Panzer Kampf 41 mit P.K.A Ausf G Gustav

At the time of writing, this has been my most involved kit build - the Hornisse is from the 3Q Wave version of the kit and the Gustav is from the Nitto reissues with Ma.K on the box. This build was really important for me to get right as the 3Q Hornisse was actually something I got from the afterparty gifts when I attended Ma.K Tamagawa Meeting No.6 - being that I received the kit in the presence of Mr. Yokoyama himself, I had better work hard on it!

I loved the artwork and photo pictorial of the Hornisse mit Gustav from the original SF3D magazine appearance so I knew I wanted to try and create my own version of it. I initially attempted to use a Wave Gustav, but the Wave kit, as it turns out, is slightly too wide to fit into the "seat" of the Hornisse. So a Nitto Gustav was employed and it fit with only a few millimeters of material needed to be reshaped to allow it to interface with the aircraft section.

The worst part of the Hornisse kit has to be the engine rockets, they are 2 parts each with a seam that runs right over the ridges and very careful sanding was needed to get them to look right. That was a real test of my patience by the time it got to the 4th and 5th rocket thrusters. The 3Q kit is made up of 99% of the Nitto kit, however it adds a small part to the landing skids and also allows panzerfausts to be mounted to the wingtips. A large amount of filler and sanding all over was needed as can be expected for a mold of this age.

I went with orange panzerfausts to simulate the dummy ammunition used in training - this model is meant to represent a combat flight training unit and thus the older pilot figure (another great Love Love Garden resin head) represents a flight instructor who is using a Gustav to train pilots who are using the standard Heinrich suit.

The underside is incredibly detailed and it's a real shame most of it isn't visible when the kit is displayed. The mechanical details really show the kitbash lineage of this design. In fact when I was interviewed by Tested about this build I had to make sure to show off the underside!

The kit was painted with Gaia Notes and weathered with the oil paint dot streaking technique that many aircraft modelers use for camo schemes. I found this technique great for the big top surfaces of the wing and the mechanical parts were given a typical dark pin wash to bring out the small details. The radome was replaced with a small kitbashed communications antennae to reinforce the training unit look - in my imagination, it allows the instruction to signal flying in formation to the unit.

While this kit was very challenging and really put my skills to the test, I feel as though I mostly did it justice. It had to sit in my stash for a couple years before I felt comfortable attempting it, but I am glad I took the plunge - it's now one of my Ma.K works I am the most proud of.