|
Post by dogfish7 (R.I.P.) on Mar 27, 2021 19:20:42 GMT -6
Who knew??!! Robert! That's who.
|
|
|
Post by RLFoster on Mar 28, 2021 11:39:56 GMT -6
Thanks for looking in... Two days and two updates, shocking, I know. My online order for the 2mm rod stock showed up unexpectedly yesterday, so I managed to get more done then and today. This first photo shows several things I completed. I folded and attached the two replacement PE boxes to the hull, I assembled the PE steps between the upper and lower work platforms, and I scratch-built some large bolts from which the lower platform hangs via two large PE hooked supports. Additionally, you can see how the rod stock was used. It was cut into 2mm long pieces and attached to each tab on the PE and will be where the bottom of the rail posts are glued: This shot of the other side shows the same additions and modifications. The only difference on this side will be two heavily modified fire extinguishers where the four holes were previously filled in: I've now started working on the main gun beginning with the main barrel. Until next time...
|
|
|
Post by JCON on Mar 28, 2021 14:12:53 GMT -6
Very nice work Robert!!!
|
|
|
Post by JED on Mar 28, 2021 14:47:30 GMT -6
Superb work
|
|
reserve
FORUM FRIEND
Posts: 683
Likes: 1,757
|
Post by reserve on Mar 28, 2021 14:57:27 GMT -6
Nice going on the extras, always makes a differernce. It seems this one's gonna keep you busy for awhile
Regards, Mark
|
|
|
Post by Dukemaddog on Mar 28, 2021 15:44:27 GMT -6
Way to go Robert! Brilliant work so far. Man, you are banging this out well. I'm thrilled to see such quick updates too.
|
|
|
Post by ARMORGUY on Mar 30, 2021 12:18:57 GMT -6
Superb that is!
|
|
|
Post by RLFoster on Apr 1, 2021 12:09:56 GMT -6
It's no April Fool's joke...it's a third update in one week!!! Yes, my progress continues at a nice clip. In this case, it's mostly because with the gun there has been minimal PE work, only a little puttying, and the parts have all gone together cleanly. The entire main gun assembly takes up 4 separate construction steps over a full page in the instructions. However, unlike other areas of the build, all of the call-outs were clear, the part numbers were correct, and everything aligned perfectly. The first step in the process was to glue together the two halves of the main barrel and insert the brass rifling PE piece at the barrel's end. The kit plastic has rifling, but it's straight, not spiral (making no sense whatsoever). This part corrects that error. The two halves of the barrel aligned pretty well with just a little bit of putty work at the end needed: The remainder of the construction was very straight-forward and included two components - the main gun housing and the breech assembly - with the gun barrel connecting the two. Everything lines up and the barrel actually retracts to simulate firing, but this is just a "gimmick" and not a feature most modelers will embrace. Here are two shots showing both sides of the gun as it rests on the mounts: Next up will be construction of the ammunition loading cradle at the back of the vehicle. Until next time...
|
|
|
Post by JCON on Apr 1, 2021 12:43:55 GMT -6
Very cool!!! Rifling looks good in there!!!
|
|
|
Post by dogfish7 (R.I.P.) on Apr 1, 2021 15:27:49 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by JED on Apr 2, 2021 1:13:17 GMT -6
Looking awsome. I remember an old Airfix (Now Airflix!) doing a 1/32 US Howitzer with metal springs to allow the barrel to retract/recoil
|
|
|
Post by RLFoster on Apr 2, 2021 3:13:16 GMT -6
Looking awsome. I remember an old Airfix (Now Airflix!) doing a 1/32 US Howitzer with metal springs to allow the barrel to retract/recoil That's the case here, Jed.
You can see the three upper pistons in these photos and there are three identical ones on the bottom side. Two of these six pistons have metal springs inside the main housing. The pistons slide through them before going through the back plate from the inside. Once you glue the pistons to the breech and the back plate to the rest of the gun housing, you'll never see them again. As you look at the assembly from the barrel end, the upper right and lower left pistons have the springs.
|
|
|
Post by Dukemaddog on Apr 2, 2021 21:47:58 GMT -6
Yeah, that's how all my Morser Karls were in 1/72 scale. All of them have a recoil feature with hidden springs as well.
Brilliant work so far Robert!
|
|
|
Post by ARMORGUY on Apr 3, 2021 12:28:59 GMT -6
Brilliant indeed. And big too.
|
|
|
Post by RLFoster on Apr 13, 2021 12:49:02 GMT -6
Another couple of weeks and only a small update to show for it. Quite a few distractions - everything from severe weather to The Masters - and very little bench time. Hopefully the next two weeks will see that change somewhat. First with this update is the Loading Cradle used for this gun's massive shells. This was by far the easiest overall assembly to construct thus far. No PE work combined with excellent fit meant there wasn't much more involved than gluing the parts together. Here's a shot of the cradle resting as it will be on the finished model: And then once again, a shot of all the major assemblies dry-fit together: Next was the simple, but delicate job of the two fire extinguishers on the vehicle. As I often do with German armor kits, I elected to just build new extinguishers out of plastic rod stock rather than go through the hassle of sanding off all the molded details before adding the PE parts. As you can see from this photo, cutting, lightly sanding, and gluing together the two diameters of stock produces two parts much cleaner than removing all the details would produce. The untouched kit parts are provided for clarity: Then it's a simple matter of attaching all the PE to each extinguisher...: ...and then attach the finished parts to the build. Much better looking and more satisfying - in my opinion: The last thing with this update was simply painting out the interior of the lower hull with black primer. During all these dry-fit assemblies of the model, I've realized that once completed, the interior of the lower hull will still be visible through openings around the gun and gun mount. Therefore, it needed to be blacked out. Doing this before assembly was much easier than afterward, when access will be very limited: I basically have three things left with construction - the installation of the exhaust pipes on both sides (a little PE work), all of the running gear and tracks (no PE work at all), and lastly, all the guard rails around the upper hull (lots of PE work). As I'm still debating how I want to paint and finish the running gear, I probably should start on that next to force myself into a decision. Until next time...
|
|
|
Post by JCON on Apr 13, 2021 12:52:08 GMT -6
Looking great Robert and the extinguishers are way better than the kit parts!!! Well played!!!
|
|
|
Post by dogfish7 (R.I.P.) on Apr 13, 2021 13:50:17 GMT -6
Masterfully done, Robert!
|
|
|
Post by Beekster on Apr 13, 2021 14:02:44 GMT -6
Have to agree that the scratchbuilt fire extinguishers are far superior to the kit parts. Having made similar choices myself in the past, sometimes it really is easier to start with fresh material and build up detail (however that is done) than remove detail from kit parts and then add details back. With objects like this, working from scratch eliminates the potential for the base shape to go out of round in the process of removing poor detail, which can happen when trying to fix kit parts.
|
|
|
Post by JED on Apr 14, 2021 23:26:00 GMT -6
Coming along nicely Robert
|
|
|
Post by ogrejohn on Apr 15, 2021 15:31:35 GMT -6
That's some dang fine work Robert!
|
|