Panzerhaubitze 2000, 1/24 scale, Scratchbuild

[JohnWS]

20 minutes ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

... The detailing part of this project is much more prolonged than I expected ...

Awesome work on the details, Steve. 

I can relate to the amount of time it takes to identify, research, & build those relatively tiny details.  It's those details that set your model a part from the mainstream when the project's finished.

 

John

[Bandsaw Steve]

41 minutes ago, JohnWS said:

 

I can relate to the amount of time it takes to identify, research, & build those relatively tiny details. 

 

 

Yes, it’s  a good test of self discipline, especially now that I’m really starting to want to see this thing with a full coat of grey primer.

[Courageous]

Great stuff, really loving the detail and should really pop with the paint job.

Not knowing anything about this subject but that barrel clamp/support thingy, is it located in the right place .

Going a little off piste, how's the SS Xantho?

 

Stuart

[Bandsaw Steve]

1 hour ago, Courageous said:

 

Not knowing anything about this subject but that barrel clamp/support thingy, is it located in the right place .

Going a little off piste, how's the SS Xantho?

 

 

 Hi Stuart,

 

Happy to say that the barrel clamp thingy is not yet glued down so is yet to go into its final  correct location.

 

As for Xantho. As it happens I am in Albany right now and have a meeting with Ross Shardlow tomorrow. I’m hoping that some Xantho related news might result. We shall see! 👍

[GMK]

Been a while since I’ve commented, Steve. 

 

This remains one of your crazier projects, imo. So much fun to watch, though. Looking forward to seeing the beast in primer. 

Here’s a diorama idea for you 

[Bandsaw Steve]

Cripes! Have a look at all the lumps and bumps on that thing and you will see why this is taking forever! 😀
 

Thanks for posting this , that’s actually a really useful photo. 

[adolfocaetanonetto]

I think isnt a good idea show images like this to Steve. Maybe he can build this things!!!!!!!! 🤫

On 09/01/2022 at 06:29, Bandsaw Steve said:

Cripes! Have a look at all the lumps and bumps on that thing and you will see why this is taking forever! 😀
 

Thanks for posting this , that’s actually a really useful photo. 

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

5 hours ago, adolfocaetanonetto said:

I think isnt a good idea show images like this to Steve. Maybe he can build this things!!!!!!!! 🤫

 

Nope. Ain’t gonna happen! Well…except for the camouflage nets. I need one on the rack on the front of the turret and have one or two cunning plans regarding how to  make it. Should be fun when the time comes. 👍

[Muchmirth]

Holy hell Steve!!! Just seen this(bit late on the ball). Put my scratch to shame. Your vision and skill here are incredible. Seriously good. 

[Bandsaw Steve]

A Bit More to Show

 

There's a lot going on at Bandsaw Manor at the moment - more than warrants discussion here - but suffice to say I haven't spent as much time on this as I would have liked.  Nevertheless there is a bit more to show,  albeit just details work.

 

Firstly I've spent some time on the anti-slip pads on the glacis plate. After messing around with a couple of other options I settled on P400 wet and dry sandpaper cut into small rectangles and stuck on with cyanocrylate.  Sandpaper is actually very easy to work with but you should resist the temptation to use scissors to cut it as it blunts them, here I've been good and used a razor blade.

 

Here's the anti-slip job about 25% complete. 

 

On the very front of our PZH there are two very prominent hooks used for vehicle recovery.  These were a little bit bit tricky to fabricate, but not too bad.  Here is the starboard one under construction. The main body is made from a sandwich of evergreen sheet plastic and the each hook is just a bent bit of brass rod.  After this photo I got keen and soldered a little blob of solder onto the very end of each brass hook to give a nice rounded edge; it worked OK.

 

Here's the view with all of the anti-slip pads and the two recovery hooks finished. If you look closely you can just make out the solder blob on each one.

 

Now I turned my attention to the rear of the vehicle. There's still a fair bit of work needed here but much will probably need to wait until after the wheels and tracks are fitted. Right now however  I can work on the large angular thing on the rear door; the thing that the number plate and blackout convoy reflectors are mounted on.

 

Here I've started making it out of brass sheet. Brass Sheet is fantastic stuff to work with as it's strong but easy to mark out and cut and best of all...

 

can be scribed and folded (as show below) without losing strength. This allows the relatively easy fabrication of many angular components.

 

Now I just stick a few details on and glue it in place. 

 

Now I drill a bunch of fine holes in the rear turret plating...

 

insert a bunch of fine evergreen plastic rods as shown and then snip each one off nice and short to make some tidy-looking rivets.

 

I've also added a couple of hinges as appropriate leaving this view of the rear of the project.

 

And this from the front. Note how the recovery hooks have already broken off due to clumsy handling. Oh well, at least I have not lost them. 

 

Well, that's it for now.  Short and sweet but still moving forward.

 

Stay safe folks. 👍

 

Bandsaw Steve

 

 

[ArnoldAmbrose]

28 minutes ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

Note how the recovery hooks have already broken off due to clumsy handling.

Gidday Steve, that's one of the reasons I screw my model ships to wood blocks while building them. I don't know how feasible it would be for this though.

     You're getting a lot of detail to this, it should look really good when done. WASMEx? Regards, Jeff.

[Bandsaw Steve]

Will it be ready for WASMEx 2022?

 

Yes - assuming the event goes ahead as planned - this will definitely be there!

[Courageous]

Fantastic detail you're adding Steve, she's looking great.

 

Stuart

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday @Bandsaw Steve, I thought I'd give this a bump and wonder how it's progressing. Is it still on track for WASMEx? Regards, Jeff.

[hendie]

1 hour ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Is it still on track

 

ha!  I saw what you did there.

 

 

 

Steve, for those recovery hooks... would it be worth making one leg longer and could then be bent at 90 degrees and a receiving hole drilled in the body to mount the hook.  That should make it a bit sturdier and prevent any future Bandsaw breakage.

 

The greebles are adding a nice overall militarily complex look to the machine

 

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

Hi @ArnoldAmbrose , @hendie & any other interested folks.

 

Sorry this thread has gone so quiet for such a long time. Common to many 2022 construction projects, the building of my replacement shed is taking much, much longer than anticipated. Essentially all of my spare time has been absorbed between trying to finish the shed and helping to organise WASMEx (West Australian Scale Model Expo) 2022. 
 

Consequently, very little has happened on this or the Mirage project since the last posting and as much as it pains me, I don’t think I can finish the PZH 2000 in time for WASMEx this year.
 

The Xantho remains in stasis pending a further meeting with museum staff that can’t possibly happen till WASMEx is over. Aquitania is just an embarrassing pipe dream. 
 

My only hope is that the new shed will be such an efficient and pleasant workplace that once it’s in use my output will soar.  For example it has very good sound-insulation so I might be able to run power-tools later into the evening.
 

I’ll post some shed photos tomorrow so you can see where the hours have gone. 
 

Sorry about the lack of any other news.

 

Bandsaw Steve.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

     Gidday @Bandsaw Steve, no apology necessary. No doubt the shed will be worth all the time you've spent on it. And the time you spend organizing WASMEx is of great benefit to everyone else, myself included. You and the other organizers will probably never receive the full thanks you deserve for it so I'll say a public THANK YOU now. 👍

     You're probably disappointed your models won't make it on time this year but from what we've seen of them they're worth waiting for next year. And while we're on the subject of WASMEx I noticed the extra category  -   the co-operative build. Good Move. So will BBS/TBS/MBS (Miss Bandsaw) be entering the Hogwarts Express in the competition? Regards, Jeff.

[echen]

3 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

I'll say a public THANK YOU now. 👍

I'll say that too!

[Bandsaw Steve]

Hi Arnold,

 

Yes, the Hogwarts express will be in the co-operative build section; indeed the controversy regarding its disqualification last year was the main reason to open that category. I just hope it’s not the only entry. 🤞

[Bandsaw Steve]

Shed Update

 

As mentioned immediately above, this build thread (all of my build threads in fact) has fallen silent for several months. Here's why; my neighbour (who's an ex-builder) and I are building a new hobby shed to replace my old leaky one. We aren't finished yet but since @ArnoldAmbrose has asked I'll give you all a sneak peek.  It's way behind schedule and well over budget, but the result is a much better shed than I  would have dared hoped for.

 

Here's what I had:

 

-Very little headroom

-leaky roof

-ground level structure rotting out and flooding every time it rained.

-single layer of uninsulated metal ensuring cold winter evenings and boiling hot summer days.

- no sound-proofing 

 

Basically a hot / cold, small, noisy, leaky tin box.

 

 

Here is the replacement under construction:

 

 

And this is where we are up to today...

 

 

 

 

 

Features include:

 

-Full height ceilings.

-Construction on a raised, poured, reinforced concrete pad that will ensure that (biblical events aside) this shed will never flood.  

- Full steel frame for an extremely strong and rigid structure.

- 100% colourbond steel exterior;  'Pale Eucalypt' coloration.

- Fully insulated walls and ceiling for maximum thermal insulation and sound-proofing.

-Refrigerative air-conditioning (with auxilary 'fan only' optional mode).

-Wall mounted extraction fan.

-No fewer than 18 (yes 18!) three pin power sockets. (My brother in law is a registered electrician and said 'put plenty in so I never have to come back' )

-Two i-phone recharging points.

-Two standard domestic light fittings. 

-Full Gyprock lining - walls and ceiling.

-Double glazed window.

 

I still need to paint the interior and fit it out with benches, shelves and cupboards then paint the door and tidy up the window frames (both internal and external.)

 

As you can image,  by the time that this project and WASMEx is over I'm going to be completely whacked and will need a holiday.  Inspired by this advertisement in the 'The Australian' weekend magazine,  I'm considering a nice relaxing cruise from Rome to Croatia via Gallipoli where I can stop off and pay my respects to our brave ANZAC forebears who fell on the beaches of Taranto?!????!! 🤔

 

 

 

Lest we Remember...

 

Bandsaw Steve

 

 

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday @Bandsaw Steve, I love that curved feature wall. Wide angle camera lens effect? And you can never have too many power points I think. Not so much for the number but their locations - you'll never have to run extension leads or power boards. Has Mrs Bandsaw insisted you install a power meter as well? If it's not too late maybe install a servery in the wall facing the house to receive your meals, and a fold down bed. Methinks you'll be spending quite a lot of time in there when it's done. 🙂 And good luck with the trip. Regards, Jeff.

[Bandsaw Steve]

1 hour ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

 And good luck with the trip. Regards, Jeff.

If you look closely at the map @ArnoldAmbrose I think you will see that I will need a great deal of luck…🤣

[bar side]

Looks a nice trip Bandsaw.  Did the train between Venice & Rome and I do like Italy.  When I saw Gallipoli I was thinking of the other one.  Went there after crossing the Dardanelles by ferry on the way to Istanbul.  Lots of brave ANZACs there too.  Everything I have heard about Dubrovnik & Split has been good too. Enjoy!

[Bandsaw Steve]

On 07/04/2022 at 03:37, bar side said:

When I saw Gallipoli I was thinking of the other one.  

So was I. 🤣

 

I’m not really going on this trip unfortunately; can’t afford it after building this bloody shed!
I just included it because of the ridiculous Gallipoli typo.

To me at least it seems that once a year Australians and New Zealanders all solemnly swear ‘lest we forget’ but every year we collectively seem to know less and less about what actually happened. Now a glaring mistake like this escapes all proof reading and gets published nationwide. 
Oh well - makes for amusing reading.

I’m off to yell at some clouds now. 
🥸

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

Back to It

 

Well the shed is now built and is almost complete and I have been back to working on this thing on-and-off for the last few evenings. So after a prolonged period of silence, here's an update. 

 

Firstly, here's this weird little grid thingy that sits on the top of the hull directly in front of the turret. I don't really know what it is but suspect that it might have something to do with safe storage of explosive charges. Perhaps it provides somewhere for an unwanted burn of cartridge propellent to vent through.  If anyone knows for sure please feel free to write in. Anyway it's a very sturdy looking grid modelled with brass rods glued into a square plastic tray.

 

 

Which once hit with oxide primer and stuck in place looks quite spiffing I think.

 

A few posts back I promised I was about to try something new (for me) and possibly even clever; which for me of course is new in itself!  Anyway, here's the big idea.  At the boxing day sales our local games shop had some 'metal earth' kits on sale. These are the photoetched foldable shiny metal kits that you can get nowadays to build just about anything. I picked up a kit of the US congress building. One half of it looks like this...

 

 

I bought it specifically for it's potential to provide 'greeblies' for a possible science fiction build that I might tackle one day but noted that the piece marked with the red arrow had a beautiful fine texture printed onto it. I thought this made it ideal for a finely textured side-barrier to the camouflage-net basket on the front of the turret. The result  can be seen below. I've backed it up with a sheet of polystyrene but when the whole thing is full of netting no-one will notice.

 

Here's the top of the driver's hatch with some vision blocks and other bits and pieces added. There are also vision blocks added to the inside so that the guy can see out when everything's buttoned up.

 

 

The commander also has to be able to see out, so he get's a periscope too as marked by the top red arrow.

During direct fire missions the gunner has to know how far away the target is, hence I've added what I think is a laser rangefinder marked by the second red arrow.  Disregard the blue arrow as I've already discussed that bit.

 

 

I've also added one or two more applique armour blocks (with several more still to come) to give this as the current state of play. 

 

We are now getting tantalizingly close to the first full coat of primer... 

 

From here I think things are going to start getting complicated as I will have to navigate through a complex sequence of adding details, priming, painting and assembly all in such a fashion that one step does not interfere with the next.

 

Anyway, it's nice to be back at it and nice to be publishing something here again.

 

Bandsaw Steve.