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Post by dogfish7 (R.I.P.) on Dec 16, 2020 18:18:13 GMT -6
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Post by RLFoster on Dec 22, 2020 14:24:49 GMT -6
Thanks for the link, Bruce! I hope everyone is having a great holiday season on this week leading up to Christmas. Whatever your beliefs, I wish everyone in this, the strangest of years, health, peace, and happiness. Today I got the itch to peel off the shrink wrap and bust the seals on two parts of this build. Even though I will not be starting this until after the holidays, I still wanted to get a "lay of the land", so to speak. First, I opened the kit itself and OMG, is there a ton of plastic in there: It's going to be a bit of a challenge just to figure out where everything is on the sprues and how it all goes together. One thing I found interesting from glancing at the instructions is that unlike a lot of Dragon kits, in all of this PILE of sprues and bags, there's only ONE, single part that's not used...everything else is! That's amazing to me. The Eduard "BIG ED" set is equally impressive. The kit contains a set of wheel masks that I'll never use and then 3 normal, full-sized PE sets. One is just for floor plates and the like, one is for just railings, and the last set is for all the general details over the entire model. The kit itself has a small PE sprue of it's own and everything together should go a long way to really detailing the kit quite nicely. The other main reason I had for opening the kit was to check what the marking options were out of the box. The decals for this huge model are literally only about 30mm x 50mm (1.5" x 2")...that's it!!! However, they do have the nicknames for BOTH Loki (as the kit title indicates) and Thor (which is the option I'm personally leaning toward building). Having both of these options is a nice surprise. Anyway, that's it for today. Have a great rest of the week. Until next time...
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Post by dogfish7 (R.I.P.) on Dec 22, 2020 14:56:37 GMT -6
Looks like you have your work cut out for you, Robert. Looking forward to watching it come together.
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jimrichards
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Post by jimrichards on Dec 22, 2020 16:00:20 GMT -6
Wow Robert,
This looks like an amazing kit. Can't wait to follow along with your build. Since I'm not an Armor guy, all the background info is nice. I have to read it a few times, to take it all in. So Thanks.
Happy Holidays Buddy
Jim & Leslie
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Post by JCON on Dec 22, 2020 16:19:28 GMT -6
I'm also very excited to see you tackle this kit Robert!!! With all that I am dubbing it the build to watch in 2021!!!
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Post by JED on Dec 23, 2020 6:02:42 GMT -6
WOW I'm definitely in for the long haul
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Post by ARMORGUY on Dec 25, 2020 12:45:38 GMT -6
Complete with all the PE bits'n bobs!
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Post by RLFoster on Jan 1, 2021 14:18:02 GMT -6
Well, it's 2021 and I've officially started working on the build. Haven't taken anything off the sprues yet and there are no photos (yet), but the build has commenced.
I opened all 3 of the Eduard PE sets, pulled out the kit's instructions, grabbed a highlighter, and marked all the parts that require modification in preparation for the PE work...and there's a lot of it.
In the course of marking the instructions, I needed to check a couple parts (and part numbers) and have identified quite a few parts that will need sanding and putty work in addition to the PE modifications. I've also identified at least 3 errors in part numbers on the instructions. This was extremely common with Dragon kits back in the 2000's, but they are getting better. Thankfully, at this point in my modelling, I'm used to the errors and have already annotated the corrections.
Not sure if I'll really start cutting part tomorrow or not, but in any case, I'll OFF!
Until next time...
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Post by dogfish7 (R.I.P.) on Jan 1, 2021 14:23:36 GMT -6
You da man.
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Post by BUCKY on Jan 2, 2021 4:21:04 GMT -6
Looks like a very involved project. I have no doubt that you'll cruise through this one and accomplish great results!
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Post by RLFoster on Jan 13, 2021 12:01:44 GMT -6
Hello Everyone, Two weeks into the build and progress isn't exactly speeding along, but that's mostly intentional. After identifying all the PE parts and their corresponding kit parts, I spent a few days studying historical photos and the instructions to decide what, if any changes to make to the manufacturer's provided modifications. I decided to start off the build with what is arguably my least favorite part of kit detailing...the tools and mounts. First, I needed to gather the five required parts and assess the next steps. This also included getting out some plastic rod to fill all of the existing holes in the kit part: Because the existing mounting holes did not match the diameter of any plastic rod I have on hand, I first needed to drill out the holes: Then I inserted and glued the plastic rod into each hole: After sanding all the filled holes, I turned my attention to the tools themselves. Each one needed to have the existing, molded on mounting hardware sanded off to leave just the true tool handles. This photo shows the shovel (with the blade removed) and pick axe complete with the sledge and axe still in unmodified condition: Once all four tools were cleaned up, I then spent literally 3 days carefully removing, bending, and attaching all of the PE parts to them. Today, I finally completed the process of attaching all the modified tools to the kit part. This is the result: That's all I've done so far. However, I think I'll shift to at least a few parts requiring no major modifications before I jump back into the PE. Until next time...
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Post by JED on Jan 13, 2021 12:23:49 GMT -6
Very good and delicate work Robert
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Post by dogfish7 (R.I.P.) on Jan 13, 2021 13:20:37 GMT -6
Looks really good.
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Post by JCON on Jan 13, 2021 14:04:09 GMT -6
Wow is that ever way better!!!
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Post by Dukemaddog on Jan 23, 2021 15:57:07 GMT -6
Magnificent work so far Robert! I'm thrilled to follow this one. Thank you also for the great information on these guns.
That open box shot was almost scary! As one friend of mine always says to describe kits like these: "There's enough plastic to roast a small animal"!
Brilliant work on the tools. Way to go man, I'm looking forward to seeing more.
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Post by RLFoster on Feb 8, 2021 11:02:12 GMT -6
Hello, Everyone... I almost feel like I'm resurrecting a dead thread, it's been so long since my last update. I looked back through the calendar to see why it's been so long and discovered a ton of “little things” that all have conspired to slow down this build. It's been over three weeks, but it sure seems longer. I've had a dental appointment and three routine VA medical appointments. I also had nearly one full day eaten up with major car maintenance. Over a two day period, I put together a new TV stand for my mother as well as set up her new Roku TV. Finally, last week I had my birthday and dinner with Mom. I guess when you add up just those things, that's about a week's worth of time killed. Anyway, let's not belabor my issues. Here's what I've been up to with the Karl-Gerat. First is something I took care of probably the day after the last update – the plate on the other end of the hull from the tools. This plate is much simpler, with only three small PE pipe clamps needed. However, this side also has the intake vent for the engine cooling system. The problem is that the opening is just “there” with neither a molded screen or a PE supplied screen to cover up the hole. If there's one thing I really do dislike, it's openings like this...requiring the pre-painting of the interior areas with flat black so you don't see bare plastic: However, I had a better solution. While I have absolutely no idea whether it's historically accurate or not, I decided to cut an unused piece of old PE from a build years ago into a screen to cover the opening. Here's what it looked like once finished: Next, I decided to jump around a bit in the instructions and first tackle the PE set from the Big ED grouping that added details to the underside of the exposed deck plates in the vehicle. As you can see from this photo, the underside of the two small flanges on the upper hull as well as the longer side decks for the gun have very, very little detail. With the longer decks, there are also a TON of ejector pin marks that would either need sanding or filling in any case: So, I elected to attack the smaller hull flanges first. Wouldn't you know it...another hiccup! The Eduard PE pieces are TOO LONG for the kit parts! Here's a shot showing the PE parts (still on the sprue) resting on one flange so you can clearly see how much longer they are: It took me a good two days of contemplation before I came up with a solution. I realized that the three “flaps” on the PE parts would ultimately be folded back over and form mounting brackets for the side rails. If I could cut the PE under these brackets the cut would not be visible. So, the first thing I did was score the back side of the PE about 2 mm under where the flaps would fold: Then, using a good set of PE cutters, I carefully cut along the score mark up to the flap and and then the 2 mm along the edge of the flap and removed each end like so: Next, I placed the center section of this modified PE piece on the kit and lined up the flaps with the molded brackets for the railings (These will shortly disappear in the photos because they are replaced with even more PE pieces). Then I measured each side from the cut edge to the edge of the plastic: After that, it was a simple case of shortening the previously removed end pieces by the amount that left them the width of these measurements. So, I first glued the two end pieces into place: Then, I glued the central piece in the middle, folding the brackets over and gluing those into place: Here's a shot showing both sides once completed: Now I turned my attention to the longer decks. These are comprised of two PE pieces similar to the ones above. Thankfully, these pieces and exactly the right length for the kit. However, before I could attach these to the parts, all the molded details seen in the third photo above needed to be removed. Out came the grinder for some serious cutting and mess making. I know I didn't need to be too careful here because the PE would cover the plastic completely: Here's a shot showing one part with both PE pieces glued down and the other ready to go: So that took care of the deck plate PE set. Next I decided to look at the next major construction step that DIDN'T require any PE – I had my fill for a little while. Much to my displeasure, the next two parts to be assembled (the two main side pieces for the upper hull) were absolutely riddled with ejector pin marks. Since nothing in the instructions indicated these would be covered after assembly, I spent two days first filling and then sanding all of these imperfections. I also went ahead and filled some locator holes for some parts being replaced with PE. Here are the two pieces next to the hull: Before committing to gluing these parts, I wanted to see just how much of these inside surfaces would be visible. So I dry fit them in place along with the two main support structures for the gun: Then, I assembled and glued together the four pieces of the main gun frame before dry fitting it in the middle of this opening: Finally, I removed the two halves of the main gun breach and loosely place them on the pivot points for the gun: As you can see, in reality very little of the inner surface of those hull side plates will be visible once everything is in place. So, I probably wasted a couple days worrying about and filling all those pin marks. However, I always prefer to be safe rather than sorry. Anyway, that's all I've gotten done to this point. It's really not much...just a lot of little things. Hopefully, things will start to speed up a bit from this point on. Until next time...
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Post by JCON on Feb 8, 2021 11:21:47 GMT -6
Nice surgery to get it all looking great!!!
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Post by BUCKY on Feb 8, 2021 11:37:22 GMT -6
Nice start on getting back into it!
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Post by ARMORGUY on Feb 8, 2021 12:38:36 GMT -6
Beautiful updates, and darn flawless PE-fication.
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Post by dogfish7 (R.I.P.) on Feb 8, 2021 13:20:27 GMT -6
What they said.
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