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The Great Crusade (take two)


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A witness coat of primer, which highlights every flaw 

 

51397486741_dca6be7c20_c.jpgUntitled by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr
 

Its been wet sanded since to try and eliminate the worst flaws.

 

As light relief, I’m pausing while I tackle a few more kits OOB, but also to progress the ARV mk I, using the excellent castings from S&S Models.

 

51398284589_8ab31e038f_c.jpgSherman ARV mk I by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr
 

The tracks were sourced from an M4A1 kit, to give the T41 style rubber block tracks.

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Slight hitch, I’ve realised the T41 tracks come with very early suspension, which I think isn’t right for the M4A2, so I’ve ripped them off and will create my own rubber block tracks by sanding down a T48 set and adding tread blocks from plastic strip. Why am I bothering? Because the photos of the 13/18 Hussars ARV I’ve based my model on, had the rectangular rubber block tracks on D-Day.

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Would the steel plating on the big ARV have maybe been quite roughly fabricated and welded ?

Going by some of the stuff we did on the railway, that was just for a specific job, a few months and then likely scrapped, it was put together without much finesse !

I wonder if the ARVs were envisaged as a quickie knocked up conversion with a limited life expectancy ?

Just curious.

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9 minutes ago, Pig of the Week said:

Would the steel plating on the big ARV have maybe been quite roughly fabricated and welded ?

Going by some of the stuff we did on the railway, that was just for a specific job, a few months and then likely scrapped, it was put together without much finesse !

I wonder if the ARVs were envisaged as a quickie knocked up conversion with a limited life expectancy ?

Just curious.

Yep, the survivors show some hefty rough welds, so it doesn’t need to be perfect, but once the coaming and exhaust go on it’ll be too fragile to do any more finishing, so important to get it done as best I can now

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To satisfy those who need a gun, here’s the M4A1, built almost entirely OOB, although I have modified the pistol port as it seems to have been welded shut on the real thing.

 

51400827274_16f995d700_c.jpgAdeline II by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

 

I’ve also removed one of the left hand road wheels, to reflect the damage Adeline II suffered on Omaha beach - in the photos the tank is being towed by an M31 (another great potential model for Rubicon to consider!) with the damaged suspension chained up.

 

51400827279_d68cabba3b_c.jpgAdeline II by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

 

51399314527_290a69d23a_z.jpgAdeline II by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

 

51400323608_dbb4334f43_c.jpgAdeline II by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

 

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Suggestions elsewhere are that the pistol port is only waterproofed, not welded, so I need to add back the hinge detail I shaved off. Moral: model what you see, not what you think you see.

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Only challenge so far was sawing the nose box to fit between the bolted transmission ribs, the instructions aren’t particularly specific about which bits go where, but referring to photos of the real thing gives a decent guide, and since the real things appeared to have been tailored by individual crews, who’s to say it’s wrong anyway.

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Hindsight always suggests many ways to do things better. Superstructure from 1mm plastic sheet rather than thinner, walkway supports from 0.5 by 1mm strip so it would sit on legs of 1mm square with support, and would mean the longitudinal pieces could be made from one piece.

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Thanks.

 

To my eyes, the butt join between the brass gunwales and the hull required quite a lot of unsightly superglue. 
 

I think my choices are :

1. Live with it - it’s only 110mm long, so what looks like massive blemishs are tiny in reality, and could be disguised with stowage or crew figures?

2. Strip the gunwales off, clean up and try again, perhaps using deeper pieces of brass clipped to give “tails” to slot into the hull?

 

I may try making some replacement panels to see if they feel achievable, and if they feel worthwhile.

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Some light relief, a nice simple OOB build, a Schwimmwagen, which seemed to be popular with the allied troops who came across them, if the various photos showing captured ones being used as buggies and runabouts are any guide. Wine glass purely for scale…

 

51441386265_2b9f3c2c87_c.jpgSchwimmwagen by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr
 

51440422456_48db81d189_c.jpgSchwimmwagen by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr
 

51441386245_a167a7e095_c.jpgSchwimmwagen by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

 

 

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