Schiebel's Nashorn

Post by **Coen** » Thu Feb 18, 2016 11:33 pm

Starting a new build today, should be a long one too I think.
Some time ago the loverly Forbes Hutton sent me a book written by Helmut Schiebel about his experiences as a member of a motorcycle recon battalion and later as a member of the crew of a Nashorn.
I skimmed through it a while ago to see what goodies it contained and decided then that I'd make a build out of it.
I'm still in the process of reading the book and have yet to reach the part about the nashorns, but so far it's a fantastic book.

Forbes also sent me the markings that I'd need, as well as a full crew for the gun. He's a hoopy frood.

A small diorama will be the plan. The Nashorn busily engaging the enemy while hiding and a partly KOed house and a resupply truck has arrived to feed the rhino.
Nice and simple... I hope.

The Nashorn that I have has a nice lion roar PE set with it and a metal barrel as well, so it should be a decent build.
The truck looks fairly simple, and after my recent builds of tamiyas dragon wagon and mirror models diamond T wrecker, it should be a walk in the park.

[youtube]7KQRvoYDI8g[/youtube]

Post by **ForbesHutton** » Fri Feb 19, 2016 12:41 am

This will be very interesting!

While the Draggin' Wagon and truck may have been a challenge, they weren't completely open topped....

If the Maultier version of the truck is anything to go by, the cab won't fit over the gas tank.... test fit or keep a 1/1 scale hammer near by to "nudge" it into place.

Post by **Coen** » Fri Feb 19, 2016 1:14 am

Hahaha! Nudge he says. hahaha

Post by **mannloon** » Fri Feb 19, 2016 4:19 am

I built that Nashorn last year, it is lovely.

Post by **Coen** » Fri Feb 19, 2016 4:49 am

The box is certainly stuffed enough.

Post by **ROBOPAUL** » Fri Feb 19, 2016 8:31 pm

Oooh I'm looking forward to this. I have the AFV Club Nashorn and was planning on doing something similar maybe for the SIG later in the year.

Post by **Coen** » Fri Feb 19, 2016 10:40 pm

I'm not sure that a Nashorn would qualify for the Heinz sig. The Nashorn is only partly a panzer iv, it's a bit of a mix of panzer iv and III.
Not up to me, that's for the powers that be,

I tried something new today. It's probably not a new idea, but I've never seen or heard of it being done before, so it's new to me.
I've made the suspension on the Nashorn partly workable. The bogie arms will now swin up and down and push into the bump stops as they should. I can articulate the suspension.
I did this by cutting off one of the two nibs that hold the bogie arms in place, this allows them to move within their assemblies.

Then I stuck the main lower hull together and drilled the hole for my tanks holder stick thing.

Then I stripped off some fruil tracks from an old brummbar to use the Nashorn.

And that was it for the day.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 8:50 am

Looking proper tidy. I've got the Tamiya Nashorn in the stash (easy big fellah, I know you're not a fan) so I'm watching this build with bated breath. Looking very good so far.

Post by **MarkVerploeg** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 9:13 am

A very nice vehicle
i have a older Premium Nashorn in the stash and i have build 2 Hornisse versions before
they can be build up to some very nice models with a lot of detail if.you take the time to do so
have fun building

YouTube · Post by **Skullfish** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 9:35 am

Ive been looking for this kit for a while now, and youve just made me want it even more! watching your build eagerly, good luck with it.
Jase

Post by **Coen** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:19 am

In order to plan out the diorama I need to know how big the vehicles are in relationship to the base so I know how big to make it.
So it started work on the German truck so I can get an idea what I can work with... Space is a premium.

The truck is a pretty decent little build so far. It could use some extra details here and there, but out of the box is looks pretty good, for what I want it for.
I haven't had and major troubles with it as yet.
The fuel tank that sits under the cap doesn't fit unless you trim some of the plastic away from the area behind the side steps.
I'm not sure how they missed that, it makes it so the cab would never fit onto the frame unless the fuel tank is left out.

Now I have enough built that I can figure out how the dio will play out.

Post by **ForbesHutton** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:23 am

Or you could have nudged it together with a hammer....

Post by **Coen** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 5:01 am

Hahaha!
Yup... It's nothing that a proxxon couldn't fix.

Post by **Svenne009** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 5:09 am

Looking good

.
Love the aesthetics of the nashorn and (after seeing the review) looks like a real nice kit to build but they are so hard to find.

Will be following this one

.

Post by **burnie43** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 9:40 am

Looks great Mike
I am just about finished my Tamiya Nashorn which I have loved.......great subject
Pics to follow soooon..
Cheers
Mark

Post by **Coen** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 10:44 am

I dry fitted the driver into the truck to see how he would sit and if I needed to move any peddles or whether or not I needed to keep the doors shut.
We're all good. He fits wonderfully.

It's too bad that the roof doesn't.... WTF??!!!

It's way out and will need a whole lot of TLC to get it to line up in the end. What a total PITA!
I have to decide how I want to handle this... do I want to paint up the inside now and then attach the roof, then completely button up the interior?
Or do I leave it off and paint it separate and then try to attach it later once the parts have paint on them and risk marring the paint with possible glue stains or scratches from clamping?
I'll have to think about that one.

I got enough of both vehicles built now to be able to mark out ideas for diorama layouts.

Then I started thinking about the stowage for the truck.

Maybe a nice tarp...

Some rips and tears for effect...

I'm not sure about the tarp as yet, it's only white glue and tissue paper. So I can remove it easily if I decide to nerf it.

Post by **digger303** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 11:15 am

Svenne009 wrote:Looking good .
Love the aesthetics of the nashorn and (after seeing the review) looks like a real nice kit to build but they are so hard to find.

Will be following this one .

AFV Club Nashhorn AF35164 is a better kit in some respects, ammunition locker, metal barrel, good detail But let down with vinyl tracks....correctable though.

Post by **OneSmallStep1966** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 11:54 am

digger303 wrote:
Svenne009 wrote:AFV Club Nashhorn AF35164 is a better kit in some respects, ammunition locker, metal barrel, good detail But let down with vinyl tracks....correctable though.

How does that compare to the Cyber Hobby 6646 Sd.Kfz.164 Nashorn Command Version? There seem to be plenty of those available and slightly cheaper than the AFV Club Nashorn.
I want to buy one of these just not sure which one to go for?

Post by **plasmahal** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 11:59 am

Looks to be a tasty diorama in the making.

I got my dragon Nashorn this week after watching several reviews of it and the newer tamiya, it was dragon all the way due to the extras and got a deal that made it cheaper than the newer tamiya.

I watched Mike's review so now get to see his nashorn built.

Post by **OneSmallStep1966** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:12 pm

plasmahal wrote:Looks to be a tasty diorama in the making.

I got my dragon Nashorn this week after watching several reviews of it and the newer tamiya, it was dragon all the way due to the extras and got a deal that made it cheaper than the newer tamiya.

I watched Mike's review so now get to see his nashorn built.

What Dragon Nashorn did you buy? I've hunted high and low for the same kit Mike has (Dragon 6386) but had no luck finding one. That's why I'm looking at the Cyber Hobby version, from what I've read it would appear to be the Dragon 6386 with a few command extras (radio).

Post by **plasmahal** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 1:09 pm

OneSmallStep1966 wrote:
plasmahal wrote:Looks to be a tasty diorama in the making.

I got my dragon Nashorn this week after watching several reviews of it and the newer tamiya, it was dragon all the way due to the extras and got a deal that made it cheaper than the newer tamiya.

I watched Mike's review so now get to see his nashorn built.
What Dragon Nashorn did you buy? I've hunted high and low for the same kit Mike has (Dragon 6386) but had no luck finding one. That's why I'm looking at the Cyber Hobby version, from what I've read it would appear to be the Dragon 6386 with a few command extras (radio).

I got the same 6386 kit as Mike. Was on ebay uk and I made an offer of £40 and the seller asked for £42.50 and offered to keep P&P the same but send it 1st class recorded which i was happy with.

Post by **OneSmallStep1966** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 1:19 pm

plasmahal wrote:I got the same 6386 kit as Mike. Was on ebay uk and I made an offer of £40 and the seller asked for £42.50 and offered to keep P&P the same but send it 1st class recorded which i was happy with.

You lucky devil, thats what I call a result

Post by **plasmahal** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 1:32 pm

OneSmallStep1966 wrote:
plasmahal wrote:I got the same 6386 kit as Mike. Was on ebay uk and I made an offer of £40 and the seller asked for £42.50 and offered to keep P&P the same but send it 1st class recorded which i was happy with.
You lucky devil, thats what I call a result

Why thank you good sir....

Post by **Nige99** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 1:39 pm

Looking good so far Mike!! I can't for love or money do them tarps with white glue tissue paper!! You've nailed it mate

**Felis Barcinonensis YouTube Channel** · Post by **felisbarcinonensis** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 1:50 pm

I Love the looks of it!

Post by **Coen** » Sun Feb 21, 2016 3:28 pm

The one that I'm building has a metal barrel and PE ammo storage lockers. So it's comparable (most likely better than) then AFV or the Tamiya kits.
It's why I bought it.
It's rare now so finding it for a respectable price instead of a sh*tbag collector's bullsh#t price will be difficult

Post by **Coen** » Wed Feb 24, 2016 10:41 am

I've been picking away at the Nashorn slowly over the last few days. I've been spring cleaning in the cave (even though spring is still months away), cleaning up, dusting models, tossing a few old ones, updating a couple.
It's kept me busy.
Mostly I've been putting off the part of the Nashorn build that I least enjoy... the interior and the PE.

I sat down and got to it though... eventually.

To say that Dragon made it easy to built the gun for this thing is to say that I like kicks to the head and sitting naked and unprotected on bar stools.
WOW!!!
I think that they may have gotten one or two placement drawings right for the assembly, but that's about it.
I literally had to put this thing together using my references as the instructions were way the hell off.
I've never seen dragon screw them up so bad.
I managed to get it together in the end, but a few parts had to be moved and there was a lot of swearing.

The Lion Roar PE is pretty good stuff. Good quality, easy to use. Some instructions would have been nice though.
What they offered was a sheet of paper with some very vague outlines on parts and some placements.
That could have been done a bit better.

There's still a tonne of stuff to do for the superstructure yet... but the annoying bit is done. I don't think that I'll be building another 88mm like this one again.

Post by **MarkVerploeg** » Wed Feb 24, 2016 11:33 am

Nice work on the gunshield
i had a similar one for a Marder but that had a small notch in the middle
wich made it fragile enough to break while i was rollong the shield into shape

Post by **Coen** » Wed Feb 24, 2016 12:02 pm

Trust me Mark, this was no walk in the park. It took almost a half of an hour to get it to the right shape and it almost broke a couple of times.
The two parts of the shield are held together by this skinny bit of PE that threatened to snap all the time.
It was a total PITA!

Post by **MarkVerploeg** » Wed Feb 24, 2016 2:50 pm

I didn't get a skinny part of pe to hold them together at all
i just used the pe for the shield on the kit part

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Wed Feb 24, 2016 9:59 pm

Looking good Mike. The PE will look really nice on there, nice and to scale which is good. Shame about the roof on the truck, hope you manage to sort it.

Post by **Coen** » Thu Feb 25, 2016 12:16 am

Thanks Gav, I'm hoping that it will add to the detail.
I did manage to ge the roof to fit. A wee bi of bending was all that it needed in the end.

Post by **mannloon** » Sun Feb 28, 2016 5:27 am

Very nice Michael, not sure i could handle that PE without freaking out as just today some Sturmtiger fenders bested me. This made me want to get and build that kit again. It was very enjoyable, and yours looks awesome.

Post by **ForbesHutton** » Sun Feb 28, 2016 6:15 am

PE is short for Phucking Evil.

Post by **Coen** » Sun Feb 28, 2016 10:37 am

I'll warn ya now Mark, if you do be prepared for lots of the very typical Dragon instructions.
Part number errors, assembly vagarity, and there's at least one huge and very silly goof regarding the assembly of the ammo storage lockers.

I'm coming closer to the finish line for the nashorn now... sorta.
I have the gun completely assembled and the superstructure mostly done.
Now I'm just working on the interior details and puzzling out the fits of the side walls for the superstructure.
It's being a bit stubborn.

I'm off to the DIY for some high density foam (I want to give some of that a try in dio work) and then to the arts and craft shop for some bits and pieces. I see Paul has got himself a new cutting mat... I may do the same. Nothing like a new work surface crying out for some glue to be spilled on it.

Post by **Smiffy** » Sun Feb 28, 2016 11:02 am

Great looking work so far, looking forward to seeing the completed diorama.

Post by **Svenne009** » Sun Feb 28, 2016 5:04 pm

Looking great

.

Lovin' the PE work.

Post by **Coen** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 2:32 am

Thanks Fellas.

Spent the afternoon blinding myself with PE and messing with awkward fits.
The lion roar PE set didn't fit very well once it was all assembled. The biggest issue it the cooling vents on the side of the super structure.
They're larger than the kit issued ones and they don't come close to fitting.
A bit of trimming fixed it, but it's a pain in the arse that was unnecessary.

Next is the construction of the dio.
I'm not sure about this mock up as yet, it's mostly just a trial to see how much space I need to get the balance right.

Post by **Heretical86** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 3:42 am

Coen, your attention to detail is superb! Love your builds sir!

Post by **ThatTankNerd** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 7:37 am

I'm loving this build, I can only wish to be that good at PE parts. If my one had PE I would probably never finish the thing! Is it going to be a whitewashed nashorn or tri-tone? Keep up the great work

Post by **Linushg** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 8:33 am

Immensly good work. Your at an level I cant even reach. Looking forward to seeing it painted!

Post by **burnie43** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 8:36 am

I am so glad that I went for the easy build option of the Tamiya kit Mike !!!
cheers
Mark

**Felis Barcinonensis YouTube Channel** · Post by **felisbarcinonensis** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 5:40 pm

All that work with the PE and your struggle with those crappy instructions have paid off; The result is eye candy!!!!

Post by **Coen** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 10:12 pm

I would probably choose almost any dragon kit of a subject over a Tamiya kit any and every day of the week.
Even with the instruction vagarities, errors and the recent cut backs in their kits.
They still have more detail, options for the subject within, extra plastic for future builds, and variety of overall subject for my money.
They also take much longer to build and that means a lot to me. I'm not in any hurry to build, so a nice busy kit is what I like.
A bad fitting flash bomb with warped parts is not. So no zvezdas please

I started work on the diorama today, I can't paint anything as yet as I'm still waiting for my parts for my airbrush. So I thought that I'd bugger about with this instead.
A fairly simple thing this time.
Foam board for the walls cut to shape and some thin pink foam for the roof.
I'll coat the whole thing with imitation stucco later, so all the seams will be gone.
The roof will have a metal tile roof I think.
I have some sheet copper that I might use to make tiles with.
I still need to build the interior framing for the roof and walls.

Post by **Coen** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 2:57 am

And a little more work....
The framing done.
Barbecue skewers and extra large match sticks and a couple,of coffee stirrers.

Post by **OliveDrab** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 3:27 am

Its always such a treat to follow your builds Mike, I'm amazed and surprised everytime

**Felis Barcinonensis YouTube Channel** · Post by **felisbarcinonensis** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 4:52 am

Nice!!!!!!!!

Post by **arkbuilder2012** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:04 pm

First rate stuff as usual. As much as I hate working with PE, have to admit it takes the model to a new level. Nice work.

Post by **plasticsturgeon** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 2:05 am

Awesome as usual mate , really enjoy following your work and like how you go about things top stuff

Post by **Coen** » Thu Mar 03, 2016 12:11 am

Thanks Fellas

If you think working with PE was a treat, this will be fun too.

The roof of the house is going to have metal tiles and I happen to have a lot of this thin copper sheet that I bought ages ago to make exhaust shrouds on armour. So I cut it into strips and into small (but slightly overscale for roof tiles) rectangles. Then I rolled them in my PE roller thingy (the first time that I've ever found a use for it).
Then I CA glued it to the roof in rows.
Once I got near the top I switched to sheet roofing to add a bit of variety and it will allow me to do some interesting weathering effects I hope.
My uncle's barn had a roof similar to this when I was a kid, and I always liked the look of it.