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ESCI 1/35 Demag D7 Sd.Kfz 10 - FINISHED


Ned

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This will be my GB entry. A random Friday night eBay purchase from a few years ago. It comes with a 1977 mini catalogue, so it has been sat in a box for over 40 years, waiting to fulfil its purpose.

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Still bagged, so hopefully it's all there. No instructions but there's a set on Scalemates.

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The catalogue includes a range of 1/9 scale motorbikes and a Kubelwagen. Out of curiosity I had a peek on eBay and my wallet started crying,

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This will be my first ESCI kit. I don't know much about them so I'm looking forward to finding out.

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I'm back from a short trip to Oslo, so I've finally opened up the bag for a good look at the contents. It's not pretty. The dark green plastic has that old, unforgiving look to it. Lots of flash, ejector marks and sink marks. The radiator grille hasn't moulded properly and looks very fragile. I'll just tackle it one piece at a time, I'm sure that it will come good in the end. Three sprues with a surprising number of parts.

The first job though will be to create a coherent instruction sheet - the Scalemates one is like one of those slidey-square puzzles thanks to the way that it has been scanned.

Any suggestions for a cheapish replacement for the rubber band tracks gratefully received. I think it's the same running gear as on a Sd.Kfz. 250.

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I found some decent pictures of a restored example, and inspired by that I added a few levers/linkages/oil lines with copper wire, not something that I've done before.

It's taking a lot of time to clean up each part, but it's taking shape now. The fit is quite complicated, made worse by a bent floorpan, but after a lot of fettling it looks like it will all go together ok. The sides are dryfitted now, but they've all clicked together nicely.

The seating looks awful - no cushioning at all for the poor passengers who are all sat on wooden benches. I think I'd rather walk :)

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2 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

ESCI yuk! 

 

That said this looks capable of being a cute little thing at the end, best of luck with it!

This is my first ESCI. Exotic Italian brands never made it into my local model Shop in Shipley (Ellis Briggs) in the 70s.

It does look quite sporty so far, the front mudguards are very curvy. It would defiintely have been a half-track that you would drive with the windows down, and an elbow out over the door top.

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This is taking forever! I didn't realise how many parts this little thing has, it's like the magic porridge pot! I've been stuck on Step 6 of the instructions - the one that throws every small part vaguely at where it needs to go - for over a week.

I found the construction of the sides around the passenger area really faffy, because it's all separate panels that need jiggling and fettling to fit. I had a peek on Scalemates at how other manufacturers dealt with it but they're all the same, so I can't really complain. One thing that surprised me was that the Tamiya Sd.Kfz 10 kit from 2014 is based upon a Italeri kit from 1999. I didn't think Tamiya did that.

 

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The sprues are empty bar the wheels, so it looks like the battle is almost over! Every part - EVERY single part - was riddled with ejector marks. Like the windscreen surround here with just 5 of them to deal with.

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Here it is. It looks as rough as a badger, hopefully the magic of primer will help me out and it will emerge like a beautiful butterfly.

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The folded-up hood doesn't fit at all. It's like ESCI just chucked some leftover part in, with an apologetic 'it goes on the back somewhere' instruction step. I've put it where it at least covers up the lack of hood rails, but it takes up the whole back seat so it's clearly not really supposed to be there. Never mind!

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I'll put the wheels together today. They're interleaved, so I might try the trick of gluing them all together into a block. Only 4 ejector pin marks per wheel to clean up :S

 

 

 

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Wheels!

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Off for a run now to clear my nostrils of sanding dust, and then this afternoon I can get some primer squirted over it. Can't say that I'm not glad that the build is almost done now, and chucking the empty box away will be a highlight :)

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Helloooo, what's all this?

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A bit of black primer has transformed this. It needs a bit more here and there to really get into the nooks and crannies (and louvres), and another blast from underneath, but I'm much much happier than I was on Saturday.

I'll do another light grey one over the top surfaces and then bang on the Dunkelgrau :)

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It doesn't show in pictures at all, but there's a darkness beneath and lightness above.

This is Lifecolor RAL 7021, which I'm using for the first time. Definitely less blue that Vallejo and Mig.

I'm not sure what colour the interior should be. The photo reference I've been using for details is way too over-restored to really help. Were open-topped vehicles just done in all over grey? I assume so. I'll paint the gearbox and driveshafts a steel colour unless anyone says that they should be gearbox green. A bit of colour variety wouldn't be all that bad.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Apologies all, I haven't posted a thing or looked at anybody else's builds for weeks. December has just been the gift that keeps on giving, with one crisis after another, be it work (December is always mad), home (no heating for a week), or family (just got home from 4 days of clearing out my mother-in-laws house - don't worry, she isn't dead, she's just moving from a big semi to a little 2 bed flat. We've all had a big lesson in not letting your house fill up with junk).

Normal service will resume in a day or two. I finish work on Wednesday, cannot wait.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Not really a progress update, more a commitment to get on with this now that my Opel Kadett is done.

It does however have wheels with a bit of weathering:

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I'm not sure how to proceed with the rubber tracks. They're not a good fit around the drive sprockets, so I might glue the track to the sprocket and then stretch the track around the wheels before pinning the sprocket. I think doing it that way will make it less likely that I snap any other bits off.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A busy week with my son's mock GCSE exams starting and the 2023 trail running season kicking off (plus the good God it's January blues).

I thought that I'd get going and glue the tracks together, but they defied all logic and would not stick with anything sticky that I have available.

I did have a look at aftermarket tracks, and found some Modelkasten SdKfz 10 ones that would fit, but no, these are not the times for chucking money at minor problems.

So here they are tied together with cotton, which looks like medical sutures with super glue wicking up the thread:

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I've added these to a pile of primering to do tomorrow. Nothing holding me back now.

 

 

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The tracks are on without any trouble other than snapping off the spotlight AGAIN!

But the tracks are a better fit than I was expecting, and the join is nicely hidden under the middle roadwheel.

I have a cunning plan for getting the top run to sit on the wheels that I'll try tomorrow, so I'll probably be breaking the damned spotlight off AGAIN.

It sits a bit too high at the front, I'll have to see if I can do a bit of surgery before I glue the front axle in place.

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Here's the track, resting nicely on the roadwheels.

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I didn't think that glue would work, it will just pull the paint off. I wanted to try looping cotton around the track and pulling it tight around a wheel, but I've found this really difficult before because the top run is so hard to get to, and things end up broken.

My brainwave was to thread a really big loop from below, and tie it in a knot...

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...and then pull the knotted end through the tracks and out of the bottom...

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...then wedge the track in place with whatever is at hand, cut the knot off, tie it again nice and tight, and add a dollop of superglue.

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Genius!

Two on each side done in about an hour, with no swearing and no snapped off bits.

(please don't tell me that you've all been doing this for years, I was really pleased with myself for figuring this out!)

 

Might get it finished after all.

 

 

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Not much left to do. In a moment of madness I've decided to add the driver figure. There's not much legroom, so I've already had to amputate the poor guy's feet. He's still in the recovery room, but should be out soon.

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