Ok, I must be bonkers trying this. I managed to get a Tamiya wespe + Aber PE + New Connections(?) barrel + ModelKasten tracks for all of £15 and decided to add Eduard PE in to the mix (it has some areas of PE that Aber dont)… This will be the most PE I have ever used and should really push me to try soldering (lots of duplication between the 2 PE sets for me to practice on as well ;-))… oh and any tips on how to keep track of what to replace with PE and when (the big stuff is obvious and the rest I was going to do as/when I approached its part in the Tamiya instructions)…
oh and I may add some extras of my own around the outside (some interesting photos have surfaced with boxes all over the place)
so this is the whole bits n bobs…
tamiya parts
and the extras
wish me luck I am going in
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Great deal. I’m sure you will do it justice. 
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How I normally do it is go through both sets of instructions and mark down on them both. So for example on the kit instructions I would write PE with an arrow towards the part as well as write the PE instructions section number. That way I don’t miss anything during the build.
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thanks, started to do that - must admit the Eduard PE instructions look easier than the Aber ones (have used Eduard before so perhaps I am just used to it)… I think I will start with some of the easier bit (ie just “put this piece here”) to start getting in to the swing of things…
Eduard is my favourite PE maker. The instructions are always pretty clear and while the sets are not the finest or most detailed they do the job and more importantly, they are robust. My fat fingers have destroyed many a PE part from other makers in the past because they were just so fragile.
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Looking forward to the ride! Excellent subject matter of much interest to me.
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I swear to God the engineers at Aber snicker evilly as they fill in the empty spaces on the PE fret with pieces that are superfluous and too small to be humanly manipulated…
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Started with the easy stuff (plus folding the first aid kit). Eduard only so far but Aber do have some bits on the gun that I will use. And it looks like the kit comes with 2 spare wheels (I assume the wheel frets are from the normal PzII kit that does have spares mounted) so will build one with a spare mounted on the hull armour plate and with oil cans hanging form the sides
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started on the left hand interior… bit of filling, some photo etch. Need to do the 2 ammo boxes and then look at the radio
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more progress on the interior. Need to build the 4 ammo cases (soldering) and the other 2 boxes for the right hand side as well as try to work out what to do with the radio. Have also started on the gun (nice metal barrel) and the very nice ModelKasten tracks (all clicked together firmly so far)
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and a full run (103 links) done…
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I don’t get on very well with soldering - more practice needed (think soldering the small bits was where I went wrong). Anyway Wespe hull sides continue to evolve
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They look neat enough from here. I have found my soldering to be unpredictable, definitely something to practice, but not really necessary unless the joint needs to be really strong (or you want to do loads of practice). Slow setting CA, and decent white glue can fill in the seams.
Model Kasten and New Connections - this sounds like something from the Tony Greenland Panzer Modelling book.
I just received this same Wespe kit in the mail about 1 hour ago. Got it on Ebay for $18.50 +$10.00 shipping
more progress, sides completed, now on to the gun
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ok so managed to wrestle the 2nd set of tracks in to submission until I paint, on to more of the body… really just the tools to do and the crew added spare wheel and it is ready to be painted…
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with the addition of the spare wheel mount as seen in a 1944 photo, building is finished… off to paint (plain Dunkelgelb I think)…
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interior primed and base coated… might be able to do some chipping/weathering this weekend
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The Wespe is my “what if idea” tank. I imagine it with a Panthers 75mm. It would be a mini Hornet.
Hornet.
Wespe.
Chipping and some detail painting. Need to add a little more dust/grime on the horizontal surfaces then I can start to button it all up
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