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Okay, so here we go. The second armor build of my adult modeling life. The first with an open turret, which scares the crud out of me! Pretty sure this is also one of the first non-Tamiya armor kits I've ever built.
The instructions threw me for a loop almost at once, with all kinds of stuff going on in the hull interior. Then I skipped ahead and realized that the turret didn't have a floor.
So I guess I'm building out a full interior for this one!
Also got the RB Model 17 pounder built. Still have a lot to do to it on the crew side, but the business end is looking pretty solid.
Overall impressions of the kit so far aren't terribly favorable. The fit of major components - like turret walls - feel very vague and don't always line up 100%. There's no locking mechanism for the turret ring. Ejector pin marks everywhere, including right out plain sight! My chisel blade is working overtime on this one...
On the Bench: 1/32 Trumpeter P-47 | 1/32 Hasegawa Bf 109G | 1/144 Eduard MiG-21MF x2
On Deck: 1/350 HMS Dreadnought
Blog/Completed Builds: doogsmodels.com
Now you have gotten my attention... this should be fun! I am surprised that they would let ejector pin marks on the exterior. Bad decision at the manufacturer's end...
Andy
deafpanzer Now you have gotten my attention... this should be fun! I am surprised that they would let ejector pin marks on the exterior. Bad decision at the manufacturer's end...
Yeah, me too...but unless the Achilles had random frisbee-sized circles all over the place, ejector marks abound. You can see two of them where they've been shaved off on the top rear of the turret. They're all over the inside panels, too. A few are covered up by stuff, but at least half of them aren't. Frustrating.
The hull exterior also had a bunch of little raised circles, I guess maybe for the M10, since the instructions have you shave them off. Definitely bring a chisel to this kit!
I'm also pondering a Tasca M2 for this build. The kit gun isn't bad, but it's not amazing, either.
I hear you Doogs. I wasn't overly impressed with my AFV pak-40 either. Instructions are poor and fit so-so.
Keep up on her though.
Eric
Hmmmmm, built AFV Club's M10 and M36 and thought they were pretty good kits. Then again that was over ten years ago and my memory is getting fuzzy in my old age.
Great work so far, please hang in there. I wanna see what she looks like when she's done.
"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen
Ohh there are so many puns to be made on the 'Achilles' name...
Looking good so far Doog, hang in there as the camoulflage scheme on the box cover looks very cool.
Im 3000 miles away from my hobby bench (now mosty stored in the shed) yet I have some basic tools and about 50 unbuilt kits stashed in the motorhome. Now just need to get to it...
The Canadians used a turretless SPG based on the British 17 LB AT gun, its called 'The Archer' & I hope to build it one day...
Tanks for posting, looking forward to more!
Thanks all!
No worries about me bailing on this one. It's got some frustrating elements, but I'm a long way from subjecting it to withering sledgehammer fire.
I am, however, leaning away from the whitewash scheme and think I will be going with the green/black camo that's seen on the box art.
I will, though, probably be taking my sweet time with this one. Aside from the Mossie that's sharing the bench, I'm eyeing every build from the Achilles out as potential contest fodder (the other two being a WnW Sopwith Pup and a Revellogram B-25J converted to a PBJ-1J). If I have to do a full interior and open turret, I want to do it right!
Got a set of brass 17 pounder rounds on order at the LHS, and I noticed the other day that they've got a few Tasca M2s in stock, so I'll be adding those at least. Still debating how much, if any, of the Eduard PE set I want to use. Seems kind of silly to use the PE tread plate when the kit's already got really good tread plate detail...but some of the driving levers, straps and such probably make a lot of sense.
looking good Doogs,that barrell and muzzle look real good in metal.
anthony2779 looking good Doogs,that barrell and muzzle look real good in metal.
Well, I turned the barrel so you can't see the seam.
Actually...the RB model barrel is kind of frustrating because the weight and the mounting collar are to small for the diameter of the aluminum barrel. Had to widen them out with a needle file.
Good luck with the build Doogs, if it turns out anything like the Sherman, it will be a beauty.
Terry.
You've discovered that not all manufacturers are created equal in the armor world but glad to hear you're hanging with this one despite the ejector mark challenge! Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one.
BP Models
wbill76 You've discovered that not all manufacturers are created equal in the armor world but glad to hear you're hanging with this one despite the ejector mark challenge! Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one.
Funny, since I somehow got it in my head that AFV Club had a pretty great reputation!
I ended up breaking out the Eduard PE set I had for this thing last night...parts of it seem silly (replace the well-molded treadplate with PE treadplate), but other bits are highly useful. Hopefully I'll start shooting primer on a few bits tonight and have something to show. I'm definitely getting that feeling that I've hit a point where I need to paint stuff before I can move forward.
DoogsATX Funny, since I somehow got it in my head that AFV Club had a pretty great reputation!
That was my impression also. Not sure any more.
Same here... was planning to get more American armor... M-10 and M-36. I understand that AFV Club make them the best... maybe one day Dragon or Tamiya will issue those. Who knows?
Good luck and hard work and it will turn out fine.Ron
deafpanzer Same here... was planning to get more American armor... M-10 and M-36. I understand that AFV Club make them the best... maybe one day Dragon or Tamiya will issue those. Who knows?
cough...Tasca...they seem to have a special love of VVSS and HVSS anyway so it'd seem natural.
Not much work done last night...spent waaay too much time sanding on the Mossie, but primer's going to start going on probably tonight.
Also got word from King's Hobby that my brass 17-pounder shells are in. Looking ridiculously forward to those suckers!
Got the major interior bits primed. I also continue to be amazed at the vague fit this kit exhibits. Consider the ammo racks in the turret. They're basically a flat surface to flat surface join, with a vaguely raised perimeter to help you locate them. Only the perimeters seem off. And aren't actually the same size as the racks. Would it have been so hard to place some locating trenches instead?
Here are some of the PE additions. If they were going to be more visible, I'd probably replace the controls with metal rod, but you can't really see that far up the hull. Instead I'll be focusing on the raised treadplate platform and the ammo racks on top of the sponsons.
Lastly, a look at just how much space the back end of the 17-pounder occupies within the turret. That's a big boy!
Well well, what have we here?
Doogs,, the round raised spots on the outside, side panels, are for probably the M-10 version, which has bolt heads in those places for add on Armor plate...
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[quote user="p38jl"]
here's a pic from my M-10 WIp show the bolt heads on the same hull type.:550:0]
p38jl Doogs,, the round raised spots on the outside, side panels, are for probably the M-10 version, which has bolt heads in those places for add on Armor plate... here's a pic from my M-10 WIp show the bolt heads on the same hull type.:550:0]
Yeah that's about what I figured. The Achilles uses them on the turret and front glacis, but all the side ones have to go (except on the Canadian version, where they still have to go, but it still uses lugs, only in different places...).
How are you finding the M10? And whose fenders are those? My Eduard PE set includes fenders, but I'm not sure that I'm quite up to that kind of challenge yet!
Doogs.. I finished up my M-10 last spring.. for the Winter weathering GB.. I built the AFV club kit.. added a resin engine bay and photo etch details.. the PE wasnt bad at all.. here's a final pic.. before I added snow...
[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]
w snow...
We now return you to our regularly scheduled doogs thread..
p38jl - that thing looks fantastic! I've now got something to live up to!
Alas, not much work on the Achilles over the past few nights...the Mossie's been getting its paint, and that's been taking up all my bench time. Hopefully I'll get to play a bit more tonight.
Also, anybody happen to know if the SCC 15/SCC 14 camoflage used a hard or soft edge? The painting guide is inconclusive and I can't for the life of me find any archival images...
thanks Doogs
Solid work on the beastie you've got there. The gun on that is quite impressive. Why is the clamped on weight on the barrel?
Cheers
Dave
With enough thrust, pigs fly just fine.
hughes2682 Solid work on the beastie you've got there. The gun on that is quite impressive. Why is the clamped on weight on the barrel? Cheers Dave
Thanks Dave! You know, I honestly have no idea why the weight's there (while not on, say, Fireflies). I can only guess it has to do with balancing out the weight of the breech assembly?
So I keep revising my plans in how to attack this beast.
At the moment, instead of pushing on and painting the rest of the interior and the open turret, I'm going to complete all the construction I can. That way, when it comes time to spray the green, I can get the interior and exterior in one go.
Also decided to get all ambitious and attach the Eduard PE fenders last night. They definitely look more to scale than the kit fenders, but there's a slight problem - a gap between them and the main fenders extending back along the sides of the tank. I'm planning to glue a thin piece of card stock or something behind the gap, then use putty to disappear it.
You ever have one of those nights where nothing's going right, you know you should just step away from the bench, but you stick at it and things get even worse?
Yeah.
Started out last night trying to decal the Mossie...but somehow the Future laid down very grainy-like. Polished a few areas down went to go apply some decals, and the Micro Set lifted the paint. Umm...what?
So I set that aside and moved on the Achilles. Trying to get it as built up as I can before painting. Kept battling the concrete monster all night...then managed to knock over a bottle of solvent. Which spilled all over my cutting mat. And the lower hull of the Achilles. The transmission cover took the brunt of it...and one of the drive sprockets is now locked down, never to move again. Could've been a lot worse, but still...
On a more positive note, FedEx just brought me a Dragon Firefly Ic Hybrid and RoG's new Arado Ar 196!
You got me motivated to go and dig my Achilles out of the stash and start on it, it has been there for quite some time. Everything is pretty much straight forward, I have the hull done and am starting on the turret but it seems that there are 2 sets of turret walls, the instructions say to use the P sprue parts and nothing said about what the A sprue parts are for. Any idea what the story is on these.
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