DRAGON Sd.Kfz.251/16 Ausf. C FLAMMPANZERWAGEN 1:35

[Bomber_County]

With the Lysander ready to photograph and the F4F-3 ready for wing mounting and final fettle before the booth. It’s time to start something fresh. Having had a couple of planes on the bench, I think an AFV will suffice to keep the creative juices flowing. 

Having had a very good run of eBay bargains recently ie Panzer Kpfw.I Ausf.A, FAMO & SD.Ah.116 Tank Transporter, SD.KFZ.7/1 FLAKVIERLING 38 and Sd.Kfz. 251/16 Ausf. C Flammpanzerwagen.

I am going to make a start on the Flammpanzerwagen. This will be my first half track and a kit you never see built. 
 

 

The Sd.Kfz. 251/16 Ausf.C Mittler Flammpanzerwagen which was a basic SPW vehicle fitted out with two 1.4cm flame projectors on either side of the fighting compartment with two fuel tanks mounted inside the rear compartment with 700 litres of fuel and the associated pumping equipment and fuel lines to the projectors. Must have been a terrifying prospect meeting one of these. 
As usual Dragon give you a box and a half of plastic, 710 parts (649 in grey styrene, 17 in etched brass, 17 in tan vinyl, 16 in clear styrene, 7 stickers, 2 turned brass, 1 section black nylon string, 1 section white vinyl string).

Please join me for another dive into Dragon (literally) world.

[GusMac]

Nice unusual subject Phil. Not sure I'd want to be sitting in the back with 700 l of highly flammable stuff. 

[Peterpools]

Phil

Nice alternate from aircraft and that surely is a nice part count - going to take a lot of enjoyable hours to work your way through the build.

Will be following all the way

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Bomber_County]

16 hours ago, GusMac said:

Nice unusual subject Phil. Not sure I'd want to be sitting in the back with 700 l of highly flammable stuff. 

Thanks Gus, always like the quirky and seldom modelled builds. One bullet in that amount would sharpen the mind……..

[Bomber_County]

14 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Nice alternate from aircraft and that surely is a nice part count - going to take a lot of enjoyable hours to work your way 

Thanks Peter glad you’re onboard. Knowing Dragon probably a third of the parts will be redundant…….

[Peterpools]

Phil

Looking forward to enjoying the journey but even if a third is redundant, it's still a lot of parts. If it was me, I know I would be confident is loosing a good percentage as I always lose or misplace some parts and size doesn't seem to matter these days.

Keep 'em comin

Peter 

[Bomber_County]

I hate it when I loose anything, especially to the carpet muncher……this was one of best eBay finds, all in postage £30.20 or $37.27……so buck per hour I reckon I’m doing alright………

[Peterpools]

👍

[GazzaS]

Now you have my attention!  Love Dragon armor!

[Bomber_County]

1 hour ago, GazzaS said:

Now you have my attention!  Love Dragon armor!

Thanks Gaz, for all the Dragon quirks I still love them to. Have you tried RFM yet..

[GazzaS]

1 hour ago, Bomber_County said:

Thanks Gaz, for all the Dragon quirks I still love them to. Have you tried RFM yet..

I actually only have one RFM kit so far...   still sitting in the stash.  Looks great, though.

[DocRob]

I'm all eyes Phil, I like the half tracks a lot, but never build one myself. Can't wait to see yours progressing. Part count is not overly important, it's how the kit is designed what counts. There is the clean up of course.
I have this incarnation in my stash, but frightened myself with adding all the PE madness, which substitutes practically most of the body parts, as I planned mine bruised and dented. Without the PE, I may had build it already.

Cheers Rob

[Bomber_County]

10 hours ago, GazzaS said:

I actually only have one RFM kit so far...   still sitting in the stash.  Looks great, though.

You will enjoy it, I did their Pz IV H, very enjoyable and a ton of spares left over…this one….

[Bomber_County]

2 hours ago, DocRob said:

I'm all eyes Phil, I like the half tracks a lot, but never build one myself. Can't wait to see yours progressing

That’s a cool project Rob, I’m with you about half track’s. Now have this and the Famo in stash. That’s a lot of PE, great fun. I’m looking into soldering the large items of PE. I used to do this awhile ago it would work well on the PE hull of yours….

[DocRob]

39 minutes ago, Bomber_County said:

That’s a cool project Rob, I’m with you about half track’s. Now have this and the Famo in stash. That’s a lot of PE, great fun. I’m looking into soldering the large items of PE. I used to do this awhile ago it would work well on the PE hull of yours….

Yes Phil, I would definitely solder the bigger parts. It needs to be well processed, as there should be no plastic near the to solder parts.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Phil

I'm front and center and ready for the ride:

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Bomber_County]

Some time at the bench over the weekend. Finally got the wings fixed on the Wildcat, had to borrow heavily from John’s bank of words. Having put the F4F-3 aside, started on the half track. This is 1.5 steps in the instructions, which you have to read five times. The fuel tank and engine (not shown) are completely hidden by the compartment floor, so these elements will be utilised as salvage junk in the back of the Famo when I start that project……this is quite small at only around 7” long. The inner wheel sets need adding but the sequence dictates adding some colour and weathering prior. I had forgotten how tiny some the components are, very enjoyable……the front axle is fully articulated with a little bit of thought…..

[Peterpools]

Phil

Fantastic progress and for 1.5 steps, the part count must be huge. Nice and busy and again, I always ask myself why manufacturers spend so much, time, money and energy creating parts for a kit that will never be seen. Is there a way you can possibly open up a few access or inspection hatches and help some of the details - engine and maybe the fuel tank, so you can include them?

Looking really good

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[DocRob]

Typical Dragon, I would say Phil. Countless part, tons of detail and very poor instructions. Normally they go together well, though. Your 1,5 steps look like half of the halftrack (or one quarter track ) is done. However, the result looks promising great. When I remember right, the tracks are made from single track links of two parts each, am I right?

Cheers Rob

[Bomber_County]

19 minutes ago, Peterpools said:

Fantastic progress and for 1.5 steps, the part count must be huge. Nice and busy and again, I always ask myself why manufacturers spend 

Thanks Peter, I was a little surprised myself that the engine is fairly detailed and it’s hidden. There is a witness line of hatches for the engine in the compartment floor, I’ll have a closer look……

[Bomber_County]

5 minutes ago, DocRob said:

Typical Dragon, I would say Phil. Countless part, tons of detail and very poor instructions. Normally they go together well, though. Your 1,5 steps look like half of the 

Thanks Rob, you’re right , also the numbering doesn’t match the illustration or is missing completely or so small you miss it. The do go together really nicely albeit with cleanup. Really pleased with the front axle as it animates the whole vehicle. The tracks  consist of 3 parts per link, luckily there are not that many…….when are you going to start your 251/22……

[DocRob]

2 minutes ago, Bomber_County said:

Thanks Rob, you’re right , also the numbering doesn’t match the illustration or is missing completely or so small you miss it. The do go together really nicely albeit with cleanup. Really pleased with the front axle as it animates the whole vehicle. The tracks  consist of 3 parts per link, luckily there are not that many…….when are you going to start your 251/22……

Just when I looked at my PE sets for the Halbkette, I decided, not so soon .

Cheers Rob

[GazzaS]

Nice progress, Phil!

[Bomber_County]

4 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Nice progress, Phil!

Thanks Gaz, it’s been awhile since I did a Dragon kit……..

[Bomber_County]

Work and life keep getting in the way of benchtime………..anyway a small update on the Flammwagen. It’s great to be back working on a Dragon kit again but the instructions are even worse than usual. This kit will have to be sprayed and finished in increments due to the depth of the fighting compartment.  This will be a novelty doing this stepped finishing with an AFV but it’s all a learning process. 
As this week is the Queens Platinum Jubilee and other Bank holidays, I’m taking the whole week. So with this ongoing I’m going to try and push on with the Wildcat as well……..also take pics of the Lysander and Ju88…….