This kit is manufactured in Italy and is still available today from
Squadron Mail Order. I purchased this kit several years ago and
stored it away until just recently. I started to build it once, but
became discouraged and relegated it to the back of the project list.
While surfing the Internet I came across an article about a build
for this kit, and was immediately intrigued. I decided to build the
model only for the effort to paint something different.
The steps of the instruction were easy to follow, but my biggest
challenge was in assembling the hull. The fit was not the best, so I
used a slow-setting solvent to allow some adjustment to get the
parts to fit in place. Once set, I ran super glue inside the joins
to make certain nothing would separate in the future.
I airbrushed Tamiya flat black onto the tracks, and when that was
dry I scrubbed the surfaces with silver Rub-n-Buff to resemble
steel. I decided to not install the tracks at this time, but would
thread them into place after the hull and chassis were assembled.
Kit tracks are a soft vinyl, pinned together with short metal wire
pins. Many of the tracks would not stay in place, therefore the kit
is finished with just enough track to run on the bottom and return
up the front and rear, creating an illusion of being complete. Epoxy
was used to fix the tracks in place. This may be considered as
"cheating", but I did not have much choice in the matter.
All exterior surfaces were first airbrushed with Tamiya XF-24 Dark
Grey, followed by random patches of Tamiya XF-60, then XF-64
Red/Brown, and finally XF-65 Field Grey. This scheme is probably not
historically accurate, but I was experimenting. The running gear and
underside were left dark grey. I applied a thinned application of
burnt umber thinned with odorless thinner as an overall wash. The
entire exterior surface was given a coat of Future.
The kit decals appeared to be thick, with a matt finish. There were
marking for two tanks, “Wotan” and “Hagen”, plus large vehicle
numbers, and crosses. The crosses for the bow and aft section were
taken from an old SuperScale 1/72nd aircraft decal sheet. The side
crosses, vehicle name and number were taken from the kit decals.
A wash of brown ink in the recessed panels, around rivets and other
raised features. Next, a thinned application of ModelMaster rust was
applied in various location the represent streaks and puddles.
Tamiya XF-57 Buff was thinned and applied in streaks in a very
random manner down the side of the vehicle. This was followed by
Flat Black applied in a similar fashion, but with more attention
given to hatches and gun position openings. Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth
was thinned and airbrushed onto the extreme lower portions of the
hull sides, running gear, tracks and front side, with additional
applications of the aft surface.
The two exhaust pipes were first air-brushed with Tamiya Flat Black,
dry-brushed with Testors Rust. Each was fixed in place with super
glue. Exhaust stains at the two exhaust pipes was duplicated with
Tamiya Flat Black. The model was then sealed with ModelMaster clear
flat.
One photo includes an Italeri PzKw Mk IV for size comparison. This
kit is its own story.
During a recent local club meeting I managed to ping one of the
A7V's side-mounted machine guns out of its mount and sent it to
places unknown. I scratch-built a replacement using aluminum tube
and plastic stock. No one but me can be certain of which gun was
replaced. I also placed second in the Miscellaneous Category
("Miscellaneous" only because they had no WW I category) at the
recent Duneland show and contest in Portage, Indiana, and also was
awarded "Best Camouflage" for this effort. I was quite pleased to
say the least.
