The Diorama
As the war changed in favour of the Russian armies in WW2, the Germans were forced to retreat in the harsh winter conditions. Supply shortages resulted in equipment having to be abandoned which at a later stage would be recovered or destroyed by the Russians.
The diorama aims to depict an armoured wagon which having survived the ravages of war and winter has been brought to a railway siding in the Spring to be stripped of its parts for scrap. The wrecking crew have set up their work area near a light crane having swung their hand wagon and tools into the confines of the platform end to prevent “use without the owner’s permission”. Work has just begun with the armoured roof removed to allow access to the interior where one of the crew has started to strip out parts.
The Model
The model comes with no interior detail so it was necessary to scratch-build one. Despite an extensive search for details of the interior no information could be found so it was built using a “best guess”. After considering the potential options, it was decided to place the engine towards one side with the command equipment in the centre and weapons storage and ammunition racks near the machine gun stations. Driving positions were located forward and rear of the vehicle.
The chassis provided in the kit is no more than a basic tub while the hull consisting to two side walls and front and rear panels is a simple construction being made up from slabs as seen below.
The first photograph shows the bottom of the chassis with the second showing the very basic tub which is only suitable for use with the vehicle fully closed down.
The roof panel comes as a single piece and is designed to support the turret in the centre of the roof. The vehicle side wall can be seen above. The first stage began with the side walls. These were sanded to remove ejection marks and other details not intended to be seen. In the side walls ball joints were added in positions for the machine guns.Ejection marks requiring filling can also be seen in the photograph.