Niall

Check out the images section of this forum for inspiration on Flower Class builds - https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/theflowerclasscorvetteforums/

Try asking Airfix, they keep a lot of spare parts for old kits.

Hi Bandsaw Steve, thanks for the comment, it was you thread on the Pzh2000 that inspired me to dig out the photos of this build and the Monty's Caravan model in the for inspection section(I don't have any build photos for that model).

A limited WIP of a scratch built Armstrong 12pdr gun model. The model was made in 1983 as a college project for a museum showing Lord Armstrong's works in the North East Of England(I can't remember exactly where). This was the first breech loading rifled artillery piece adopted by the British army in the late 19th century. The gun was so accurate that the barrel was mounted on a traversable mount, centred on the elevating screw, for fine adjustment when aiming the weapon. Course adjustment was done by moving the trail. The model is made in 1/6th scale(I think, it was a long time ago!). The grey material is EMA 1/16th inch(1.5mm) ABS sheet, the white material is Plastikard. Details are also made from wire, Milliput and real screws(It is not easy buying screws based on the diameter of the heads!). The traversing and elevating mechanisms where built around 2 bolts of appropriate size of shaft(I can’t remember the diameters). The barrel was made from EMA plastic tubing. The yellow part on the breech handle was an EMA plastic sphere. The trail was made of a hollow box of ABS sheet, with laminated carved ABS sheet for the cheeks of the trail. I think the axle was reinforced with metal rod or tubing. The wheels were made from ABS sheet, with Plastikard spacers. I made 1 spoke from laminated and carved ABS sheet and took a silicon rubber mould, I cast half the spokes for each wheel in white metal and the others in resin to save weight. The gaps between the spokes were filled with Isopon P38 car body filler. The photo shows the second wheel under construction, resting on the first wheel to ensure they were identical. The hubs were made from ABS sheet discs and Milliput. The ram rod was made from dowel, detailed with Milliput. The trail arm(stowed under the trail) was carved from a piece of wood(I can't remember what type). The 2 photos of the finished model are prints from slides.

Some new pictures. The driver's cab - 2 views of the interior. The left had side has a floor to roof cupboard at the rear, a folding table and a small cabinet with sliding doors on the wall between the windows. The right hand side has a floor to roof cupboard at the rear, a bedside cabinet and a sofa. The sofa cushions are Milliput. Behind the transverse bulkhead was a washroom with a chemical toilet and basin(I did not model these as they are not visible as the windows were frosted and nothing could be seen if I made the door open. The 2 drawings of German generals were done by a friend who is better at drawing than I am).

I though Minions in space!

One thing to bear in mind with the Leopard 1A3/4 is that the turret is made of an inner body and an outer layer of spaced armour. There seem to be some details of the turret armour in this forum - https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/431797-leopard-design/page/9/ Also western tanks are not as vunerable to the devastating internal explosions as the T64/72/80/84.

I don't have any other photos, it was made before digital cameras. I do still have the model, I'll try to get some more the next sunny day. It is difficult to light the interior of the van for a photo.

I've just noticed I've uploaded 2 copies of the same picture! The 3rd picture should be a front view. On drafting linen, it is no longer made, it was replaced with plastic film. I had some my dad got me from work, when it was being thrown out in the mid 1970's. The material I used on this model, I got some more from a tutor at Sunderland Polytechnic. I still have some left but am coflicted about saving it and using it. I forgot to say that I made the number plates as home made transfers. These were made by spraying varnish on the gummed side of a gummed lable, then painting the coloured blocks and the Arabic lettering was drawn with a Rotoring pen and the numbers were Letraset rubdown letters. A top coat of matt varnish was sprayed over this. This was cut out and applied like a water slide transfer.

The barrel shroud on the MG3 is square in cross section and 1 side has the small holes, the other side has a long slot.

Here are 3 pictures of my 1/25th scale scratch built model of General Montgomery's caravan. The chassis is a Leyland Retriever and the "van" body was Italian built, used buy an Italian general and captured by the 8th army before Montgomery took command. it was given to mongomery by his predecessor. He would use it until the end of the war, although it was fitted to a new chassis before D day. The model was made in the early 1980's. It is mostly made from Plasticard, with Milliput seat cushions and resin road wheels. The canvas tilt over the cab, the canvas cover on the van and the rear awning were made from drafting linen(a very fine cloth used for printing blue prints). This was my first attempt to cast in resin and was not fully sucessful. The 2nd and 3rd pictures were photographed in a photo studio with a front axial projector to give the sky background.

What type of material is the print? Shapeways are good at sending out replacements for parts damaged in transit or packing.

When filling and sanding wood, spray a couple of coats of car primer-filler paint, then a mist of matt black. Sand with wet sandpaper. The black shows the low points in the finish, which can be filled with more filler. i add this to this thread because this technique was taught to me by Martin Bower, back in 1983!

The AS90 replaced both the Abbot and M109A1. The turret is also used on the Polish Krab, which was initially on a T72 hull, but is now on a South Korean K9 hull. Here is a video of the Krab in Ukrainian service, which shows the turret interior -

White metal castings don't need a release agent, talc or chalk dust is used to aid the casting process.

White metal does not need any special primer. On decals, you can get white waterslide transfer film for inkjet or laser printers. I only have a link to a UK retailer.

I have read the most common resin printer fails are because the resin is not warm enough, it needs to over 25C(77F) for most printers.

The British army re-engined its scorpion family with Diesel engines in the 1980's.

The louvers are >>>>> shaped in crosssection so the radiator is not visible when looking from ground level.

Would it not be better to have printed the front and back of the hull as separate parts on their side? This would remove the steppy finish and be a smaller print, so less expensive if it fails. In addition the hull base and sides could be cut from plasticard and not printed. I would also look at printing the turret facets as separate parts attached to a printed sub frame. and printing the gun mantlet on its side. I have not tried it but acetone should work as a liquid cement for PLA.

Some self propelled guns lock the suspension before firing to improve accuracy. This is true for the M107, M109, M110, AMX30GCT, AS90 and Pzh2000 - I don't know about others.

Are the seats for the commander and radio operator correct? I though the commander's cupola had 360 degree traverse so the seat would have to be hung from it and not floor mounted. In addition the radio operator could drive the tank backwards at full speed, so would need to face aft.

Do you know that the 3 colour camouflage scheme is not random, all vehicles have the same design? I would recommend using kit instructions for a 1/72nd scale or 1/35th scale model as a guide.

Thanks for the reply. I'll do some checking out.

I have a CDC DIY printer. This is a low cost FDM printer, which is assembled by the owner. I got several good prints of using the PLA filament that came with the printer. When this ran out I used a different brand of filament and vertical faces have a regular ripple. I tried some scraps of the original filament and it does the same thing. The manufacturer's customer service is useless - they actually blocked my e-mail address after I asked them a question! I cannot get Cura to see the printer when connected to my PC, Windows does see it. How do I solve this? Cura's support "says ask the manufacturer" Looking on the internet I have replaced the links between the lifting stepper motors from plastic tubing to metal junctions and the bed, extruder moving and extruder steppers with new ones with no success in solving the problem. I have used 2 of the replaced motors to change out the lift steppers. I am now completely stumped, does anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance Forgot to add a photo of a 10mm test block - Top of the print is to the left -