Rubicon Hetzer

I built the Rubicon Hetzer and painted it using a circle ambush camo scheme.

The Rubicon Hetzer is a great kit, and it went together well.  The only criticism I have is the one hatch should be added to the model earlier in the build to avoid potentially dropping it inside a fully enclosed chassis.  Other than that, this kit went together very well and provided an excellent opportunity to try one of the more difficult camouflage schemes.

I like to add weight to my plastic kits to give them a little more heft on the tabletop.  Here, I glued some pinewood derby weights in the the lower hull.

I decided to hold off on adding the treads and wheels to the body until after prime and base color painting

Part B13, the hatch, is the one thing I think should be added earlier  (in Step 3) to the upper hull.  I didn't drop it into the hull, but it could have easily happened.

I think Step 3 is a better place to add the hatch, part B13.

Primed

Base color added and tread assemble attached.  

Creating a mask for the circle camo pattern.  I find that if I attach a piece of blue painter tape to wax paper, I can cut the stencil/mask out easily, remove the tape, and still have enough adhesive on it to attach it to the model.  The wax paper prevents the tools from sticking to the tape as you cut the stencil.

I used a 1/8-inch hole punch to create the camo patterns.

Started attaching the stencil to the vehicle

Airbrushed the camo colors

Carefully removed the tape

Finished painting, adding decals, and weathering