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-COMPLETED- Bronco 1/35 Panzer III Ausf. A in Poland


Ned

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My first GB and my first III. As I've never built one before, I've gone back to start with an Ausf. A. I've got less wheels to paint, so I'm already ahead!

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There's a lot of plastic in this Bronco kit, 5 sprues plus hull plus 200 track links plus 400 pins (another first for me - working track links).

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No interior, but a lot of detail inside the turret for me to stress over before hiding it away.

Only 10 Ausf. A's were built before suspension issues put an end to them, but a few of them made it into Poland in 1939. I'll be building the box art one, Bronco think it's a 1.Panzer Division tank, Osprey think it's a 2.Panzer Division tank. Who to trust?

I want it to be 1.Panzer Division, because it's all about firsts!

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Hi Ned. I hope you are well. And welcome to your first GB!! Hopefully you will have an enjoyable time and please let me or Ozzy know if you have any questions. It looks like you have a great looking kit there too! I've not seen this one before, so I will be very interested to se it in progress!

Kind regards,

Stix 

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Hello Ned and welcome - another Bronco kit!

 

2 hours ago, Ned said:

200 track links plus 400 pins (another first for me - working track links).

At least Bronco give you a jig to help with the build (their instructions are not that clear)


When making plastic tracks, I prefer tube cement applied with a cocktail stick - the glue doesn't run into the joint and gum up the works the way liquid cement does.  You only need the glue to hold the pin to the outside link.

 

BTW, the track pins look as though they are set at every other link on the sprue?  Hopefully, you can leave them on the sprue until they are glued (more or less glued) so there should be is less risk of them going ballistic and flying to the nether reaches of the carpet.

 

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6 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

Hello Ned and welcome - another Bronco kit!

 

At least Bronco give you a jig to help with the build (their instructions are not that clear)


When making plastic tracks, I prefer tube cement applied with a cocktail stick - the glue doesn't run into the joint and gum up the works the way liquid cement does.  You only need the glue to hold the pin to the outside link.

 

BTW, the track pins look as though they are set at every other link on the sprue?  Hopefully, you can leave them on the sprue until they are glued (more or less glued) so there should be is less risk of them going ballistic and flying to the nether reaches of the carpet.

 

Thanks for that. Yes, it looks like the pins on the sprue line up. The colour of the pins is almost a perfect match for my carpet, so that has saved me many hours of fruitless searching!

I might get the tracks out of the way first, while I'm enthusiastic. It looks a bit of a chore. I'm guessing that they fall apart all of the time, the pins are tiny.

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On 06/02/2021 at 13:19, Robert Stuart said:

Heads up @Ned
I found my track jig too narrow for my tracks, so I cut off a row of teeth.
You might be OK, because the early tracks were narrower than those on my StuG D.

I will say more in my Sand thread later

Yes, the jig I have is right for my tracks, I haven't had to do any surgery. I won't post any pictures, we've seen enough already I think. Each one of my track link sprues has 12 of them on it, so I've decided that 12 a day will be my minimum (and maximum).

I've got a Miniart Ausf B as well, couldn't resist having a peek at how they compare. Miniart ones certainly look better, the pins look like real pins with flattened heads, and the pins on the sprue line up with links on a jig. The Bronco ones only line up every other one:

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But enough pictures of links!

 

What sets my Ausf A aside from the later ones is the coil spring suspension,(which turned out to be a weakness), and I love these slide-moulded springs. They're even a bit springy :) :

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Liking the kit so far. The mouldings are really clean, hardly any clean up required. I've got some challenges ahead with Dragonesque teeny-tiny parts, but will be having fun. I've already booked 3 days off next week, because it's half term and "I want to spend some time with my son". lol, no chance!

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Hi Ned. Those springs do look very impressive. And I think booking three days off to be with your son is very admirable................

Kind regards,

Stix

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23 hours ago, Ned said:

Yes, the jig I have is right for my tracks, I haven't had to do any surgery. I won't post any pictures, we've seen enough already I think. Each one of my track link sprues has 12 of them on it, so I've decided that 12 a day will be my minimum (and maximum).

Your model so your decision but I have given up on plastic workable track links since I find them so fragile and I end up keep making repairs, so now I glue them up like link and length tracks and assemble them with the wheels,  I leave off the outer wheels for detail painting, it seems to make things easier. :winkgrin:

This is a set of individual track links for a Tiger 1 glued up with the inner wheels and sprocket ready detail painting. 

IMG_1462

 

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Well...

I've finished making the tracks for one side, 8 x 12 + 1 = 97 links. It looks OK (might have one link too many) but I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do next? I can't just leave them loose because they wont sag naturally, so do I now glue them in place once I've got them sitting right, making the whole working link thing a waste of time? Help! 🤔

The wheels and drive sprocket will all end up glued anyway, because they don't fit well at all. They're all pointing in different directions. I did a dry fit with the hull and turret, and it looked like a Panzer wreck WIP :)

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32 minutes ago, Ned said:

I've finished making the tracks for one side, 8 x 12 + 1 = 97 links. It looks OK (might have one link too many) but I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do next? I can't just leave them loose because they wont sag naturally, so do I now glue them in place once I've got them sitting right, making the whole working link thing a waste of time? Help! 🤔

The conundrum of workable track links, this is why I glue them up like link and length tracks, they tend to be too flimsy if they are left loose, you can either paint all the wheels and the tracks separately, then glue them together with either ca or pva glue.  The other option is to glue them all together with thin plastic glue and then paint them, if the wheels, sprockets and idlers are a loose fit then you can make them removable pieces for painting.  Reading up on track details, the tracks were kept pretty tight, if they became loose it made steering difficult and the tracks could come off the sprocket.

This is the running gear from my build, glued together with the outside wheels left loose so I can paint everything then attach it all back on the axles. :winkgrin:

IMG_1520

 

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That looks a nice way, Bob, although I'm not sure that I'd have a steady enough hand to paint the rubber rims on the wheels if they're fixed in place. I think that what will work for me is to wait until I can glue the roadwheels and idlers in place and have something more solid to work with. Right now the whole thing just falls apart when I try to put it together.

I need to get the basic hull assembled, so this morning I've spent over an hour putting the hull MG together, and then later today it will disappear forever. Shame, it's done really well. The bag for catching used shells has a little PE catch!

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19 hours ago, SoftScience said:

Hi Ned. Welcome to the wonderfull world of the single type group build. These are always my favorite. 


I've never seen this version of the III before. It's certainly cool looking. 

Yes, it looks a bit different. Up top it's all Panzer III, down below it's "what's all that?" :) 5 roadwheels and coil spring suspension. Only 10 were made in 1936 before the suspension was found to be a weakness and then redesigned for the Ausf B.

A few of them made it into Poland in 1939 but they were all replaced afterwards.

I should be building it looking old and worn out, but that's a bit beyond what I can do. I'll just have to say that it's crew took good care of their old friend over the years :)

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18 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Hi Ned. Looks like you are making good progress and I hope you manage to get the wheels and tracks sorted okay. Nice work on the MG too.

Kind regards,

Stix

Not exactly! I did gardening, fixed a door that wouldn't stay shut, and then watched a Captain America film with my son. Oops!

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10 minutes ago, Ned said:

 

I should be building it looking old and worn out, but that's a bit beyond what I can do. I'll just have to say that it's crew took good care of their old friend over the years :)

Use this as an opportunity to learn how. You don't have to go all out and use every weathering trick out there, but maybe try one or two. Color fading/shifting achieved with an oil wash or two, would go a long way towards giving you a worn appearance. 

 

We'll guide you through the process.

 

:)

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1 minute ago, SoftScience said:

Use this as an opportunity to learn how. You don't have to go all out and use every weathering trick out there, but maybe try one or two. Color fading/shifting achieved with an oil wash or two, would go a long way towards giving you a worn appearance. 

 

We'll guide you through the process.

 

:)

That would be great. I'll take you up on that. Just the incentive that I need to get on with the build.

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7 hours ago, Ned said:

That would be great. I'll take you up on that. Just the incentive that I need to get on with the build.

That's the spirit! 

Sometimes weathering armor can seem overwhelming, because there are seemingly hundreds of techniques, and some people seem to use all of them on each of their builds.  I'll try to make and post some short videos of some basic but very versatile techniques I do. I would also recommend reading some of the work in progress threads by the GB host Plastix. He has a very different approach from many modelers, but the results are fantastic, and he's very thorough in his step by step descriptions and photos.

After some experimentation, you'll find what works best for you, and probably come up with your own methods. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 26/02/2021 at 16:51, PlaStix said:

Hi Ned. I hope you are well. I was just checking to see if you have done anything more on your build since your last post above?

Kind regards, 

Stix

Hi PlaStix. Not progress last week as I had a bit of a bad week at work. I'm back at it today, tackling some of the really fiddly stuff that takes hours with little to show for it at the end. PE buckles and straps, lifting hooks on the hull, that sort of thing.

It is a miracle that these tiny brackets for the stays that hold the front mudguard flaps open/shut have made it onto the tank.

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No where near ready for any paint yet, but I'll get there eventually.

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Hi Ned. I am sorry you had a rough week at work. That's never good. Hope that's sorted now. I'm glad you were able to get back to modelling yesterday and have made some progress. And I know what you mean about the samll PE stuff :hypnotised:

I'm looking forward to following more of your build.

Kind regards,

Stix

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6 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Hi Ned. I am sorry you had a rough week at work. That's never good. Hope that's sorted now. I'm glad you were able to get back to modelling yesterday and have made some progress. And I know what you mean about the samll PE stuff :hypnotised:

I'm looking forward to following more of your build.

Kind regards,

Stix

I've put another couple of hours in and the turret interior is coming on well. The gun breech and twin MGs are more or less done, as are the elevation and traverse controls for the gunner. The cage around the breech is super fiddly, with 4 or 5 parts all with butt joints rather than any positive location. It's really testing my skill/patience, but I know if it all gets too much I can just close the hatches and forget about it! The tracks should be done tomorrow as well. I'm at that point in the build now when I just want to see empty sprues, but not quite there yet 🤪😬

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On 01/03/2021 at 21:34, Ned said:

The cage around the breech is super fiddly, with 4 or 5 parts all with butt joints rather than any positive location. It's really testing my skill/patience, but I know if it all gets too much I can just close the hatches and forget about it!

Sorry it's been a bit annoying! It's odd how manufactures of nicely detailed kits can suddenly forget positive locators for some complex structures! :banghead:Hope you get it all sorted okay.

Kind regards,

Stix

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