Hi all. I am new here but have built models since around 1985. I have spent all of my working life with R&D and intellectual property, -all very theoretical. Modelling have been a relief from all the theoretical work.
A bought the nice Takom Weisel Tow kit in 1:16 scale at a model show some years ago and when I opened the box and saw the large hatches it practically begged for an interior. So I decided to scratch build one.
The antislip strips on the right hand side of the vehicle had the wrong shape so i removed all of the antislip. The molded on loops and belts on the front armour had to go as well.
Nice work so far. I do like models with visible interior and in 1/16 scale this is something that will definitely be seen through the hatches. Do continue to show us the progress, please.
Mario
Thanks Mario!
I promiss, I will post as often as my “green-horn” membership allows.
Below, new antislip in place, made from 220 grit sandpaper with almost all of the paperbacking removed. I also opened up the top vent and I have built a radiator.
Some more things in place. Covers for torsion bars and rear shock absorbers.
There will be a lot of electronic equipment hat needs to be scratch built, here some contraption..
and the radiator. It will be barely visible through the vent holes on the top.
No interior on a 1/16 scale Wiesel? What a shame! Good scratchbuild job btw. 
Great work. I got to see one in 2002 while working with the Bundeswehr.
Welcome aboard Ingvar. That is impressive scratch building, I am eagerly looking forward seeing this progress.
Nope, it’s all empty in there, echo still lingers….
Thanks, it was a lot of fun trying to catch all the things lingering in the corners of the Wiesel, “the last of the tankettes”. A freind said it was good that it never saw real action. -Well it did, in Afganistan among others… We also need to put it in persperctive. The Wiesel TOW was designed when the same TOW apperered on Mutt jeeps in the US Army. Shoot and scoot was the idea, but the Weisel was protected from fine caliber projectiles and shrapnel.
Commander and gunner seats in place.
And the driver seat..
Infanterieschule Hammelburg has a 1/1 scale cutway of the Wiesel TOW. I hope it´s for use to you.
I bet it cost alot more than a Jeep.
Over here, both kits retail for about 60 Euros.
I mean the real 1:1 cost.
KMW has no prices on their HP, but I think up to 1.000.000 Euros. Price may include the TOW system.
Great pictures, I could have used that during the build (my Wiesel was closed up in August last year)
Yep, the armour is thin, more of a rain shelter than armour…..
The TOW control unit
Some more of the doodads in place along with some cables.
-and here a few pictures just before I closed it all up.
/Ingvar
Wow! Great stuff. Everything is handmade, good old scratchbuilding, no CAD designs or 3D printed parts?
Mario
Note the “thickness” of the armor plates.
You’re not kidding; I was just about to mention that.
The armor of the Wiesel isn’t classified. It’s something like 7.62mm ball all around and maybe 7.62mm AP front. And just looking at the Wiesel’s armor’s thickness, I’m not even sure it’s that rating, but that’s what the texts say.
The basic 8x8 LAV is that 7.62mm armor rating until the US Marines added ceramic appliqué to increase the armor rating to 14.5mm AP for LAVA2. Basic HMMWVs have the armor rating of “Against fragments and artillery shell splinters (at a far distance)” and hence the term, “Bullet-resistant” and not “bulletproof.” Added armor is usually expensive, heavy, often thick, and affects the engine, transmission, and suspension’s performance.
You must remember that the Wiesel in a Waffenträger or weapons carrier. Like it´s precedessor,
-the Kraka-, it was intended to support Fallschirmjäger in combat. Lessons learned from the Kreta invasion, called for a support vehicle to be transported by CH-53 helicopters behind enemy line in “WWW 3”.The vehicle was designed by Porsche GmbH, calling for Speed is Armor.
Thanks all for the comments. No there is no 3D printed stuff here. I do most of my paid work in front of a computer. Relaxing is getting away from all that… I am trained in Pro-Engineer decades ago, but as implied above I do like to use my hands and physical tools. A bit old school, -but it works I guess.
It’s time for an update.
I freed the spade from the clamping tools and gave it a new handle from real wood,
This is how it ended up, some metal paint, chipping fluid an green top paint. Some brown oil pant on the handle. The brush is also scrathbuilt. The kit part looked horrible.
