This is a tutorial on how to make baskets to attach to the rear of AFV's, allowing you to add rear stowage.

First the tools you will need: 

• Brass strip (I forget what size I used but it was the smallest K&N brass strip the hobby store had.
• Superglue
• Marker (one that can write on the brass)
• Metric ruler (steel is best)
• Cutters
• Flat file
• Two pairs of tweezers, one of which should be locking (you can get away with one but it is easier with 2)
• Etch-Mate or Hold-n-Fold, or some other photo etch folding tool (you can try to use pliers to make the folds but they won't be as crisp if you do)
• The model you want to add the basket to, for this tutorial I used a Panzer IV F2.'

The first thing to do is measure the back of the model to see how wide your basket needs to be, in the case of the Panzer IV it is 25mm.

Next you need to do some drawing to figure out what size you want your basket to be. From playing with the stowage parts I have, I know that 6mm high and 6mm deep works good for the bits that I have. (This size is a too large in scale but it still looks good on the model) Make a quick sketch of what you want the finished basket to look like.

With a sketch with measurements, it's easy to calculate the length of each piece. Some warnings here, the brass itself is about .5mm thick, and you lose between .5mm and 1mm of material when you file the edges, make sure you take this into account when you make your cuts. Since I wanted a 25x6x6 backet, I cut 1 piece of brass 46mm long (this one has the supports to attach it to the model, one 37mm long, 1 23mm long (the piece for the floor), and 3 11mm long (the L supports, I mount them [b]inside[/b] the horizontal pieces so the bottom part is only 5mm instead of 6)

Now file the edges smooth. At this stage you should also trim your L bracket pieces to be the same size.

Next you need to mark the spots on the parts where the folds will be made. Refer to your sketch for the appropriate places to make folds.

Here you can see my parts marked, ready for folding. Notice I only marked 1 L bracket part, since I will fold all 3 at the same time.

Now it is time to make the folds. Place a part (or parts in the case of the L brackets) into the etch-mate.

Once the parts are secured in the etch-mate, use a razor blade to make the fold by bending the parts. With the etch mate you will get a very crisp, tight fold which is hard to do with pliers or tweezers (I know I've tried).

Go through all of the parts in sequence, making the necessary folds. Once you are done with the folds check the parts to make sure everything is correctly sized, if you made any mistakes, then make replacement parts.

Now it is time to mark the bottom support for where you want to glue the L brackets. I put 1 bracket in the middle and the others 5mm in from each end.

Put a small dab of superglue where a bracket will attach and using the tweezers position the bracket on the bottom of the 2 horizontal supports. In the photo I am bracing the part with the file so it won't fall over (this makes placing the parts easier) and I have used the bottom bar to hold up the other end of the L brackets (in the photo the brackets have only been glued on the right side). You are not going for a strong join at this point, you only want something that holds the parts just tight enough to keep them from falling off. We will strengthen the joins with additional glue later.

You want to make sure your brackets are attached straight at this step while the glue is drying, you will have some time to wiggle them around to get them square.

This is the most fiddley part of the whole process, having 2 tweezers really helps here, especially if one is of the self locking variety. Use that one to hold the L brackets and line them up, then use the other tweezers to press the join tight while you release the locking tweezers.

Once they dry to the bottom horizontal bar, glue them to the top horizontal bar. Again, just enough glue to get a join. Once this sets check to make sure everything is square, if not then break the joins and reglue.

Now attach the bottom bar to make the bottom of the basket. Once that sets add additional glue to all of the joins to strengthen them. Try to add the extra glue on the inside or bottom of the basket where possible; this will be less visible when you paint the finished model. (The first time I made one of these I used minimal glue and it looked very nice, however it promptly fell apart when I tried to attach it to the model; if you are using the model for gaming strength of join is more important than perfect appearance.) Here you can see my finished basket ready to be attached to the model.

Now glue the basket to the model. You can see that I have made supports on mine on the bottom that will glue onto the model. I use the same gluing process as before, using minimal glue at first just to attach the basket to the model and make sure everything is lined up correctly, then applying heavier amounts of glue in the least visible places.

Once the glue sets (at this point you can use accelerator if you want) congratulate yourself, you are ready to add stowage.

Here are some StuG's and StuH's with baskets made using the technique above, to give you some other ideas how this can be applied.