AFV Club 7.5cm Pak 40

[panzerfaust]

Well for a switch I started this for a little diversion to the 251/9's. This one should be OOTB. :lol:


So first the sprues...
"A" sprue -


"B"


"C"


"D"


the metal etched parts


the solid rubber wheels


there is a aluminum turned barrel as well which I forgot to take a pic of but you'll see it in the construction photos.
the parts for step 1.

[panzerfaust]

the aluminum barrel has recesses cut into each end one for the muzzle break on one end and the breech block on the other. Here I ham seating the solid barrel into one half of the breech block main shape. The other half will close this stub on the barrel in, I used Testors liquid cement to do the job.


some of the other parts added






the block and breech


looking at various reference photos the breech block needed some filling as you can see in these pictures of the real item there is no seam where these model parts are glued together.

[panzerfaust]

speaking of reference here are some links I found












using fine sandpaper and a 3M scouring pad I gently, because AFV Club plastic is so soft, sanded back the Mr. Surfacer filling.

[panzerfaust]

I noticed the sink marks on the back end- I did careful sand, fill, sand, so as not to lose the serial number...


here are the step three parts- the brass wire at the top I may use to replace the two thin parts used to slide the gun up and down the gun cradle


this is how I filled those knock-out marks on the inside of the gun cradle sides.
Just used a drill bit end to punch out cirlcles of the right size from plastic card using an eraser as a pad.


in place
-cover with Mr. Surfacer and when hard scrap flat with curved blade...


primed out the gun


here is the gun cradle with most of step 3 done

[panzerfaust]

I sanded the block again then filled and sanded the seams again. Sometimes it doesn't work in one go. A few other parts were added now that I was happy with the filling.




here the gun and cradle together primed out (this is only a dry fit)

[johnnyboy]

hi james this is looking awesome man. i have had that kit in my hands a few times now and havnt bought it but am going to now.what type of camera do you use just curious your pics are always real good thanks for sharing johnny

[Tuna]

thanks for the tip on the drill bit.. I didn't do a great job on my lefh18.. tried clumsily to fill them with putty then clean em with an exacto.

How does the drill bit 'punch' exactly? are you drills hollow?

My wife has a leather punch with different sizes.. I wonder if that goes as small..

[panzerfaust]

Originally posted by johnnyboy@Jan 17 2005, 07:22 AM
hi james this is looking awesome man. i have had that kit in my hands a few times now and havnt bought it but am going to now.what type of camera do you use just curious your pics are always real good thanks for sharing johnny

It is a nicer kit tha the Tamiya or Italeri version by far
Do yourself a favour and get the metal shield spacers that AFV offers. They are worth the 10.00 bucks.
As for the camera it is a Fujifilm S602 Zoom. It is an older maodel now ! ( 2 years?). It has man, many features.

thanks for the tip on the drill bit.. I didn't do a great job on my lefh18.. tried clumsily to fill them with putty then clean em with an exacto.

How does the drill bit 'punch' exactly? are you drills hollow?

My wife has a leather punch with different sizes.. I wonder if that goes as small..

I have heard people use these- I don't have one but hope to look into it some day.

[KingTiger]

Hey James,

I really like this AFV Club Pak. I bought and built the Tamiya kit for my "Waiting to Exhale" dio but I added an aluminum turned barrel. I like the metal shields and the rubber tires that came with your kit. This is in 1/35 scale? Nice job.

KingTiger

[panzerfaust]

This is in 1/35 scale? Nice job.

yep
okay the next part I tackled was the PE metal shield and plastic spacers that come with the kit. I was determined to show people who may have whined about these, that they are perferctly useful and are a major step forward from the old Tamiya/Italeri injection molded kit offering.

I used a scalpel to remove them from the tree very carefully. I then used a CA that has a bit more flex/shear strength than the usual stuff to glue them in place. Once these had set and hardened in place I then used a piece of 600 grit sand paper to remove the little bits left on the parts-it is much easier doing it this way than trying to clean the parts up before gluing in place as they are so tiny it is hard to hold them in between one's fingers.

the parts on the tree


inplace




I then sanded prue attachment bits