The Sandstalker 232M has been on my build list for a while. It was the inspiration for the 250/9 and is one of my personal favorites in the MaK genre.
Here are the final images.
Below is the build SBS.
The base kit is the Tamiya 232 8-Rad. I built one of these ages ago. It unfortunately was taken out by a .22cal anti-tank rifle in my back yard after school one day. The 8-Rad is a major contributor to the Sandstalker but as with most Kow scratchbuilds this is littered with parts from numerous kits. These are what I have available.
1/35 232
1/35 T-62
1/35 222
1/35 Krupp Protz
1/48 MD500
1/76 JagdTiger
1/12 CB750 Motorcycle
1/76 Sherman EZ8
1/12 Indy Racer (?)
And a few others I have not figured out yet but I understand some rare-ass kits were used. I don't know how accurate I'm going to get. Kow built these with what he had in his spares box. I'm going use the same philosophy for what I don't have as a donor kit.
The base has been laid in. Determining the footprint has been the most difficult part so far. If this is off, it doesn't matter how accurate I am with the donor kits. The nose is going to be the most challenging area to shape.
An epoxy putty skin was laid over a sheet styrene structure.
The rear is pretty darn close so I added the cast texture with Tamiya Grey Putty thinned with acetone.
The nose profile has been improved. I built it up with a big wad of putty and sanded to shape. I've also added a few greeblies to the underside.
Since the basic shape has been worked out, it's now time for all the smaller details. I used AFT Casting Numbers and Weld Beads to add some fine surface details. I had to scratch build a couple of the turret frame details as i didn't have the donor kit.
In between all the tanks and stuff I've been working on the SandStalker. Mostly adding detail bits. The barrels are brass Armorscale barrels. Really nice details. I replaced the molded on tool clamp lumps with new PE ones. What a pain that was. So tiny. I also scratch built the fuel can rack from leftover PE fret and soldered the bits together. This replaced an earlier version that was glued with CA. The bullet splash guards were replaced with styrene. All the mechanical details on the sides have been under painted with a rusty finish but are set aside until final install. I'm planning a few detail stowage items on the rear plate and then it should be ready for paint.
I was pretty excited to finally get paint applied to this. Base color is custom Tamiya mix over dark mottled brown base and HS technique was used to chip paint. Turret is a custom mix green applied in the same manner. The wavy camo band was hand painted with Vallejo Model color. The mechanical bits were painted seperatly ans stuffed into the cavity after the base paint was applied.
Filters, Paint Chips and lots of Paint Chips. Scratches were applied with either a torn bit of sponge or a 10/0 pointed brush.
Stowage was added from various resiin and plastic kits with a few scratch built items.
A small base has been made and a figure is planned.
