I'll be building the Trumpeter German Entwicklungsfahrzeug E-10. This was one of the E-Series of proposed AFVs to standardize production. This was the origins of the Hetzer name.
The kit (00385) is pretty simple looking. Trumpeter has included PE and styrene side skirts. And has included both early and late style tracks, both in rubber band and in indie links. So you have four sets of track. The added track sets are noted on the box, so look for that if you want the full track options.
Assembly began with the suspension. It's pretty simple. The fit on some of the parts needed some cleanup so the fit cleaner. The E-10's suspension was designed to be adjustable, so it could go hull-down. It would have been nice to have that option. It could be modified with a bit of work.
Rear body plate. I left off the jack and the tools for now. And the crew hatches were given their handles. There are some heavy ejector marks on them that needed addressing. I'll probably add padding to cover them, as opposed to filling them.
Assembly on the upper hull's front. Added the notek light, driver's vision blocks, and tow shackles. The gunner's sight was added. Instructions are a bit vague on that so I halved it, placing it roughly in the middle and pointing the sight straight ahead. And the ventilator.
Added the upper-hull grab handles, fan-grill, and other intake things. I left off the pioneer tolls for now.
I went ahead and started prepainting the lower chassis, road-wheels, drive sprockets, and idlers. I used Tamiya dark yellow.
I painted the outside of every other roadwheel olive green. I went ahead and did some weathering to them before I start on the indie tracks.
Gun assembled and mounted. The gun is very loose and moves freely from side-to-side. The upper-hull was added to the lower-hull.
All in all, assembly has been pretty smooth and quick. This update represents about two weeks of working on it sporadically.
I'll start on the tracks next. I'll be using the late indie tracks.
Kalin
