Next up I built and painted the engine and its compartment, also making the fixing flange around the engine compartment out of card, with holes punched in it where the bolt fixings would be. This is a detail that did not cost anything and will make a difference on the finished model, if displayed with the engine cover off. I also made some pipe work in the engine bay out of fuse wire just to add some added interest.
Weld beads were made from a hot knife around the hatches and plate sections. The gun was fixed together with superglue so that it could be sanded easier, as superglue acts as a filler as well as a glue and can be sanded straight away.
The Mg ball mount was covered in liquid poly and when left for about 20 seconds it was scribed to represent the zimmeritt using a tooth pick. The mg was also added at this stage as were the side fender strips which received slight battle damage by bending with fine pliers.
With a few more of the plastic detail parts put on e.g. the periscope, hatches and lifting hooks, I gave the model a couple of coats of red primmer straight out of the can from Halfords. I did this as it gave good coverage and it also gives the model a very fine texture, so as to represent a steel plate on the parts which are not covered in Zimmeritt. As the real vehicle would be painted in this it’s a good undercoat. Plus the PE parts will adhere better to this as I use superglue to fix them.