Voyage to the Centre of the Lee - F..F..F..F..F..FINISHED!!!

[Bertie McBoatface]

 

G'day mates! The M3 Lee tank; ain't she a beauty? Those graceful flowin' lines, the silky smooth surface, like a blonde surfer's thighs! An' she's an Aussie too. So I reckon to be true blue I'm gonna hefta write this in strine. Bein a bit of a bludger, that's goin' to be hard yakka for me, so I might bail on that later, but no wukkas, I'll keep goin' 'til I'm stuffed.

 

Kinoath, I'm already stuffed!

 

 

This is what I'm starting with. There's 680g of plastic in there and all in the one baggie! No drama though, nothing's carked it on any of the 43 sprues (not including 20 more track sprues).

 

 

Beaut packing!

 

 

There's metal as well as plastic and allowing for the PE production techniques, I reckon that's handsome.

 

 

Cast texture is a good start but I'll be roughing it up a bit.

 

 

Here's the bad news. Cleaning up the parting lines and misallignment on the is gonna be like paddling up the creek without a paddle, spearing tadpoles with a crow bar. And that's because...

 

 

...there's a shedload of small bits, tiny bits and invisible bits.

 

 

So I've got three months to turn this...

 

 

...into that. 

 

Piece of wee-wee, I hear you say. Well, it would be if I followed the instructions.

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

This position reserved for finished pics.

[Jasper dog]

I say old chap, any chance we can we have a translation into English please..

 

The nightmare of Miniart, brings me out in a cold sweat looking at these kits!

I can highly recommend a really good pair of single blade nippers, should make the clean up process easier. 

 

Looking forward to another Bertie build!

Darryl 

[Robert Stuart]

Nice looking kit - though I don't envy you working on an interior for a GB.

GL

[Bertie McBoatface]

Now wouldn't it be a pity and a shame to make all that marvellous interior detail and then bury it as the instructions suggest?

 

 

That's the donk, ten steps in.

 

 

That's the donk, in.

 

 

And that's the donk, sinking like a beach biscuit in a riptide. The next stage puts the lid on the coffin and the engine's gone for good.

 

It won't do. It will not do. I will not have it thus.

 

I could have it blown apart in combat but I've done that already with my first full interior kit (this is my number two. 💩?).

 

Also, of the 700+ M3s delivered to Australia, only one of them made a single combat patrol and as far as I know, came to no harm. Not the Aussies' fault, the Japanese army never turned up to bat.

 

I could do it being assembled in America but there's no stage of the building of the real thing that has everything in and still visible - just like the kit. So it's got to be a museum/training school cutaway.

 

 

Here's a Centurion at Bovington.

 

 

Same cutting style different tank, better view.

 

 

Skeletonised! That is amazing. I've seen a Jet Provost done like that at Halton. It's a bit iffy for my skill level though. I reckon my version of that would just fall apart. Although, as I'm writing this sentence, I'm beginning to see some definite advantages especially on a tank like a lee with all those big flat surfaces. What if I just cut out the middles of all the panels and assemble the outsides of them into a skeleton frame?????? 

 

I was actually, until a minute ago, going for this style:

 

 

Which I think looks amazing on this tank and is clearly intended to show the trainees at this Russian tank school just how much armour they have around them. It's not the best way to do my Lee though. Nope, it looks like I just talked myself into skeletonising an M3. Cracking! Now I know what I want, making it happen will be a lot more possible, though not easy.

 

I'll stuff as much detail in there as I can without making it explode, and remove as much of the skin as possible without making it fall apart. AND! And I can still do a nice curving cut around the turret to complement the shape of the cast part! Two styles in one.

 

 

The first part, which I can begin asap because it isn't building until I glue something, right? The first part will be tacking all the hull panels together with masking tape and planning, marking out my cuts. The previously awkward fact that all of the hull comes flat-packed has just turned into the most fortuitous advantage, the cutting will be a doddle. 

 

AND! And since I'll be cutting away hull behind details like the radios, the ammo racks, the fuel tanks, I'll have the opportunity to scratchbuild the interiors, or at least the rear faces of all of those things. Is that a good thing? Yes it is. I'm not building the interior of the gearbox/final drives though. And that's final. It would be wildly over-ambitious. A stoopid idea. Wouldn't it?

 

In three months?

[Bertie McBoatface]

39 minutes ago, Jasper dog said:

I say old chap, any chance we can we have a translation into English please..

 

The nightmare of Miniart, brings me out in a cold sweat looking at these kits!

I can highly recommend a really good pair of single blade nippers, should make the clean up process easier. 

 

Looking forward to another Bertie build!

Darryl 

 

 

 

 

 

I am well prepared to overcome anything MiniArt has brought to the table.

 

 

The question is, are MiniArt prepared for ME?

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

28 minutes ago, Robert Stuart said:

Nice looking kit - though I don't envy you working on an interior for a GB.

GL

 

Oh, I dont know. It's nice to have a bit of pressure. And when I need to relax there's always the Archer SPG in its range firing diorama, with all the figures and the Tilly and the range hut and so on, which is my other project right now.

[Jasper dog]

Whatever meds you're on I need to know, cos I want some!

Just the prospect of the miniart interior kit has me sweating never mind now promising to create the gearbox and final drive interior details. Hundreds of tiny gears to cut, sun and planet wheels to recreate, tiny bearings for the drive shafts. Then of course the radial engine, tiny cam shafts, valves and springs, microscopic collets and piston rings, con rods, cut away magnetos and on and on .....sure this will be epic!

Doing the cut away crew too? (To far??)

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

51 minutes ago, Jasper dog said:

Doing the cut away crew too? (To far??)

 

Actually I do have a crew in mind. I'll paint them really badly so they look like museum manikins. Oh, hang on, all my figures look like that. Easy then.

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

8 minutes ago, Jasper dog said:

Just the prospect of the miniart interior kit has me sweating never mind now promising to create the gearbox and final drive interior details. Hundreds of tiny gears to cut, sun and planet wheels to recreate, tiny bearings for the drive shafts. Then of course the radial engine, tiny cam shafts, valves and springs, microscopic collets and piston rings, con rods, cut away magnetos and on and on .....sure this will be epic!

 

Promising? PROMISING? Go back and read it again.

 

Though now I think of it, I could cut the top off and show it full up to the rim with black opaque oil...

[Lightningboy2000]

This will be entertaining! Might even inspre me to re-start my Mk.1 which stalled a year ago! Here's as far as I got!

 

[diases]

Skeleton Idea is intriguing. As I've always struggled with the idea of displaying interior kits

Paul 

[Bertie McBoatface]

11 minutes ago, Lightningboy2000 said:

This will be entertaining! Might even inspire me to re-start my Mk.1 which stalled a year ago! Here's as far as I got!

 

 

Thank you. It's interesting to see the shape semi-built like that. I'm going to make many cuts in the plating and some of them, I know, I will come to regret. Generally though, I'm optimistic.

 

It's hard to visualise it until I've built it and since I've no intention of doing another, that's not much of a help. 😁

[Bertie McBoatface]

15 minutes ago, diases said:

Skeleton Idea is intriguing. As I've always struggled with the idea of displaying interior kits

Paul 

 

Yes, the more I think about it the easier it seems to be. Easier to make decisions about the cutting anyway. Cut everything and if there's something on the other side, it's displayed. If there's something supposed to be there that isn't, then build it. I'm even going to cut the floor under the engine and the fighting compartment.

 

 

The cuts will be  many small windows as in the upper plate on the photo. Not great big picture windows like the lower. This leaves structural strength in the panel, allows me to still fasten things to the insides of the 'framing', conceals my mistakes in the interior, and will make the final product look ten times more complicated than it really is.  

[Lightningboy2000]

With this kit I think your idea of cutting it open is definitely the way to go as there's so much in there! I know what it's like when you've got a goal in your mind & by all means necessary those plans need to be carried out come what may! You wont regret it, I sense you're much like me! My excuse is nvolvement in other group builds & some mad competition build with our local club & model shop.

 

[Lightningboy2000]

5 minutes ago, Bertie Psmith said:

 

Yes, the more I think about it the easier it seems to be. Easier to make decisions about the cutting anyway. Cut everything and if there's something on the other side, it's displayed. If there's something supposed to be there that isn't, then build it. I'm even going to cut the floor under the engine and the fighting compartment.

 

 

The cuts will be  many small windows as in the upper plate on the photo. Not great big picture windows like the lower. This leaves structural strength in the panel, allows me to still fasten things to the insides of the 'framing', conceals my mistakes in the interior, and will make the final product look ten times more complicated than it really is.  

 

 

 

 

 

You going to put some lighting in there as well? Just a thought. I assume there were a couple of bulbs in there somewhere. I've got some walkaround books with some interior pics somewhere but cant seem to find them at the moment.

Edit that, just found them!

[Bertie McBoatface]

6 minutes ago, Lightningboy2000 said:

You going to put some lighting in there as well? Just a thought. I assume there were a couple of bulbs in there somewhere. I've got some walkaround books with some interior pics somewhere but cant seem to find them at the moment.

Edit that, just found them!

 

I was going to when I planned to have only two or three 'windows'. However, with the amount of holes I now have in mind, will it really be necessary? I've never done lighting before and maybe this isn't the right project to introduce yet another new idea.

 

I will poke a few LEDs in for the final photoshoot, otherwise it will be very difficult to light.

[Longbow]

Oh, this thread is scaring the crap out of me

 

I have a couple of MiniArt kits, and once in a while I’ll crack the box top, peek in, and carefully close it… sliding the box back on the shelf !!

[Bertie McBoatface]

I've just been pondering the painting of this thing. By cutting most of the exterior off, I'll be brush painting almost everything once I start to build. There will be an opportunity to spray components before assembly but that will be that. I'd better be careful with the glue! A run of Extra Thin where I don't want it could be rather nasty.

 

I'm enjoying this 'thinking day' very much. Thanks for all the suggestions and reactions folks!

[Bertie McBoatface]

3 minutes ago, Longbow said:

Oh, this thread is scaring the crap out of me

 

I have a couple of MiniArt kits, and once in a while I’ll crack the box top, peek in, and carefully close it… sliding the box back on the shelf !!

 

I think the trick is to blunder in while the idea is fresh and not think too much about what will go wrong. Something will go wrong for sure but we can usually fix it, can't we?

[Bertie McBoatface]

 

"Well, it seems like a good idea to me boss, but where will the sausages go?"

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Welcome aboard Bertie, Ive a soft spot for the M3 and have built a few. I need an Aussie version and canal light so there are at leadt two more in my future. 

[Marklo]

You need to invest in one of these. No it’s not an electric tombola, it’s a vibratory finishing machine. You put the part to be debuted in along with suitable media, ball bearings, aluminium oxide grit, cocoa shells etc and it chugged away and removed the edges sharp bits and seams.

 

The plans for your build look well impressive. I’m just thinking ( dangerous I know) there are rivet lines around the edges of the side armour plates so I’m guessing that at least the superstructure consisted of armour plate riveted to a steel frame, so why not cut out the panels, make the underlying frame and have the armour plats as demountable units?

[Marklo]

7 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

A run of Extra Thin where I don't want it could be rather nasty.

I find that plastic magic is much more forgiving on painted parts.

[Bertie McBoatface]

1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Welcome aboard Bertie, Ive a soft spot for the M3 and have built a few. I need an Aussie version and canal light so there are at leadt two more in my future. 

 

I have a CDL in my display cabinet. Awkward looking beastie!