Rubicon Models SdKfz 223 - finished

[Captain Blood]

And finally, here's the finished 223 A/C for my DAK forces...

Thanks for advice and suggestions regarding the turret-mounted MG34 (unable to swivel past the forward frame antennae uprights - and yet you have to mount the turret assembly sideways, meaning you can never swivel the MG to the front, unless you want to risk bending or breaking it).
In the end I just went for swapping in a spare Perry MG34 once everything else was painted and the turret mounted in position... It's actually a slightly better looking and more robust piece than the original MG34 supplied with the kit, so all's well that ends well.











And in possibly over-revealing close up, bearing in mind that in real life the actual model is all of 3 inches long... 



The commander is the Rubicon body provided, but kit-bashed with a Perry head, arms and accoutrements.
While I love Rubicon's kits, I'm afraid I can't say I love the crew figures. The detail is just too soft and indistinct, and too many of the details, especially the shapes of caps, helmets etc, just look wrong to me. So this is a compromise involving a bit of scalpel-work. I think he's turned out well though...



Almost believable as an adventurous hero of the Reich from an old propaganda reel...

[ripley]

Looks fantastic , the paint job really looks sun baked and sand scoured . I agree with you on Rubicon's figures , I've only used the  heads that have come in the Panzer crew blister pack , the vehicle kit figure heads are lacking . On a reality note ,  having a MP ammo pouch on your belt in such a small vehicle would be really dumb as you would snag on all sorts of stuff getting in and out  , never mind having the grenade screen closed . A lot of crews didn't even wear their pistol holsters

( Tank Work Shop 223 interior )
He really does  look cool as hell sitting up there but …… just my opinion

[ultravanillasmurf]

Nice work.

That figure looks really good.

[Captain Blood]

Thanks gents

On a reality note ,  having a MP ammo pouch on your belt in such a small vehicle would be really dumb as you would snag on all sorts of stuff getting in and out  , never mind having the grenade screen closed . A lot of crews didn't even wear their pistol holsters

Fair point.
Maybe he's an infantry officer who has just hitched a ride then

[ripley]

That works , well played sir . So , what does the cuff band say , and is it a decal or hand painted ?

[Captain Blood]

Well, it's meant to be this...



But in reality it's hand painted, so it's just a few little illegible dots and squiggles

[Tracks]

Looks great!

In the end I just went for swapping in a spare Perry MG34 once everything else was painted and the turret mounted in position... It's actually a slightly better looking and more robust piece than the original MG34 supplied with the kit, so all's well that ends well.

The swapped out MG34 looks better, and as you pointed out it should be more robust.

For some kits, Rubicon Models supplies both a gamer's MG and a modeller's MG. A lot of us hoped they would do this with all their kits. For me, the gamer's MG tend to look a bit better for some reason. Which is strange since they do not have the correct proportions. Maybe because I always use the gamer's MG if I can. I build all my models for gaming, and maybe I'm just use to the look of gaming versions of the MGs. For sure they are more robust than the modeller's MG.

The commander is the Rubicon body provided, but kit-bashed with a Perry head, arms and accoutrements.
While I love Rubicon's kits, I'm afraid I can't say I love the crew figures. The detail is just too soft and indistinct, and too many of the details, especially the shapes of caps, helmets etc, just look wrong to me. So this is a compromise involving a bit of scalpel-work. I think he's turned out well though...

I agree with you about Rubicon Models' figures, but they have mentioned a few times they are still working on perfecting their figure's look. One of the issues I see is that they are trying to be too anatomically correct. Perry figures are cross between anatomically correct and over exaggerated detail and proportions.

While 28mm anatomically correct figures are indeed anatomically correct, for some reason they just do not look proper on the gaming table. I'm not sure why that is.

[Pinky]

Great model, Captain.  I think the scuffing and scratching is just right - it's usually overdone, or applied like an oil painting. 

The commander looks very good.  I don't much like Rubicon figures, for the reasons you and Tracks mention.  There's a reason that 28mm figures are usually sculpted slightly out of scale.  Same with the weapons.  And I'm sure it was necessary to wear ammo pouches sometimes, especially on a recon mission.