Hello All,
It's that time of week again, ready for Part 3......
Links to the images are provided due to the fact that the FSM forums do not support this form of picture embedding. If you want to see the same post but with all the pictures in line with the text, go to:
http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=PostBoard&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=25989&page=1
p.s If you don't see any pictures at the links, come back at a latter time, there might be bandwidth problems with the photo server.
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=2817456
Here's a shot of the metal tracks I ordered from BackYard Armor (
http://www.backyardarmor.com/). These are Kenny Kong tracks of the highest quality, made with Zinc alloy I believe... don't quote me on that.
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=2817457
If you can afford them, I completely recommend it, they are just amazing to behold. They weight nearly 3 lbs!!! The tracks usually come with a few spares and extra pins with end caps. There are enough spares to replace the plastic spare track links that are mounted on the turret if you so wish.
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=2817458
Assembly is quite easy, here's a sample of each link. Yes, they do come pre-assembled, but sometimes shipping will undo many of the links, if you decide to blacken the tracks (I'll talk more about this in the next build update), wait till after you have done so before applying a bit of CA to each link end cap.
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=2817459
If you do go for the tracks remember that you will be limited in building a Korean version of the pershing, as far as I know this type of track only showed up on the Korean variants.
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=2817460
Here's a shot of the metal tracks against the kit included vinyl ones.
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=2817501
It's time to work on the back, yes I know I'm skipping steps here, but it's easier to do the modifications/additions to the back of the hull without all the heavy gears and motors installed.
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=2817503
I thought I'd would go ahead and replace the plastic tow cable and brackets. It's very easy to build the brackets yourself. I've seen reference shots where the brackets were simply steel angle brackets welded to the hull, and I've seen shots where the brackets had a slightly molded curve around the tow cable. I'm not a rivet counter, so here's a bit of artistic expression, this bracket is a prototype, the real ones will be slightly narrower.
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=2817502
Here are some of the tools I used to rebuild the tow cable brackets, a piece of brass angle, shaping pliers, a razor saw and a PE cutter.
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=3061827
Here's a shot of the replacement tow cable up against the plastic molded one in the kit. The new cable is made from 1/16 steel twine cable (It's about 1.58 mm just a tad larger than the actual correct scale size of 1.5 mm), pick it up in any hardware Store for pennies a foot. If you buy the same cable in a Hobby shop it will cost you 10 - 30 times the price!! You'd be surprised how many great things you can find in hardware stores for a fraction of the Hobby price. Cut the ends of the cable on a diagonal, this will allow you to easily fit them into the tow hooks.
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=3061836
Here's the kit included tow hooks and a shot of the completed brackets, as you can see the tow hooks were meant to be cemented to the back of the hull on the flat side. First you will need to gently drill through the back end a bit to make room for the cable to be inserted, after, you will need to add a small bit of styrene sheet and reshape the flat part of the hook. There is a German company that provides a metal version of these tow hooks (I believe the place is AFV-model: http://www.afv-model.com/, unfortunately I've heard many negatives things about this company from North American customers, buy from them at your own risk).
If you missed Part 2 from last week, here's the link:
http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15677
See ya in two weeks (out of town on business next week), same BAT time, same BAT channel....
BUDA
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