250.1 'GRIEF' as both 250s will be on-show this year as part of the 'Wehrmacht on the Move' diorama series. Enjoy, Steve

[The_Dutchman]

It's obvious you've put quite some effort in redoing this SDKFZ250. Well done!

[SteveKrieg]

G'day all,

With the crew now fitted, the human dimension completes the model. The hardest aspects was the placement of the driver and radio operator. The fighting compartment was supposedly suitable for four soldiers (the vehicle crew thus totalling six) however even with three it is evidently very cramped. The only downside to the crew addition was the hiding of much of the interior detailing and I left out a figure just to show some of this.

The Taowan model had it frustrating aspects however, looking at the final product, I'm happy with the way it all turned-out. Now onto another Taowan model - the Horch Type 1a w/CHE Flak 38 on trailer. Enjoy, Steve

[Ostfront43]

The effort you put in were well worth the results! Thanks for the start to finish postings of this re-build.