3D Printed Sd.Ah 56/57 Ammunition Trailer

 

Having already built the only available 1/35 kit of the Sd.Ah 56/57 Flak ammo trailer made by Wiener Modellbau, a new 3D printed version is now available. The Wiener Modellbau resin trailer is a nice little kit and builds up well, but it is not the most accurate.

The new printed version has been designed by modeller Darius Stucinskas and is available to download from:Sd-Ah-56-57-ammunition-trailer

 

The single axle 1.5T trailer was used to carry ammunition for self-propelled Flak guns and were typically towed by late war vehicles such as the Sd.Kfz 7/2, Mercedes 4500 and Bussing NAG 4500. Special trailers Sd.Ah.56-57

These are the colour coded 3D renderings

 

As I do not own a 3D printer Darius was kind enough to print one and ship it out to me.  It arrived in an extremely well packaged box with a few duplicate and also alternative parts. The detail is incredibly well defined for the scale. Obviously careful removal of support material is required. Clean-up of the little nubs where they attach to the parts is also needed and these are difficult to see with the naked eye. As is fine detail in the beige-coloured resin I received. It is therefore advisable to primer before any small fragile parts are attached so any sanding work can be carried out beforehand.

The front and rear support legs are engineed to be moveable if you wish, and both the suspension and axle bolts to the chassis as per the real thing. With care it is also possible to make the handbrake workable. The only additional material required is some 0.3mm copper wire. 

My kit included a selection of wheels with alternative tread patterns and a wooden roof rack surround. Two optional rear chassis profiles are included, both with their own support leg design. The sliding interior portioning grills are intricately designed and along with all the separately printed retaining hoops, clasps, wingnuts, and padlocks, make for an incredibly details model.

Constructions starts off with the axle chassis and suspension. The main chassis is printed in one piece and you can choose from two rear braces with their own individual support leg designs. The legs are workable with care and can be positioned up or down.  

The front support leg can be built to be moveable using the small bolts available and will slide up and down. It is advisable to open the existing holes with micro drills to achieve a better fitment of the bolts as the printing process does flatten the entrance and exit holes.

The handbrake can also be built to be moveable using additional 0.3mm wire and care will be required as the parts are very thin. Tiny pins and bolts are employed to achieve moving parts should you wish to.

These are the selection of wheel designs and tyre tread patterns available so if you want to represent a particular vehicle it might be worth contacting the designer to request a particular wheel or tyre design.

The tyre and wheel selection I received. The wheel faces are incredibly thin due to perfect scale rendering.

The body is built flat pack style with a centrally located support bar.  Tolerances are fine so care is needed to align these tightly. Note the design cut-out on one side of the floor part which must attach at the front due to it sitting on the angled chassis frame. My kit came with the curved roof design although later variants can be seen with flat roofs, and also with door designs with less hinges.

Black rubberised CA glue was used and TBH I used a little too much in places. This resulted in panel gaps and had a knock on effect for further parts fitment. So go easy with the glue!

 

If doors are to be left open painting of the interior and the inclusion of any ammo will need to be carried out before the roof is glued down.

Ammunition containers for Flak 36/37, 38 and 43 are available and these are printed open and closed, along with the shell trays ready for firing. The shells are also available on the trays, separate and as spent casings, so all possibilities are catered for.

 

The sliding dividing grills are incredibly fragile, so special care is required removing the supports. These were employed to prevent the load sliding forwards are backwards in transit. Typically, the ammo containers were placed over the axle with additional equipment and crew gear at either end. Access was available from two doors either side and from doors front and rear. 

 

A wooden sided roof rack is also available and gives additional storage.  I plan to add more load items to this area.

I decided to model my trailer stationary with both doors open on one side, and with the rear door open. Plastic stock was used to bulk out the hidden boxes on the floor.  Any areas that were visible through open doors was also covered with ammo boxes or additional equipment.  Loose ammo boxes and crew paraphernalia will be kept separate to aid painting.

 

The last parts to add will be the very small locker door wingnut catches, hoops for the door clasps, and the padlocks and chains. I fear that some of these parts are so well represented in scale to be virtually impossible to remove from the supports without damage, but I will endeavour to salvage what I can. 

Build complete with additional roof box accessories ready for paint. The wheels will be painted seperately to aid coverage.

 

As this 3D trailer is so much more accurate, this build will replaces the resin Wiener Sd.Ah 56 trailer that I have displayed with my Trumpeter Sd.Kfz 7 Flak 43. The self propelled flak was finished in a plain Dunkelgelb so the trailer will receive the same monochrome finish.

I had a few ready mixed shades of Tamiya dark yellow and levelling thinner left, so I used these for shadow areas underneath the trailer and on the lower panels. The final coat is with Mission Models Late 1944 RAL 7028. This to my wonky eyes is one of the more accurate in scale appearance dark yellows. My Sd.Kfz 7 Flak 43 is highlighted in this and I recall adding a drop of Tamiya clear yellow to a subsequent varnish coat to get a more harmonised effect. This will receive the same treatment.

The attached roof box accessories colours were blocked in with Vallejo acrylics and the same manufacturers Iraqi sand was used to give pronounced areas a highlight which always works well with proceeding pin washes and post shading steps. All the 3D printed ammo containers and added accessories were painted at the same time. The ammo boxes deliberately finished in a shinier yellow hue to give them some contrast.

The final base coat layers were carried out was a fine misting of lightened and darkened MM Dunkelgelb through a stencil mask to the larger panels. This gives a worn patina finish I like to use which starts off the weathering stage.

It was at this stage I had a little mishap and the trailer took a tumble and fell off the bench onto the floor. It survived suprisingly intact but did suffer from cracks and split to main panels. I managed to save most of the original frame by re-gluing sections together. An additional wheel was added and with some careful placement of a tarp or foilage here and there the whole vehicle should still be presentable.  

 

 

 

I also have enough parts left in the box to make another trailer, so I will no doubt attempt to improve on this build next time I build a late war self-propelled flak gun.

 

 The last close-up pic I took before it got damaged😒