~The Bear Trap GB~ December '09 to August '10

Hey darson, how's that T-55 coming along?

Gents,

My apologies for being light on the post these past few weeks.  I'm wrapping up a very worthwhile build for a Veteran here in the area and have been dedicating most of my free time to it - I'll post all the WIP photos on another thread once this build is complete.  In the meantime, I've removed the flaps and leading edge slats on the Su-17 and will scratch build the control surfaces once I clear the previously mentioned project from my desk (yes, I'm too cheap to purchase a resin drop-in replacement).

Since my beloved Cowboys had it handed to them last week in Minneapolis, I've suddenly found more time for modeling. Ugh!!!  

Have a great week, guys!

A build for a veteran....gotta give you a serious kudos for that. By the way, no need to apologize for something like that.

Lookin' forward to seeing the scratch control panel. Over on my end I have the tracks almost done(one more drybrushing and they may very well go in place sometime this week.) Then I can move to upper hull work.

I finally have the tracks all finished up, the last application of drybrushing is drying now. Plus I have the lower hull all weathered up.....thus that means I'll get a small update posted sometime tommorrow. Now I just have to figure out how I'm gonna attach those tracks.

By the way, if you have the March issue of FSM that just came out, check me out in the Reader Tips section!! Had another tip published, it's the one about no-fuss oil & fuel stains.

Okay, here's the update I promised. Still have to get those tracks on sometime.....but I'm not in the mood to deal with them right now.

Anyways, I have the first two washes on the lower hull. A grime wash and a burnt umber wash....still gonna add another wash, but it's close to the look I was going for.(since it's in Afghanistan I was going for more of a grimy dusty look then one of dirt and mud.)

As for the tracks, half the battle is over(painting and weathering) now begins the tricky part of getting them in place and attaching the ends together. Test-fitting already showed this is gonna be problematic at best. The tracks were first primed, then painted in flat earth, after that went on a series of burnt umber washes, black washes, and a grime wash. Finally a series of drybrushing with two different shades of a black-steel mix.

As always, all comments, questions, and suggestions welcome!

Excellent work MG.,

She's coming along real well - your weathering looks very convincing.  

Oh, I happened across the latest issue of FSM today and saw your tip published in all its glory.  Way to go!!

Keep the pic's coming and I should have the Su-17 in the area soon to provide a little top cover.

FastEagle1-  Thanks for checkin' out the build and for checkin' out my tip. Su-17 for air support....that sounds good to me. Lookin' forward to your next update.

MG, its looking sweet my friend.

Bob

Hey all, remember me. I havn't jumped ship but I have had to work everyday from December 28th until yesterday. Boss decided to go on vaca and left me in charge. Which isn't a bad thing. Then last week I had some car repairs and the computer crashed same day. Car is now fine but the computer...... not so much. Clearly time for a new one. Anyway I am gonna spend all day Sunday modeling like a madman and hopefully take some pictures of some progress. For now I will go through the pages and update myself on what my fellow trappers have been up to.

                                                                         Andrew

M1Carbine-  Thanks for stopping by and checkin' out the build.

Got Hinomaru?- Glad to see you didn't leave us and that you'll be building soon. Guess I'm sorta in the same boat as you, except that I've had a large amount of course work everyday. I'm under this architectural instructor that works us to death(the fact he has a bad sense of humor doesn't help either.) The fact is I probably won't have any real free time to work on my T-72 untill spring break....

Alright Gents,

....Live on stage 3, it's..... the long lost Sukhoi!  Now that my workbench is clear of all evidence of the last project the trusty Fitter is back on the desk and ready to rumble.  

I've separated the trailing links of the main gear and gave them "the business":

Next up are the flaps:

The fuselage is buttoned up and I  hope to have photo's of it by the weekend.

Until then, I'm going to imagine it's summer.

Lookin' good so far, FastEagle1. Always love to see some scratching!

Thanks mg!

Progress continues...this time with the reconnaissance pod.  The Su-17M4R carried the KKR-1 pod on the centerline station and while the kit's pieces capture the correct shape, they lack a few details:

There is a cover over the forward camera bay and chaff dispensers towards the middle of the pod: 

The chaff dispensers in place:

A side view showing the details from the side: Evergreen channel used to box-in the chaff dispensers, and the vents and static dissipator on the aft-end.

Finally, a peek at the bird.  Much more work to complete before she heads to the paint-shop:

Good day everyone,

Progress continues on the big Suk, this time we're back in the front office:

The HUD control unit has been mounted onto a scratch-built instrument panel shroud and detailed with bits of copper wire.  The fabric cover was made by embossing the metal foil seal (donated by a bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle Merlot) with a putty tool, cutting it to shape and securing with white canopy glue.  I'll paint this contraption with Vallejo acrylics. 

Now for a bit of bad news.  The Sukhoi suffered a set-back last night when my feline production supervisor slipped off the desk and took the model with her.  Fortunately, damage was limited to the wings but there is enough to push back it's first flight for a week or so.  Congressional hearings commence forthwith.  

FastEagle1- That cockpit is coming along nicely! Though I'm sorry to hear about the feline accident. Nevetheless, I'm sure you'll fix the problems and I'll be looking forward to the next update.

******

Now, some of you guys may be wondering what may or may not have happened to my T-72. As for an answer.... it's still on the bench. I just haven't had the time to work on it duing weekdays or weekends.(that's also why I have been on the forums as much recently.) That's due in part to my architecture studies which have taken up 99% of my time lately, (midterms don't help either.)

But alas, no worries spring break is coming soon so I should be able to find some time to build then.

Unfortunatley I didn't get any work on my T-72 done today, I had some time but that time was used to go take some pics of an empty lot in the southside of Chicago. In other words the rough part of town aka 'da hood', luckily for me I went their early in the morning, snapped the pics, and got the hell out of there. Going home I did see a drug transaction go down in another empty lot just a few block away from where I snapped the pics.....so at least the trip wasn't a total waste, plus now I have a story to tell.

The desolate lot I had to get pics of (suprisingly right by the University of Chicago)....

The rows and rows of public housing in the southside......

Sorry I have been MIA for so long.  Between this broken ankle {almost ready to get rid of this boot} and work - I have been un-motivated and mentally blized to do anything. 

I should have at least kept an eye on the work that everyone else has been doing!

But thanks to 'sub revolution' {aka Tristan} for sending me the Squadron Su-25 book, I may have gotten the modivation to make it to the workbench.  That and do a better job of watching everyone else's progress.

Fast Eagle - sorry to hear about the 'supervisor' cuasing problems {isn't that the case of most supervisors - always screwing something up? }   The cockpit  detailing is looking good - did the Merlot bottle get used on the 'supervisor' or did the Congressional hearings let her off with a warning?

Howdy MPH,

Thanks for the inquiry.  Yes, my little feline friend "lawyered up" and is denying any wrongdoing.  My other cat is staging a hunger strike in protest (little bugger).  Meanwhile, I'm tasting, er I mean testing, new merlot samples in a quest for more foil.  

I wish you a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing some Su-25 action soon!

Onward!

Yeah, finished! I'm no armor modeler, more aircraft and it sure shows! But I had fun with this little guy, a 1/72 Trumpeter BTR-80 that I didn't really do anything to except add an antenna.

"Bagram Airforce Base, Fall 1988"

Thanks for looking.

Hi guys there sure are some great builds here, but I am going to have to drop out of this GB, I do not care for this formun any more due to censorship buy FSM and a few people that try to dominate the whole thing with nonsence just

to raise the count. It Just gets old after awhile'

Thanks

jd

bondoman- Lookin' good, fit's in nicely with your An-12 in the background. Will update the first page when I find some time this weekend.

Sherman1111- I really regret to hear that you will be dropping from this GB. Would have really loved to seen the "Ganef" all built up.

By the way I haven't been around here as much as I would like(that may or or may not be noticable) but I haven't heard of any censorship by FSM. Plus who's posting just to post....?

Good news my spring semester is almost over, just about two weeks left (but alot of deadlines and exams to study for.)

Nevertheless I do plan on attending AMPS in Auburn next Saturday, hopefully I might see some of my fellow FSM members there. Not to mention get some sweet deals on kits. As for my T-72 build, the workbench will be back up and running by May 1st(yep, I know the date.) So I should have updates before not to long. Now let's see some other builders get  work done too!!!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend AMPS this weekend. Too much work for my architectural studies, okay maybe it wasn't too much work. But I did  wait to the last minute to write two 10-page research papers and build a 1/16 model of the building I designed.

As for the 1/16 model it's out of cherry veneer, plexi-glass, and mattboard. Along with a site plan of the land. I'll try to post some pics of my work here soon. Hope it impresses the architectural judges.

HELLO! HELLO! HELLO! I think I here my echo, where is everyone?! Over on my end, believe it or not I'll have a small update on my T-72 tommorrow, as for today here's some images of what I've built/worked on for my architectural class.

First image is the model, second image is a rendering of it on the site, third is a rendering in the interior. Hope you like.

WOW!  MG, that is beautiful!  

Glad to see you're back and doing well.  After the accident involving the Su-17 I decided to devote my attention to another project as a way to regroup and refocus (the Eduard Yak-3 is running on another thread).  I'll have it finished in the next week or so and will get back on track with this build.

I hope your finals went well and look forward to seeing your next update.

Take care!

Thanks for the comments, FastEagle1! Lookin' forward to seeing your build re-started.

*********

Now here's that update that's been much delayed and long awaited. Tracks are all finished up, primed first then painted in my standard Tamiya acrylic flat earth, then washed in burnt umber, black, rust, and another burnt umber. Then drybrushed with two shades of darkened steel. The paint might have gone on well, but damn these rubberband tracks, as soon as you start moving them around the cracks and chips in the paint occur. It's nothing too serious, another wash can solve that problem, but these tracks are still very hellish.

Rubberband tracks ease of assembly=yes(since your obviously not assembling indy links together), easy to attach ends together=NO. I didn't sew the ends, nor did I staple the ends, nor did I try to melt them together, I went the way of glue....to be exact super glue(for that instant bond) and Elmer's polyurethane glue(for that strong bond.) Even using this combination of glues didn't make it easy, I had to stretch and smash them to fit, suprinsgly they stuck together(after holding the ends for about 10 minutes apiece). In the end the join area is not perfect(paint started coming apart) so now more repairs are necessary. Either way my final opinion is that I'm an indy-track lover.

Weathering on the lower hull came before the track assembly. I wanted something different that fit the environemtn of Afghanistan a bit more So I went lighter on the burnt umber then usual, but extremely heavy on grime.....for that dusty/dry appearance.

Upper hull is where the real work has to happen, the Tamiya T-72M1 kit is an eport version of a later model T-72. So I had to backdate the hull piece for what would likey have been seen in Afghanistan. Keep in minf all T-72 in the Soviet-Afghan War never saw combat, it was strictly there for field testing, so that said most didn't venture far from home base at the capital. Keeping that in mind I decided to scrap all the storage containers on the fenders of one side, and I decided to remove most of the fuel tanks also on the fenders. (lacking foresight, I removed too many fuel tanks, not realizing the tank still needs fuel to work) That means I now have to scratch two fuel tanks on the fenders, in addition to the fenders on both sides I already have planned.

After, the fenders I had to fix the frontal add-on armor. T-72's in Afghanistan wouldn't have had this much later added armor. So that obviously had to go, but replacing the whole front with resin aftermarket parts was not something I wanted to flip the bill for, nor was sanding the plate off a reasonable option, so I decided to hide it. Yes, hide it by using putty along all the edges. A lot of putty to make the lower plate and “add-on” seem like just one plate. A couple of hours of sanding later the result is not half-bad.

As always all comments, questions, and suggestions welcome. PS: if you got a pic of T-72’s in Afghanistan please share, because I’m still looking for one(though I think chances are slim).

Got another update....yeah, suprisingly quick.

Anyways, got started on the fender construction. Meaning I had to fix the upper hull piece first. As you can see their's a gap(2mm to be exact) between the upper hull and lower hull so that gap obviously had to go. Presto! Wood venner fills in the gap, yes some people might say to use styrene, but wood venner with the paper backing work just as well. You can cut it would scissors, bend it, form it, scribe it, and pretty much anything(plus I had alot of it sitting around so that's why I decided to use it.) Though for my build I'll be using the paper back not the wood side, since I don't want wood grain showing up.

As for the fenders themselves, the basic shape has been cut now I have to cut to length and scribe in the detail. (The piece with the "x" is the wood grain side, it's very nice considering it's cherry venner so when sealed the color really pops, but for this build that's not an issue.)

Finally the one of the gas tanks themselves. Well just the top to be exact, still have to scratch the sides. Used venner here too, but used the wood grain side(sorta by accident) however I have sanded it as smooth as it can be. I scirbed in the detail, added a styrene piece from the orginal piece, and added a putty to give the appearance of a weld seam.

 All comments, questions, and suggestions welcome!

The fenders are finally attached, woo hoo! It was quite a bit of work but in the end it pays off.

After cutting the veneer and doing all the measurements, I first marked off where the fender brackets would be, after that I then made three lines(as is seen in reference photos) at an equal distance apart. To make these lnes I simply took a ruler and scribed them in(just don't go to deep or you could make the veneer crack.) As you can see I marked the fenders for every part and detail first so no mistakes would be made.....but even I still made a few very small mistakes here and there. 

 Attached the fenders using some crazy glue(for that instant bond) and Elmer's polyurathane glue(for that strong, lasting bond). Once the glue dried I simply puttied the bottom where any gaps may be and sanded smooth. Now onto making the hull-fender brackets....hopefully I can get these started later today.

Thanks for lookin'!!

Good news, the fenders are all finished up! So now the build construction will really quicken up in pace, since the majority of the scratching is done.

After the fenders were in place and the glue had dried, I went onto the bracket construction. If you cut the fenders out carefully(something I lacked the foresight to do) you can save time and use the fender brackets that already were part of the moldings. However I had to scratch my own, as you can see in the image below, this meant 3 parts were necessary to make up the bracket. You could always make it more complicated and get rid of the square corner by angling it with an extra piece(in effect creating a beveled edge) but this is your choice.

Once those were put together, six in total, and all different sizes according to the hull height in specific areas it's simply matter of attaching them. With the brackets finished I added the fender edge(this came from the kit piece with the side skirts, it was just a matter of cutting out the piece needed and scrapping the side skirts). With that done, I then did some light/electrical wiring with copper wire.

Finally it was a matter of priming everything for painting, using veneer meant I had to be a bit more generous on the primer on top and underside of the hull). After some drying time, I started adding on some of the detail pieces to the hull.

As always all comments, questions, and suggestions welcome!

Work is moving along quite nicely after all that fender scratching. With the lower hull and upper hull finally put together(and the lower fenders all weathered up). Not to mention, the upper hull has finally been painted(along with the PE kit-supplied engine deck screens.)

I also started assembly of the turret....which needs a bit of work. Make sure you have putty on hand because the turret is made up of two pieces, thus some gap filling will be needed.

 Not to mention the turret shape is wrong. Yikes, Tamiya fell asleep at the switch on this one. After researching this problem I realized, the front of the turret, by the mantlet should not be so flat. Their should be subtle bulge/flar out, so to get this done(their is a resin turret avaible if you choose to go that route) I got the putty out again. Layering it on and then smoothing it out with my finger to get the basic shape, once dry(almost two days) I got out the sanding sponges and made it slick and smooth. Because I'm modeling an early T-72 I also had to fill in the smoke dispenser area and snorkel area.

I had time to scratch a unditching log too......okay, okay, I din't necessarily scratch it but I did go outside and harvest it. There's really no comparison between a log made of styrene and an actual branch. To make this log, I simply found a branch that's same radius as the plastic, cut it off the bush, cut to size, filed down the edges, cut off any bumps (creates the effect of branches that were cut off), and then gave it a very light sanding. No weathering needed and I have a realistic unditching log. ACHTUNG! Use a dead branch if you haven't realized it already, if use a branch that's alive then you'll have to wait awhile to the branch dries out.

 I started work on the IR light and the other searchlights on the turret(alot of lenses being made)....so will have an update on those very soon. Thanks for looking!