1945 GB

Plastic, the busy work & life schedule does not trouble me at all. Quite the opposite where I actually feel that I am right when and where I am supposed to be in life. Nobody is indispensable there, and I know that I sure am not. But I am needed, and thats good enough. There may not be enough time as I like for this hobby, but that is no big trouble when I think about it.

Green/Ken, you mean that you actually READ the directions for your kit???!!!

Afternoon all.... a bit more progress (finally) . Cars are kinda difficult when you don't build them a lot, but I think it will come out OK.

I think I've got the body parts, doors and such, aligned to where they will fit properly. And shot with primer.

This is the base coat of gloss red, the end color will be a Burgundy Maroon color. 

And heres the final color. Now it needs about a week or so to cure and after that its going to take a bit of rubbing out. Well, plenty of other things to work on while it cures. Take care all...

Doug

I like that Doug, and a nice shiny colour. What paint did you use for the final coat.

Nice paintwork, Doug.  Came out very smooth.

Thanks guys... CMK, I have a bit of orange peel to polish out but surprisingly virtually no dust.

Bish, I ordered the paint from TCP Global, They have about any thing to do with automotive finish from air brushes to Pin striping tape and brushes. If you don't find the paint you need its not been made yet! The brand I got was AutoColor, and it comes in 4oz touch up bottles up to gallons, so for the 2 part kit and the reducer it was only about 12 bucks, But the color is very near the original color for the 45Thru 48 Ford.

Thanks Doug

interesting colors  Vallejo Air Kubelwagen is dark yellow, Schwimwagen is panzer ocher 1943. as you can see the ocher has a definite green tint. this color will change based on type of lightening, brightness, computer monitor etc. this was a test for the gun and i'm going with the dark yellow.

couplers are 8 pieces. these are together with white glue for priming and i will work them as the paint dries. the objective is having a tight but functional fit like on the Gondola. also the air hoses will not be attached until the diorama building phase. i will paint with Tamiya metallic gray.

Yikes! I have to use the microscope at work to see these ladders to bend the 4 little tabs. There are several more to do, along with the 20mm gun sights.

Unbelievable. This may take a while.

   ??? Just... Damn!

Rigidrider

   ??? Just... Damn!

I am going cross eyed just looking at the pics.

stikpusher

Green/Ken, you mean that you actually READ the directions for your kit???!!!

LOLOL Doesn't everyone read the instructions ???? !!!!

I went looking for the rear seat in the jeep and  I'm surprised it was included.  But my dio is Berlin summer 1945 and I didn't think all the armament would be called for.  I needed something back there in place of those humongous fuel tanks they put back there.

OK here's crazy man's update for tonight. 
The life boats, davits, aft gun tubs, and whatever those barrel racks are?? (maybe someone else knows, I never have) were completed tonight. The instructions call out for me to install the davits and life boats now. Are they nuts? They would break off and get lost if I looked at them wrong, let alone the whole building and painting process. Duh.
Check out the life boat propellers. I believe they are the smallest I have to fiddle with on this PE set. A whole lot of good they did in the end though.

Steve

I believe that those cylinders on the fantail are smoke generators. Very nice progress there so far! That is some tiny and intricate PE!

Stick,

They could be . I won't stop until I find out though. I also thought about mines, but not enough of them, and I don't think we used heavy cruisers to lay mines.

Unbelievable work there Steve, and that's some detail in that set, props on those little boats, that's something else.

I know next to nothing about ships, but smoke generators back there would make a lot of sense.

Looks like fine WIPs. MC: yes the instructions on many ship models are crazy - if a part looks fragile and likely to thumbed during railing or rigging or whatever, don't put it on unless there is some part coming that forces you to. I hate boats.

A little progress on the Panzerjager. I think others would disagree but I like roadwheels - there's a kind of Zen feeling that comes from simple repetitive tasks. And wouldn't you know, the PJ has a boatload of wheels- they aren't on yet because I don't install them until much later in the game.

I've done quite a bit of the upper hull - more than it appears. Just attached the hull to see if is going to fit: looks like it will. This is brilliant kit - later I'll detail some the clever engineering that has kept a klutz from me from creating a major error - yet.

modelcrazy

Stick,

They could be . I won't stop until I find out though. I also thought about mines, but not enough of them, and I don't think we used heavy cruisers to lay mines.

They are indeed smoke generators. Look at this page and scroll down. I know that my memory was not playing tricks on me

http://www.bosamar.com/pages/bosc14

The US Navy had designated minelayers in WWII IIRC. Some purpose built and some converted. USS Oglala, sunk at Pearl Harbor during the attack was a minelayer.

stikpusher

They are indeed smoke generators. Look at this page and scroll down. I know that my memory was not playing tricks on me

http://www.bosamar.com/pages/bosc14

Steve, that turret looks fantastic! Wow!

Nice start there Eric. Not come across many people who like doing all those road wheels.

Now that's what I call a close up Steve. Love the look of that turret.

OK, I may have been a little too ambitious with the amount I could do in an evening. This AA gun took me 2 hours, and I have 5 more to complete. I also have numerous other guns to complete.
I broke off the muzzles of 2 guns and they are almost impossible to reattach.
Does anyone know how Academy's customer service is?

You looking at seats, sites, ammo racks, elevation cranks, and tracks

Academy's customer service is thru MRC. In my one time dealing with them you have to pay for part(s) and shipping. Lets just say they have a ways to go before they are on par customer servicewise with either Revell or Tamiya.  Those Bofors look great thought! Wow! Are you a micro surgeon for your day job? ;)

stikpusher

Those Bofors look great thought! Wow! Are you a micro surgeon for your day job? ;)

Its surprising how long working on PE can take. That looks amazing Steve, seriously nice work.

I have been watching from the sidelines and enjoying your progress.

PzJ That Tortoise is a lot of steel to take such a small gun. It will look a monster when done. Sure the rooskies could have jammed a 12” in there though.

PJ, the Mustang has a very smooth finish – got to be happy with that.

Waynec Off to a good start, those wheels are looking good. Just how massive is that going to be when it is done?

And just how small is that going to get MC? I have only got as brave as ordering railings  - boat propellers in 1/700?????????? And now the AA guns – it is looking great.

Gt98, instructions are what you read to find out where you went wrong, so I get good use out of them.

Doug, that paint is looking great, you have got a real depth in the burgundy.

Eric, I know what you mean about Zen and repetition. So should PzJ with the tortoise.

So I have done what I can of the Shinden in a motel room, next I need some time at home to hit it with some paint. Maybe I need to spend some time with the family first…

I had to restore sanded off raised panel lines across the fuselage and around the gun panels. The stretched sprue will probably need to be sanded down to be a bit less obvious.

Shown in early flight testing when the gun ports were sealed over and the armament was replaced with concrete ballast.

And with some interior green over the canopy framing.

So it continues at an even slower pace than my usual builds.

Nice progress lost and nice recovery of those panel lines.

modelcrazy

stikpusher

Those Bofors look great thought! Wow! Are you a micro surgeon for your day job? ;)

Well...kinda, I work on surface mount electronic boards for HP. I use a microscope, troubleshoot and solder/desolder components ranging from 2mm to 4mm.

Here ya go Stick. This is an example of a resistor that I solder. shown between a pair of needle nose tweezers.

I have so much fun at work that I just can't wait to come home and do it again. 

In reality, I am enjoying this build very much. Makes me want to work on my other ships.
Take a look at My stash to see what else I have in the line of ships if you want. I know it's not as much as most of the guys here. In fact it's just a drop in the bucket, but it will take me long enough.

you solder those. That's smaller than the blobs of solder I ended up with last time I tried.

I've spent much of my life teaching and writing about military history. Yet I haven't the foggiest notion of how the machines of war work beyond the most general factors. I'm building Tamiya's new PanzerJager IV L (brilliant kit) and I'm thinking about how much track sag I want. The problem is that most of the wartime photos I have of the beast and some of the museum samples show very little sag at all - nothing like you'd see on a Panther or Tiger where it's built in. The new kit has plastic tracks (very good ones for the type) and it's easy enough to create a sag. But if I did, or at least if I gave the sag some emphasis it appears that I might be moving away from history and not toward it. Some pics do show very noticeable sag - as noted they aren't in the majority. (Sadly the PJIV did not get the shutters working full time and the number of wartime photos is disappointingly pretty low.) Pics below give a good idea of the range of track sag in the photo record:

The two museum shots above show the sag extremes – no idea why. From the photos I've seen there is a very little visible sag. (Pictures of model builds of this new kit show a good deal of sag even though all of the diagrams in the Tamiya instruction show none at all.)  Was this a maintenance issue? And if so, would a well maintained vehicle have tight tracks or was sag set for ground conditions? Just want to get this right.

We used to have a saying. Slack tracks, slack crew. If the tracks are not tight enough, then this increase the risks of the tracks coming off. Over time, the tracks stretch as the rubber bushes wear. The tracks can be tightened, usually via the rear idler. Once the limit is reached, then a link can be removed.

I drove a warrior for 6 years, and while much military tech has changed, one thing that hasn't much is tracks. One of our daily checks was to check the track was tight enough. If a wheeled vehicle blows a tire, it can still move. Lose a track, and your going no where.