I got a bit bored today and did not feel in the mood for model building, so I thought I would finally start a post on my Karl project which has been dragging on for about a year and a half. I keep going back to it in between other stuff that I am going back to, in between everything else!
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This WIP actually started before Nov 2004 as I built and modified the Dragon version when it came out. I was 90% finished when the wholesaler for Trumpeter asked me to build their version for the Melbourne Toy and Hobby fair in April 2005. They delivered me a massive box with plenty o' plastic for free so I was 'wrapped'. Once I started I soon realised how superior the Trumpeter version was over the DML one. I was stunned at all the extra effort Trumpeter had gone to in the area of the gun cradle, loader, mantlet detail and shape as well as the torsion bar area underneath the gun cradle. This kit also offers the 040 and the 041 in the same kit, as well as the option to have it on tracks or on the rail transport. Don't let anyone kid you on this, the Trumpeter kit is WAYYYYY better than the DML. So much so that I boxed my DML with various scratch items and brass railings because I was so disappointed with their level of accuracy and detail.
So, having got that out of my system I had 4.5 months to do a 'spanking' job on a model that had a box a foot high to accomodate the amount of plastic sprues contained within. They only wanted it built OOTB so I had to plan how I could do that but leave my options open for a dio after the fair was over. I decided to add extra track from my Trumpeter Leopold to allow me to put an extra carriage or figures in later. The Leopold has heaps of track to spare and I had decided to do the build as the version attached to the rail transport carriages to fully display the potential of the kit.
I was a bit short on ref's so I used what I could get.
Allied and Axis Issue 9.
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and a ref borrowed from a freind.....
AFV number 12.
This last ref from Jentz has some pretty cool shots of the Long barrel version. Except for the barreland the loading craddle, all the other details are the same as the stubby.
If you thought this is probably a boring kit, it's not. Its about the biggest tank you'll get and it can be made to look real tough given a bit of attitude - see the following photo's and you'll see what I mean.
I would love either DML or Trumpeter to do the MK4 based loader as well. I hope they have it on their list! 
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Here is a photo of the stubby version from Axis and allied.
plastic Nymphomaniac
Threaded Mode
