Kiwikitbasher Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 (edited) This vehicle building malarky over the past 4 weeks is getting me quite hooked. My last vehicle prior to my recent MAZ-543 TEAL & SCUD-B and M50 Super Sherman was a WWI Schneider CA.1 I built in November 2105: http://www.tapatalk.com/groups/missinglynx/schneider-ca-1-1-72-wespe-retrokit-t165831.html Since then I've only been building my usual fare of 1/72 aircraft. I decided my next vehicle build would be something I had a detail set for to cut down on scratch-building. I had a Hauler detail set for the Revell M60 i was sent to review along with the usual haul of aircraft subjects I was reviewing on a regular basis for HyperScale. The set has some parts so small it's just sick, so I accepted the challenge as there were few dollars at risk. I felt the hardest part would be to cut away the track guard stays and replace them with PE items. This was because they were moulded so closely to other parts of the hull and surrounding detail. I cut all four from one side with reasonable success, only to find that Hauler's very small instruction sheet was a bit confusing, and one PE stay had the lightening holes so closely etched to the edge that it got damage removing it from the fret. Fortunately, this stay is the least visible of the four. I eventually got the stays in place, along with an open-farmed box that surrounds a light as far as I can tell on a box mounted on the track-guard. The results aren't too pretty in the photos but I think they will be OK... I was about to do the other side when I realised there was no point in doing so until I tackled the kit's turret basket. Revell has done a good job engineering the styrene parts for this, but tooling limitations have meant it is unavoidably over-scale in appearance. So improving this became the new make or break. But before proceeding, I needed to do something about the turret's smooth surface as photos show its cast texture is evident. I did this by painting on liquid cement and stippling with a stiff paintbrush. I contemplated thinning all of the kit's turret basket parts down but decided this was probably too hard to do successfully, although now I'm not so sure if I had cut the bottom of the basket into three separate rails. Anyway, I decided to thin the kit's basket rail support brackets and make the rails from wire. The result has a more scale appearance, but due to my lack of skill the basket rails are a bit bent and bowed in places, so mine has had a much harder service life than most! The Hauler mesh inserts for the basket were now effectively a little undersized for the basket because the wire rails were much thinner than the kit's plastic ones, which meant I ended up with gaps where the mesh meets the turret and between the mesh of the basket floor and the back face of the basket. I shall hide these gaps with stowage of various kinds. The next job for the turret is to replace the overly thick hand/stowage rails with wire ones and make a wire hawser to replace the moulded plastic item. Then it's back to the hull and track-guard stays and various other details, plus I need to decide on a nationality to represent. My boxing offers Egyptian, US and Greek markings. Edited June 15, 2018 by Kiwikitbasher 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 PM inbound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 16, 2018 Author Share Posted June 16, 2018 Got a few more bits and pieces done today, the photo captions tell the story... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 You're going to have to slow down as I can't keep up with you. Nice work, especially the turret basket. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 16, 2018 Author Share Posted June 16, 2018 Thanks John, I'm sure things will slow when I get to painting the wheels and return rollers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 17, 2018 Author Share Posted June 17, 2018 Not a lot to report today, but ongoing progress is captioned in the accompanying images... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 18, 2018 Author Share Posted June 18, 2018 More work on the turret today, with fitting the second tow cable and jerry can, and then quite a bit of work on the inside faces of the commander'sand loader's hatches, both of which are moulded dead flat on their interior faces and devoid of any detail (although at least they can be positioned open if wished)... I also decided that the kit's win-sensor mast was a bit too thick and lacking detail... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 18, 2018 Author Share Posted June 18, 2018 Fitted most of the small details to the hull and had a crack at the PE light guards... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 Blimey! You really ain't mucking around.....Hugely impressed with your detail work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 18, 2018 Author Share Posted June 18, 2018 1 minute ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: Blimey! You really ain't mucking around.....Hugely impressed with your detail work. Thanks Sgt SH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soeren Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 You have something really interesting going on here. Very interesting. Awesome detailing going on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 18, 2018 Author Share Posted June 18, 2018 3 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: Blimey! You really ain't mucking around.....Hugely impressed with your detail work. Thanks Sgt SH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 19, 2018 Author Share Posted June 19, 2018 The Hauler PE detail set provided replacement locking handles for the tool/storage boxes mounted on the track-guards. These are very small indeed and have to be fitted standing upright by glueing their smallest edge... Against my better judgement, I accepted the challenge and cut the kit's integrally moulded handles off the top of the box lids. Fitting the PE handles was a bit of a nightmare, but I eventually got one side done, only to forget they were there 10 minutes later and nock them all off (doh!). Lost to the carpet monster I accepted defeat and a wasted hour's effort and stuck some stretched sprue in their place. The kit provides a cranked pipe that fits onto the forward-left track-guard. It has a bulbous fitting that inserts into a hole on the glacis but, as supplied, sits about 2.5mm short of the first toolbox and so leaves a big gap and joins nothing. Walk-around images show that this pipe (whatever it's for) links runs from the glacis to the first toolbox. So I made a new one from wire, cut off and used the kit's glacis fitting, and made my own fitting for the toolbox join. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 19, 2018 Author Share Posted June 19, 2018 I've done the initial camo for a Greek machine, and made a bit a of a mess of it. Part of the problem is my PD affects my smooth flowing hand control (I can't write my signature for example), plus tonight, try as I might, I couldn't get the paint viscosity/airflow right. Hopefully, the final coat of matte varnish will hide a lot of sins, plus of course weathering. Not to worry, I'm on a learning curve with this AFV-lark and having a ball. Normally, I make about one vehicle every 18-24 months as a break from aircraft, but this is my third in a row over the past 5 weeks, and I have already lined up the next two I'll probably build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 Looks fine to me fella, some filters, washes and a bit of dust.....Winner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 19, 2018 Author Share Posted June 19, 2018 Thanks Sgt SH, I'm hoping those things will help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 20, 2018 Author Share Posted June 20, 2018 (edited) Did some weathering today and after some TV I finished off the stowage this evening. I don't know what Greek Army packs and webbing looked like in the 1980's, so I made do with some Black Dog WW2 British packs and bedrolls etc. I made my own camo net from panty-hose and a tarpaulin from zinc foil. The photos reveal that I need to matte some of the stowage and mud up the rea light lenses a bit. I also remembered to do some soot marks for the exhaust. Edited June 20, 2018 by Kiwikitbasher 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 A bit to report today after a monotonous session painting road-wheels and return rollers. I bulked up my camo net to have a slightly more "piles on" look rather than being all tidily stowed in the turret basket, plus I made a bit drape over the basket side. I also matted the stowage and highlighted the crew's personal gear some more with extra dry-brushing. I needed some crew figures but unfortunately, the only post-WW2 ones I had were an IDF M50 crew by Model Miniatures. These will have to suffice for Greek soldiers and are let down by very skinny faces, oversized hands, and some rather lanky proportions. As I'm just learning and practising with these builds they will have served a useful purpose. even if they are not the best figures and wear the wrong uniforms. I have the tank commander in a typical pose and will use the other figure that originally was holding a signal flag to be pulling on an antenna lanyard and bow the antenna down from its vertical position. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 Got the crew painted and tracks on today. Would have finished running gear weathering and various touch-ups, but every second Friday my modelling mates come round to drink beer and talk the proverbial. So I should finish tomorrow when I will also make a tank-biscuit to mount it on. It's been an enjoyable week's build. Before I start my next project I need to catch up on my aircraft reference databasing; I normally do an hour a day, but have neglected to do any for almost 3-weeks whilst building tanks. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyingdutchman Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Still can't believe it's 1/72nd scale! Briliant work so far, those tiny handles are amazing! Look at the size of the knife blad as if it's a machete, noooooo!!! The bit's are so tiny 😂 Evert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 1 hour ago, Flyingdutchman said: Still can't believe it's 1/72nd scale! Briliant work so far, those tiny handles are amazing! Look at the size of the knife blad as if it's a machete, noooooo!!! The bit's are so tiny 😂 Evert Thanks Evert, As I said, those handles were a step too far, after fitting four I promptly forgot to take care and knocked most of them off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwikitbasher Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 Finished now that the loader is pulling on the antenna lanyard and it's mounted on a tank-biscuit. Thanks for looking... More pics posted in ready for inspection: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenoz Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Nice one... busy with this kit to, but as to rebuild as a pair of IDF M60's.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now