Hi guys,
I'm making good progress and wanted to get up to a certain point on the instruction sheet so when I came to my weekend build-athon I'd be be starting afresh on a new sub-assembly: in this case the Casemate and Gun mount/barrel assembly.
So Fenders are on along with the mountings etc. They stick up on the underside of the lower hull and fit just fine. Two small mounting arms are needed at the rear, two up near the front on the sloping part of the fender and two longer ones that sit right up front on the front of the fenders.
I know a few of you have this kit and are following this blog for pointers so I'll start with mentioning the four pieces of PE that you are asked to put up front. Don't fit them until you want the two Fender support arms on that go right up the front - also, I'd say don't fit them to the tank, bend them and fit them to the arms where the arms sit on the zim under the Bow MG. Bend them and fit one at the front of the arm and one at the back with the other bent half sitting underneath the arm. The idea is to give the impression that ech arm is sitting between to upright pieces
As I previously mentioned the instruction are not clear re these PE parts so leave them until you fit the fenders. Mine were trashed now so I just cut four PE pices and bodged them on so they looked like they were installed properly.
Apart from getting the Fenders on I fitted the round tube thingy? Barrel cleaning rod storage? There is simple optional PE mounting brackets so I used them - I'm trying to use more PE now as it's obvious that a good build benefits from good PE work!
Photos:
Below - note the part of the fender arms that sit on the Zimmed area; that's where you need to put the PE.
The rear of the left hand fender showing the mounting bracket:
The Tube on the RHS Fender:
Finally, note the Fender spring: Not very detailed so when it comes to detailing up near the end of construction and adding metal grab handles ets I'll wrap some very fine fuse wire around some rod to replace these kit 'springs':
So, progress being made! Instructions still suck big time but are ok. Just dry fit and dry fit again!
This weekend I'll get the Casemate and gun assembly sorted.
Happy New Year my friends
Ben