Krupp/Ardelt Waffenträger 105mm leFH18

I started this Trumpeter kit about a year ago, spending way too much time on the tracks, which are workable. They have a pin in either side for each link, so you can imagine the time and frustration I had to put into them. Luckily, everything else went together well. I did replace the leFH18/40 howitzer with the AFV Club version, which looks better and has more detail. I finally added some extra track links to the front.

I primed the model in a light grey rattle can primer. Then I airbrushed a dark grey over the whole vehicle. I combined rust and red Model Air colors for the red primer sections. I used darker version of this color on the hull, which I sprayed hairspray over. Then, using Tamiya yellow-green and dark yellow mixed, I sprayed over the hairspray. (The gun was left in a dark grey). I then used water to chip away the yellow paint. I also did a lot of modulation with the paint on this model. You’ll notice I added a new red primer road wheel and an older grey primer road wheel as well.

Before weathering, I tried several methods of creating the chalk marks seen on German primed hulls of WWII. I found a white charcoal pencil to work the best.

The German phrase “Möge die macht mit dir sein” means “May the Force be with you”.

For weathering, I used pigments, oils, and AK fluids. I tried using a lot of oil paints this time around to create shadows and highlights. Pigments mixed with white glue made up the mud. I also added oil stains to the top and wheels.

Several waffenträgers or “weapon carriers” were proposed and built on old tank chassis during the final year of WWII. This particular one, designed by Krupp/Ardelt on the diesel version of the Czech 38t chassis, would feature a new turret with the widely-used leFH18 105mm howitzer in place.

While this was only in the drawing board stages and never built, an 88mm version was fielded using the same chassis. Because these would have been cobbled together last minute, many areas might not have been painted. New road wheels might be in red primer. And it’s possible the Germans might have used older road wheel still in the early-war grey primer.