Schwimmwagen question

[pingvuiini]

I just got a big lot of prebuilt kits off eBay in various states of disrepair:

I am starting out with the Schwimmwagen, making minor repairs and repainting it. I have never built on before and there were no instructions included. I have looked online at box art from various manufacturers and determined that there are some pieces missing (i.e. oar, retractable roof assembly) and other pieces assembled incorrectly (i.e. shovel stowed backwards).

The one thing I am not sure of is two 'tabs' attached to a vertical pipe looking object near the back (see photo) below. These tabs look suspiciously like something that should have been cut off during assembly, but they could be lights?? I wanted to check here to see if anyone knows for sure. Any help appreciated. Thanks!

 

[OldHammer]

I hope this will help you:
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10039945

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10000290

 

[pingvuiini]

I hope this will help you:
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10039945

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10000290

Thanks! What a cool resource to have all the instructions scanned and available.

The bad news is that I checked all three Japanese manufacturers instructions sheets and I am pretty sure that my Schwimmwagen is none of those, so probably Italeri or less likely AFV Club. There's also a little bit more pieces missing than I initially thought, but I am not going to sweat it.

Thanks again!

 

[bdr65]

Have a look at the real thing for reference material. Try lookin
for a walk around or somethin similar

 

[the Baron]

Hi, PV, I think your guess is correct, and that those are sprue gates or tabs of some kind, that should have been removed.

Remembering that Google is our friend ( ) , I ran a quick search on keyword "schwimmwagen", and then browsed the images. Here's a link to a page with a couple of images of a restored 1943 Schwimmwagen:

http://bringatrailer.com/2013/01/04/water-beetle-1943-vw-schwimmwagen/

The third photo down shows what looks like your piece, and I think it was the exhaust and muffler on that particular model of the vehicle.

Hope that helps!

 

[pingvuiini]

Thanks guys! I was so intent on finding out the manufacturer and the instructions that it never occurred to me to look for actual real photos. Very helpful!

I went ahead and clipped off the tabs, dismembered and removed the dude, did some other minor repairs and repainted.

There's a lot still missing so I don't think I will put much more repair effort into it and will just go to weathering. I have read all the historical information on the instruction sheets that were helpfully pointed out by OldHammer and haven't been able to find out what material the body is made of. Being an amphibious vehicle I would assume it would be made of something non-corrosive like aluminum or maybe stainless steel, perhaps even plastic. But I am actually *hoping* that it was some iron based metal so I can rust the crap out of it. Any info here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[pingvuiini]

Finally finished with a good does of weathering (as usual). Like the horrifying Beobachtungswagen I recently built, I am not used to working on such tiny vehicles and I have to adjust the weathering accordingly. But it was fun fixing this up and repainting. I can't wait to get around to the other kits from the lot, although some of the repairs look pretty daunting.