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Italeri 1/35 RSO with PAK-40, w/Eduard etch & Volkssturm


Sairou

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My next major armour project will be this, an Italeri RSO with PAK-40, a strange little German vehicle designed to fill the role of a mobile anti-tank gun. I bought this packaged with the Eduard etch (an ebay bargain), which so far has been a nice test for my new bending tool. Here's some progress pics, after a few night's work.

TvZNkdr.jpg

I enjoyed upgrading the driver's compartment, the etch makes a difference in this case.

4BdSoD6.jpg

While the rest of this kit is decent, the tracks are what I would call garbage- stiff, thick, and seemingly too big for the model. I'll try to work out a solution, but I may have to find aftermarket tracks- if anyone has any of these to hand, or knows of some affordable ones, please tell me!

EdkMHz9.jpg

Finally, a Zvezda Volkssturm man. The figure was fine to assemble, and nicely moulded for an inexpensive plastic figure, apart from one thing. The arm holding the gun does not fit at all, the provided Kar-98k being useless in this regard (but a nicely well-moulded rifle nonetheless), so I had to replace it. Luckily, I remembered from prior studies that Volkssturm units were commonly armed with Italian rifles, so a spare Italian M91 Carbine was chosen, and fitted fairly well into the hands. The way he is holding it isn't perfect, but a mostly untrained man would probably not have had the best grasp of how to use his rifle, so that's my excuse.

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Hi Sairou, nice subject. I've been weighing up an RSO PAK 40 that I saw on Ebay cheap......but have never built an Italeri kit and wondered on their fit etc. So would like to know what your thoughts are overall at the end. My modelling is on hold for a bit as I've been roped in to build a model of  major kitchen design for a friend, so all my kit is packed away....busy with foam core now...:huh:

 

But still I'll keep an eye on this one for the future...... Looking good so far. Great subject.....:yes: good to hear you got a bending tool.

 

Simon.

 

 

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5 hours ago, Redcoat2966 said:

Hi Sairou, nice subject. I've been weighing up an RSO PAK 40 that I saw on Ebay cheap......but have never built an Italeri kit and wondered on their fit etc. So would like to know what your thoughts are overall at the end. My modelling is on hold for a bit as I've been roped in to build a model of  major kitchen design for a friend, so all my kit is packed away....busy with foam core now...:huh:

 

But still I'll keep an eye on this one for the future...... Looking good so far. Great subject.....:yes: good to hear you got a bending tool.

 

Simon.

 

 

My overall impression of this kit so far is good- more mouldlines than I'd like, but nothing awful, some flashing on parts, but nothing a knife can't fix. The fit is good, I haven't needed filler so far, however as I've said, the tracks aren't great, and I need to work out a way to get them to sit on the running gear tighter.

Good luck on the kitchen, nothing like a bit of terrain modelling.

35 minutes ago, Soeren said:

One of These vehicles is in the Munster Museum in Germany. Nice subject. :)

Thanks Soeren.

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Hi Sairou

 

Sounds like a good build then. As you say, nothing a blade and file can't remedy.

 

I know Friul and Modelkasten make a set of tracks for this one......not cheap.......but maybe shop around. I just picked up two sets of Panzer IV tracks from Modelkasten for £24, so they are out there. If I see any online I'll send you the link.

 

Well, off the start the floor plan..........:huh:

 

Simon.

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Shame it has a lot of clean up Sairou but I see you are going to make this look good, you should try and buy some aftermarket tracks.

 

Regards  

Richard

 

 

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8 hours ago, Ripaman said:

Shame it has a lot of clean up Sairou but I see you are going to make this look good, you should try and buy some aftermarket tracks.

 

Regards  

Richard

 

 

I've been thinking about it- I will try and make the kit tracks work before I buy new ones, but I will probably end up picking up a set of modelkastens.

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imBMtjL.jpg

build is bogging down a bit with the gun. I probably won't be using the etched shield, and save it for another project, because I had enough grief assembling the gun, and the modification required to fit the the shield are beyond me. The gun has just been annoying to build, so I may give this build a bit of a break.

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12 minutes ago, Redcoat2966 said:

Hi Sairou, sorry to hear you've hit a brick wall on this one mate. Curius on what problems the PAK 40 gave you.......if I am to get one, one day.

 

Simon

I think it's the typical problem with artillery pieces- a lot to keep straight, and overly vague instructions. They did not indicate what should be glued or not, and I basically had to figure it out by looking at reference pics and trial and error. Mostly stuff fits, it's not the worst, I just found it frustrating and unrewarding. I have been pampered by building better kits recently, I suppose.

I'll keep chipping away at it each session. For now, I will be finishing off the cab with photo-etch detail, and working out what needs to be filed/trimmed.

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At any rate, this is for fun, and I have no real deadline for this build, as I have the 250/3 and motorcycle to paint. I already feel better about this build after leaving it for a few hours and finding some reference pics :)

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TyerlkD.jpg

1peFeYt.jpg

Getting on with this one. I've solved the track problem somewhat by shortening and stapling the tracks. Just a few more bits of photo-etch and details to go (The worst part of this kit, other than the instructions, is the flash on parts, though it's nothing terrible) then it'll be ready for paint.

Looking forward to the paintjob, I might try a camo scheme.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Looks very nice sairou, I've always fancied doing an RSO replenish a field gun But not got around to it yet.

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  • 2 weeks later...

OlfA8Vr.jpg

Spent a while trying to get the tracks to sit down on the wheels, not fun, and I'm not 100% pleased with the result. I'll come back to it when I'm prepared to tangle with them again.

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  • 3 months later...

gYHjxef.jpg

Pressing on with this one for the sake of getting onto the weathering phase. I need to do some more work to the wheels and tracks, add some parts to the gun, and do a lot of paint touch-ups.

 

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