Hello!
It's been a long time, but now I've got a nice update for you!
I've been working on the details on the glacis plate. First thing I tackled were the headlights' brush guards. I had two sets of those - one from the Academy dozer blade set, other from the Perfect Scale resin set. I didn't really like any of them - they were too thick and the Academy one was too narrow, and the Perfect Scale one too wide. So I went on to make my own out of copper sheet. It's a rather complex bend, so I heat-treated the copper as a first thing, to make it softer. I also made a jig out of a piece of wood. The parts turned out quite OK, as can be seen on the photo below. On it, we've got the Academy parts (on the sprue, green), Perfect Scale parts (grey resin) and my parts (copper). There are also fittings for the brush guards, that I scratch built out of styrene sheet:
After this was done I had to scratchbuild a lot more of the details - like the mounts for the hooks that hold the blade in the stowed position, their actuating mechanism, the chains to be stowed on the glacis and the hooks to hang them on. What's interesting - the AFV Club glacis has some holes prepared in it, that show you the exact locations of those hooks - for me that's a give away they are going to issue this kit as a CEV - probably right after I finish mine...
I used one chain hook and a link of the blade stowing mechanism from the Perfect Scale set, and I also took the headlight bases from the Academy set, although I had to shorten them. I'm keeping the AFV Club headlights themselves - they are just beautiful. I got the chain from a cheap and crappy piece of jewellery that I bought while shopping with my woman - you have to keep your eyes open for modelling supplies at all times! I also used some Eduard PE. The pars that cover the seam between the hull and the fenders need a really complcated bend! In the end it all looks like on the photos below:
Sorry for the crooked handle of the blade stowing mechanism - it's not glued in place yet.
I also went on to build the A-frame boom. Out of the box, from the Perfect Scale kit, you get a part looking like that:
It had a slight bend, so I decided to replace the straight parts with a right diameter styrene rod. That saved me some bending, and also made the parts stronger. I also had to repair some parts, as the got damaged in transport and storage - like this hydraulic cylinder attachment:
Now the A-Frame boom looks like on the photo below. I replaced some resin parts that I didn't like with wire or styrene sheet - they are silver or white on the photos:
Now I'm going to concentrate on outfitting the turret. Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it - good luck with your builds and have a nice day
Paweł