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Post by BUCKY on Jul 31, 2020 13:23:16 GMT -6
Looks nice, Robert! Keep it coming!
Have you been back to the Oar House, lately?
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tojo72
GAINING SPEED
Retired
Posts: 651 
Likes: 1,581
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Post by tojo72 on Jul 31, 2020 15:36:33 GMT -6
Welcome back to the bench,before last Dec, I had an almost 2 yr hiatus due to my move, progress on your build looks great.
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Post by RLFoster on Aug 1, 2020 9:30:10 GMT -6
Looks nice, Robert! Keep it coming! Have you been back to the Oar House, lately? Not since pre-Covid, Bucky. In fact other than one visit to the Big Top Brewery who serve food -- during the first week indoor eating was reopened -- I haven't been to a restaurant of any kind since 18 March! Thankfully, the Pensacola Bay Brewery (where we met) is still open for curbside pick-up, so I can keep my craft beer supplies restocked.  |
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Post by BUCKY on Aug 1, 2020 11:28:08 GMT -6
I hear ya. I go get stuff through drive-thru, or take-out, and bring it home.
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Post by Dukemaddog on Aug 1, 2020 14:13:45 GMT -6
Robert welcome back to the Forums and the workbench! Your work looks amazing as always! It's a thrill to see you building again.
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Post by RLFoster on Aug 2, 2020 12:14:50 GMT -6
Thanks all for the warm welcome back. Over the past two days I've continued to get back to the bench and have made steady progress. The next item on my agenda was the attachment of the rear crew doors and as I sort of suspected, it did not go quite as smoothly as I had hoped. Upon trying to put each door into their respective upper and lower hinge points, while one side was almost perfectly spaced (top to bottom), the other side had too great a gap for the door hinge assembly to be both locked into place and swing freely. My goal has always been to leave these rear doors unglued and free to position in an open configuration. So, I had to come up with some way to hold the hinge in place. I decided to use small rings of styrene cut from the smallest Plastruct tube I have on hand. By gluing this small extension on the top bracket of both doors, the doors will remain in place -- provided you don't fiddle with them. Here's a shot of the left door (from below) in place and open and the upper bracket of the right side showing the ring extension before I painted it:  Unfortunately, once these extensions were in place, the doors still did not quite line up, left to right, and would not close properly...they overlapped by about .5mm or less. So, I had to take them back off the model, sand the matting edge of both doors, and then reinstall them. It took a little effort, but eventually I got them lined up and closed properly for primer application. Here are two shots...one from the outside and one from the inside of the closed doors:   The next day I spent assembling and attaching the fenders to the hull. Here are two more shots of the right and left fenders attached to the vehicle:   Today, I didn't do a whole lot on the build, but did attach a couple do-dads and started prepping some of the ancillary equipment for attachment. Most of this morning I've been watching the Space X return for the first splashdown off Pensacola. Until next time... |
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Post by JCON on Aug 2, 2020 13:49:17 GMT -6
Typical tight German engineering clearances, ha, ha!!! You beat it though, well played Robert!!!  |
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Post by Dukemaddog on Aug 2, 2020 15:19:35 GMT -6
Nice work Robert! Beautifully done!
That would be cool to see that splash down!
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Post by BUCKY on Aug 2, 2020 18:04:51 GMT -6
Progress is looking good, Robert!
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Post by RLFoster on Aug 4, 2020 12:41:42 GMT -6
Another two days and I'm down to literally 6 or 8 parts on the build before I can start the painting and finishing process. Most of the progress has been little accessory pieces all over the build, so nothing really looks that different. Here's a quick shot showing a lot of these little things like the rails along the inside edges of the crew compartment, the MG shield and mounts, the front tow hooks, and the Notek light. Since taking this photo I've also adding the front highlights and mounts, thee turn indicator assemblies, and the rear tow pintle.  Today I wanted to make sure the wheels and tracks all sit flush with the ground so I completed the assembly of the front suspension components and then dry-fit them in place:  Then I dry-fit all the running gear and tracks before applying just a couple drops of glue to set the height of the front wheels. Now that I know everything sits properly, I can finish the last of the construction, apply the primer, and start painting with piece of mind.  Until next time... |
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Post by JCON on Aug 4, 2020 12:55:19 GMT -6
Sits nicely!!! Well done Robert!!!
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Post by Dukemaddog on Aug 4, 2020 13:56:35 GMT -6
Brilliant work Robert! That was a great idea for checking the height of the wheels.
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Post by RLFoster on Aug 5, 2020 12:38:10 GMT -6
Thanks, Guys! Just one photo today. This morning I finished all the primary construction and put a coat of primer on the halftrack and all the running gear. Here she is -- the Stealth Halftrack:  With the change to Phase II, I might take a day or two to let the creative juices build up a bit before starting to paint things. However, I will get back to things relatively quickly. Until next time... |
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MARCO
ROLLING ON
BRAZILIANAIRE
The man from the south
Posts: 782
Likes: 1,911
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Post by MARCO on Aug 5, 2020 12:47:36 GMT -6
Looks sharp!
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Post by JCON on Aug 5, 2020 12:51:52 GMT -6
Nice primerage!!! Good to see you working on it once more!!! What brand primer did you use?
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Post by RLFoster on Aug 6, 2020 1:58:12 GMT -6
Nice primerage!!! Good to see you working on it once more!!! What brand primer did you use? Duplicolor Automotive Primer -- my primer of choice.
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Post by JCON on Aug 6, 2020 7:53:40 GMT -6
Cool, same stuff I have been using on my cars...
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Post by Dukemaddog on Aug 6, 2020 14:14:03 GMT -6
Nice, smooth coat Robert! Way to go!
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Post by dogfish7 (R.I.P.) on Aug 9, 2020 7:54:09 GMT -6
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Post by RLFoster on Aug 10, 2020 9:35:08 GMT -6
As promised, I'm back. After taking a few days off to recharge the batteries, my motivation returned and I started the painting process on the build. These four photos show the process I used to lay down the color modulated panzer grey base coat on the model. First, using the black primer as the darkest shade, I applied a fairly even coat of Model Master Shwartzgrau:  Then, using this mixture as a base, I divided it into thirds. I added about 10% flat white to the first bottle, 25% to the second, and about 50% to the last one. Unfortunately my planning for the paint job was better than my planning to document it. These two photo show the results after the first and last bottles were used to highlight individual panels, doors, and edges. I screwed up and forgot to take a photo after the second bottle (oops). The whole purpose of this process is to make the changes in shape around the build really pop with increased contrast:   Finally, this morning, I used the same color in the last bottle to brush highlights on all of the upper surfaces I want to really pop. This includes the tops of the lights, hinges, tie-downs, and clasps:  All of this work is now sealed under a good coat of clear lacquer to protect it and serve as a clean pallet for the next steps. Hope you enjoyed this update. Until next time... |
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