Raketenjagdpanzer E-10

[Mig Eater]

I'll be joining in the GB with a build that could have (sort of) gone in the oldest project/kit GB too

I started this Trumpeter Jagdpanzer E-10 kit many, many years ago, attempting to convert it from a casemate tank destroyer into a turreted tank, which involved lengthening the hull by changing the angles of the front and rear, along with adding a new scratch built upper hull and turret based on the one used on the Puma armoured car.







I didn't get very far with the build and the parts ended up sitting in the box for over a decade. Since then I've changed my mind about the the layout of the tank, I also have a 3D printer now and it will be easier to design and print new hull and turret parts instead of scratch building them.

So I plan to give this kit a second life and instead build it as an anti-tank missile launcher. I made a bit of preemptive start and removed the extensions, returning the hull to its original shape.   

[Buzzbomb]

Great plan. Like work on pre-loved kits.
The original idea had some merit as well.

[Mig Eater]

Making some progress bringing this old kit back to life

Instead of the main gun I'm going to fit it with a roof mounted missile launcher, so the big gaping hole in the front plate need to be filled. I reused some the plastic card from the previous hull extension to fill the hole, I also added a lip/support around the hole in the roof so the new new roof should just drop right in.

Along with the missile launcher I want to add a large hatch to the roof, which I plan leave it open with maybe a figure sitting on the edge. Because of this you'll be able to see inside the the tank, so I need to add some sort of interior. I started by adding a firewall to separate the engine and fighting compartment, I'll raid the spares box and see what do-dads and greebles I can find.




This isn't my only unfinished E-10 I got as far as painting the base colour on this one but then couldn't decide what camouflage pattern to use. It then sat on the shelf of doom collecting dust for a decade. It seamed unfair to build another E-10 when this one has been waiting nearly finished for so long, so I'll work on this one in the background too.

[apophenia]

... It seamed unfair to build another E-10 when this one has been waiting nearly finished for so long, so I'll work on this one in the background too...

And with its limited traverse, I'd say that your stock E 10 qualifies as a 'Tankbuster' too 

[Kerick]

I like where this is going. The Puma idea sounded pretty good too.

[Mig Eater]

It been awhile since my last post here, I did a bit of traveling and Ive been busy 3D printing some birthday gifts for a friend.

I finally found time to work on designing a new deck and missile launcher for this build. I fitted it with the X-7 "Rotkäppchen" missile which was designed in the late stages on WW2 as an infantry launched weapon, over a hundred of them were produced before the end of the war but they were never used in combat.

To save time and resin I designed the new deck to use some original parts from the kit; hatches, air vent, view ports and machine gun. The main hatch for the missiles went through multiple iterations, I started with a hinged hatch but that caused problems with it hitting the missile rail when it opens and closes, I tried a rotating hatch too but it got in the way in the way of the crew hatches. In the end I went with a sliding hatch inspired by the crew hatches on the Panther Ausf.F. I ran out of space on top of the deck for the gunners sight so I made a scope that will attach to the front of the hull (cone on the left). 

[Buzzbomb]

I like it. I went through the same thought patterns with my iteration of this, and like you ended up with Sliding hatches.
Great Minds.. or something like that 

On an E10 type chassis this should rock 

[Mig Eater]

Christmas and new years are now over (happy new year everyone!) so I've finally got some free time to work on this build again.

The 3D printed parts (dry) fit the Trumpeter model perfectly, it took several attempts to get a good print tho as I'm using up the last few drops of dirty resin in the vat. Which kinda keeps within this build's theme of finish off old stuff  

You cant see it in the photos but I added a few random bits to the interior, next job is to paint the inside so I can fix the new top in place.   

The figure is from Alpine Miniatures and makes the the little E-10 look quite big IMO. While I have quite a few figures in my stash this will actually be my first time adding one to a model.   





The other E-10 I'm working on has been striped of paint and surface parts, I'm going to change a few bits and then paint it along with this build.   

[Buzzbomb]

So neat, so nifty.. loving this 

[Claymore]

Great work! 

[Mig Eater]

I've finished painting the interior and also added some missiles and MG42 ammo boxes to help fill it out a bit. There are no know photos of a complete X-7 missile so I used its sister project the X-4 (which several survive in museums today) as a reference and painted the missiles steel with wooden wings. Now that the interior is done I can finally glue the new top in place and finish adding everything to the hull. 

[Buzzbomb]

I do like the missile stowage.
I would think that visibility through the hatches will be minimal, so no need to get too carried away with the detailing in there with stuff that will barely be visible

[Mig Eater]

I had originally planed to make a chair and controls for the driver and even more missiles stowed in the front of the hull, the deadline for the GB is creeping ever closer tho and I still have a lot to do so I had to drop that idea.

[Mig Eater]

I've been busy the past week trying to make as much progress as I can with this build before the end of the GB    

The kit comes with the choice of either plastic or photo-etch side skirts, inspired by the mesh skirts on late production Panzer IV's I decided go with a third option tho and cut out the center of the photo-etch parts and replace it with copper mesh.   




The hull on this kit doesn't have any weld seam detail at all, so I scribed some seams and added weld detail with a 2 part epoxy putty. The welds are mainly on the font of the hull as the engine deck is bolted on and the rear plate hinges open.   




The kit comes with two different types of tracks and sprockets ("early" and "late") and also the option of either vinyl band or plastic individual links, giving you four sets of tracks in total! I decided to use the early (Panzer IV) plastic tracks on this build as I used the late ones on my other E-10 build.

I designed the new 3D printed top plate with the intention of fitting it with the plastic crew hatches from the kit to save some time and resin. It wasn't until I was about the glue the plastic hatches in place that I found out that I had made the holes for them too big, so I had to design and print new hatches in the end >.>

I removed "clamps/lumps" on the kit's tool and replaced them with some new 3D printed clamps. The kit also comes with plastic tow ropes that dont look that great, so I cut the loops off the ends and replace the rope with some metal wire.

The kit comes with an extra pair of wheels (it shares the sprue with the E-25 kit which has more wheels), I thought it would be a shame to waste them so I modified one of them and mounted it on the rear of the hull as a spare.

With that the build is finished and ready for painting...   

[GTX_Admin]

Looking good

[Claymore]

Awesome! 

[Frank3k]

Awesome build! This Trumpeter kit is pretty good, and the left over bits have been used in many projects.

I designed the new 3D printed top plate with the intention of fitting it with the plastic crew hatches from the kit to save some time and resin. It wasn't until I was about the glue the plastic hatches in place that I found out that I had made the holes for them too big, so I had to design and print new hatches in the end

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's made this mistake. "measure twice, print once" doesn't always work in the 3D printing world.

[Mig Eater]

Thanks, I'm obviously not going to be able to finish this before the end of the GB but I'll continue posting updates as I do the paintwork.