Planning my first scratchbuild

Never seen the movie but I have seen pictures of the Dreadnought.  You might want to take a look at this page/video (if you haven't already); it should give you better details and possibly a POC (point of contact) for any questions you might have.  Good luck and please post pics of your WIP.  It looks like an interesting build.

Dreadnought_Video

Wow, I really appreciate that link!  That will definitely come in handy once I get around to building.  Right now I'm still in the "Oh, this would be cool to do!" phase. 

What scale do you plan to build this model? The tractor appears to be a Peter Built, but not sure on year model. If it is, then they are available in both 1/32 and 1/25 scales.

I have seen the move and that is a bad machine! 

I really don't know what scale I want to build it in.  I've found some 1/25 models of a Peterbilt 359  and I think that's the tractor they used.  I've found some tank trailers on eBay that are 1/25 so I think I might just go with that.  And this brings up a good point.  If I am building a 1/25 model, does everything have to be 1/25?  cause I was looking at weapon sets that have some pretty hefty machine guns that would work, but they are in a 1/35 scale if I recall correctly.  I know that the hardest part will be finding the right tank turret to mount on the back of the trailer.  Any advice?

Keep a consistent scale with your build.  1/35th weapons will be too small to work in 1/24th.  You will find it's easier to scratchbuild in the larger scales.

Keeping the scale consistent makes sense, I just wasn't sure.  And if I gather what you're saying correctly, working in the 1/25th scale will be easier than the 1/32.  Which is where I'm starting to see there might be a problem.  I've only been looking around online a little bit, but it seems that I may have a hard time finding the machine guns and cannons I'm looking for at the 1/25th scale.  Any suggestions on where to look?  Or even how to search for parts like that?

if you go with 1/25 - 1/24, Hasegawa made some 1/24 WWII military kits with machine guns of decent quality 

if you go with 1/32 - 1/35, there are many kits and accessories available for military and weapons there 

the turret sort of looks like a modified  M60 turret with armor plates added or a mini M1 turret 

interesting project idea for sure 

Thanks for the info there Sprue,  and the more I'm looking the more trouble I'm having.  I can find the truck and trailer in the 1:24 scale, but everything else is in the 1:35 scale.  I found one truck (not the peterbilt in the movie) at a 1:32 scale, and it's a snaptite model kit...  If you were doing a project like this, would you use snaptite if worse came to worse?  I'm not so concerned with getting the exact model of the cab right.  I know that with this build I'm going to end up putting my own flair on the piece since there's not real set definition to the real thing other than the pictures.

Hello there m8 and wellcome to Finescale, I have to ask what scale size do you normally like to work in? All modelers have a scale they like to work in the most. For me I like 1/20,1/25-24, and I love 1/35. If I were going to do this project I would go with a scale were I could do the most detail. and that would be in 1/24.

As you can see some of the othere guys & girls, have pointed out companys that will have the wepons you may need. I'd scratch build them my self in 1/24.

Now in 1/32 it would be realy eazy and faster to do., as all 1/35 wepons will work just fine here. (but) your cut down on how much detail you can do, if your scratchbuilding skills are not all that high.

Like in my first QT-Question, we need you know what scale you like the most and what skill level you consider yourself successful in?

[quote user="White_R34"

Like in my first QT-Question, we need you know what scale you like the most and what skill level you consider yourself successful in?

[/quote]

It seems that this answer may be against the grain of most modelers, but I have no preferred scale.  My best work has been done in 1/48 (P-61 Black Widow) and 1/200 (HK-1 Spruce Goose).  I'm pretty adaptable to working in any scale.  As far as level of modeling skill, probably early intermediate would be the best descriptor.  My scratch building skills are a bit higher simply for the fact that I've done some before.  Used to play the tabletop game MechWarrior.  My friend and I would convert and modify our units to make them look better. (and a little more fierce in many cases).  Hope this helps.

very interesting video link, Joeviz

the snap-tite Peterbuilt in 1/32 is the one that I was refering to. Generally, you can mix 1/32 with 1/35 and it will look ok. Just don't sit a /32 figure right next to a /35 figure. That might look weird

you say that you already found the tractor and trailer in 1/25? I'd build this project in this scale then. I'd use this base kit to scratch build the rest of it onto. I'm not aware of any manufactures making 18 wheeler trailers in /35 or /32. Unless you want to look into die cast products for this

since this is your first scratch build, I'd avoid getting bogged down trying to scratch wheels and tires 

Alright, since this is going to be my first major scratchbuild, I can't thank y'all enough for the advice.  I think I'm going to go in the 1:24 1:25 scale range.  That gets the truck part out of the way.  It looks like finding any weapons kits at that scale will be tough.  This is my major concern.  I've never scratchbuilt any weapons.  Does anyone know of a good how to on making machine guns?  The flamethrower I'm not too worried about.  The extent of my scratchbuilding is really more along the lines of modding existing pieces, not really a true build from scratch experience.

Try finding some of the older 1/35 Tamiya kits such as the Flakvierling 38

image: 

http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/35091flakvierling/index.htm

You can use the guns from this kit that sort of looks like the Browning MG .50 in 1/25. Just scracth build some handles 

Ok, so I can use guns from a 1/35 scale when building a 1/24 scale just be sure that they're BFG style guns? :P

in this case yes. This is a science fiction subject which you described as being close to the movie model but not exact 

the /35 Flakvierling is inexpensive, readily available and has four guns included in the kit. The Hasegawa /24 jeep with the Browning .50 cal is around $35. + and only has one gun included

both guns from each kit measure out to the same length and width, with the detail profiles almost the same. 

perfect /24 sci-fi subject machine guns 

Ok, that makes perfect sense.  Thanks!  Oh, and Happy New Year to everyone!!!

good, just hoping to helps

this an image of the two different guns next to each other. The Hasegawa /24 is layed over the Tamiya /35 Flakvierling 38s 

post a WIP thread of your project here or in Science Fiction forums so we can see progress 

Happy New Year 

SprueOne, that picture is EXACTLY what I needed to see!  Thanks so much!  And I will definitely post WIP pics.  You may want to subscribe to the thread though (anyone who wants to see WIP pics) as I'm probably not going to actually start the work on this project for a few months yet.  I'm working a temporary job until I make it through the application process to be a police officer.  Once all that is done and I'm living in my own place I'll be able to set up my workstation and really get to cranking on this.

Here, I made the weapons for this. http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=26961 I have a tutorial here, or a work in progress. Maybe this will help: http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=296740 I have a little more work to do, but this is almost offically complete.

                                                                                         ~ Cobra Chris

Thanks, that should definitely help out when I get around to building the custom weapons, especially the flamethrower and the grenade launcher I expect. :)  Thanks for sharing.  Not to mention, that it a very well done T-800!