Another completion in the German ambulance collection I'm putting together: the ICM Sd.Kfz. 251/8 in Afrika Korps markings. I have built several ICM armor and soft skin vehicles and found this one typical in being highly detailed (if a bit over-engineered in areas) and generally (more on that later) an enjoyable build if you take your time in the construction.
The vehicle was painted with Tamiya XF-92 Yellow Brown (DAK 1941.) Weathering consisted of a sprayed-on filter of burnt umber oil paint, a pin wash of a heavier mixture of the same paint, chipping with Tamiya German Gray, and light dustings of Tamiya Buff.
The Bedouin figure and camel are from the Masterbox "Commonwealth AFV Crew" set and were painted with Vallejo and Model Color acrylics. I didn't put much time into painting the saddlecloth (which can be highly ornate) so may redo it someday
Probably the fiddliest part of the whole build was installing the upper stretcher you can see in the above photo. To say it was frustrating is an understatement. After fiddling with it for an hour I almost said the heck with it (my language was a bit more colorful than that.) Instead, I set it aside for the night and tried again the next day and successfully pulled it off after coming close to giving up again. As an aside, when I did research prior to the build, I found one build review online. After I flailed around with the "stretcher", I went back to the article and noticed that the author hadn't installed the top bunk. I suppose his level of masochism didn't match mine.
The kit didn't contain a canvas cover, but the vehicle screamed for one, so I resigned myself to fashioning one from epoxy putty. I was getting the Apoxie Sculpt out of the drawer when one of those eureka moments occurred. I thought to look through the pile of a dozen Sd.Kfz.251's in the stash and found one in a Dragon kit...and it fit the ICM kit perfectly!
The German figure is a simple conversion I did years ago but don't remember the source of the parts other than the head which is a resin Warriors piece.
So, that makes eight WWII German ambulances finished, one work-in-progress, two more in the stash, and two conversions to finish someday. And, to add insult to injury, I recently learned that ICM is releasing another ambulance kit I won't be able to resist buying.
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