 |
 The
first Pz 38(t) kit I made (on the left) was from a Fujimi diorama
kit that also came with a Tiger II and a largish vacuform diorama base.
I made this around about 1974/5 and the model is a veteran of many games
as well as of the ant wars...
The superstructures were designed to be interchangeable with the turrets so I could have two AFVs for the price of one! I did these around 1994. |
 The
superstructures were made by first cutting a base that fit over the base
model's chassis. This had to be tailored a bit to fit over various
bits and pieces on each model. Then plates were cut to fit around
it while I used the left and right sides of a Matchbox Wespe superstructure
for the front plates. The guns were made from plastic dowel. |
 I
had done a conversion in the early 90s of 6 of my 9 Wespes. I won't say
what I tried to do with them as the results, despite a long time and great
effort were exceedingly embarrassing... However, I salvaged a great
number of bits from that debacle (a result of trying to make a conversion
based on a single picture, for *&^%'s sake) which I was able to put
to good use in this project. Many of the pieces inside the superstructure
were from the Matchbox 1-76 Wespe. |
 One
potential challenge with dealing with being able to use either the Grille
or the Panzer 38(t) was colour schemes. Of course, the panzer grey
monotone of early war 38(t) was less likely to be seen, if at all, on the
later war SPGs which would would commonly have been dark yellow.
What I did can be seen in these pictures and that was to paint the superstructures
panzer grey also, but add dark yellow camouflage. While not absolutely
perfect, the huge size of the superstructure effectively "drowns out" the
panzer grey of the chassis and the result looks believeable (as long as
you are not a rivet counting purist!)...in my opinion, anyway. |
 Another
common problem with making superstructures to be interchangeable with the
actual model turret is that there are always bits that poke out,
One of the 38(t)s had large tool boxes on the fenders on either side of
the turret while the other two do not (you can see this in the first picture
on this page). Allowance for the tool boxes for one of the superstructures
had to be made. Another common "bit" is the hull machine gun.
My solution for this can be seen here as a cut out of the front plate of
the superstructure. Again, this does not score points for any Military
Modelling, but is functional and also helps hold the superstructure
in place!
The tarp in this view was made of tissue paper and was necessary because I ran out of the same bits I had for the other two superstructures! |
 This
is a view of the bottom of one of the superstructures. |
