Jump to content

Heller 1/72 Somua S35 - >>> FINISHED <<<


srkirad

Recommended Posts

Good evening mates,

 

I will join you with this small oldie - Somua S35 in braillescale.

 

somua-s35-001.jpg

 

I will also use some aftermarket add-ons which will improve some details - small etched set for hull and turret, metal barrel from Armo, and best improvement (if I don't mess up assembling of it :D) - OKB Grigorov etched tracks (rubber ones from kit are REALLY ugly!)

 

somua-s35-002.jpg

 

Well, see you soon with in progress photos...

 

Cheers,

Srđan

  • Like 13
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Skirad,

 

My experience with OKB Grigorov's tracks has been good in the past. I asked him how he recommended bending them and he said warm water, but that the resin he used would normally bend without help "unlike those inferior Russian brands" - not sure who he was aiming that comment at, but his are good, -  I still used hottish water to bend and of course  CA glue to fix. The only problem is hiding the join, though it''s not too obvious - at least not on the Panzer III and a Sherman I did. My only slight moan is the length he makes them in - wasteful for smaller tnaks but I am not sure how they would work out on say a Tiger II.

 

Good luck with the build, I did one of these a couple of years back though it is perhaps a little "overscale" compared with my collection which is mostly 1/76. Those aerials looked a bit too thick to me so I used piano wire I believe, but early tank radio aerials could be pretty massive.

 

Cheers 

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the advice Pete, although these OKB Grigorov tracks are photoetched ones.

As I remember from some earlier builds with Grigorov etched parts they are possibly a bit harder than for example Eduard or Extratech etched sets.

So maybe I will have to temper them first over open flame to make them a bit softer for bending.

 

It will be a challenge to do for sure, as I never worked with this big etched parts before, so cheering is very welcome :D 

 

Cheers,

Srđan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Srđan,

 

Didn't know he was making etched tracks now, so I was as you guessed talking about his resin ones - oops! Yes, I should imagine getting a nice smooth curve could be a problem.

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually Pete, I think these etched ones are his elder product - resin ones have remark "new tool" and are dated back to 2014, and as I remember, I bought these etched tracks years before that.

Anyhow, the challenge is at the desk - I'll try my best to assemble them as precise as I can, so hopefully they won't look to odd/awful :)

 

Cheers,

S.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

After a pretty busy week at work, I've finally found some time to start some inital work on this plastic.

Not so much for the first "in progress" photo, but it should speed up soon, as I'm working on few more kits in various GBs...

 

I've added few etched bits for the start, so next steps should take care of other wheels...

 

somua-s35-003.jpg

 

Cheers,

S.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

After a while I think I've passed the biggest hurdle in this build - PE tracks.

I was a bit afraid how it will turn out, but it went pretty smoothly, actually, much easier than some plastic tracks I've assembled before!

 

Here is the current progress - I've added some styrene strips here and there in order to align hull to the chassis.

(we were talking here that there's no Heller kit if you don't use some additional styrene and/or sanding paper) :)

 

somua-s35-004.jpg

 

somua-s35-005.jpg

 

somua-s35-006.jpg

 

somua-s35-007.jpg

 

Cheers,

S.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks Jeroen.

 

Yup, it had a short gun - it was a "fashion" in those days... but just for fun I put the Panther turret onto Somua hull... hahahah... that turret is almost the size of Somua hull, so, it looks pretty monstrous :D 

 

Cheers,

S.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Camouflage is done - I used Gunze acrylics - H73 and H336 - very similar to what Heller recommended in Humbrol equivalents.

Black line that separates green and tan color was brush painted with Lifecolor matt Black.

 

somua-s35-018.jpg

 

somua-s35-019.jpg

 

somua-s35-020.jpg

 

somua-s35-021.jpg

 

somua-s35-022.jpg

 

Soon decals will find their way on the kit.

 

Cheers,

S.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...