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Bradley M2A3


Reilly

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Looking pretty good Reilly.  Hadn't heard from you for a while, nice to see you back.

 

Yes fingers make good clamps but then a cramp in the hand and the cement that takes forever and 2 days to set isn't fun either.

 

That interior looks great, did you say you were leaving the ramp down to show it off?  I like interiors but it sure tee's me off when

all of that work gets buried, never to be seen again.

 

Take care,

 

Lloyd

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17 hours ago, BlackMax12 said:

Looking pretty good Reilly.  Hadn't heard from you for a while, nice to see you back.

 

Yes fingers make good clamps but then a cramp in the hand and the cement that takes forever and 2 days to set isn't fun either.

 

That interior looks great, did you say you were leaving the ramp down to show it off?  I like interiors but it sure tee's me off when

all of that work gets buried, never to be seen again.

 

Take care,

 

Lloyd

 

Thanks Lloyd. Bit of a slow burner I'm afraid. Too many other things on. You are right about the cramp, I held on for a couple of hours before calling it set. Probably too long but it worked. At least the film I was watching was half decent. After the detail I decided it would be a pity to hide it all so the hatched will be open along with the front with access to the engine and the rear deck in a sort of depot scenario. The Tamiya version will be closed up as its just an empty box. I had a third one but its pre GW1 vintage with a sort of interior so I'll be keeping it in the stash for the time being.

 

Just discovered that the moulding of the barrel for the Bushmaster is pants. That will need replacing with something better. Fortunately I've found a couple of sources and at less than a euro each the postage is going to be more expensive. 

 

Cheers

John.  

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Should look good with all the hatches open Reilly, see through ventilation.

 

I can't imagine holding pieces together for 2 hours, I can only do it for 5-10 minutes but it seems like 2 or more hours sometimes.

 

Must be nice to have all of the resources available in the UK and Europe so you can readily pick up stuff like washes, paints, pigments and parts.  Being stuck

way out here on the prairies isn't very handy when you need something.

 

Take care,

 

Lloyd

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3 hours ago, FrancisGL said:

The last photo, it looks like it's a real one almost, almost ...:popcorn:

Cheers Reilly :yes:

 

Thanks Francis.......I'll try not to mess up before i get it finished. 

 

Cheers

John.

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Very nice progress Reilly, looking good. The interior snap does look like a "real deal" snap.

The barrel is rather dire as you mention. I replaced it with a not 100% accurate brass version, luckily no has spotted or if they have they haven't mentioned it :D

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On 12/5/2017 at 4:27 PM, Gremlin56 said:

Very nice progress Reilly, looking good. The interior snap does look like a "real deal" snap.

The barrel is rather dire as you mention. I replaced it with a not 100% accurate brass version, luckily no has spotted or if they have they haven't mentioned it :D

 

Thanks Gremlin. I thought I'd found another metal fluted barrel for less than a euro. Indeed I had, only realised just before placing the order that it was 1/72nd scale, which would have been rather embarrassing. I'll try and revitalise the Meng barrel although it looks like its been chewed by a dog.

 

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To be fair, the turrent is so busy, and the barrel relatively small (compared to a tank's) that you don't really notiuce it that much. I just cleaned mine up as best as I could, painted it black and threw it on there. :)

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Some progress made to the interior. I've been working on the top half adding some wiring which seemed to take forever waiting for glue at various points to dry before moving on the the next part. 

 

sIMG_0479

 

Rather a lot of artistic license used to give an idea rather than 100% accuracy but hopefully enough to give the general idea. Added brackets to the extinguishers rather than have them magically cling to the roof. Started work on the seat harnesses but have a question there. I've seem Bradleys without straps or with a few used to secure gash kit. I could also see them being removed so as not to impede a rapid dismount. If Crushkill sees this, any advice; where they still fitted but just pushed to the side or removed?

 

Still to remove the showroom appearance of the top half interior as well as add some general gear. So far I've one water can which is looking a bit lonely. Time to raid some other kits for odds and sods. 

Edited by Reilly
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29 minutes ago, Mr Bowcat said:

To be fair, the turrent is so busy, and the barrel relatively small (compared to a tank's) that you don't really notiuce it that much. I just cleaned mine up as best as I could, painted it black and threw it on there. :)

Was hoping to do something similar. Tidy up some of the damage and rotate it so that its on the underside. Lick of paint and it should be good to go.

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Some progress on the turret although the gunners hatch is a bit crooked when opened. Needs some fettling or he'll get a sore head.

 

sIMG_0493

 

 

sIMG_0496

 

sIMG_0498

 

Completed the inside of the hull ready to close up. Had placed all manner of equipment on the shelves behind the seating....and had to remove it all when the two halves of the hull wouldn't close. Miss a turn for not noticing earlier that that was going to happen. Can finally get on with the outside of the hull. 

 

Edited by Reilly
Edited to add photos. Flickr working again.
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Looking good Reilly and that may be artistic licence wiring but it sure looks fine.  The brackets and looms and the super neat bundling sure add to the busy look inside there, must

be cramped and bet they don't take their helmets off, that roof is probably pretty hard.

 

Happy Holidays,

 

Lloyd

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Thanks Lloyd, space is certainly at a premium. Just placing some 1/35 figures in the turret and the rear shows that there isn't a lot of space. 

 

Cheers and Happy Holidays

John.

Edited by Reilly
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Hull closed and its now starting to resemble a Bradley.

 

sIMG_0502

 

Day later: Clearly haven't removed all the warp that was originally in the lower hull as part of the LHS had sprung open. Reapplied cement and applied various lengths of tape and clamps to keep it closed. Having learnt from the Cougar its always best to ignore the instructions and ensure that this part is completed before adding any off the other more delicate components. Fixed the gunner's hatch and he'll no longer bang his head when he pops up for look around.

 

Oops! that didn't work well. After sealing the hull discovered this lot. Eh, that should have been on the inside to support the open engine cover. Might be possible to mount it from the outside but given Meng's tolerates I'm not hopeful. Oh well, problems were made to be solved.

 

sIMG_0504

 

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On 12/27/2017 at 12:19 AM, Reilly said:

 

 

 

 

 

Oops! that didn't work well. After sealing the hull discovered this lot. Eh, that should have been on the inside to support the open engine cover. Might be possible to mount it from the outside but given Meng's tolerates I'm not hopeful. Oh well, problems were made to be solved.

 

sIMG_0504

 

I skipped fitting those parts so that I could still open the engine bay cover.

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8 hours ago, Gremlin56 said:

I skipped fitting those parts so that I could still open the engine bay cover.

Thanks Gremlin. I'm beginning to think that I may adopt your idea. Spent a good chunk of this afternoon with a file and knife trying to get some of the smaller parts to fit. Up to now most parts have fitted well but that notion has now left the building. No mater I'll get there in the end, it'll just take a little longer. 

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  • 1 month later...

Been away from the bench for a while due to work and travel so its time to pick up the pieces again and see if I can finish this one. Completed the drivers hatch after rebuilding the hinge system. Rear hatch next which also needs its hinge system to be rebuilt. 

 

IMG_0507_00001

 

Became a little fed up fettling hinges so went to work on the turret and promptly screwed up fitting the canvas. Cut various bits and pieces off it so that it would fit and then realised after fixing with superglue that I'd fitted it upside down. Left it in place and made it look as if it was the right way up.

 

sIMG_0508

 

Added some of the turret optics and commander's screen. For some reason Meng has chosen to make the independent viewer on LHS of the turret larger than it should be. It ought to be possible to park the viewer with the optics facing downwards. That's not possible in this version but I'll leave it as it is. 

 

sIMG_0512

 

 

Edited by Reilly
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