Hi Folks,
I was a bit abstinent in the last few weeks in the forum but never lost focus on the hobby 
After finishing my M41 Walker Bulldog I started to spread my wings and see what I could build next. As I mentioned in one of my older posts: The M41 was never a build I wanted to build, it just happened to be discounted at Hobby Lobby and I bought it 
This time I wanted to build something that catches my interest and I can start digging a bit more into the topic.
One Topic that always had my interest was armored reconnaissance. The Tamiya Sd.Kfz. 223 was one of the vehicles that fell into my hands pretty fast and - shame on me - I did not do any research on the Kit itself.
Once I started reading and looking at the pictures in my books, I questioned myself what Version of Sd.Kfz. 223 the Tamiya Kit is. I am not 100% sure but I would put it into a Version 3 maybe 2. I also noticed that there is a lot of room for improvement on the kit that I will skip for this time. I always need to remember myself that I am new to the hobby and that I need to learn and master the “simple” skills first before scratch building whole Parts of a vehicle
The Idea
My idea is to build the Tamiya Sd.Kfz. 223 as it comes out of the kit. I will not add any third-party accessories or scratch-build anything. Although I may add some camouflage and/ or some tree branches.
I also decided not to add some of the accessory parts that come with the vehicle. The reason is that this vehicle will be placed in a Diorama that will take place on the German-French Border in April 1940 on border patrol.
I do not have a historical document or photo that can verify that this kind of scenario did really happen on the German-French border (Sd.Kfz. 221/222/223 patrolling the border) but I thought it would be a nice scenario anyways.
The Build
I was a bit shocked and released when I looked at the construction plan. On one hand I was happy not to deal with a full interior of the vehicle, on the other hand, I was a bit shocked by what was provided for the inside. Besides a radio and a seat it is empty. That isn’t a big deal if the hatch/ top would be closed but it is pretty open and the inside is fairly visible. Because of that I decided to paint the inside walls, floor, the radio and the seat. That worked out semi good.
I primed the inside (Vallejo) and used ivory as my paint color (Vallejo). After this I wanted to paint the floor in a bit darker color and also the seat and radio in some other colors. The issue was that the paint was not attaching to the surface and was rather pushed around by my brush. The paint I used in this case was also Vallejo paint. All paint was always shaken in a shaker a metal ball inside.
The inside painting was not my best work in general and was never be intended to be seen that well, so please be gentle when you see the mess I just wanted to have some color inside that it doesn’t not look naked.
The build in general fits together really well, I discovered smaller sections and parts that needed some additional sanding and patching but I made it work I guess.
As you see in my photos I have built the kit and everything is primed and being ready for painting. I am a bit nervous about this part but I have to start somewhere - right?!
Thoughts
During my build process I noticed already a few things I would do differently if I were building this kit again. And I will, I already have the Sd.Kfz. 222 here (what is basically the same kit). But for this build I will get some aftermarket accessories and may even have to scratch-build a couple things. But thats a topic for another day
During my build I also did some more research on other manufacturers kits to see if they are better in detail or follow a particular version. But it seems like that they are all not really “great” when it comes to accuracy. The HobbyBoss (Tristar) Kit seems to be the “best” you can get when it comes to accuracy (got that kit as well). I did find a Thread somewhere on a forum and someone did explain pretty well why they all have their flaws.
Wondering how it will be when I start exploring the six and eight wheeler recon vehicles But for now I will focus on my current build. But Spoiler: I got the Dragon Sd.Kfz. 234/1 and AFV Club Sd.Kfz. 233 both for a $50 deal
Thank you for your attention and have a nice start to your weekend! Maybe I see some of you tomorrow at RavenCon.
P.s. critics and help is always welcome!
Tobi
