Hi all,
Work continued tonight on the front end of the upper hull.

The Aufs D had a "Kugelblende 30" ball mount installed in the front superstructure. It allowed the the radio operator to fire the MG34 machine gun. The ball mount was travesable in all directions and was protected by it's own armored mantlet. On the D there was an attachments for the "KZF2" periscopic gun sight, and saddle style magazine feed, but those were internal and would not be seen even if I chose to model them. So I chose to stick strictly with what's visible.

Using two flat slabs of .060 styrene sheet laminated together, I cut the armored mantlet into a square measuring .650 x .650 (.120 thick). Then using dial calipers I marked the square center opening where the ball mount would traverse. Using a 3/64 drill bit I then drilled out the corners to attain the desired radius'. Then using a Dremel and files I cut out the center opening and filed it to the final shape.

I also went back and cut an opening in the upper hull for the ball mount to pass through. Although it's position was slightly off I chose to stick with Hen Longs location as it visibly look better to keep the alignment with the radio operator's hatch which is also mis-located. I cut the through hole in the center of the .060 styrene stock I had used to patch the hole where I cut away the molded later version of the un-armored ball mount included on the Aufs F1 model. I then added bolt detail using Plastruct .040 hex rod sliced thinnly on my "chopper".

I also cleaned up all of the mold lines and flashing off of the MG 34, and then drilled out and chamfered the end of the barrel to give it a more scale "hollow" appearance.

Squid