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Post by JCON on Feb 21, 2018 11:22:20 GMT -6
Ahhhh....the majik of the WWW!!! True dat brother!!!  |
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Post by Dukemaddog on Feb 21, 2018 17:48:34 GMT -6
Wow Beekster, that is some amazing rack work there! You do have a magic touch my friend!
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Post by Beekster on Feb 21, 2018 18:48:08 GMT -6
Wow Beekster, that is some amazing rack work there! You do have a magic touch my friend! Thank you, though I wouldn't classify it as magic. Masochism, perhaps, but not magic!  I've got the three on the left side secured now and will probably get to the other side sometime tomorrow. |
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Post by Beekster on Feb 24, 2018 13:02:14 GMT -6
OK, time for another update. On some thread on this board I've mentioned that no kit on the planet does Sherman taillights properly, not even the vaunted Tamiya or Asuka. There are resin alternatives from the likes of Tiger Model Designs which are quite nice and not very expensive, but for those of you who prefer sweat equity to contractors here's how you fix Sherman taillights:   In the first photo, the modified light is on the left and the kit original on the right. I have sawed off the blade under the light housing, trimmed the base of it down at the back, drilled it out for .020" brass rod, and added a couple of bolt heads. The second image shows the mounting location. This is a Tiger Models part, but you can do it yourself. Punch a 1 mm disc out of .015" sheet and glue it to a suitable strip of .010" stock. Add a couple of bolt heads, and trim it to the rounded oval shape seen here. Glue it down, and after all is dry drill out the center of the disc. Then put it together like this:   Now, that looks like it ought to! The other thing visible here is that I have thinned down the profile of the brush guard with some careful file work for a less chunky appearance. Photo-etch brass is usually a bit thin, and a plastic joint is stronger. I've migrated away from using brass brush guards unless I intend to portray them as bent out of shape. Speaking of brush guards, I do the same for the front ones:  In other news, the left side widget racks are in place as seen here. Still one to go on the other side; the last one has proven troublesome but I will subdue it eventually.  And finally, I have a foil strap courtesy of the wine cellar and a buckle from an Aber set to secure the pioneer tools. Also visible is the finished rack for the planks, with a hinge on top forward and a bolt to hold it to the deck panel.  high quality image upload |
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Post by JCON on Feb 24, 2018 14:25:11 GMT -6
Nice work...
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Post by BUCKY on Feb 24, 2018 15:00:23 GMT -6
Great details, Beekster! Keep it going, bro!
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Post by Beekster on Feb 25, 2018 14:03:53 GMT -6
More insanity. The kit instructions show these two extension brackets for shackles & tow rope ends, but has you affix them with a rather flimsy-looking brass etch bracket on the diff cover. I decided that the method suggested, though borne out in one photograph, just wasn't stout enough. So in the time-honored tradition of fitters customizing their rides to suit themselves, I used some styrene rod stock to modify the extension brackets and glue them to the tow clevises on the diff cover. That seems a much stronger method, and in fact would be strong enough to tow something backwards. The tow cable is more of the nylon string with resin ends from the kit. The shackles that holds the tow rope are modified Academy parts, drilled and pinned for strength. All this is just mocked up for now, but gives an idea of what it will look like. The two sprocket rings are Dragon parts, with the bolt heads cut off and holed drilled in their place.   |
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Post by JCON on Feb 25, 2018 14:51:33 GMT -6
Great adaptation...
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reserve
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Post by reserve on Feb 25, 2018 14:56:27 GMT -6
Pretty sharp Beek
Regards,
Mark
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Post by Dukemaddog on Feb 25, 2018 16:55:15 GMT -6
Tremendous improvement Beeks! Way to go!
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feldgrau23
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Post by feldgrau23 on Feb 26, 2018 16:53:29 GMT -6
That is some incredible work beekster!!!!!
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Post by Beekster on Feb 26, 2018 16:57:37 GMT -6
That is some incredible work beekster!!!!! Thank you, sir! Mostly it is simply tedious attention to detail coupled to an obsession for accuracy wherever possible. This one was supposed to be a fairly straightforward project, but the more I progressed the less I liked the quality of the conversion parts I was working with. That's when I succumbed to a serious bout of AMS, and this is how the disease manifests itself at the present time. It isn't as bad as some of my other episodes; there's no interior happening with this one... |
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Post by Beekster on Mar 4, 2018 17:07:31 GMT -6
OK, I think we're about done with the fiddly stuff on this one. The A-frame arms are all on now, despite some hassles with very fragile brackets. One on the right side didn't survive and was replaced with strip stock. There's a bit of Archer weld seam to replace where I inflicted damage, and the chain is just sitting there to show how it might look, but this one is ready to have the suspension and tracks built. That will come sometime this week, once I am done detailing the daily driver. We've got a window of a couple of days of dry weather, so the roadster will venture out for commute & errand duty while the sedan gets pampered in the garage. The roadster's turn will come in another week or two.     I just noticed that I also need to add footman's loops and a strap to hold the shovel in place; no big deal there. The spare sprocket rings, with bolt holes drilled out, are in place for good. For tracks, I will use Dragon's T62 set since I have a bunch of them. Given how fragile the boom arms and widget racks are, I will not do my usual method of building the tracks separately and attaching them at the weathering stage. I will glue them in place permanently when I build the suspension, and paint the entire lower regions of the model in dirt shades from the start (Steve Zaloga's usual method). |
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Post by JCON on Mar 4, 2018 18:11:30 GMT -6
Nice and busy looking...
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Post by BUCKY on Mar 4, 2018 19:43:15 GMT -6
Very well detailed, beekster!!
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feldgrau23
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Post by feldgrau23 on Mar 4, 2018 21:15:19 GMT -6
Really looking forward to seeing this with paint and weathering involved. Excellent work beekster
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Post by ARMORGUY on Mar 5, 2018 2:01:11 GMT -6
This is how you build a Sherman, awesome !
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Post by RLFoster on Mar 5, 2018 5:35:08 GMT -6
Absolutely phenomenal work!!!
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Post by Dukemaddog on Mar 5, 2018 13:07:59 GMT -6
Wow! What a Frankenkit! Stunning work man, can't wait to see this in her fancy shoes.
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Post by Beekster on Mar 10, 2018 18:14:12 GMT -6
Been working on the bogies this weekend and might get them finished, but there's still seam sanding and drilling to do...and it looks like perfect convertible weather tomorrow, so...
Anyway, this project will suffer a minor delay. I pulled out my old Dragon T62 track sprues, and the more I looked at them the less I liked them. The track pads are just way too flat, nothing like the thickness of Panda Plastics links, for example. I just ordered up two sets of Bronco's T62 workable track sets from China that should get here in a couple of weeks. I'll certainly have the rest of the suspension done by then...
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I've got the three on the left side secured now and will probably get to the other side sometime tomorrow.
