Light Tank Mk VI on the bench, began with detailing up the driver's compartment.  

The Vulcan kit of this diminutive vehicle does provide quite a bit of PE detail, but nothing for the interior, with just the chair for the driver.   So Eduard brass is what you see here.  Also added was an Archer decal to simulate the anti skid floor.  Found the product very thin, and preferred to stick to itself than anything else.  Too much handling caused it to tare and break apart.

A test shot for the fit of the hull roof and the larger front section parts.  I'll have to put together the driver figure now, if he is to be sitting in there.

regards,

Jack

Nice start jack. Always look forward to your builds.

Jack,

That built looks nice and clean, all PE is perfectly aligned, very good!

waynec

so how much was the Aftermarket plastic kit for the Hummel?

Hi wayne

Almost missed your question, it was a good $132 USD....

HI!! 

Finally I finished the PE....  

So I got to paint the model with a base color of Tamiya red brown, this is helpful for many things...take out most of the shiny of the model, primer base color for the desert yellow and I will experiment with hairbrush, salt techniques so the red brown will be used for a rusted layer. Next step is to use hairbrush and salt then cover with deser yellow and remove top layer....will see....

Finally glue all sub-assemblies, some chipping, weathering with oils, grime, dust, mud, you name it....

What do you think?

Garzonh thats coming along great, so much detail.

Jack nice startup, to bad about those tears on the floor, looks like a nice covering.

Has anybody notice Bish just keeps hanging around, one might think he wants to build something else??

Terry

Jack: Now that's some interior detail, the actual model can't be very big, nice to see you detailing the #@#@ outta it though!

Garzonh: Very cool! Looking forward to your results, I tried some salt chipping on a cheap old Soviet assault gun and wasn't that pleased with the results, hoping to learn something from you.

Jack - AWESOME! Great to see your tank starting to take shape.

Garzonh - Have to say that all that PE is paying off. 

As for me, I'm still inching forward. Put some paint on this morning. A little pre-shading for those areas that are going to get mostly covered and hard to reach when the real colors start going on.

Good morning everyone – haven’t posted in a while, but I’ve been watching you!  There’s some great stuff going on.  I can’t believe all the PE activity.  I wish some of you masters would show the forming of some of these things – I’ve never been able to bend multiples of the same part and get them to look the same.  I may have to take a class w/ Garzonh.  That Hummel…phew!

Bish – outstanding SU-85 and it’s presentation, I love it.

Shiv – congrats to you as well on the little StuG.  I’m cold just looking at it – nicely done

I haven’t had much time to work lately, but fortunately (?) I forgot my Airfix Typhoon at home yesterday .  That allowed some work to be done on my little half-track at lunch.  I used the plans I have copied in 1/72 scale to mark out the section of the rear cabin that needed to be removed – the cross-hatched portion in the picture.  I was a bit worried to see how “short” the kit was, until I realized the wheelbase is fine – the difference is at the rear.  Apparently this hot-rodded half-track had the new “turret box” built all the way to the rear overhang on the standard version, not just the cabin.

To make sure the sides matched at the rear, I used the trimmed left side as a template to cut the right hand side.  I then filed and sanded them both while clamped together.  The cut out for the right hand side is similar but includes the removal of the right front seat area to make room for the smaller MG34 turret.  The right side passenger cut was done after the rear trim was finished.

Here’s where it stands now.  Next up will be detailing the driver’s compartment, building up the rear bulkheads, and adding the angled armor and turret ring.  First though…gotta finish that Typhoon.  My, what a beastie that is!

Tim & Chuck: Excellent work guys!

I'm still chugging along here, now I'm trying to scratchbuild two spotlights some versions of the T-26 apparently carried. They're more of a drum shape than the normal light so I've cut two parts out of an old ballpoint pen and am trying to file them to shape.

jibber

Garzonh thats coming along great, so much detail.

Jack nice startup, to bad about those tears on the floor, looks like a nice covering.

Has anybody notice Bish just keeps hanging around, one might think he wants to build something else??

Terry

Someone has to keep an eye on you guys Believe me, if I had the time and the kit, I would.

Chuck, thanks, and god to see you back. Some work good there and

I've got a pic or two, thought I took more last night, but that's what I get for modeling late at night.....

Quickly, I'm building what the IDF called a "Super Sherman", which is an M4A1E8/76W, different than the same thing with VVSS which the Israelis referred to as the "M1 Sherman".  I'll be using Tamiya's M51 and M4 "early" to get the correct hull, and Academy's M4A2/76W for the turret. Just for fun, I plan on using some Dragon bits here and there as well.

I assembled the M51 lower hull, leaving the rear plate out. I then took the rear plate from a Tamiya M4 "early" and removed the VVSS idler mount bases and slid it into the back or the M51 hull, perfect fit.  A little trimming and the M51 upper sides fit as well. You'd almost think Tamiya might have had this in mind....    I then removed the HVSS idler mount bases from the M51 rear plate, installed them on the M4 rear plate that's now part of my M51 hull and added the rest of the M51 idler mounts. This whole operation only took an hour or so, nifty.

Another check revealed the Tamiya M4 engine cover plates were the EXACT correct width to fit into the M51 upper hull, but needed some trimming of the M51 upper at the front to fit there. I've started this, and marked the rear of the M51 hull to be cut, as the IDF added a piece here, but haven't cut yet until I check references. So, here's my start pics:

And parts from here, too.....

And where I am now:

The upper is just laid on the lower right now, still quite a bit to do before I join these up. I'll get more pics up that show the work on the rear plate as soon as I can, with hopefully some work progress.

Nice work on the Hummel. With the primer on you can't even tell it is mostly PE. Looks awesome.

Tim, coming along nicely there. Can't wait to see how the paint looks when done.

Bish I know what you mean. I have a couple kits to build another, but no time with trying to finish my Chaffe for the armour in the west GB. Though I do keep looking at the Panzer III that I have.

Chuck I have never seen that version of a half-track before. Shows how much I know about armour. Looking forward to seeing it completed, it is coming along nice.

RBaer: Wow, now that sounds cool! Looking forward to more photos, funny I've got about a dozen Shermans but not one of the Super type.

G, the "Super" as used by those that received them under MAP, and the Israelis, has yet to be kitted. Tamiya could do it in a heartbeat, probably by combining sprues from their M1 and M51 kits, which would have been the "easy" way for me to do what I'm doing, I just couldn't find the M1 kit in time. It's not difficult without it, though.

So here's a better pic of the M4 rear plate in the M51 hull, and the remains of the M51 rear plate, which is going to be part of enough "left-overs" to do another short hull Cummins-engined tank, maybe an M51 on a welded-hull?

Anyway:

And the engine cover pieces, showing the front two that are removable and the rear-most which is actually part of the cast hull:

And then all in, rear-most blended into the hull and the hull rear cut as needed. I had to remove the extension added by the IDF when the Cummins engine was installed, and I have to say that here Tamiya made a teeny mistake, but I'm over it. MrT has a straight weld bead here, pretty much across the back of the hull, and it should have actually been where my cut is, didn't notice when I built an M51 from this kit earlier this year.

Now to deal with the 32 or so pin marks on the lower hull sides. Joy.

Ahh, I mean the Israeli version with the giant gun, I'm kinda hazy about the different versions!

The engine deck looks great!

RBaer, nice work there. Something like that must take plenty of subject knowledge to know which bits to use from which kit.

Nice to see some more progress guys, I think Shiv and myself are getting a bit lonely on the front page, hope we have some company soon.

RBaer, nice work there. Something like that must take plenty of subject knowledge to know which bits to use from which kit.

Nice to see some more progress guys, I think Shiv and myself are getting a bit lonely on the front page, hope we have some company soon.

Eagle: The T-34 is looking good! I might have to pick up a kit similar to that one for a relaxing build in between those Dragon kits that include hundreds of parts... Are you going to add the air recognition flag to the turret roof?

Jack: Looks like you're off to a great start! That's one cute little bugger for sure!

Garzonh: The amount of details you crammed into that Hummel is amazing! It looks exactly like a small version of the real vehicle!

Tim: Looking good there! That Matilda kit is very high on my wishlist since you started building it!

Chuck: Fantastic work on your side as well!

RBaer: That kit-bashed Shermen is going to be very interesting to watch coming together! Looks good so far!

garzonh - mighty fine work with the PE.  Only question I have is with the gaps on the back corners where the sides meet the rear wall plate?

Tim - looking good, interesting colour choice for the pre-shade.

Chuck - have to admire the work you have set out in this small scale, can't be easy doing the scratch conversion.

RBaer - you must be one of those shermaholics, and I mean that in a good way.   Impressed with both the knowledge and work presented here.

---------------------------------------

Guys, thanks for the interest on this one.

Bit of a change for me on the interior colour, being an early war vehicle, it is finished in aluminum.  After some more test fitting, I could see gaps of light along the tops of the walls, so have added some .010 sheet plastic.  Should of done that before painting, but no biggie.

The seat sits on a pair of posts that was formed as part of the floor.  I had to whittle those down about 3mm to lower the seat to accommodate the driver, which is still being worked on.

regards,

Jack

Nice work, Jack.  That's some teeny stuff in a teeny space.

Oh, and my name's Russ and I'm a Sherma-holic. Forgot, I'm supposed to properly introduce myself before sharing.

So, more bits added, bogies mostly done and on, hull halves joined, FDA bolts added, bunched of large-ish holes for tools in the upper hull plugged and blended, slots for the spare road wheel mounts filled and blended...    and turret started. The Academy turret is OK, shape looks good, but details are pretty soft in places and the texturing is wildly irregular, none of which is a deal-breaker. Gun tube is Dragon, from some Dragon kit I had as spare parts.

Pics:

^Exhaust and air cleaners

^ Rear upper hull and part of turret

^ FDA bolts,

^ Shot from the front.

Jack: That's just super detail esp for you something I bet you can't see unless you stick a penlight down in the hatch!

RBaer: Yes, very definably starting to look like a Sherman, kudos!

RBaer - agreed, you've got a Sherman - really nice handiwork there!

-----------------------------------------------

Thanks again guys.

I've no actual photo updates, as I've run into some technical issues.   No reviews mentioned it, and I almost discovered too late, but the wall behind the driver should be a bulkhead with an opening.  It is also angled forward, and not perpendicular like the kit has it. 

There are also a few other details to scratch, particularly the arm that holds up the front plate in front of the driver - kit part is only half of the required length.

Perth modelling news do mention a resin interior update that includes the turret, but not going down that road.  I've seen someone create a false bulkhead, and behind that paint the kit provided wall totally black.  That gave me an idea of just painting a black opening on the provided wall.

regards,

Jack

I like the "black hole" idea, kind of ironic, too.

Last night I did the mantlet and turret front dust cover mounts, brass is from an old On the Mark Sherman set, probably been in the stash 10 years or more. Also, I got the turret textured and ready for detail parts and the hull hatches made up and ready to go in. Same as the Pershing here, I used some Academy periscopes to make "open" periscopes, driver's gotta see to drive.....

I'm pretty much past the basic stuff here, should be all detail parts now. I'd like to get this one in primer next week.

[/URL[URL=http://s1346.photobucket.com/user/kingtiger11/media/King%20Tiger%20-%20FSM/DSC00792_zps2109bdf3.jpg.html][/URL[URL=http://s1346.photobucket.com/user/kingtiger11/media/King%20Tiger%20-%20FSM/DSC00796_zpsa6e1e149.jpg.html]

A little more progress on the Tiger. I made banners and used painted stickers for the stars. I still need to position them a little better and color the white up a bit, but basically these match my reference photos. This was a dirty and dusty vehicle so a little debris where photos show a buildup is what I'll do next and the Tiger is done. I'm still struggling with my figures so I'm going to spend my next few days on them, it would be upsetting to have matched so much and can't get the crew right.  Terry 

I like it, Terry, looks good.

Jack & RBaer: Those are both coming along great!

Terry: Love how the Tiger is shaping up!

Wow Jibber,

Thats AWSOME!!!

I've fallen way way way behind but I still have some time.

jibber

Garzonh thats coming along great, so much detail.

Terry

Hi Terry,

Thank you very much sir!

Gamera

Garzonh: Very cool! Looking forward to your results, I tried some salt chipping on a cheap old Soviet assault gun and wasn't that pleased with the results, hoping to learn something from you.