Ok, finally time for another update… still hoping to make the tax deadline, but got bogged down in detailing the build. As usual, please point out any errors, inaccuracies or plain goofy stuff! Only my second 1:35 armor build (fourth total lol)
I mangled the grills during thinning, so I had to fix the ‘battle damage”. I also had to insert some styrene in the space between the grills and the hull:
My very first attempt at soldering lol it is easy, but DO get some solder flux (unlike me ;) :
The louvers/slates in position; you wont see much of them in the final product, but better than a black hole:
I cut out the plastic engine grill. I left the “border”, since it had some nice bolt detail. That meant scrapping a lot of plastic from the inside, so I could position the mesh from the back and still have it very close to the surface. Results are ok I think:
The finished grill, sorry it’s a bad pic. I will position it in CLOSE position once I paint the inside:
Time to thin out the fenders (with the Dremel of course!), then add some battle damage/dents. I simply left the plastic close to my light source, then “molded” the battle damage. I think the results are ok; opinions?
Back fenders; different type of damage. I thinned out the fenders and bent them some… but then added a drop of Tenax to the fender, thinning out the plastic (melting) in the middle of the fender, creating a “bump”. The right side, I melted a sliver of plastic onto the fender (again, with Tenax), creating a “rumpled” effect. We will see how it looks once I lay down some paint:
More “playing around” with added parts… added blue plastic to mimic a periscope. Not sure how accurate it is, or if it works… opinions?
Finally, also got these tracks to supplant the very primitive elastic original Tamiya tracks. You can easily see the difference, but also the work involved! THREE attachment points per link! *grump…..*
Have also joined the hull and added some handrails, pics to follow. The big decision will be…do I prime first, due to all the multimedia stuff added? (plastic, PE, copper wire, brass, resin). Or take a risk and spray Russian green over everything, so I can start the wintering part and maybe finish on time??