Sd.Kfz.251/3 IV Ausf D

No I have to build it from scratch. It’s going to be a challenge to say the least! I will use various hollow brass tubings stepped down which is quite straight forward. It will be the detailing of the mast couplings and winch mechanism that will be most difficult.

It is hard to find pictures of telescopic masts raised and operating with cabling on a 251. Which really makes it hard to know the finesse on how to rig it.

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Does this help?

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Thanks, I have found these and they do help. The 251 I am building also has the frame antenna. I’m not exactly sure if the cable spool is actually inside the vehicle or was it mounted on the mast when in use like the pictures.

The new 251/3 IV only started to be available to units in late May/ June 44. Guess there weren’t as many “leisurely” crew pictures available from June onwards .

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Day 11

I worked on the upper half and glued in the front plate and top. I fiddled around with the armoured shield pintle. I’ve tried to slim it down compared to the original which looked very bulky. I just made use of some spare PE (simulate leather strap) so it could hold the pistol grip of an MG34 and not obliterate those details.

Glued in the remainder of levers in the lower half. Not too much handling is left to do before paint, so I thought it would be safe to glue.

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Nice update … Building up really well

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Thanks Johnny.

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Day 12

Today I started working on the frame antenna. I am using 1mm brass tubing for this project. The kit came with antenna frame supports however the angle they are on is unsuitable for this type of frame. The pads are positioned for the supports.

It was quite fiddly to try and bend without a jig, but I think I did ok. I will solder up the frame next time round, hopefully make it easier to bend into position, if not, back to the drawing board. Or, that’s what camouflage was invented for in my modelling world!

I have items in mail limbo for this project from BNA as our postal service decided to go on strike two weeks ago. This could delay some things getting to paint, oh well.

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Why are they on strike?

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Well, there’s a blast from the past; I’ll explain.

In 1977 I was posted to a NATO Army Group HQ in the FRG. One of my tasks whenever I was detailed off as Branch Duty Clerk was to open up the offices and lay out the officers’ trays. The Branch boss was a full Colonel in the Bundeswehr, Oberst Boettger. Imagine my surprise that upon being shown the ropes by a fellow JNCO, I espied an oil painting of Rommel on the Colonel’s wall. On his desk was a signed photo of Geyr von Schweppenburg. Having found my feet a little bit later I approached the Colonel and asked the significance of both. He informed me that he’d been one of Rommel’s ADCs in the desert, and that von Schweppenburg had been a former Defence Attaché in London. When the Bundeswehr was formed in 1955, the Herr Oberst had been selected to become same, and von S had sent him his best wishes and the aforementioned photo.

It was all quite a privilege that posting(!)

Apologies for my memory intruding into the thread.

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They don’t want to work weekends so they can get overtime hours, which has equated frittering away over 3 billion dollars of tax payers money in loss revenue in less than three years. The loss revenue has gone to Fedex, DHL, etc, because people need reliability and accountability.

Personally the government needs to mandate them back to work and make them work weekends with no additional bonuses. Post IMO is an essential service to taxpayers.

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Interesting

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Day 13

Nothing exciting, did some interior work, fit the front axle (still need to glue the steering ball joint), and put some wing nuts on the radio rack.

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The little details make it :+1:

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That’s some nice work there, very nice.

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Almost sounds like a Country song!

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Thanks for the encouragement.

Hey if Beyonce can win a country music award……anything is possible!

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Steve, fantastic build thread with outstanding quality detail work! Looking forward to seeing more!

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Excellent build. In particular, the effort in recreating the radio system is impressive.

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Thanks Jeremy. I wish I could have gotten the true dimensions from the rebuilt radio rack and I probably should have built it all from PE. I sent a couple of email requiests to the rebuilders, but did not get a reply from them.

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Day 14

So it’s been awhile since I’ve last posted any progress and it’s been awhile since I’ve actually been on the bench.

Postal strike is over (for now) and received one of two packages from BNA, so a few critical items arrived, SBS tracks, MG33 & 34, PE chains and decals. 2nd package has; GG400 generator, welds, nuts, miscellaneous radio equipment and PE stuff.

So a few more things have been glued, unglued, re-tooled, glued. More or less the support pads and supports for the radio frame antenna. It wasn’t worthy of a solo post. I do however have an idea to build a better dimensional frame using a jig than the freehand bending one I did.

Tracks were the order for today. They are SBS SdKfz.11/251 Late Type Steel Tracks (Gummipolster w302). There was fair cleanup required (222 pieces @ 3 hrs) which I found a bit tedious. Final assembly of both tracks took about 2 ½ hrs which I think is quite good.

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