Tuesday 23 February 2021

Hanomag Ambulance (15mm)

 

Zachary Kavulich did a whole bunch of SdKfz 251 half-tracks, which I grabbed some time ago, but never did anything with because I was fully stocked with 1:100 Zvezda SdKfz 251-C models.

What I didn't have any of, however, was the SdKfz 251/8, the ambulance variant, and when I nabbed the files Zachary also didn't include it. He may have added it since then; he's done a lot of updating of this and that.

Anyway, I took his base 251/1 and removed all the interior detail, all of the interior in fact — it's now completely solid. I added the canopy and some studs around the track edges, adjusted the angle of the nose plate to better match George Bradford's drawings, and put some reinforcing in behind the wheels, which were a bit fragile on their skinny little axles.


The first print was a bit of a dead loss. The skate partially separated from the build plate, so the nose of the vehicle was kind of squished and the whole front was a bit bent. You can see how oval the wheels turned out.

It's not a complete loss though. I can use it in a little first aid post mini-diorama with a tarpaulin or a bunch of zeltbahn as an impromptu awning/tent covering up the nose.

It may have been the fault of the resin; I was using the very last dregs of a bottle that had been sitting around for a while. However, more likely it was an imperfectly levelled build plate, so I relevelled it and tried again with some new resin. The new print turned out just fine.

Supports off and cured

Fresh from the printer

This is eSun's translucent red water-washable resin.

It's really not ideal for modelling, as its translucence makes it very difficult to see what's going on. It's mighty purty though; it makes the model look like a boiled lolly.

So, now I have yet another battlefield ambulance. I seem to have been on a bit of an ambulance binge lately; I'm not sure why.

Later that day....


I've got my wonky Hanomag painted up, and my non-wonky Hanomag primed and ready for painting. Unlike the Maultier, on this one I painted all the red crosses freehand, and to be honest it was probably less hassle than masking and airbrushing.

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