AMPS East Theme WIP; Zvezda BA3 Armored Car /update 7/21 Tracks on

  What a wonderful and innovative job Steve. A very good example of creativity and attention to detail. The sprue melting trick is an oldie but a goody and can add greatly to a build as you have displayed here very sucessfully.

 Those tracks are a scream too. You really captured the metal "Look". Everything has come together nicely for a very interesting build.

 Ah yes, that BT turret really brings back memories..........

Steve, Steve, Steve... What Am I going to do about you?  Constantly making me feel like a rookie.

Great stuff mon ami.

That is beautiful, and the fact that the tracks are scratched, makes it more so, also a very nice finish and subtle weathering, unusual subject, yeah, I give it 5 stars.

Bill 

  Julian, Mike, Bill thanks for the comps it's much appreciated as always

 I actually had some free time after work last night and started on the stowage. This weekend looks completely free (very rare for this time of year) so I plan on starting the base Friday night. It's going to be fairly simple, just a road and fence. I have the old Tamiya Russian soldier figure pulling the Maxim mg. Think I might add that also.

  I'll post some pics when all is done.

      Steve

It looks great even without all the baggage on it yet.

The tracks look great

Rounds Complete!!

That has turned into a very nicely detailed build Steve. The work on the rivets and tracks pays off big time and turns the basic kit into something special. A very big on this one.

Julian

  Finally had some free time at the bench and managed to finish up the tracks and get them on. Also added some chipping to the turret and hull. Not too much just enough to give it that been there and back a couple of times.

   Still have to add the stowage, tools and give it a coat of matt. Once it's on the base it'll be weathered some more to blend with the terrain. Hopefully I'll have some time to work on that this weekend.

    I have to say this has been a pretty enjoyable build, except for the butter fingers incident and if you're into Russian armor a very unique vehicle to add to the collection.

    My next project will be to finish up a dio I started a few months back hopefully to be completed in time for amps. Stay tuned.

            Steve

SMJmodeler wrote:

What's your tentative start/finish date?

  Steve the earliest would be next summer even though I already have the kit.

terry35 wrote:

Stve this is going from strenght to strenght, simply astounding work. I really hope all this work pays off, which I'm sure it will. Terry.

  Terry, thank you. And it already has paid off with all the complements that I have received from my fellow modelers.

glorbes wrote:

That method of track making is brilliant.  I am totally going to swipe this idea, and adapt it for my own evil purposes.  You, sir, are a genius.

   Glorbes swipe away sir!

redleg12 wrote:

Very Very Nice scratch work. Love the work....love the look.....love the scratch especially....the lost art in the era of super kits. Rounds Complete!!

  Thanks Mike, even though I like to use am stuff here and there its always fun to go ‘old school' once in awhile.  

Very Very Nice scratch work. Love the work....love the look.....love the scratch especially....the lost art in the era of super kits.

Rounds Complete!!

Stve this is going from strenght to strenght, simply astounding work. I really hope all this work pays off, which I'm sure it will.

Terry.

panzerguy wrote:

...one of my goals for next year is to build this same kit with a scratched interior and it will be depicting this photo.

panzerguy: Cool!  So that's a Russian vehicle "borrowed" by the Germans, huh?  It would help the dio', to pull that hill closer..as a backdrop.  What's your tentative start/finish date?

  Doc thanks for the kind words it's much appreciated.

   Marc thanks as always. September is coming up fast and I'm so looking forward to seeing everybody and their newest builds.

SMJmodeler wrote:

panzerguy wrote: Great photo panzerguy and I love the scratchwork!  You're sure pullin' out all the stops on this one.  Any chance of making your build into a dio' depicting this photo?!

   Steve, funny you should mention that. I found this picture along with some great shots of the interior after I had already begun this build. I've become such a fan of these Russian buggies that one of my goals for next year is to build this same kit with a scratched interior and it will be depicting this photo.

panzerguy wrote:

Great photo panzerguy and I love the scratchwork!  You're sure pullin' out all the stops on this one.  Any chance of making your build into a dio' depicting this photo?!

 Steve, beautiful build! Your attention to detail is very much to be desired. This looks to be a show stopper in every aspect.

                                                                        doc

    Thanks guys

  F Matthews I'm becoming a big fan of early armored stuff myself and have been picking up a few early German and Russian kits.

 Michael At first I was going to just have them strapped to the fenders but after seeing a few pics with them on the wheels I knew that's the way I had to go.

wbill76 wrote:

Never realised this one had tracks...but it makes sense I guess given the weight of the turret and the need for decreasing the overall ground pressure on the rear. Nice work on scratch-building your own Steve!

  Bill that's the great thing about this place even the most knowledgeable of the members can come across something that's new to them.

   So after some trial and error I managed to get the tracks going.

   Started out by cutting some strips of .20 Evergreen plastic 1/8 wide and cutting those into pieces a 1/4 in. long. By stacking seven or eight at a time I was able to sand them all to the desired shape rather quickly.

 Once I had twenty done I laid them out on some electrical tape using some plastic strip to line them up. Round plastic rod was shaved down on one side with a #11 blade. This was then glue to the links and allowed to dry over night.

  The links were now cut apart and the edges were sanded with an emery board.

   Now comes the fun part, each one was drilled out with a pin vise drill to allow the cable to pass through. In this case the ‘cable' was some heavy-duty thread.

   I tried counting the links from some pics and drawings and it looked like there should have been 18 but when I wrapped it around the wheels I realized I was going to need 21.

   Still have to do a little more sanding to round off the edges and then it's on to painting and the base.

    Steve

  Steve thanks friend and I can't wait to see yours and the other guy's stuff either

  Bill thanks also and I know you've been busy so I'll forgive you

  I've been working on the tracks and I should have some pics of the wip on those later this evening. Stay tuned.

Steve,

This one somehow sneaked by me, love the look of the finished item. Best of luck at AMPS!

panzerguy wrote:

SMJmodeler wrote: Steve: This one is really coming together great!  All the extra work has definately paid off!  You mentioned the pin washes being completed but they seem a bit understated IMO.  Those rivets would pop even more with another wash or two...maybe even a streak or two would be in order.  Either way, she's a real looker...make sure you bring those in-progress scratch build shots so the judges see all the extra effort. BTW: Did you add those weld seams or were those part of the molding?    Steve some of the details just did'nt show up to well in the pics. When you see it in person the pin washes and streaking will be more apparent. And yes I did the weld seams with a soldering iron.

Pictures sometimes don't tell the story...I can't wait to see it in-person Steve!  Top-notch work on those weld seams!

Killjoy wrote:

Amazing build!  I am in awe of all the scratchbuilding modifications!  If I may ask, what color did you use for your base coat?

   Chris thank you.

  It was first primed with flat black and then given a coat of Model Master dark green. I lightened the base color with some buff and used that to highlight.  

  Mike  Marc  Michael  Jim  Andy  White  Tony and Steve

         Thanks for all the kind words guy's.

     Andy I've become a big armored car fan and already have plans of adding more to the stash. I plan on picking up another one of these since they're pretty cheap and as long as you don't drop it they build up pretty nice with a little TLC.

   White, glad that the tip was helpful to you guys. I even submitted it to FSM, who knows maybe they'll be impressed also.

SMJmodeler wrote:

Steve: This one is really coming together great!  All the extra work has definately paid off!  You mentioned the pin washes being completed but they seem a bit understated IMO.  Those rivets would pop even more with another wash or two...maybe even a streak or two would be in order.  Either way, she's a real looker...make sure you bring those in-progress scratch build shots so the judges see all the extra effort. BTW: Did you add those weld seams or were those part of the molding?

   Steve some of the details just did'nt show up to well in the pics. When you see it in person the pin washes and streaking will be more apparent. And yes I did the weld seams with a soldering iron.