Ed.: Dan Jayne appeared in FineScale Modeler’s pages numerous times between 2004 and 2016. Famous for his cutaways of aircraft, Dan was an exceptional scale modeler who wasn’t bound to a single subject but built a range and was an early adopter of weathering that showed the effects of extreme conditions, for instance, sunken ships, or destroyed armor.
Scouring the FSM archive, we discovered several Dan Jayne articles we weren’t able to publish before his death. To kick off our new Scale-Modeling Legends series, we’re going to show those articles in full, with minimal editing, to preserve as much of Dan’s tone and sense of humor as possible.
In common with many World War II modelers, my favorite category still remains German armor. Along with this, there is, in my mind, a certain underdog fascination with armored fighting vehicles (AFV) used by the losing side. German halftrack kits come in a wide variety, and Tamiya’s superb Famo kit (No. 35239) is the starting point for these three projects.
Overall, they were not a demanding scratchbuild conversion, all three taking about two months. Fabricating, sanding, and applying rivets could be described as tedious, but not overly difficult. The old classic Tamiya 88mm Flak gun kit (No. 35017) was an outstanding choice for a faster, simpler project. The finished models look good sitting next to the smaller halftracks in my growing collection.
1/35 scale SdKfz 9 18-ton halftrack
Basically built out of the box, I made the doors and the tailgate functional and superdetailed the engine and firewall. The cargo bed has all sorts of parts that might have been found in a real halftrack during the war, and I made the canvas top. I used the kit decals and Testors paint.
1/35 scale SdKfz 9 halftrack with 88mm Flak 37 - Flakartillerie Abteilung 304
Using the basic Famo frame, I scratchbuilt I-beams to support an extended, scratchbuilt cargo bed. A photo-etched metal tread plate was glued in place. The side drop gates, ammo box, side steps, outriggers, armored cab, hood, and front armor plate were all scratchbuilt. I modified the Tamiya Flak 37 kit, scratchbuilding the gun shield and backdating to an earlier version. I scrounged details from my spares box and painted with Testors enamels.
1/35 scale SdKfz 9/1 with 6-ton Bilstein crane
Again, the Tamiya frame was the starting point for this model. The cargo bed was stretched and scratchbuilt. Brass tread plate was applied. The Famo’s rear cab was removed, and a canvas top was made using gift-wrap paper. The aft toolbox, outriggers, mounts, travel lock, and wheel chocks were all scratchbuilt. The Bilstein crane was completely scratchbuilt with about $5-worth of materials, like Evergreen plastic sheet, tubing, rod, and tin. Tiger Model Designs sells a resin kit for much, much more! The figure is from the Tamiya kit, and I swiped the bird from my daughter’s charm bracelet.
Hey, we do what we have to do!