1/35 Italeri Sd.Kfz 234/3 8 Wheeled Armored Car

[pingvuiini]

While waiting for other projects to dry and/or cure I quickly slapped together Italeri's 1/35 Sd.Kfz 234/3 8 wheeled armored car with 75mm howitzer. A very fast OOB build that took less than a day even with a major goof. This is my first time with this type of vehicle and I errantly glued the reverse driver's seat in the middle of the floorboard instead of off to the right like it should be. By the time I realized my error the seat was permanently set, so I decided to glue the steering wheel and shift stick for central positioning too. There was a spare suspension strut loose among the parts and I used that to fill the hole where the reverse steering column would be and then hung a canteen off the other end for a handy drink holder. I then realized that the reverse drivers visor had to be moved to the center, so I modified the visor and filled the big window gap with putty. It's all quite ridiculous I know : but in the end it didn't turn out all that bad. Another positive from this crazy episode is that I feel I am becoming more adventurous and confident with scratchbuilding and figuring out creative solutions when things go wrong.

I wanted to primer the whole thing in red brown primer but the nozzle got clogged so I ended up doing a two tone primer coat. I am thinking about experimenting using a much lighter green than the usual panzer colors because when I do my excessive weathering it darkens things a lot so maybe the lighter color will sort of counter that.

I am also going to cut off the thick antennae in favor of a thinner stretched sprue type.

Anyways, pics:

 

[pingvuiini]

Finished painting, detailing and decals. The clear areas of the decals are becoming semi-opaque and look like crap. Hmph!! Any ideas to fix this?? Any help appreciated.

Pics:

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

Finished painting, detailing and decals. The clear areas of the decals are becoming semi-opaque and look like crap. Hmph!! Any ideas to fix this?? Any help appreciated.

To address the decal silvering you can poke many little holes with a sewing needle/pin and reapply softening solution, the holes will allow the solution to get into and underneath the film and snuggle it down to the surface.

You can reapply the solution as many times as it takes making sure to let it dry in between applications, this has worked for many many times over the years with older, stubborn decals that have behaved like this.