PlaStix Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 Excellent progress Badder. The additional glacis plate was looking good last time seen and it looks like you are making steady progress with various aspects of the kit. Good luck when you start work with the PE! Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bull-nut Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 (edited) @Badder The 76mm gun came in three flavours IIRC. M1, M1A1 which was a little shorter, and M1A1C which had the muzzle threaded for a muzzle break. If your tank has the M1A1C, which is what it looks like to me, then the threads would be covered with a thread protector until the muzzle break was available. Note that stocks of one were not necessarily exhausted before fitting another, so you may have a gun with thread protector fitted while the day before tanks were fitted with guns carrying the muzzle break. Edited January 8, 2018 by bull-nut 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 6 hours ago, PlaStix said: Excellent progress Badder. The additional glacis plate was looking good last time seen and it looks like you are making steady progress with various aspects of the kit. Good luck when you start work with the PE! Kind regards, Stix Cheers Stix, Little progress today. I've been a bit busy with other things, mainly issues with my laptop power cable and a flat battery. The wiring in the cable must have snapped and I had an intermittent power supply which only got worse with wiggling the wires. So I had to go into town to buy a new one. Curry's PC world only sold one brand of several types, all around 40 quid. PFFFFT! So a trip to the other side of town and I eventually found a cheaper power cable with adaptors, one of which the packaging said was suitable for my laptop. When I got it home it did indeed fit, but wouldn't actually power the thing! 25 quid. Tut. There's a label which says 'If none of the adaptors work go online and request the correct adaptor for free'. Ha! Well, that is out of the question due to my laptop having a flat battery. In desperation I cut my duff cable up and traced the break back to the plug-in bit itself (no surprise there) I tried my usual 'twisting the wires together' but the wire at the plug-in bit was too short. Then I remembered I'd bought that soldering iron for doing PE. So I soldered the wires together. After a few problems with wires shorting, I eventually got the cable working again. Then I had to go feed the horses. I started work on the Sherman after that, and soon lost the turret's forward lifting ring! I heard it fall into a polythene bag which I use as a rubbish bag, which has all sorts of tiny bits of modelling detritus in it...plaster, plastic, paper, dust, wood, plus the odd crisp packet. I spent an hour sieving through it to no avail, searched the carpets, searched the bag again, searched wider afield on the carpet again.... and after 2 hours gave up. I'll be having to make that from stretched sprue then! You could say I've had a 'not very good day'. Again! Anyway, I got a bit more work done since. Photos shortly. Rearguards, Badder 23 minutes ago, bull-nut said: @Badder The 76mm gun came in three flavours IIRC. M1, M1A1 which was a little shorter, and M1A1C which had the muzzle threaded for a muzzle break. If your tank has the M1A1C, which is what it looks like to me, then the threads would be covered with a thread protector until the muzzle break was available. Note that stocks of one were not necessarily exhausted before fitting another, so you may have a gun with thread protector fitted while the day before tanks were fitted with guns carrying the muzzle break. Hi and thanks for that bull-nut. As I said earlier, this is interesting stuff which I will bear in mind should my muzzle brake prove messy and 'unsaveable'. Rearguards, Badder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 Hi again Badder. Sorry to hear you have had a bit of a rubbish day. Sometimes it does seem like there's nothing goes right. I'm at the railway station at the moment waiting for my train home from work. Got another 15 minutes wait yet. When I get home - in about another hour or so I will check my kit. I think Tasca may have provided a spare lifting ring. If there definitely is a spare or two I'll take a photo so you can see them and if you want it/them you can PM me your address and I'll stick them in the post tomorrow. I make no promises there definitely are some but I'm pretty sure there's two versions in my kit and I'm using the one with one central ring rather than the version with two on the mantlet - so there must be one spare.........I would have thought. Kind regards, Stix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 (edited) Added to the turret.... Periscope forward of commander's hatch. Air filter? (the thing to the right of the periscope I mentioned). Lifting rings at the rear of the turret's sides. Aerial?? (immediately behind commander's hatch) Dry-fitted the two armour plates over the differential cover to get the right angle and then fixed them together. Created a chamfer at the bottom of the uppermost plate so as to match the photo. Scored the edges of the plates to mimic torch cuts. TFL Badder Edited January 29, 2018 by Badder 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 Great work on the beefed up armour, that matches the images well. 4 minutes ago, Badder said: Air filter? (the thing to the right of the periscope I mentioned) If you mean the dome topped thing, with the ridged sides, it's a spotlight, currently rotated so that the lens is pointing straight down. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 2 minutes ago, PlaStix said: Hi again Badder. Sorry to hear you have had a bit of a rubbish day. Sometimes it does seem like there's nothing goes right. I'm at the railway station at the moment waiting for my train home from work. Got another 15 minutes wait yet. When I get home - in about another hour or so I will check my kit. I think Tasca may have provided a spare lifting ring. If there definitely is a spare or two I'll take a photo so you can see them and if you want it/them you can PM me your address and I'll stick them in the post tomorrow. I make no promises there definitely are some but I'm pretty sure there's two versions in my kit and I'm using the one with one central ring rather than the version with two on the mantlet - so there must be one spare.........I would have thought. Kind regards, Stix Cheers Stix, but no need to go to those lengths. I believe I can knock a lifting ring up with some stretched sprue. I have to practice my 'scratch-building' of vehicle parts anyway! It's all very well scratchbuilding a building or a tree - there's a bit more freedom with those! If I can't make a decent ring though, I will let you know. Thanks again, Badder 2 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: If you mean the dome topped thing, with the ridged sides, it's a spotlight, currently rotated so that the lens is pointing straight down. DOH! Thanks Sarge! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 6 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: If you mean the dome topped thing, with the ridged sides, it's a spotlight, currently rotated so that the lens is pointing straight down. And there was me thinking it had NCB capabilities! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 National Coal Board? You seem to be having 'one of my days'.....Which makes a pleasant change from me having it, well for me at least. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 I get frustrated when life gets in the way of my build! I blame the wife for the loss of the lifting ring. I had it on the end of a blu-tac cocktail stick and was about to fix it in place when she came in and interrupted me. When I turned back round the ring was gone! Grrrr. Glad to be of assistance by taking one of your 'bad days' away from you! Swap back tomorrow? Rearguards, Badder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 I'm going to stick with the plasticard scratching this evening - white shows up better on my carpet - attempting the 'armour bosses' or 'bolt heads' on the added armour plate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 I wondered why I'd only dropped two roadwheels out of two dozen (& none of the miniscule VVS springs).....Cheers for taking it on the chin for me, swap accepted (reckon I best get the other set of bogies knocked up before tomorrow though). PS - On a carpet surface, a dab around with the sticky side of some brown packing tape can often find missing lift-rings, even in 1/72, even in a house with two Lurchers..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 19 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: PS - On a carpet surface, a dab around with the sticky side of some brown packing tape can often find missing lift-rings, even in 1/72, even in a house with two Lurchers..... Done that and no luck. Reckon it went in the rubbish bag and is probably in there somewhere, but I just can't find it. I reckon there must be 30g of particles slightly smaller than the ring, and 30g of particles slightly larger than the ring, then 500g of particles double the size or greater. It really is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Hmmmmm I might try the wife's colander as a sieve! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 For your own well being, I'd suggest stretching some sprue instead. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 1 hour ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: For your own well being, I'd suggest stretching some sprue instead. I shall be glad when this day is over. I've just made another boo-boo! I wanted to file out that semi-circular recess which has been cut into the armour plate just below the MG and which allows it to depress fully. I offered the plate up to the glacis, scored a line equating to the centre of the MG embrasure, removed the plate, watched the exciting ending of a film, then set about filing the recess with a half-round file. I got it to the right shape and size, offered it back up to the glacis and realised there was another scored line and I'd filed the recess to that one by mistake. Scrap one armour plate! Never mind. The plate I've just made is a better fit anyway. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 In my experience, the ones that fight the most often turn out the best. That just sounds far too Harvey Weinstein doesn't it.....Can't these Hollywood ****s see the damage they have done! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 I tried making the bolts/nuts by first carving a length of plasticard into one with a hexagonal cross-section. At such a small size, this was a very delicate operation, with just ONE gentle 'rasp' of the file taking off the required amount of plastic. However, getting 6 'rasps' to be of equal pressure, and at the correct angle wasn't easy. I did get a length done, about 8mm worth. And then sliced off one 'nut'. However, at 1mm across, the 'hexagon' wasn't as discernible as I had thought. Looking along a length of 8mm hexagon gave a misleading impression, it turned out. The plasticard is too soft, I think and no amount of care will give crisp edges. So I've given up on that idea and have surrendered to the temptation of buying Meng's 'nut and bolt set type C' from Amazon. Now I will have a choice of many sizes of 'nut', all hopefully perfectly formed. Today then I will get on to painting the lower hull and running gear.... TFL Badder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 (edited) Typical! @Sgt.Squarehead Today I wanted to start the paint job. So, out with my trusty Aztec Airbrush, which, as it transpired, was not so trusty after all. An hour of cleaning, swapping needle units, re-cleaning followed, all to no avail. Maybe it's my paint/thinner mix, I thought. Nope. And then I realised that a spring must have gone inside the brush because the lever wasn't returning to its default forward position upon release. Grrrr. I didn't think that was the cause of the airbrush not spraying, but I gave it a soak in thinners, just in case a spring was gooed up or something. No luck. But I did eventually get some paint coming out of the nozzle. Nowhere near as much as is usual, but useable. With most of the spraying done, I've returned the airbrush to soak some more. Here's what I DID get done: Wheels (minus the smaller return rollers) and HVSS units: Above: I use 'newclay' for various purposes, but here I've used it to hold my wheels and suspension parts for spraying. I kept one chunk of clay in its wrapper to keep it clean, while the other was dropped into a polythene bag for the same reason. The lower hull assembly. Here's the rear with the first bit of PE, cleverly hidden on the other side of the towing hook's bracket. And here's a shot of the differential cover (transmission cover, if you prefer) I can't tell which side has the 'scratched' plasticard brace now. TFL Badder. PS, I hope your paints have all dried up @Sgt.Squarehead Edited January 30, 2018 by Badder 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 I've deliberately not done anything as I was expecting to get electrocuted by my modelling lamp after the day you had yesterday! One of the dogs did attempt to roll in something vile but he missed and I put him right off the idea before he could correct his targetting. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 (edited) Still having probs with my airbrush. With my usual needle I was able to cover a 15mm wide solid strip no problems at all. Now I can't get any wider than 5mm and the pressure from the tip is very low. I just can't figure out what's happened because it was fine when I last used it on my diorama. Maybe this 'return' spring or lever issue is the cause? If anyone can give me some advice I'd be grateful. Rearguards, Badder Edited January 9, 2018 by Badder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 @Badder .. Sounds like an air leak somewhere between the hose and the nozzle in the airbrush itself. Loss of air pressure can reduce spray size. Maybe an o-ring gave out ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Aye up Badder, Lovely work on the armour. Did you say you had an Aztek? I had an A470 a good few years ago and had similar problems with intermittent air flow and spray pattern. I cracked it open and found that the air hose had come slightly adrift. An easy fix and the body just snapped back together afterwards and it worked well again. Hope you have a better day tomorrow mate. Regards, Steve 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Now that's what I love about this place! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 10, 2018 Author Share Posted January 10, 2018 (edited) On 09/01/2018 at 9:29 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: @Badder .. Sounds like an air leak somewhere between the hose and the nozzle in the airbrush itself. Loss of air pressure can reduce spray size. Maybe an o-ring gave out ? On 09/01/2018 at 9:48 PM, fatfingers said: Aye up Badder, Lovely work on the armour. Did you say you had an Aztek? I had an A470 a good few years ago and had similar problems with intermittent air flow and spray pattern. I cracked it open and found that the air hose had come slightly adrift. An easy fix and the body just snapped back together afterwards and it worked well again. Hope you have a better day tomorrow mate. Regards, Steve Thanks chaps. It's a very early Aztec, possibly the very first model as I can find no 'model' designation anywhere. Possibly it's from the late 80's? I've spent all evening trying to get the thing to work. I discovered that the internal pin that pushes on the end of the needle was sticking, or not fully retracting or pushing and thought that was the problem. I freed it up, but still no joy. Yes, air comes out of the nozzle under higher pressure now, but now it's not picking up ANY paint or even water. If I block the nozzle I either get no air bubbles blowing back through the cup, or just a few. When I block the nozzle and cup sometimes air comes out around the trigger, but not always. I'm guessing then that when the air is coming out by the trigger its an o-ring that's to blame? I still don't get how air can jet out of the nozzle without picking up paint though. As for taking the airbrush apart, the body is made up of two halves, with the joins running along the top and the bottom. There are no screws anywhere. There ARE two metal 'dowels' of some sort on the reverse side, but no means of 'undoing' them. They may be grub screws with no notch? Also the metal 'cone' which houses the nozzle assembly doesn't appear to be screwed onto the body, rather the body 'clips' around it? I'm a bit wary of trying to force the two halves apart, because if I damage the body the thing will be unrepairable. I would rather wait and see if anyone can tell me if it is possible to open it up, or not. Also, it may be that it suddenly starts working again after an overnight soak There's no way I can afford a replacement airbrush any time soon, so if I 'lose' this one, then this build is going to turn into a 'brush' job - something that'll seriously impinge on my plans for winter camo! If you have any ideas, I'd be seriously grateful. Off to bed thinking this build is seriously jinxed! Badder Edited January 30, 2018 by Badder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 For what its worth Badder im 🤞my fingers hoping the airbrush comes back. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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