Meteors Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Hi guys, A month ago I had spinal surgery, and my wife is expecting our second child any day now, so why not start another model kit! I shoved aside a half finished Speeder Bike and Scout Trooper, shelved a half done DeLorean time machine, cleaned up the bench and got ready to dive into this group build. I’ll be making the Tamiya Easy Eight for this one. I saw that Badder was doing this one too, and was happy to see he’s doing the winter whitewash, something I wasn’t too keen on as this is only my second ever tank build. I watched ‘Fury’ for some inspiration, and whilst it was pretty dumb there was one scene that inspired me. There’s a bit where they’re driving along and some Jerries ambush them from behind a row of trees with some sort of rocket launcher. I thought this would make a nice little diorama, so I just need to decide whether I’ll go with the rural setting, which could cause difficulty with the trees and bushes, etc, or go with an urban style ambush with crumbling walls and all sorts of debris and stuff. I’m going to pop to the LHS at lunch today to see what’s available. Anyway, here’s a pic of the clean desk at the start of the build, supervised as always by the The Big Chap. Looking forward to tucking into this one! Cheers! Tom 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Welcome aboard sir, sounds like you'll be a bit preoccuied now & then. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Nice one Tom, nothing like giving yourself a challenge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 8 hours ago, Meteors said: I saw that Badder was doing this one too, and was happy to see he’s doing the winter whitewash, something I wasn’t too keen on as this is only my second ever tank build. I watched ‘Fury’ for some inspiration, and whilst it was pretty dumb there was one scene that inspired me. There’s a bit where they’re driving along and some Jerries ambush them from behind a row of trees with some sort of rocket launcher. Hi Meteors, Firstly, get well soon! You'll need to be fighting fit when the baby arrives! Next, yes I will be doing some winter camo, but plan to depict it as heavily weathered and mostly washed off. My dio will be a scene set during 'the thaw', so patchy snow, mud and puddles will feature, and the Sherman will be equally 'patchy'. As for the 'rocket launcher', it was a Panzerfaust', 'Tank fist' or 'Armour fist' - basically a single use anit-tank weapon and forerunner of the rocket propelled grenade. Good luck with the Easy Eight... it's a really nice kit, the fits perfect and the detail really good. Good luck with diorama also - I am really looking forward to seeing it progress. I'm not sure if work on the diorama component can be posted in the GB WIP, or should be posted in the Dioramas forum and only be presented in the GB on completion for photographic purposes? That's something I forgot to ask. I will ask Enzo and get back to you. Rearguards, Badder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteors Posted January 11, 2018 Author Share Posted January 11, 2018 Thanks, Badder. Hopefully we can just lump it in together! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteors Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 So I’ve finally got some work done. I managed to do the first three pages, which comprises making the bottom part of the hull, sticking lots of little bits on the front and back ends, and doing some of the little wheels. So, let’s have a look. Here she is from the front. The wheels aren’t glued on so I can’t paint them seperately. Lovely fit on everything so far. Heres the back end: Cut that right hand axle bit too close to the sprue and made a bit of a mess of it, but it won’t be seen so it’s not too bad. There’s also this weird vent bit that goes up and down. Not really sure of the point of that, but here it is in its different positions. Just noticed those ejector pin marks there. I’m guessing it won’t be seen too much either, so nevermind! And for my little diorama I picked up these! Hopefully I can find the time to do some more this weekend! Cheers, Tom 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Aye up Tom, Comming along nicely. Like the look of the figures Regards. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Weird vent = Exhaust deflector. It was to redirect the exhaust so as not to create a huge dust cloud behind the tank. To loosely quote Oddball “ The only weak spot on a Tiger is its backside” ..“You want to sneak up behind the Tigers” & not be seen from a mile or two away towing a huge dust cloud behind you. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 I'll take issue with Oddball about his 'Detroit Diesels' every time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 Oddball’s M4a3e4 was one of my options before i settled on the Achilles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteors Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 Thanks for the info, guys, if I have any further questions I know where to come first! Might not not be able to provide an update for a while, we had our second child arrive on Saturday night, so it’s all go on the baby front around here. I’m sure I’ll get to stick some plastic together in the next couple of weeks though! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Congratulations 🎉👏🏻 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Bravo sir, best wishes to you all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefy66 Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Congrats on the birth hope you have many happy years to enjoy their company people say it get easier the second time around beefy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Congratulations to you and your wife. .....and your Sherman is looking good too! Kind regards, Stix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Congratulations. Hope Mum and future mini modeller are both doing well and that you are recovering from the surgery. Nice Easy Eight BTW. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteors Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 Thanks guys! It’s slightly easier the second time around, but still pretty hectic. Amazingly I got five minutes to myself yesterday and managed to glue on the driver’s hatch of my Sherman, so there has been some progress! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 Congratulations on the happy event. They are a great set of figures! And congrats to you and your other half. I hope all is well. BTW I also have these figures awaiting the rebuild of my Villers Bocage diorama. On 12/01/2018 at 9:17 PM, Meteors said: What you did get done is looking very neat and tidy. Word of warning.... those bogies will need some good glue to hold them securely. I tacked them with medium poly, moving them about and making sure they were all in line and vertical as they set. Once set I reinforced with medium CA. Rearguards, Badder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteors Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 6 hours ago, Badder said: Congratulations on the happy event. They are a great set of figures! Haha, very good! Thanks for the bogie tip, this delay in construction is proving quite handy as everyone is finding those troublesome little issues before me! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteors Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 I’ve managed to make some progress, slowly but surely. I’d planned on making up the lower and upper hulls, painting and weathering them seperately, and then fixing them together afterwards. I’d thought that having the upper hull fixed on would make attaching the tracks difficult. But after having done a test fit of the hulls I think I should be ok as there aren’t massive side skirts or anything. I was also worried that having the top on would make it difficult to paint the lower hull, get all the gunk and mud and stuff in there, but I think it’ll be fine. I’ve got all the wheels and suspension ready to go. My goodness there are a lot! I’ll prime them in Nato black which will also act as the rubber for the wheels. I’ll then do the rest of the bits with Tamiya’s olive drab. I’ll do all the wheels first and see how that goes before attacking the hull. Cheers! Tom 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefy66 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Great progress so far. beefy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Just catching up, congratulations Tom. I'm glad you've managed to get some bench time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 16 hours ago, Meteors said: Neat and tidy progress Tom. Thanks for the photo above. With that very precise 'full frontal' it'll come in very handy for when I eventually get to make my new glacis! Rearguards, Badder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteors Posted January 26, 2018 Author Share Posted January 26, 2018 Thanks guys, glad I could help, Badder. Which reminds me, does anyone know why this kit suggests I stick some kind of turning thingy (I’m not very mechanical) on to the little vertical and horizontal holes on the back face of the upper hull, only to stick a big storage bin over the top? If it’s going to be covered up why bother? Is it simply so that the storage bin sits flat? I’m a bit confused! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 12 hours ago, Meteors said: Which reminds me, does anyone know why this kit suggests I stick some kind of turning thingy (I’m not very mechanical) I believe that Turning Thingy = Starting crank. I believe it to be a starting crank handle. Some versions had an old crankstarter like the early auto’s did. Not sure if it was backup or only way to start-up. Now that i think about it. Its entirely possible it might also have been a way to crank a jack, so the crew could work on a bogie as well ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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