Panzer Aufklärungs Küster T.W-47/N2

Much like the Falke or SAFS, the Krote is one of most well known Ma.K / SF3D designs and is probably the most memorable and iconic of all the "walker" designs. This version of the kit was released by Wave, however it's basically the original Nitto with a small sprue of about a dozen parts to convert it from a Kröte to the Küster. From what I can understand from the camo card and box blurb, the Küster is an armed reconnaissance unit with some night fighting ability.

The figure was a combination of the old Nitto figure and a Wave head to replace the very plain looking vintage head. The figure is pretty bad by today's standards - it comes as two clamshell pieces for the body so the seam crosses the fabric folds and was a pain to clean up. The weapon container and lubricant drum were 3D printed by a friend and scaled up from accessories designed for tabletop games. This was my first time using anything 3D printed and some of the print texture is still visible.

The kit was quite a challenge as the turret comes in several parts with large seams running over them and lacks locater pins in some crucial spots that would help construction. Most of the time was spent cleaning the turret and assembling the legs - the instructions are not always clear as to the exact placement of certain things so consulting completed builds in the Ma.K Encyclopedia and Chronicle books was key.

I love the engine details on this design, and the kit provides plenty of brass rod for all the guardrails and wire portions. The design balances surprisingly well despite looking somewhat top heavy when completed.

Some small gem stickers were used for the sight lens and the kit supplied decals went on without any issue. The numeral and frog markings were then painted over the decal to give a worn field-applied look. 

Although the kit was quite challenging, I was pretty happy with the final result - and it managed to nab me my one and only 1st place black coin at SCGMC in the Sci Fi General category! I had been going for a couple years at this point and it felt great to see that I had been able to progress my skills, especially in a category like Sci Fi General where the other entries are usually great work from talented people I admire. Thanks!