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John J Licht
14 articles

Vintage (1982) Italeri 234/3 8 Wheeled Armored Car

September 16, 2024 · in Armor · · 13 · 153

Italeri 1982 kit #234. Built straight from the box with scratch built wood slat seats, additional MG 42 with mount, scratch built tarp and miscellaneous stowage. Figure is from the Tamiya Panther G kit finished with Vallejo paints. Figure's medal, ribbon, sleeve eagle, cap insignia and shoulder piping painted; collar tabs are Tamiya decals. Vehicle finished with Vallejo hull red, Tamiya dark yellow, green stripes and whitewash. Hairspray chipping done with each color application.streaking done using dirty wash, Vallejo grey white and MiG Ammo tan filter. Mud, spills and filters from AK.

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10 additional images. Click to enlarge.


13 responses

  1. John, with all the new 234 kits coming in rapid succession, you've proved that this old standby can still be made into a great looking example. I like all your 'homemade' additions, especially the slat seats, and your repurposing of the Tamiya figure works quite well. Congratulations!

  2. Thanks for the kind words. I know there are newer 234s out there but I don’t feel like they are worth 2 - 3 times the price. I also have Italeri’s Puma, 232 6 rad, bergepanther and bergetiger kits. At @ $30 a kit, they’re no brainers to me.

    • Indeed, the Italeri series are very nice models for a good price. With some aftermarket they are as good (in my opinion) as their far more expensive counterparts. The 1/16 Puma though...

  3. Nice..besides-what does it matter age of the kit when you have fun building and finishing? Your good result is icing..

  4. Great work on this model, @atjoe !
    That crewman really turned out nice. He has sort of a pensive look on his face, maybe wishing he hadn’t gotten transferred away from his Panther tank.

  5. Thanks. It’s a really good face sculpt. I think by 1944-45 they were even more pensive about being transferred to the eastern front. I think he is one of the best Tamiya vehicle kit figures in terms of detail, sculpt and uniform.

  6. Excellent job and superb result, John!

    • Thank you for the compliment. As I looked at the photos I think the tire wall mud line got lost when dry. I was hoping for a more visible effect, but I was happy with how the wheel rims turned out. I think we are our own worst critics, but if everything turned out exactly as hoped, there would be no reason to experiment and try new techniques.

  7. Very nice build, John @atjoe
    The winter camouflage turned out beautifully.

    • Thanks. It seems a little brighter in the photos . I think next time I will try a darker yellow base for contrast and 1 or 2 more drops of grey or light tan to tone down the white a little bit more, lessons learned for the next whitewash project

  8. Great results for such an old kit, bravo ! The winter camo is lovely

  9. Thanks. Despite it’s age it went together very well; only needing some filler on the front and rear hull seams and a fair amount of mold seam flash. Both really easy fixes.

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