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Being a great fan of 1:16 scale figures it was just a question of time before I would attempt to build an AFV at that scale. After researching the market, one thing became painfully obvious that the prices for kits at this scale are beyond what I would be willing to spend. Thus came the idea of scratch building.
After gaining the initial experience during the construction of my 1:25 cale Austin I was ready to tackle the 1:16 beast. I chose the Hetzer after examining few of the AFV plans and realizing this one was the safest to attempt.
Basic frame was built from heavy styrene rod, with succesive layers of sheet styrene to build up the superstructure and some of the outer details. Wheels and hinges were cast in resin from styrene/milliput masters. Tracks were cast in resin as well. Gun mantlet was sculpted from milliput (added the cast texture with a Dremel tool) and small handles and hooks were made from thin wire. Figure is a simple conversion of a DML kit (Budapest SS-man). The whole project was painted with acrylics and was weathered with pastels. Inside the base is a small tape player with actuall WWII combat soundtrack which adds a bit "extra" in terms of reality to the overall experience while looking at the kit. This project took a total of about 60 hours to build and paint.
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