Sd.Kfz. 234

Derek Huggett Nigel - More often than not it means 'Caution' or 'Let us increase the price'! Dragon have used the term/range 'Premium Edition' (in many different scales) for many years, and at first this meant additional etched and/or metal parts, 'extra' details, and so on. Then the 'additional parts' stopped coming, but the tag 'Premium' stayed! Some of their models are still worthy of the term, but by no means all! Put simply, don't be fooled by words alone!

Nigel Thanks, Derek. Dragon uses a bewildering array of range descriptions ('smart', 'premium', orange' etc.). The cynic in me always assumes that this is for the purpose of obfuscation rather than enlightenment.

And I'm still not sure whether they played fast-and-loose with the re-release of 6253. :/

Derek Huggett Nigel - To be fair, it is not only Dragon who play this game (love the word 'obfuscation' - very apt!), but if you can be cynical, I also find you generally avoid disappointment! (No, honestly, I am a 'glass is half-full' sort of guy, it just depends who is describing it! ). The best we can do is put some trust and faith in the scalemates database for some clarity (and honesty!).

And that 'extended description' of the re-release of 6253 does look a little worrying - when already in a hole, it can be wise to stop digging!!!

Cortex Post some pics : )

Lost_Erik As a grey paint scheme what-if, updated link: https://tapatalk.com/groups/..it=tease+and+target#p2519407

Grease Monkey Hmm, my research was not that good. These wheels are in sets of four!

Dave Morris Please visit the associated album for comments, updates & pictures for this project.

James C Hi Derek. I don't know if it is 100% correct but I installed mine in the following order. Slip the wide collar on the end of the barrel and the single small round piece of photoetch on the end. The other two identical rounded pieces of photoetch fit around the collar on either side of the insert that fits inside the muzzle brake. Once those are secure, it gets glued in position inside the muzzle brake itself. Lastly the cap for the front face goes on the end and the whole assembly slips over the end of the barrel. Be careful to line up the side openings of the muzzle brake horizontally and level when securing into final position on the end of the barrel.

Derek Huggett James - Thanks mate, I guessed that I could rely on you for some sort of answer to my query, but made this a 'general' post as I don't like putting people 'on the spot' if I can help it!

Your assembly order sounds good to me anyway, and if we all do it this way it becomes the accepted method, right? (Sorry, a touch of Weltschmerz there!).

Thanks again.

James C NP mate. Just remember to mount the barrel inside the mantlet first. I secured it from the inside using a fairly liberal amount of thick CA glue. Then once dried, attach the muzzle brake on the end.
If you attach the muzzle brake first, you wont be able to slip it inside the mantlet.

43 Rascarcapaco 15 EURO

Holger Kranich Hi Honkfish! (cool Name)
This is your first model? Looks good so far, it seems as it is time for some paint now!

Honkfish That's the plan! Going to prime it tomorrow hopefully.

Gary Looking good. I built the 1/48th scale Bandi 232 a few months ago. Very similar. Gary

43 Rascarcapaco Hey Ian welkom op scalemates,je bent op goede weg naar weathering....Was dit je eerste keer?

Ian Barclay Deze is al een dik jaartje oud, maar met dat ik juist lid ben op de site zet ik er enkele oude projecten op.
De laatste is de FT-17 op schaal 1/72

Rui S Hi Keith, I hope you don't mind my comment:
"When I told some friends I had taken this kit to do a review they laughed and said "it's a dog". It's not the newest kit out there and may not be the most accurate but it's not a dog. Overall it went together quite well and looks like a 234/2 and I had fun building it. I recommend this kit to anyone but beginners…buy it, have some fun and build it!"
Your friends may suffer a bit preconception. Did someone Build or scratch this kit before Italeri release it??? No ??? So some respect is needed.
Some dog's "stink" but as they say, they are man's best friend.
P.S. If not, why did Tamiya get interested in it?

Keith Gervasi No, I don't mind! Some folks look at the old Italeri kits as junk. Maybe some were, but I thought this one was pretty good. I have the Panther A from Italeri and was told it was junk....but you know, it looks pretty darn good to me. Yes, it needs some work but it's not a bad kit...IMHO. I'm glad Tamiya did this one and hope they decide to do the M110 also!!!

H K Build it The /4 I recently built was one of the best Dragon kits I ever did.

Alberto González This is my first kit, I really love this vehicle (in the four variants), for me it's the best vehicle of the II World War, Can you give me some tips for the construction of the kit?

H K Check this ipms-seattle.org/reviews/armor/2013-EC-Dragon-06772.pdf . Very helpful build log especially for the tricky parts of the suspension. ( it is not as complicated as it looks at first)

Alberto González thanks, I will check

H K This is a nice kit. Great fit, helpful drawings. The multipart tires look great. If you have the choice go for the Premium editions simply because the suspension is movable, which is really helpful for adjusting everything. ( i could kick myself that I didn`buy the Premium /3 )

Joerg R. You can although built the older ones with movable suspension.

M.Julian Marles I love these 8 wheel armoured cars! I unfortunately only own three Italeri ones....

Gábor Bélik I'm in. I have this kit. Looking forward to the build.

Es-haq Khosravi Great job!

Gary Really nice work.Gary

Szilárd Kun Thank you guys!

Fabian D. Nice cammo, how have you masked it?

Jonns Pfeiffenberger sehr schön. Das mit dem Auspuff haben wir ja schon besprochen

M.Julian Marles Nice!

Soeren . Looks great Nice painting!

Thomas U. Ja richtig, die habe ich auch schon überarbeitet. Stelle bald mal ein paar neue Bilder mit dem neuen Auspuff rein.

Thomas U. @Fabian: I used Panzerputty for masking the cammo. It's really easy to do this.

Alfonso nice 234! one of my favorite vehicles

Vorya hidaryan

Hunter Cummins I just bought the original you did a real number on her great job

Tim Sloan thanks guys, I appreciate that

Hunter Cummins No problem mate well deserver

Frank Krause It doesn't have to be Dragon! Perfect job. I like your final result!

Viktor Berglind Thank you! I'm very pleased with the result! Feels like im getting better for every kit i put togheter. Cant get enough!

M.Julian Marles Nice work. I am 90% finished mine, out of the box build.....

Hunter Cummins Nice I love it

Michal Z. nice build!

Mohammad Adl very nice

Viktor Berglind Thanks for thr thumbs up!

Gary Very realistic. Nice job. Gary

Holger Kranich I do like that kitten! Good job on the Italerie kit!

Hunter Cummins This is a must have haha

H K I built the Italeri one a loooong time ago

Hunter Cummins Ohwow how was that one I am dying to get this one

H K As I wrote, a long time ago, I can`t really remember. At least this is a good sign. If it was bad kit, I would certainly remember. So let`s say it was ok.

Frank Krause I built an Italeri Puma and it was really a great kit, easy to built, fit was perfect. Of course you can't compare it anymore with today's kits, but I will still build my Italeri 234 series, sometime.......

H K I built the Puma the same time as the 234/3. At this time I was quite happy that we had at least these two variants in plastic.

Eend Ooops! I plead guilty: i do sometimes paint Space Marines :$

Eend And yes, that's my HETc

Es-haq Khosravi Nice job!

Eend The wheels still need work, but i've fitted them to see how they fit and how it looks. They still need a lot of painting/cleaning up and wheels #1 and #3 were my first attempts at painting them.

Eend I did some experimenting with black/white oil paint mixed with a bit of Revell Anthracite Matt enamel paint.. Which gave me something that looked almost like Panzer Grau... I used the sponge technique to try to simulate spots where the paint has 'worn out'. But it's a bit overdone.. :/

james johnson I think it looks just fine Eend, maybe put a little rust wash around the edges where the panzer gray meets the dunkelgelb.....I'd use pigments but enamel or oil washes would work, IMHO...

Eend That's a good idea, i'll give it a shot.. But how do i do that? Add water/turpentine/other thinner and let it 'flow' around the Panzer grey spots?

james johnson for enamels/oils I'd go with a turpenoid product, also known as odorless turpentine and dilute the paint way down......or do as I do and buy the stuff from AK Interactive such as their "Light Rust" AK 046. What you do is what you're not supposed to do in other brush painting, that is let the paint "unload" from the brush. The wash will naturally find it's way around the border between the panzer gray and the sand base color.......

Eend Aha, op die fiets

Roy McKenzie Eend, here's where I buy my Dragon kits. I will only buy them if they are 40-50% off. Not sure what the website would be in the NL but I would look to see if they have something close.

Roy McKenzie Forgot the link

dragonusaonline.com/

Eend Thanks for the link, but it is out of stock. It is hard to find, but i already found a shop that does have this kit.

And this Puma is ready for painting, i'll have to wait for the airbrush needle now

Eend I'm getting a bit impatient with the shop i ordered my needle. If it doesn't arrive today i'll consider using the Tamiya rattle can on my Puma..

Eend Finally i have my needle, so i sprayed the hull with primer. Still have to do the turret though, but i'm out of time.

Eend Sprayed the turret in primer friday, now for a nice coat of paint. I also finished the wheels, and tried to paint a hub/rim. I used a circle template for this, but (as i feared) didn't work the way i wanted. The paint kept 'flowing' towards the lower portions of the rim..

Eend First time i've tried to paint camo, using bits of torn paper to mask. But it didn't really work that well with at all angles.

Frank Krause Nice scene, Shaun! I like it!

Roland Sachsenhofer Awsome! Great work Shaun!

Eend Can i borrow your mechanics? My car is up for a big check-up next month..

shaun symonds Thanks Guys Glad you like it. It's an old kit but the end result was well worth the effort making it.

scalemates

Steffen Arndt Thanks!

Roy McKenzie Eend, this is the one, great kit.

Erhan Atalay my ancient box. Now a model ...

Markus Kutsch The Plastic Bench Yep,thats why i keep an eye on your Models