Mercedes L 4500

[Lummox]

On 4/6/2023 at 8:11 PM, NIK122 said:

Ok! No flattery this time. Only sincere praise. Bloody brilliant 🙂

Cheers Nik, much appreciated. I've no problem with a bit of flattery by the way - it will get you everywhere in my book.

 

On 4/6/2023 at 10:24 PM, Jochen Barett said:

Just in case there was a slight doubt for a fraction of a second

Thanks Jochen - there was never the slightest doubt my friend. 👍

 

On 4/10/2023 at 9:47 PM, APA said:

I've been away for a YEAR and you still haven't finished this!!!!😳

 

For goodness sake stop sweating over stock cocks and pull your finger out!! 😜

 

Very nice though. 👍🏻😎

I know, I know, this build is taking forever. It's in danger of becoming the 'turd that just won't flush'.  

Good to see you back though Andrew. Coincidentally I was looking at Loyd Carriers the other day which reminded me of the Mantis oddity you were tackling.

 

 

I like Easter. You get to see friends and family, you gorge yourselves on yummy stuff like lamb and Easter eggs, and you have time off from work where you can actually get some modelling done. Shockingly, therefore, I have some progress to report - two updates in a week must be some kind of record for me.

So, what have we been up to? Looking at pictures of the engine bay and firewall area we see these prominent 'buttress' things:

 

They have a quite complex multi-faceted shape, look to be pressed steel(?) in an 'L' shape, and appear to flare out to extend down into the engine bay towards the chassis:

 

This wreak picture gives the best indication of their shape. Although not quite visible in the picture, I assume they are connected to the chassis, providing structural support for the firewall/cab. I'm not sure what the two holes half way up the 'buttresses' are for. I guess they could be lightening holes (but you would have thought there would be more), or perhaps they allow cabling to pass through (though there is no evidence of this):

 

The 'buttresses' are unfortunately absent from the kit, so we need to knock something up to replicate them. Ideally they should be made from brass sheet for thinness and strength, but the complex shapes makes this challenging (for me anyway). A further complication is the way that Zvezda have moulded the mudguards. We'll have to form our 'buttresses' to fit around the mudguards, but I suspect that in reality the mudguards would have been attached onto the 'buttresses'. So there will have to be compromises, not only in the shape of the 'buttresses', but also in the use of styrene card stock to make them.

To ensure we end up with two identical 'buttresses' we'll use a laminate of card when making the component shapes. The image sequence shows the components being hewn from the laminate card, the resultant shaped components, and the final 'buttresses' after gluing, paring and filing:

 

So what do they look like in situ? Well, they kinda look a bit odd sticking up, partly due to the compromise of them having to be shaped around the mudguards. With the cab in place, however, the 'buttresses' start to make more sense:

 

Mocking things up with the etch bonnet sides we see that the 'buttress' height is about right, but the width is perhaps a tad off (I measured twice too - honest ).

I think things will look better when the bonnet attachment strips are added to the firewall though (these will slim down the appearance of the 'buttresses'). It doesn't help that they are SHOUTY WHITE either, so a coat of paint should tone them down:

 

Finally, a quick shot with the engine in place to show that everything seems to play nice and nothing fouls:

 

And that brings things up to date.

Before I go, I wonder if I could perhaps pick you brains? Going back to an image of the engine bay in an extant truck, could anyone hazard a guess as to what the highlighted object may be? That engine bay area is pretty bare in the kit, looking as if something should perhaps be mounted there. There appears to be 'something' in the image, but I don't have the slightest clue what it may be:

 

Cheers, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

[NIK122]

Without wishing to state the obvious, they are definitely hoses connected to something as unless I'm mistaken you can see the jubilee clips. Glad I could clear that up for you!😆Sorry

[NIK122]

Fuel line?

[Lummox]

37 minutes ago, NIK122 said:

Fuel line?

You may be on to something there Nik.

 

I've attempted to indicate the approximate position of the possible fuel line (red box) relative to the engine Kugelfischer(?) fuel injection system (yellow circle). It kinda fits quite nicely doesn't it? You never know, the mysterious holes in the 'buttress' may be to allow the fuel line to pass through?

 

Looking underneath the engine you can see the point where the fuel enters the injection system. Is it my imagination, or does that possible fuel line in the picture above look to be looping downwards (to then perhaps head up into the injection system)?

 

Thanks Nik, you may well have provided the answer. 👍

[NIK122]

1 minute ago, Lummox said:

You may be on to something there Nik.

 

I've attempted to indicate the approximate position of the possible fuel line (red box) relative to the engine Kugelfischer(?) fuel injection system (yellow circle). It kinda fits quite nicely doesn't it? You never know, the mysterious holes in the 'buttress' may be to allow the fuel line to pass through?

 

Looking underneath the engine you can see the point where the fuel enters the injection system. Is it my imagination, or does that possible fuel line in the picture above look to be looping downwards (to then perhaps head up into the injection system)?

 

Thanks Nik, you may well have provided the answer. 👍

Great! Glad to help. I've been trawling the tintraweb and I found one black and white illustration that looked as though a line was running in the same position back to the fuel tank. It was a Mercedes but not the exact model. I'm trying to find it again now

[NIK122]

Here's the link as it's got a copyright. I know it's not the same chassis but the position of the fuel tank is similar

https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsClassic/en/instance/picture/Mercedes-Benz-L-3250.xhtml?oid=58459

[Ned]

2 hours ago, Lummox said:

Cheers Nik, much appreciated. I've no problem with a bit of flattery by the way - it will get you everywhere in my book.

 

Thanks Jochen - there was never the slightest doubt my friend. 👍

 

I know, I know, this build is taking forever. It's in danger of becoming the 'turd that just won't flush'.  

Good to see you back though Andrew. Coincidentally I was looking at Loyd Carriers the other day which reminded me of the Mantis oddity you were tackling.

 

 

I like Easter. You get to see friends and family, you gorge yourselves on yummy stuff like lamb and Easter eggs, and you have time off from work where you can actually get some modelling done. Shockingly, therefore, I have some progress to report - two updates in a week must be some kind of record for me.

So, what have we been up to? Looking at pictures of the engine bay and firewall area we see these prominent 'buttress' things:

 

They have a quite complex multi-faceted shape, look to be pressed steel(?) in an 'L' shape, and appear to flare out to extend down into the engine bay towards the chassis:

 

This wreak picture gives the best indication of their shape. Although not quite visible in the picture, I assume they are connected to the chassis, providing structural support for the firewall/cab. I'm not sure what the two holes half way up the 'buttresses' are for. I guess they could be lightening holes (but you would have thought there would be more), or perhaps they allow cabling to pass through (though there is no evidence of this):

 

The 'buttresses' are unfortunately absent from the kit, so we need to knock something up to replicate them. Ideally they should be made from brass sheet for thinness and strength, but the complex shapes makes this challenging (for me anyway). A further complication is the way that Zvezda have moulded the mudguards. We'll have to form our 'buttresses' to fit around the mudguards, but I suspect that in reality the mudguards would have been attached onto the 'buttresses'. So there will have to be compromises, not only in the shape of the 'buttresses', but also in the use of styrene card stock to make them.

To ensure we end up with two identical 'buttresses' we'll use a laminate of card when making the component shapes. The image sequence shows the components being hewn from the laminate card, the resultant shaped components, and the final 'buttresses' after gluing, paring and filing:

 

So what do they look like in situ? Well, they kinda look a bit odd sticking up, partly due to the compromise of them having to be shaped around the mudguards. With the cab in place, however, the 'buttresses' start to make more sense:

 

Mocking things up with the etch bonnet sides we see that the 'buttress' height is about right, but the width is perhaps a tad off (I measured twice too - honest ).

I think things will look better when the bonnet attachment strips are added to the firewall though (these will slim down the appearance of the 'buttresses'). It doesn't help that they are SHOUTY WHITE either, so a coat of paint should tone them down:

 

Finally, a quick shot with the engine in place to show that everything seems to play nice and nothing fouls:

 

And that brings things up to date.

Before I go, I wonder if I could perhaps pick you brains? Going back to an image of the engine bay in an extant truck, could anyone hazard a guess as to what the highlighted object may be? That engine bay area is pretty bare in the kit, looking as if something should perhaps be mounted there. There appears to be 'something' in the image, but I don't have the slightest clue what it may be:

 

Cheers, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

That looks a lot like an inline fuel filter to me. This sort of thing:

 

Possibly a post-war addition, it does look a bit new and out of place.

 

 

 

 

[Ned]

34 minutes ago, NIK122 said:

Here's the link as it's got a copyright. I know it's not the same chassis but the position of the fuel tank is similar

https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsClassic/en/instance/picture/Mercedes-Benz-L-3250.xhtml?oid=58459

Yes, two fuel lines. Diesels have a return line going back to the tank from the injectors, because all of the fuel doesn't necessarily get burned, so it has to go somewhere.

[NIK122]

52 minutes ago, Ned said:

Yes, two fuel lines. Diesels have a return line going back to the tank from the injectors, because all of the fuel doesn't necessarily get burned, so it has to go somewhere.

Well there you go! Hands down, I'm a little out of my depth but you learn something new everyday!😎

[Jochen Barett]

3 hours ago, Ned said:

That looks a lot like an inline fuel filter to me. This sort of thing:

 

Possibly a post-war addition, it does look a bit new and out of place.

 

 

Who could possibly disagree?

 

When enlarging the rightmost pic here to 500%

 

it seems there are the ends of Stehbolzen (bolts) and Sechskantmuttern (hex nuts) visible, so maybe the holes are intended to put a Rohrsteckschlüssel (pipe socket wrench) through them to turn the nuts (maybe to mount/fasten the buttresses (they'll be called "Stehbleche" or "Winkelbleche" or something like that) to the Spritzwand (bulkhead).

[Lummox]

I'm way overdue an update on this, but first let me (rather belatedly) respond to those who were kind enough to comment...

 

On 4/14/2023 at 6:34 PM, Ned said:

Yes, two fuel lines. Diesels have a return line going back to the tank from the injectors, because all of the fuel doesn't necessarily get burned, so it has to go somewhere.

Thanks Ned. I'll add something to represent dual fuel lines, but leave off the inline fuel filter that you identified as it does seem a tad newfangled for a period machine.

 

On 4/14/2023 at 7:28 PM, NIK122 said:

Well there you go! Hands down, I'm a little out of my depth but you learn something new everyday!😎

10 out of 10 Nik, have a gold star!

 

On 4/14/2023 at 9:41 PM, Jochen Barett said:

it seems there are the ends of Stehbolzen (bolts) and Sechskantmuttern (hex nuts) visible, so maybe the holes are intended to put a Rohrsteckschlüssel (pipe socket wrench) through them to turn the nuts (maybe to mount/fasten the buttresses (they'll be called "Stehbleche" or "Winkelbleche" or something like that) to the Spritzwand (bulkhead).

I think I know what you mean Jochen, though your eyesight must be better than mine in spotting the hex nuts! When I get round to working on the firewall I'll add a bracket type thing having nuts that align with the 'buttress' holes. 👍

 

 

Now for the update. What little progress there has been has centred on the fitment of the lower bonnet panels. The Voyager update set provides etch replacements that have open louvres, these being a vast improvement on the kit offerings:

 

The louvres are quite open on the real thing, resulting in a more or less unobstructed view into the engine bay when viewed from the rear:

 

The etch louvres, however, were more closed, needing to be opened up by applying a slight twist to the individual louvre 'gills'. This was easier said than done in a controlled manner as there was very little 'gill' to grab onto to apply a twist. The end result is therefore a bit messy, but certainly more open than the original. I'm not too concerned about the messiness as the louvres appeared to get a bit mangled on the real thing anyway: 

 

I'll be aiming for a fully open engine bay similar to the first image below (so side bonnet panels removed and hinged upper panels open). Flanges can be seen along the radiator housing that I assume served as attachment points to support the various bonnet panels:

 

Flanges were therefore added to the radiator housing which give the etch bonnet panels something to attach to. Thin strips added along the mudguards served a similar purpose:

 

Add here's similar views with the etch panels in place:

 

Studying images of the truck we see some kind of 'rubber seal' thing between the bonnet panel and the mudguard:

 

Thin stretched sprue was used to replicate the 'seal', which also served to fill the slight gap between the etch and mudguard:

 

Finally, there appeared to be a front bracket that attached the bonnet panel to the chassis:

 

Fillets of scrap etch were cut, these being attached along with some odds and ends to represent the brackets:

 

And that brings things just about up to date. Cheers, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

[Lummox]

It's about time for an update, and it's going to be a bit of a ramble on a pretty dull and esoteric subject I'm afraid. So hold on to your hats, and prepare to enter the fascinating world of bonnet latches. Yes, really, bonnet latches - bet you can hardly contain your excitement!

 

Looking at reference pictures it would appear that there were (at least?) two different styles of bonnet latches on the L4500. The first was this style that looked kinda like stubby pick axes sitting parallel to the removable central bonnet panel:

 

The second style looked more like mini claw hammers, these sitting perpendicular to the removable panel:

 

I can only hazard a guess as to why there were two styles, one no doubt being an incremental improvement on the other. The 'claw hammer' style could possibly have appeared later (but I have no real evidence to support this). Whatever, Zvezda seemed to have a stab at the 'pick axe' style, which is an OK effort, but rather chunky and out of scale:

 

Never fear, Voyager provide replacements in their update set - great, we can use these. Erm, perhaps not, as I'm not really sure what Voyager are attempting to replicate. I think they're aiming for the 'claw hammer' style, but the latch looks flat and weedy, and the bracket looks odd and bulky:

 

Hmmm, so what to do? Well, we'll run with the etch, but make some modifications to try to approximate to the 'claw hammer' style. Firstly, we'll bulk up the latches by adding a brass tube sleeves in an attempt to make them appear less 2D. Here we see a production line with (from left to right); latches as they appear on the fret, slimming of the shafts to accept the sleeves, with the sleeves in place, and a kit latch for comparison,

 

Next we need to do something about the bulky brackets, these being flipped upside-down, and trimmed to get rid of surplus structure. We end up with a compromise, but close enough to give an impression of a latch on the real thing:

 

Looking at reference pictures, however, we see that the latches don't simply hang down when the bonnet panel is removed, but protrude at weird and wonderful angles and orientations. This was worrying, as attaching the latches at such angles would leave them very vulnerable, giving a life span measured in nanoseconds: 

 

Fortunately I noticed these pictures which show the latches hooked over the top of the lower bonnet panel. This seemed like a much better option, giving the latches a better chance of survival:

 

OK, so what do we end up with? Well firstly let me apologise for the quality of the pictures, but my ability to photograph shiny brass on shiny brass is sadly lacking. Here we have the latches on the passenger side:

 

...and here we have the driver side. I rang the changes slightly by having one latch dropped down rather than hooked over the top. I may live to regret this decision:

 

Once the latches were in place I noticed that the inner face of the lower bonnet panels were a tad featureless. The ends of etch tool clamps where therefore used to replicate some kind of internal fastening for the latch brackets. There is no evidence for this, it being a total fabrication on my part. It does add a bit of interest though:

 

And finally, a quick picture to show the latches in context when the cab and bonnet roof are in place:

 

And that brings things up to date. Somehow I've managed to waffle my way though a long post that could simply have said 'I added six bonnet latches'. 🤪

 

Cheers, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

[Jochen Barett]

On 30/05/2023 at 14:42, Lummox said:

I can only hazard a guess as to why there were two styles, one no doubt being an incremental improvement on the other. The 'claw hammer' style could possibly have appeared later (but I have no real evidence to support this).

 

Rubber:

 

Metal, spring loaded:

 

 

So ... today the rubber version would be the cheap and simple go to solution (easy to manufacture).

 

Who knows if the rubber version was (not?) OK at +50°C in Africa or at -50°C in Russia? Who knows if rubber (Buna, ersatz-rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber) was scarce around '44?

[edjbartos]

Amazing detailing, beautifully done..

Ed

[Lummox]

Well hasn't the weather been gorgeous? There has been one downside though, in that it's been far too hot for bench time in my modelling studio (aka spare bedroom). There has however been some progress, but before an update, let's have some (belated) responses to comments... 

 

On 5/31/2023 at 3:50 PM, Jochen Barett said:

Who knows if the rubber version was (not?) OK at +50°C in Africa or at -50°C in Russia? Who knows if rubber (Buna, ersatz-rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber) was scarce around '44?

It never occurred to me that the earlier catches may have been rubber. What you say makes perfect sense Jochen - thank you. 👍

 

On 5/31/2023 at 10:03 PM, edjbartos said:

Amazing detailing, beautifully done..

Ed

Cheers Ed, much appreciated. 👍

 

 

OK, so what have we been up to? Well let's see if you can guess using the following clues; some lead wire of varying diameters, a 'junction box' thing scratched up from bits and bobs, and some 'minions' fabricated from thinned guide horns on a section of tank track: 🤔

 

Yep that's right, we've been adding cabling and general clutter into the engine bay. Much of this is guesswork as reference pictures are few and far between. There's also been a heavy dose of pragmatism in that I've tried to simplify things in an attempt to avoid a rat's nest of cables that all have to be plumbed in when the engine and firewall are added, Realism may well have taken a backseat somewhat, the cabling for the lights being a good example. The 'junction box' is pure fabrication there being no evidence for such a thing. It does however allow an anchor point for the cables to the two front lights, the front Notek, and for a cable to disappear under the cab heading towards the rear lights. The two tubes on the top of the 'junction box' will eventually have cabling to something on the firewall, but for now there are no 'loose ends' to worry about:

 

Whilst looking for evidence of cables in the engine bay area I came across a cable (or pipe?) hooked into the top of the radiator:

 

I don't have clue what this is (a coolant water temperature sensor perhaps?), or where it leads to (the plan is for it to eventually disappear into the firewall?), but we'll add something to represent it anyway:

 

Fuel lines were next, as suggested previously by @NIK122, and commented on by @Ned who clarified the need for two lines. We have to use our imagination on what these may have looked like on an L4500, but we can make an educated guess using the copyrighted image Nik linked in an earlier post:

https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsClassic/en/instance/picture/Mercedes-Benz-L-3250.xhtml?oid=58459

 

The linked image is not for our truck (it's a L3250), and the engine looks to be a postwar OM 312 (whereas the L4500 used a OM 67/4). Handily both engines are illustrated here:

 

So although we're dealing with a different truck with a different engine, there are some similarities that we can hook into to get some kind of clue how our fuel lines may have appeared. Both engines used a similar (if not the same) fuel injector pump that the lines connect to, so it's as good a guess as any that the fuel lines on the L4500 looked similar to those in Nik's image. As an aside, this is my understanding of various engine components and how the fuel lines connect (my understanding may well be flawed so please feel free to correct as you see fit):

 

So enough of the waffle, what do we end up with? The bent wires to the left of the fuel lines are temporary giving the approximate location of the fuel injector pump (the true connection of these wires will be done when the engine is in place, which I suspect will be a challenge as space will be very tight 🤪). The fuel lines terminate on the right at the location of the fuel tank under the cab seat:

 

And finally a quick shot with the cab in place. The cabling certainly serves to 'busy up' the engine bay. I think some of it may even be visible once the engine is installed:

 

There's more 'plumbing' to shoehorn into here, namely the air lines from the engine mounted compressor. But that's for another day...

 

Cheers, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

[Ned]

Looking good!

If you're wondering what the line of metal rods going below the injectors is, it's a heater element in each cylinder for starting a cold engine. The driver would give them a quick blast for a few seconds before starting. It looks like pipework, but it's a metal bar that would have a wire going to the battery via a switch on the dashboard. Probably

[Crayons]

9 hours ago, Lummox said:

Whilst looking for evidence of cables in the engine bay area I came across a cable (or pipe?) hooked into the top of the radiator:

 

I don't have clue what this is (a coolant water temperature sensor perhaps?), or where it leads to (the plan is for it to eventually disappear into the firewall?), but we'll add something to represent it anyway:

 

 

Radiator overflow pipe. Terminates below the bottom of the radiator venting excess fluid or steam onto the ground rather than allowing the radiator to over pressure and burst.

[NIK122]

It must cost a fortune in paint to airbrush this real truck to look like a model kit!?!?

[echen]

10 minutes ago, NIK122 said:

It must cost a fortune in paint to airbrush this real truck to look like a model kit!?!?

Lots of people seem to be doing this lately.....................

[Lummox]

It's time for an update, but first let me respond to those who have commented...

 

On 6/17/2023 at 6:12 PM, Ned said:

Looking good!

If you're wondering what the line of metal rods going below the injectors is, it's a heater element in each cylinder for starting a cold engine. The driver would give them a quick blast for a few seconds before starting. It looks like pipework, but it's a metal bar that would have a wire going to the battery via a switch on the dashboard. Probably

Cheers Ned. If I understand you correctly the heater element metal rod thingies are visible here, with a wire snaking it's way through the firewall to the dashboard area. I'll see what I can do to add this. Many thanks for the steer 👍

 

On 6/17/2023 at 10:12 PM, Crayons said:

Radiator overflow pipe. Terminates below the bottom of the radiator venting excess fluid or steam onto the ground rather than allowing the radiator to over pressure and burst.

Ah, that clears things up nicely Crayons. I've hacked things around a bit in an attempt to portray an overflow pipe terminating below the radiator. Thank you. 👍

 

On 6/19/2023 at 12:28 PM, NIK122 said:

It must cost a fortune in paint to airbrush this real truck to look like a model kit!?!?

Ha, now that would be a bonkers project Nik. Take a real vehicle and add ejector-pin marks, seam lines, over-scale rivets, gluey fingerprints, silvered decals, etc. to make it look like a model you knocked out on a wet Sunday afternoon when you were 9. The old Matchbox kits would be good candidates - paint half the thing bright yellow, the other half sky blue pink, and then hang it from your ceiling (may need reinforced joists though)!

 

On 6/19/2023 at 12:39 PM, echen said:

Lots of people seem to be doing this lately.....................

There certainly are some jaw dropping builds going on Echen. Make you think about packing it in and taking up crocheting.

 

Right, what's been going on in the L4500 build saga? Air lines, that's what. To set the scene somewhat, let's first look at what I think is a post-war Mercedes-Benz brochure from a dealership in the Netherlands. Within the brochure is a schematic of the braking system showing elements that we'll attempt to reproduce on our truck. Following my sketchy understanding we see an engine mounted compressor (bottom right), with an air line that travels through a valve thingy (circled), the line continuing to feed the chassis mounted air tank (top left). A line then exits the air tank to feed some braking system gubbins (bottom centre):

 

OK, easy bit first, let's start with the air tank. The Voyager update set provides items to jazz up the kit tank somewhat:

 

The air tank is mounted half-way down the right side of the chassis. We see air lines entering/exiting the tank. The outermost line travels down the chassis rail from the engine area (it is assumed that this is feed line from the compressor). The innermost line snakes it's way under the chassis rail to some unknown location (it is assumed this is feeding the braking system somehow). We'll have to make some educated guesses on the routes of these air lines, but from these images we see there are minor variations (the 'in' line for example looks to pass above the cab step support leg in the top right image, but below the leg in the bottom right image):

 

After some guessing and head scratching we've come up with this. Brass rod of 0.6mm diameter was used for the outermost line as we needed something that would be more resilient to knocks in this exposed position. Lead wire of the same diameter was used for the inner line as we needed something more pliable to make the tortuous route under the chassis rail:

 

The imagination came to the fore when manufacturing anchor points for the lines. The anchor for the 'in' line is a 'beer can' shaped thing mounted just below the cab in the engine bay. The anchor for the 'out' line is a 'odds and ends from the spares box' contraption that vaguely mirrored that seen in the brochure schematic above. This is nicely hidden away under the chassis anyway so accuracy isn't paramount:

 

A good deal of guesswork came into play with the routing of the 'in' line from the engine bay area. A route under the cab steps was decided upon, the line passing through a handy gap between the cab and the mudguard (it's almost as if the gap was designed for plumbing to pass through ). As an aside you can see the fuel lines added previously here, the lines just about hooking up with the fuel tank area below the cab seat.

 

Next it was the turn of the air line from the compressor. There are several images available that show a line coming from the compressor, but where it goes from there involves more guesswork. A poor quality picture of a half built truck with it's engine panels missing gives a hint of the line route, so this is what we'll run with:

 

A mixture of brass rod (for the straight bits) and lead wire (for the wiggly bits) was used in a similar fashion to the plumbing of the air tank:

 

A trial fit of the engine to ensure that things play nice revealed that everything seems to fit quite well (which was a relief). Sure, it's incredibly fiddly to hook up the compressor and air line up in such a tight space, and sadly not much can bee seen of the air line with the engine in place (but at least we know it's there ). Happily though, we do see a glimpse of the air line through the bonnet louvers (which was a pleasant surprise):

 

That just leaves the 'valve thingy' that connects the airlines from the compressor and the air tank. I waffled enough as it is though, so we'll cover that in the next post...

 

Cheers, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

 

 

[echen]

The fantastic detail continues. Inspirational for my 1/72  builds - if I can downsize the components sufficiently.

[PROPELLER]

Paul, I can't imagine what you would do in a larger scale... Very impressive, hats off Sir!

Dan.

[Ned]

I don't know how you do this, Paul. Are you yourself 1/35 size?

[Hamden]

 

Have just found this build and spent a good while going through it from page 1, what a well researched and thought out project with outstanding attention to the smallest details.

Will follow along for the rest of the ride if I may?

 

     Stay safe          Roger 

[NIK122]

As ever, insanely good!😎