World War Two All Scale

Well my SdKfz250 arrived today from Monkey Depot. And was I surprized.... NO DUTY!!!!. I figured out what happened... MD put down a value of $25.00US without even being asked to. I guess they know about customs here in Canada. Anyways I just had to screw it together and see how she looks. Here are a few pics of her as she sits right now. Of course my gun crew had to climb aboard and check out their new ride. Now the decisions start. Do I build it as a stock 250, or an Rc 250? If I go RC I don't see how I can hide the gearboxes and motors so I could do an SdKfz253 which has the top enclosed with just a couple hatches. Either way here are the pics

Well I've started to do some work on my halftrack. Those who have one of these AH halftracks know that if you use all the track links the track is too loose and just the opposite if you use one link less per side the track is too tight. Here is my fix for this. I drilled another hole just to the rear of the rear brace then removed the bit of plastic between the holes and reduced the height of the rear brace to allow the rear axel to be able to be adjusted. I used 2 6-32 brass bolts and 6 nuts. I drilled a hole in the front brace then threaded the brass bolt in the hole putting a brass nut either side of the hole. Then I tightened the nuts just enough to make contact with the plastic brace then with a drop of cyano secured the nuts on both sides of the brace. I soldered one nut to each brass bolt so the bolts could be adjusted by useing ones fingers without haveing to use a screw driver. Now I can use all the track links and take up the slack and get the right tension I want. Here are pics of the modification

Well the differential unit has arrived and looks like it will do the job. Not too large it can't be concealed, now a trip to the hobby shop this week and pick up the bits and pieces needed to connect it to the driving axel. This differential is from a Traxxas Revo

Update:
I decided to use the motor and planetary gears from an old cordless screw driver to power the half track. I took an old hex bit and heated it till it was almost white hot with a propane torch and then let it cool slowly removeing the tempering(hardnessd) then chucked it in a drill and turned down one end to accept a section of brass tubing, Here is a pic of the finished parts before assembling

next I remove some of the cross braceing on the drive axel section, and cut a small section out the center to allow the differential be at the right height to mat up with the drive axel. I also cut a small square section in the floor to allow for the bottom of the differential. Here is a pic of the drive train in place.

Next I cut out a section in the bottom of the firewall for clearance of the differential. Next I will remove a section of the sub-floor for the differential. It will be hidden easily inside the bell howseing and by the trany cover howseing. Here are 2 pics from either side of the firewall

Update:
I have now removed a section the sub-floor to clear the differential and as you can see it will be very easy to conceal the differential. I'm very pleased the way it is going together as I preferred to have a 250 over the 253. here are the latest pics of the sub-floor, firewall and drive unit in place. Comments welcomed

Update:
In these pics I have made the connections between the motor and the differential, and between the differential and the drive sprockets.


This next pic is of the motor now secured and ready to add the bellhouseing

Here is a couple pics of the bellhouseing made from a section cut from a plastic pop bottle. The dash and radio are just printed pics glued to pieces of styrene and just there to see how it will look when I get the resin items


and finally here are a couple videos of the halftrack under power. Still learning how to work the new digital camera. I need to adjust the slipper clutch in the differential so it has less slip. Hope they work

Update:
Well I decided to refine the axel supports to prevent it throwing the track and to keep the drive srockets aligned and prevent wobbleing of the drive train. I had a couple small nylon gears about 1/4" thick so I drilled them out to match the diameter of the aluminum axels, then trimmed them and epoxied them to the sides of the hull. I then made the inner supports from some 1/4" styrene for the inner supports. Since this isn't a race car the styrene should last along time with some plastic safe gear lube. Here are a few updated pics of the drive train and the radio instalation. I would love to get a sound modual of some kind to simulate engine sound that increases with the speed of the halftrack.

Here's another vid of my halftrack this time it's hauling my Pak38 around

Update:
Well I have done some more work on the halftrack. I received some nice detail items from Ron. I now have the dash, radio, front seats, front mg34 gun shield, and rear mg34 gun mount. I have removed all of the bosses, closed and filled the holes that were left. I made the left side benchseat/stowage bin, the upper interior stoage bin, lowered the front seat pedistalls by about 1/2", added the front tarp rail(bullet catcher as some call it), drilled out the holes for the gun mounts, added cooling holes in the drive train, perminantly mounted the fenders, built the right side exterior stowage bin, and scratchbuilt a fire extinguisher. Next on the list to do is build the interior bin in the rear right corner, make cushions for the seat and stowage bin, and make the rear jump seat. Here are a few pics of the work so far.

that looks good...I'm now considering buying one for myself sometime next xear.

I will admit the AH kit is lacking but it is a good base to make many variants of the 250 even the 253 which was an earlier version. And with the custom detail accessories you can make a great halftrack. The price for the kit is good too. Mine was $229.00 from MD

* Admin Edit:Images fixed. If you get the "Can't determine Size" error, wait a few minutes and try again.-Richard

Update:
I have now made the rear stowage cabinet and the jump seat. I have primed them as well as the fire extinguisher. Here are the pics of the primed parts. For some reason when I enter the IMG tags it won't post the pics gives me the "can't determine image size" error.. Why I don't know so here are the image links

Update:
Progress continues with the 250... Here I have constructed the fuel filler spout and cap and guard. In the last 2 pics I have constructed the rear door latching mechanism and outside door handle. Next I will be constructing the medical box for the rear door

Well it was too hot to go to bed tonight so I figured I would work on the Medical box that goes on the rear door till it cooled down a bit. Anyways here is what I came up with. Will need to get decals to go on it once everything is painted

Update:
Well I decided to tackle the side and front vision ports. After chizelling off the frames on the side ports I figured there must be an easier way. So on the front ones I used a thin razor saw and removed the vision port by cutting between the raised ridge and the main part of the port. I then sanded off the raised ridge that remained. I then shimmed the section I removed to take up the gap left from the razor saw then glued them back in flush with the surface. Here are pics of the vision ports. Now it's just a matter of some spot putty and sanding to remove the seams.