Stokesy's 1/35 Cyberhobby Flakpanzer IV Kugelblitz

[Stokesy44]

I'm having a bit of a build phase and fancied starting on a companion piece for the big Tiger. I've got a few Jerry armour kits and I've plumbed for one I picked up locally a few years back. Bought it at a little place called Clifton's Curios, its a tiny but awesome model shop in the East Midlands. Well worth a look if you're in the area when he's open.

Blurb from Wrinkepedia

The Flakpanzer IV Kugelblitz (German for "ball lightning") was a German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun developed during World War II. By the end of the war, only a pilot production of five units had been completed. Unlike earlier self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, it had a fully enclosed, rotating turret.

The Kugelblitz was not yet out of development when the war ended. Only five prototypes were built. It is unclear what happened to the few Kugelblitzes which were built.

One Kugelblitz was involved in the fights near the town of Spichra, Thuringia, Western Germany, where it was destroyed and remained buried in the Spatenberg Hill until its excavation in 1999.

Actual pic of one of the five



So its a real machine that saw action - not a what if or paper panzer

This is Cyberhobby's (Dragon) Flakpanzer IV Kugelblitz.





Kit comes with a bonus crew in standing positions. I may use them, I may not.

Build starts today

[Stokesy44]

I took a knife to the cellophane wrap and got started.

Straight away you can see the Dragon manufacturing heritage. The plasic quality is excellent but you have to be really careful to use the right parts as there are multiples of items such as final drive housings, idlers, exhausts etc.

Even drilling out holes as detailed in the instructions is not straight forward as there is a myriad of hole marks and you have to make sure you drill out the right ones. I ended up matching the holes to the relevant tool to be sure.

Traditional start, its a Pz IV so there's a gazillion wheels



The idlers (top left) are the wrong ones, they have since been replaced



Running gear, not much drama, the retaining lugs for the suspension units needed a little trimming to make sure they sat level. Again you feel the Dragon heritage because the hull side starts off completely bare, everything you see has been added so the kit has a pretty high part count. It doesn't bother me, all tank running gear assembly has an element of 'live, die, repeat' about it. You just get on with it and enjoy it.





Oh yeah of little faith, of course they're level!





Upper hull coming together, look close and you can see some of the drilled out location holes. Lets just hope I got it right!





So, early thoughts. Good plastic, keep an eye on the part numbers, it all fits nicely. Maybe the recent new tool release by Border Models is a more enjoyable build but this kit is still plenty of fun. The plastic's good and it fits together nicely, not bad for £35. Winging would be churlish me thinks.

[digger303]

I always assumed this never got of the drawing boards, so it is a pleasant surprise other wise
Another one that might make it to my wish list.....we will see

[Stokesy44]

I always assumed this never got of the drawing boards, so it is a pleasant surprise other wise
Another one that might make it to my wish list.....we will see

Not sure if the Cyberhobby kit is still available but the new kit from Border Models looks very nice.

Takom also do a Panther with a similar turret but that is a genuine 'what if' vehicle as it was never produced.

[Stokesy44]

It was greebly time for session 1 and it was here that the Dragon DNA resurfaced again. Not just multiple versions of the individual parts but no location holes so I was back to drilling out the various indents shown on the inside of the hull. I think I got pretty much everything adjacent to where it needed to be in the end. And who's going to say I'm wrong? There's not exactly a lot of reference material is there?

Upper hull is just test fitted for now.





I still need to add the spare track links and brackets to the front glacis plate.





I stopped at this point because lunch at my sister's beckoned, along with a shower!

Session 2 was all about the turret and the 30 mike mikes.

All test fitted for now, the ball, the armored screen, all test fitted to the turret ring.











There's still a few bits and bobs to add then it will be time to do the tracks. They're Dragon Magic tracks so the kit comes with a bag of tracks for the left side and a bag for the right. No trimming, no track pins, just glue them together and attach.

[digger303]

Very nice.

[ElCapitan]

This is looking good. I fancy getting one!

[digger303]

This is looking good. I fancy getting one!

Me too.

[Stokesy44]

This is looking good. I fancy getting one!

This is looking good. I fancy getting one!

Me too.

And the advantage of buying the Cyberhobby kit is you get enough spare parts left in the box you could build something you could escape from Colditz in! #dragonDNA

[Stokesy44]

With the improvement of the weather I was finally able to get the airbrush and extractor going again. Mercifully, everything was still in good working order so after a bit of practice I primed the wheels and the turret in Ultimate black primer.

These are the only parts that will be primed. The wheels were done for the rims and the turret was done as a base for the red oxide I plan to use. The hull will be heavily weathered gelb and I will spray Tamiya desert yellow for that without primer.

[DRUMS01]

And that is exactly how dowel rod and cardboard should be used! Always thought this was an odd but neat piece of armor. Can't wait to see it in your contrasting color scheme...

Ben

[Stokesy44]

And that is exactly how dowel rod and cardboard should be used! Always thought this was an odd but neat piece of armor. Can't wait to see it in your contrasting color scheme...

Ben

Thanks Ben. I have now applied the gelb to the wheels and tidied up the rims. I've glued the upper and lower hulls together too. Some filler was required at both ends so once that has been sanded its on with the base colour and full steam ahead.

[digger303]

And that is exactly how dowel rod and cardboard should be used! Always thought this was an odd but neat piece of armor. Can't wait to see it in your contrasting color scheme...

Ben

Thanks Ben. I have now applied the gelb to the wheels and tidied up the rims. I've glued the upper and lower hulls together too. Some filler was required at both ends so once that has been sanded its on with the base colour and full steam ahead.

[Stokesy44]

It had occurred to me that my winter build phase may cause me problems with getting back into the swing of things on the paint side of the hobby. Thankfully, my desire to get some decent bench time and fire up the air brush and booth is still strong. On top of that, 3 of the kits I have built over the winter are Jerry armor so they all have the same base coat - gelb (or similar), so I took two of the three today and got stuck in. Obviously the Flakpanzer is one of them but I also got the base down on the Tiger 2 so look out for the posting on that thread too.

The only items primed were the wheel rubbers and the flak turret. I wanted a dark base for the turret to add depth for the oxide. I plan to leave it as bare oxide so it was important the base looked good. The hull will be done in two tone or tri tone camo, I haven't decided yet. It will be proper beaten up whatever I do. The reasoning being, given this was an experimental vehicle, I'm saying they put the brand new turret on a heavily weathered hull and sent it out like that. I'm hoping it will make for an interesting look.



















And here it is with the 'Daddy'.



Next will be a highlight on the hull's base coat to break it up a but then a yellow filter to make it pop. Then it will be camo and detail painting before oils, decals and weathering. All the fun stuff!!

[digger303]

[RangerNeil]

Lovely job so far!!!

[Garion77]

Great start ! I also didn't know it existed ! The kit seems to go together well

[Stokesy44]

Great start ! I also didn't know it existed ! The kit seems to go together well

Thanks Francis. I wasn't aware of it either until I saw the kit. I dont normally go for 'what if' subjects but I thought I'd give this one a go as it had been produced, albeit as only a prototype.

The fit of the upper hull to the lower section was poor and resulted in some filler but other than that, no complaints. Its from Dragon circa 2009 so its a pretty decent kit.

[Stokesy44]

Camo done using Tamiya Nato Brown. Did a little post shading of the base coat after the camo then went back and darkened the camo a bit.

When I work on the oils I'll add depth and contrast using browns and yellows.

[digger303]

Looking good on all fronts.

[Stokesy44]

Looking good on all fronts.

You sir, are a gentleman sir.

Detail painting and chipping now well underway. I love this point in the build because its when the kit ceases to be a piece of pretty plastic and starts to take on some (and only some) of the attributes of a real brute of iron. From this point on I'm trying to tell a story, the story of what happened to this thing after it left the factory to the point where you see it now. Weather used and abused, battered, bloodied but unbowed.

When it comes to armour, I'm not interested in individual vehicle histories, I dont build tanks and say this was Michale Wittman's Tiger or Otto Whatever's mount, that's a bridge too far as far as I am concerned. Maybe I'm drawing a line that isnt there but its my position nonetheless.

Anyway, enough of all that BS, here's the vehicle as it looks now. Tons still do do but the storytelling has definitely begun

Spare tracks are pretty basic at the mo, they will get major pigments work to properly rust them up once everything else is done.



Exhausts are hull red at present with black inserts at the top. They will also be subject to pigments at the end of the build



The shovel on the rear side panel has now been painted cant believe I missed it previously.











Next up is oils on the upper hull and mud application on the lower. Great fun, I'm feeling like Picasso

[digger303]

The chipping is coming through beautifully.

[Stokesy44]

The chipping is coming through beautifully.

Cheers

More work done today. Both sides of the lower hull had the mud cake added. Its wet in the picture but will dry with a matt finish. Its made from Tamiya snow paint, added water and paint to color.



Then it was on to the oils for the upper hull. I used tan and white for the dot filter. This was applied on all surfaces. I then used bright yellow and dark brown to highlight the camo pattern.







I have not done any work on the turret, I may just gloss it then apply a dirt wash to finish. I dont want to chip it because the scenario is a new experimental turret mounted on an old hull.













Happy with progress so far. More fun to be had tomorrow

[digger303]

The main hull has a really nice tone to it.

[cor]

Thats some really nice work on the painting

[Stokesy44]

The main hull has a really nice tone to it.

Thats some really nice work on the painting

Thanks Chaps

It was out with the old Aqua Gloss today. Its actually a new bottle because when I went to use the bottle I've been steadily working through for about 5 years it looked like it needed a biohazard sticker slapped on it! I wisely abandoned it in favour of the unopened one.

The glossing is in prep for the dark dirt sludge wash. If I dont gloss it, the matt paint finish will suck the wash down onto hull and it will be too dark. The aim of the wash is to get into all the recesses and leave a film on the flat surfaces, just enough to dirty it down but not to destroy the effects.



















I'll do the dirt wash tomorrow then its down to individual staining and pigments for the exhausts and spare tracks

[digger303]

[Stokesy44]

I applied the Ultimate Dark Dirt wash today then used a combination of cotton buds and kitchen roll to wipe it off.

I love this product from Ultimate. The pigments are somehow dark enough to have a real effect whilst being fine enough to provide subtle coverage where the majority of it is removed. The end result is a dirt sheen that sits nicely on the surface of the kit but gets into all the seams and corners beautifully.

Turret first









Then the hull

Pleased with the rear deck because the wash has really clung to the raised paneling around the cooling vents.









Sprockets and idlers done



Just pigments left now for the spare tracks and exhausts





Nearly there now

[digger303]

[Stokesy44]

Ok, I'm calling this done.

Pigments added for the spare tracks and exhausts. Tracks added.

























As usual, thanks for dropping in and your kind words of encouragement

[digger303]

Marvellous finish and really think the chipping is out standing for depicting a older machine that has survived longer than normal and been refurbished/ converted into a different variant more needed at the front with no time for a new coat of paint.

[Garion77]

That was a fast build !
Nailed it ! really nice weathering... a lot of it that doesn't like a lot and too much
Great job !