diablo rsv

Unfortunately I just haven't found the time to get this build finished by the deadline. Is it possible to get this thread be moved to the AFV wip section @PlaStix?

Yes they were Peter, not perfect but a big improvement on the kit. Wayne

I did a build of the Takom kit a little while back. I wouldn't bother with the AA barrel, the Takom one isn't too bad and an AA one I had for another build wasn't great and never got used. The kit tracks are pretty good as well. I have linked my WIP which outlines a couple of shortcomings of the kit and may be of help to you. and below is the finished result. It's a great kit as I recall. Wayne

Great work Bob, that's an impressive line up, are you intending to paint them all at the same time? Wayne

Thanks Darryl, That's pretty much what I have in mind. I was going to add the stowage before painting but as time is against me it's more likely that I will get on with the painting and add stowage another time. That's horrific. Wayne

Definitely a help Bertie, once you get into the rhythm it's not a bad system. I wonder if the jig could be used for the Miniart Grant. Thanks Stix, to be fair RFM have most of the detail included, it's just my OCD that won't let me ignore the odd missing detail. Nice to see you back John. This my first of theirs and I am really impressed with the level of detail. The plastic feels similar to that of Takom but with much finer attachment points between the parts and sprue. My only gripe is that they include so many optional parts without any indication as to which is needed for a given subject. I have their Challenger 2 in the pile and this kit has given me an urge to get started on it. I just need to clear the backlog of started kits first. Thanks Bob, Would I be right in thinking that they would be carrying different stowage depending whether they are on the move or going into battle? The photo of my subject does seem to have a Jerry can stowed on the glacis, but it has just come off of the landing craft. Of course that could just contain water. Wayne

Finally I've managed to find a bit of time to post an update. Using Matt's @Cerberus advice above, I sorted out the seam line on the bogies, and you're right Matt, it was so much easier than trying to use stretched sprue, what was I thinking? They could probably do with a little cleaning up but I imagine once the weathering is applied little will be seen. You can also see the three vertical bolt holes that needed to be drilled out as RFM hadn't included them. I also followed the advice given by @Retired Bob and glued the front bogies to stop the track pulling up the front wheels. The upper hull went together without any problems. The only addition was where the front fenders had been removed, on the particular tank that I am modelling they seem to have left an extra piece of the fender so I added these with some plastic card. The turret also goes together without any dramas apart from the stowage bin. The way RFM have engineered it means that there are some difficult seams to remove. I found it easier to replace the moulded on band with one made from lead foil. RFM have included many optional parts in this kit and there is no indication of what part is needed for any particular subject so you really need to do some research into the vehicle you are modelling. However the one part that I could really have done with having options for is the radio box that was fitted to the rear of the turret on the Firefly. There seems to be at least two versions used, one has round access covers on the top of the box and the other one has square covers and this is the only one RFM have included. The construction of the boxes seems to differ as well. The included box has a welded plate at the rear of each side of the box, the far more common box has flat sides that extend slightly beyond the back plate. In fact I have found it very difficult to find images of tanks with the box configuration that RFM have included. It's a bit of a shame really as it is quite a prominent feature. It would be a fairly straight forward modification but I am running out of time with this project so I shall leave as is. Apart from some tidying up I think I'm finally there with the construction phase. Most Firefly images show them with plenty of stowage and this is something I would like to replicate. I need to do a little research as to what they would most likely have under those tarpaulins, I imagine most of it would be camo nets, spares, fuel and liberated items. With a bit of luck I can get the painting process started soon but the way things are at the moment I feel I may struggle to get this finished by the deadline. Wayne

No, I bought it in the UK, I can't remember who from though. All of the sprues were in my boxing and I didn't realise they did different boxings for different markets. Seems an odd decision. It is an expensive kit especially as there a few parts that need replacing to make it accurate such as the tracks and wheels which are wrong for the prototype. An enjoyable build though. This is a link to my work in progress if your interested. and the finished model below. Wayne

Hi Alan I just saw this post, did you manage to find some? I built the prototype and have the grenade launchers spare if you want them. Wayne

Blimey Bertie, you do get through an impressive amount of work. That engine looks like a model in it's self! My experience of Miniart kits is that there is a lot of cleaning up of parts, which for me is one of the least enjoyable parts of model making, however the detail that they put into their kits is outstanding. Keep up the good work, this is going to be a cracker. Wayne

You look like you're cracking along nicely Ed, those handles look much better than the photoetch. Wayne

I can't say I was looking forwards to putting the tracks together, but then who does? As tracks go though, these weren't too bad. Just four sprues. Once the parts were removed and cleaned up the provided assembly jig was used to make up a six link section of track. First the inner part of the link is laid face down onto the jig. These are then held in place with the top half of the jig. The next part was a little fiddly. The end plates and pins, still on their section of sprue, have to be held in the correct position.... whilst a clamp is fitted to hold them in place. Once both sides have been clamped in, the top half of the jig can be removed. Using a small amount of adhesive the top half of each track link can be fixed. The problem here was that pins were forcing the halves apart so each one needed to be held until the glue had dried. This was going to slow the process down considerably so I found it best to use super glue. Unfortunately I only had the slow type available so it still took a little longer than I had hoped. Once I was happy that the glue was dry the jig could be removed. The sprue holding the pins in place could be cut off either before or after removing the jig. I chose to do it after just in case the halves came apart. There are no spare end plate/ pins so I was paranoid about losing one. I adapted the bottom section of one of the jigs so that it could be used to join the sections of track together. The tracks were then test fitted to the model. The idlers are fitted to a concentric cam so that the track tension can be adjusted. I'm not sure how many links the actual tank used but Ryefield call for 83 in the instructions. This seemed a little tight to me. Because of the working suspension I found that the front road wheel was getting pulled up by the track slightly. I added another link but to get the track tight the idler had to be adjusted back to its maximum and it still pulled up the front wheel but not as bad. I'm wondering if the springs in the suspension may be a little weak. Adding a little weight to the model seems to solve the problem but then I don't know if the model is sitting at the correct height. Once construction of the model is finished I will see if I need to add some permanent weight. Working suspension maybe a nice idea for diorama builders but I'm not so sure it's really necessary. As for the tracks themselves, I think they look pretty good, maybe some metal ones would add the weight needed to get the correct the sit of the model but I really don't want to go down the after market route on this build. Assembly wise Ryefield's system seemed to work well enough. Having no experience of building Shermans before I don't have anything to compare theirs to so it will be interesting to see in the other build's in the group how other manufacturers go about it. One thing that I did find invaluable was a decent pair of single sided sprue cutters, especially when it came to removing the sprue from the teeth on the endplates. Trying to clean those up afterwards would have been a pain but I find these cutters make such a clean cut that I didn't have to. That's the most tedious part of the build out of the way. Hopefully the upper hull and turret will go together fairly quickly. Wayne

Just the pressed ones in the kit, which is fine for my subject choice. Thanks for the link to your chart, it will definitely come in handy so I've downloaded it.

That's an astonishing amount of detail that you have added Kristjan, excellent work. I feel I was rather lazy with mine now. Wayne

Loving the work you're putting into this MD, this will be an impressive looking model. Wayne