Early Karl Morser & Munitions Shlepper WIP READY FOR PAINT

Some folks just have WAY too much time on their hands, but that looks really cool!

Great kit, I can't wait to follow this one.

Thanks Guys!

Slow progress here, still finishing my tortoise for the 1945 GB.

I have one side of the suspension nearly finished.

Here is a picture of the hull as it stands right now, and most of the parts yet to go for the other side.

As you can see it is a daunting task!!!

Now that look interesting. But that's a lot of road wheels.

Bish

Now that look interesting. But that's a lot of road wheels.

Thanks Bish!

Got the suspension done, now onto the superstructure..

Picking up the Friul track tonight from the post office.

Got the FRUIL on this bugger today.

I now have a little body and fender work to do, then on to the rest of the super structure.

More latter...

Now that is one hell of a set of Fruils.

Bish

Now that is one hell of a set of Fruils.

You're right Bish!

It's like building two tanks worth of tracks, these suckers are long.

Here is another progress shot, the lift points were fill of ejector pin marks!

PANZERJAGER

ye, I was thinking that. Are those similar to Pz IV tracks. What set did you use, I think Fruil do an early and late set don't they.

Bish

ye, I was thinking that. Are those similar to Pz IV tracks. What set did you use, I think Fruil do an early and late set don't they.

These are the ATL-84 early Karl tracks.

Tey are larger in all dimensions than Pz. IV tracks.

I picked them up from Sprue Brothers for $58.99 with 3 day shipping.

Thanks for asking

PANZERJAGER

Thanks. I was just checking them out on the Fruil site. I can see some difference there between those and the Pz IV tracks. But $58, now that's pricey. I have usually found SB to be a lot cheaper than UK sites.

Bish

Thanks. I was just checking them out on the Fruil site. I can see some difference there between those and the Pz IV tracks. But $58, now that's pricey. I have usually found SB to be a lot cheaper than UK sites.

Bish,

I think these are so pricey because it is such a big set, there are a lot of track pieces in there....

PANZERJAGER

Well I thought that, but when I checked the Fruil site and Hannants, they are priced the same as most of the other sets. And I found that odd because their 251 sets are a bit cheaper than the larger tank sets. I was surprised to see your set were not considerably more than the others.

interesting, well what's done is done...

At least I got it in 3 days...

PANZERJAGER

ye, nout you can do now. Looking forward to seeing more of this.

Bish

ye, nout you can do now. Looking forward to seeing more of this.

yup!

That's why I'm heading out to my shop right now!

See you later...

PANZERJAGER

Man, it's kinda a bummer that Trumpeter didn't do a link-n-length track option for this kit, I would have been totally bummed to have sprung the dollars for this kit and find rubber band tracks. They've been doing L&L tracks in their KV kits for years; I wonder why they didn't do one for this kit--with the no-sag track layout, it would have been a breeze!

That's some commitment to do that long of a a double length with Friuls!

Karl, I can't figure out Trumpeter either. In there E-10 and 25 kits you get the option for both, but then they also sell a workable track as a separate item. But then in their larger E series you only get the rubber bands.

the doog

Man, it's kinda a bummer that Trumpeter didn't do a link-n-length track option for this kit, I would have been totally bummed to have sprung the dollars for this kit and find rubber band tracks. They've been doing L&L tracks in their KV kits for years; I wonder why they didn't do one for this kit--with the no-sag track layout, it would have been a breeze!

That's some commitment to do that long of a a double length with Friuls!

I do agree somewhat.

Though L & L would have been tough though because they would have had to do two set for posing with the suspension in driving or firing mode.  Though I wouldn't have minded indy links...

PANZERJAGER

Bish

Karl, I can't figure out Trumpeter either. In there E-10 and 25 kits you get the option for both, but then they also sell a workable track as a separate item. But then in their larger E series you only get the rubber bands.

I agree Bish.

I think it just come down to greed $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

Been making progress though;

Plenty of parts left though!!!!

PANZERJAGER

PANZERJAGER

I do agree somewhat.

Though L & L would have been tough though because they would have had to do two set for posing with the suspension in driving or firing mode.  Though I wouldn't have minded indy links...

PANZERJAGER

Well, it must be a cost-saving thing then. Trying to keep the price of the kit down, probably?

Does anyone know what the DML version offers?

Your build is looking impressive there, PZJGR!.

the doog

PANZERJAGER

I do agree somewhat.

Though L & L would have been tough though because they would have had to do two set for posing with the suspension in driving or firing mode.  Though I wouldn't have minded indy links...

PANZERJAGER

Oh geez, yeah, I forgot about that.

Well, it must be a cost-saving thing then. Trying to keep the price of the kit down, probably?

Does anyone know what the DML version offers?

Your build is looking impressive there, PZJGR!.

Sorry for the long delay, Karl.

The Dragon kit does come with individual links, but they are crude, and lack detail, as well as having 2 ejector pin marks per link.

I have been very busy and repairing mistakes I made in this Kit. Somehow I managed to get to major reinforcement parts reversed after I cleaned them up. As you'll see parts K-3 and K 25 are very similar but different enough to cause major problems down the line.

When I went to attach the Treadway parts N4 and N5 nothing fit. This brought about a couple of days of cutting swapping and read detailing these parts. This included carving off the hinge details and reapplying them where needed, not an easy task!

Then I had another blooper when I tried to adapt a metal barrel kit intended for the Dragon kit to this Trumpeter kit. I ended up cutting too much material off of the kit gun and having to reconstruct it, what a pain in the butt! But I think it finally turned out okay.

PANZERJAGER

I am almost ready to start painting this monster.  will probably get it into primer tonight...

Here are some more pics.

I almost forgot to mention, that I had to texture the gun parts too, here is a WIP pic.

More to come....

Looking really nice there Panzer. Does the Trump kit come with a one piece plastic barrel or two pieces.

Bish

Looking really nice there Panzer. Does the Trump kit come with a one piece plastic barrel or two pieces.

Thanks for stopping by Bish!

kind of a multi piece thing...

Not great.

PANZERJAGER

This thing is huge!

3 bottles of paint and I need to get more at the hobby shop tomorrow.......

PANZERJAGER

Nice job so far! It sucks about the barrel troubles, but we've all been there at some point.

Three jars of paint is a LOT, but remember when you could buy the BIG Tamiya bottles and get a project like this done with only one? Man, it stinks how small they make the bottles these days. Really bad deal for the customer!

the doog

Nice job so far! It sucks about the barrel troubles, but we've all been there at some point.

Three jars of paint is a LOT, but remember when you could buy the BIG Tamiya bottles and get a project like this done with only one? Man, it stinks how small they make the bottles these days. Really bad deal for the customer!

Thanks for stopping by Karl.

I wish they still made Floquil paint, it came in 2 oz. bottles.

I will post more pics tonight.

PANZERJAGER

So now after nearly emptying 4 bottles of paint, here you are, one fresh clean painted KARL.

As you can see the texturing is showing up well.

More later.