This is a full blown conversion of a Panzer 38t to the first of Germany's
self propelled anti aircraft guns. The need for a mobile anti aircraft
gun was realized on the Russian front. This was a stop gap measure which
mounted the effective Flak 36 anti aircraft gun onto the chassis
of a Panzer 38T. Less than 300 of these were ever built, but they were
in use until the end of the war. This model was a real challenge as it was
the first full blown conversion I had ever attempted. Basically the
entire upper hull and gun cupola was scratchbuilt from sheet styrene. I managed
to obtain good plans and reference photos that were used to make parts out of
the sheet styrene. The most daunting task was simulating the HUNDREDS of rivets
that cover the entire vehicle. This was accomplished by drilling little holes
and inserting cutoff pin heads with epoxy. This conversion took well over
several hundred hours of work, but the result was very satisfying. I learned
a lot about scratchbuilding in this project that will come in handy in the future.
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