Skoda PA-II "Zelva" (Turtle) 1/35

[Mike999]

I finally managed to finish something!  And it's a car...sort of.  Here's the TAKOM 1/35 scale kit of the Skoda PA-II "Zelva" (Turtle).

Skoda only built 12 of these Steampunky-looking things in 1927.   They failed as a military vehicle because of poor off-road performance.  They could be steered from either end, and 5 people had to cram into the vehicle - 2 drivers for front and rear, 2 machine-gunners, and a commander.

The police in Vienna, Austria bought 3 Zelvas and used them impartially - to crush a Communist coup in early 1934 and a Nazi coup later in the same year.  The Czech Army kept the other nine.  The Wehrmacht converted at least one into a disarmed radio car with a big frame antenna and used it during the 1940 invasion of France.

The TAKOM kit is a "2-in-1," with decal/paint options for 4 armed vehicles plus the German radio car. It's a nice, simple kit, only about 100 parts.  Front and rear axles are poseable if you're careful. Fit is generally good.  The trickiest procedure is getting the parts of the "turret" aligned with no gaps.  Sorry for the lousy photography, it's hot out there and either the model or myself risked melting.

There was no vehicle "07," I wanted something different so patched the kit decals together. That also goes for the chassis number "NIX-13."  The headlight "buckets" were chromed with a Molotow 2mm marker.

 

[Foxer]

This is really cool! I like the whole shape and your paint job enhances it. They must have had really narrow roads to not know how to U-Turn!

You did a wonderful job on this!

I should try an Armor kit to get me back on the bench 

[cobraman]

Looks great, nice work !

[waynehulsey]

That's cool looking, even stranger then some of the Tatra armour cars I like.

[Edward Gore]

Spectacular paint on this one, man. I also built this but with Pegasus low rider wheels set and posed hydraulic 3-wheel motion. A fun kit

[oldnslow]

Well that's different . cool looking little car.

[Draggon]

Fantastic job on the camouflage and weathering 

[Mike999]

Thanks for all the nice comments!  I did some experimenting on this kit (as usual).  Those thin brown lines separating the camouflage colors were done with a brown Sharpie marker.

"I also built this but with Pegasus low rider wheels set and posed hydraulic 3-wheel motion."  Now that sounds awesome!

[Lizz62]

That thing would work great on the tourist traffic here in Myrtle Beach

[Mike999]

That thing would work great on the tourist traffic here in Myrtle Beach

I moved back to (Upstate) SC almost 2 years ago and still haven't been to Myrtle Beach.  Went there a lot as a kid, every summer.

Tourist traffic and related problems seem to be the same all over the world.  For nearly 4 years I lived in Alexandria, Egypt, right on the Mediterranean Sea.  Every summer weekend, about a million extra people visited Alexandria from all over Egypt. Traffic was bumper-to-bumper on the Corniche, the wide street running along the seaside.  Prices doubled for many items. Even the beach vendors selling roasted ears of corn and falafel jacked up their prices.  The people who lived in Alexandria had an Arabic phrase for this. It translated to: "May the holiday-makers rot in hell."  

[Edward Gore]

deleted see next post...

 

Edited August 2, 2017 by Edward Gore

[Edward Gore]

Thanks for all the nice comments!  I did some experimenting on this kit (as usual).  Those thin brown lines separating the camouflage colors were done with a brown Sharpie marker.

"I also built this but with Pegasus low rider wheels set and posed hydraulic 3-wheel motion."  Now that sounds awesome!

wanna see ?

Edited August 2, 2017 by Edward Gore

[Mike999]

Yes!  Pix, please!

[Edward Gore]

All I got is this short video because it at a show for a while. After it gets back home I'll get more pictures ... if you still want to see them...