ARMOR - Towed Gun Group Build (ends 7/1/04)

Well, even though the gun was finished a while ago, the Demag pulling it is finally done as well. Took me about three tries to build a colapsed canvas cover for it, and it still didn't look like I wanted it to. In the end, I decided that the troops driving it had thrown a blanket over it (since it's going into a dio anyways) and that was the last detail on this build. I'll try to take a few pics if I manage to get a hold of a digi cam, otherwise it might be some time before I can. Now, it's on to the figures and the dio

Yes I know, , but trust it'll look cool. I was also thinking of putting my 88 into a dio, with some American soldier examining it as the captured Germans look on

QUOTE: Originally posted by ddayomaha I'm thinking that since I just finished a Panther late, I'm going to haveit driving by it! There is the tanks commander but I might put in a couple more figures.

Not to be a Build Nazi, but no tanks in the Towed Gun group build! Naughty ddayomaha!

I'm thinking that since I just finished a Panther late, I'm going to haveit driving by it! There is the tanks commander but I might put in a couple more figures.

QUOTE: Originally posted by ddayomaha Well I finished my 7.5 cm howitzer, It's going to be knocked out in a dio!

Cool, I'd like to see that. Will there be figures, or will it be kind of a still life?

Well I finished my 7.5 cm howitzer, It's going to be knocked out in a dio!

Meanwhile, I wish Eduard made an etch set for the Mack NO! I have to scratchbuild lots of pieces for the Mack, and while they are all simple, and many are just rods made from wire, there are some requiring sheet styrene which are going to be a bit of a pain to build -- mostly for logistical reasons, as my LHS doesn't carry much in terms of sheet styrene.

There are fold-down seats on either side of the Mack's cargo bay, and you need to put wire in to make the props that hold them up. I did that last night, as well as the grab handles on either side of the cab near the doorway, but called it a night as I wasn't feeling well. Oh, I dullcoated the gun too. Interesting -- some paint bled off the tires where they hit the box I had the kit in when I dullcaoted it. That's strange, as it had not one but TWO coats of gloss barrier over it already. Wonder what's up with that?

QUOTE: Originally posted by Larry_Dunn QUOTE: Originally posted by jkeller Larry, thanks that reinforces my decision not to add any PE detail etc.....Looking at the Eduard PE set for the 25pdr I couldn't see any added detail. I'm not to familar with building artillery pieces so I wasn't really sure. IMO Eduard is a mixed bag. Some of the stuff is good, other stuff is flat-out wrong, and yet a set set of stuff asks you to remove perfectly good kit stuff and replace it with etch stuff that's just too thin to be in scale. Etch to replace clunky plastic detail? You betcha! Etch for the sake of etch? No thanks.

Yeah, that's the way the Eduard P/E for the AFV 155 turned out -- I'm gonna use less than 10% of it -- the rest isn't necessary because the AFV kit has such nice crisp detail itself. In soime cases, it has been easier/better to tweak the kit part rather than replace with a P/E part.

Here, Here.

Most of what you need to replace can be done without a PE set if you want to take the time.

I got my very expensive Evergreen rod to replace the trailing legs of the Pak yesterday. Why expensive? 'Cause some idiot side swiped my car while it was parked in the car park - fortunately I was in it and got his rego details and I have the name and number of a witmess too. Why idiot? 'cause he tried to fit his 4WD into a car space that was actually a marked pedestrian walkway (marked with white stripes like a Zebra crossing) which is 2/3 the size of a car park. Now if only my insurance company can track him down.

QUOTE: Originally posted by jkeller Larry, thanks that reinforces my decision not to add any PE detail etc.....Looking at the Eduard PE set for the 25pdr I couldn't see any added detail. I'm not to familar with building artillery pieces so I wasn't really sure.

IMO Eduard is a mixed bag. Some of the stuff is good, other stuff is flat-out wrong, and yet a set set of stuff asks you to remove perfectly good kit stuff and replace it with etch stuff that's just too thin to be in scale.

Etch to replace clunky plastic detail? You betcha! Etch for the sake of etch? No thanks.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Larry_Dunn Joe, I don't think the Tamiya gun needs much in terms of AM -- it's a nice little model in its own right. Interesting how even the older artillery kits hold up. The Tamiya 88, while showing its age a bit when compared to the newest kits, still builds up very handsomely.

Larry, thanks that reinforces my decision not to add any PE detail etc.....Looking at the Eduard PE set for the 25pdr I couldn't see any added detail. I'm not to familar with building artillery pieces so I wasn't really sure.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Larry_Dunn QUOTE: Originally posted by ddayomaha that happened to me too! Hey, Will, it's something that happened to the board. It's not you, so don't worry. No more stickies except, I guess, for administrative messages

Oh

Joe, I don't think the Tamiya gun needs much in terms of AM -- it's a nice little model in its own right. Interesting how even the older artillery kits hold up. The Tamiya 88, while showing its age a bit when compared to the newest kits, still builds up very handsomely.

Larry, Looking good! Can't wait to see it finished. I figured I better post something to let you know I'm still working on this build.

The 25pdr is OOB (putting more detail on the quad). I put a coat of paint on it today and noticed more injector pin marks and seams that need to be addressed. Thought I was getting close. Not much now but i'm getting close. Comments or suggestions welcome.


Joe

QUOTE: Originally posted by ddayomaha that happened to me too!

Hey, Will, it's something that happened to the board. It's not you, so don't worry. No more stickies except, I guess, for administrative messages

QUOTE: Originally posted by zokissima Hey, what happened to all the GB's? None of them are sticky anymore....

that happened to me too!

Guys, just added some pics of my gun and prime mover as a separate thread. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

THERE IS A PIECE MISSING FROM MY $140 AZIMUT MACK NO KIT.

Any thoughts on how I can the piece? I ordered it through greatmodels.com.


GRRR!!!

(Otherwise I am making decent progress in the truck.)

QUOTE: Originally posted by Larry_Dunn I don't think the destickying of the GB's is all that big a deal. The idea of a forum for GB's doesn't make all that much sense to me, I have to admit, as people don't log on to look at group builds, they log on to look at things they like -- armour, aircraft, etc. But as long as we continue to post, it shouldn't be too hard to find the GB. I admit though that having them stickied at the top was convenient. So ist das Leben!

I agree that un-sticking GB's was OK; with so many, the general content was getting buried. Also with so many GB's, one had to do a bit of wading just to find specific ones.

Running a dual scheme doesn't seem to hurt over in Armorama. I hit the functional forums, then the Campaigns (GB's). I think it helps that Armorama limits the GB's much more than FSM does -- here they are a bit out of hand. OTOH, Armorama also has individual logs for each guy in a build & that seems to be overkill.

No progress today ....

Ok, I decided to cut the telescope off after all. I just broke the entire piece off the gun, sawed off the periscope, filed the cut-line down flat, drilled out the top of the new top with a pinvise, and glued the piece back on. It will require minimal repainting, if at all, as the paintstripped portions of the altered piece will get caught by the drybrushing anyway.

I'm probably going to focus on the truck this weekend, as the gun is getting a clear flat coat before the washes start, and will need a few days to dry, particularly as it is wet and humid here in the NY area.

So I get to cut the vacuformed mud guards out of their cradle! [:0] If you hear a weird, anguished scream riding eerily on the air, you know it's probably not going well.

I don't think the destickying of the GB's is all that big a deal. The idea of a forum for GB's doesn't make all that much sense to me, I have to admit, as people don't log on to look at group builds, they log on to look at things they like -- armour, aircraft, etc.

But as long as we continue to post, it shouldn't be too hard to find the GB. I admit though that having them stickied at the top was convenient. So ist das Leben!

QUOTE: Originally posted by jratz Larry: I went back & looked at your gun pix. As you are doing it in travel mode, the Panoramic Telescope, M12, would not be mounted on the left side of the mount. For info, the Mount, Telescope, M18A1, consists of parts C27, C44, and bottom of C40 -- that would be mounted. To remove the PanTel, just cut off part C40 about the top of the narrowest part about 1/3 up from bottom. I just went thru the manuals on this for my gun.

Looks like that was often done in practice, though there is a picture in the A&A13 that shows a 155 with the telescope on, and a cover over it. If time permits, I may hack the part off. Thanks for pointing it out.

Larry:

I went back & looked at your gun pix. As you are doing it in travel mode, the Panoramic Telescope, M12, would not be mounted on the left side of the mount. For info, the Mount, Telescope, M18A1, consists of parts C27, C44, and bottom of C40 -- that would be mounted. To remove the PanTel, just cut off part C40 about the top of the narrowest part about 1/3 up from bottom. I just went thru the manuals on this for my gun.

I actually got some work done. The rear bogies are almost done, less the wheels themselves. I had problems aligning the thin brake rods going into the wheel -- if I do another of these, I think I'll do Step 7, then most of Step 9, then back up & do step 8. Now I'm forced to go back & try to straighten these up or replace 'em or something ....

Time is slipping away ....

Looks like a great show. Please bring your camera!

Larry,
good to hear you are so productive.
i hope to make some more headway tonigh, and maybe get some pictures up.
tomorrow i am going to Reading for the WWII show.
plenty of planes and vehicles + some heros to meet as well.
i could not find a detailed vehicle list, but the airplane list is quite promising.
here is the front page from their site:
http://www.maam.org/maamwwii.html

the info they give for the vehicles is:
Bicycles, parabikes, parascooters,motor scooters, motorcycles, jeeps, staff cars, weapons carriers, trailers, command cars, bomb trucks, tractor and trailers, ambulances, cargo trucks, wreckers, armored cars, scout cars, ½ tracks, high speed tractor, radio trucks, cannons, howitzers, AAA tracked vehicle, tank destroyers and tanks.

i think i saw a member from the aircraft side will be there.
anyone else making the trip?

i hope to get some work on the kits in tonight & Sunday.

Yesterday I was at home watching sick kids so the wife could go on an interview, and they mostly slept, bless their hearts, so I got tons done on my howitzer and prime mover!

Now the howitzer's tires are painted and so are the wheels, the wheels are mounted on the gun, and I painted the inside of the barrel black and the section of the recoil cylinders silver. All it needs is a flat coat, which it will get tonight, and then a wash and drybrush. Can he get it done by Sunday? [:0] I dunno. But the gun is essentially done, so I count that as a victory in my D-Day mini-deadline.

The truck is coming along nicely, too. I've got all the stuff stuck onto the frame that's supposed to go there, the below stuff anyway, as the cab and mudguards and all that go on the frame too. I've gotten a decent amount of work done on the cab too. All of the internal stuff is in there. I even prepared the vacuformed hood for attachment! [:0] Wooly moments, my friends, but I survived. What I am NOT looking forward to is cutting the vacuformed mud guards out. AHHHHH!!!

But to sum up, I'm cooking with gas. I'm going to push through all weekend, hoping to get the gun done and the truck well under way as well. Lots of stuff needs to be scratchbuilt for the truck though -- you know the drill. And July 1 is coming! [:0]

Zok,
i don't mind so far.
too soon for me to commit.
i like them all being in one place, and the active stuff will keep near the top in the respective areas anyway (Armor, Aircraft, etc)
i can see the point of those not following or participating in the GB's that they were hogging the Page 1's of the sections.

the navigation seems a bit cumbersome, but it is not a huge burden.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't like the idea of a portal. Kind of stupid to have to navigate multiple screens. It would have worked to just create another forum group, not a portal.
Just venting here, but I'm sure you've all heard the expression "if it ain't broken, don't fix it"

QUOTE: Originally posted by rebelreenactor thanks guys, I'm calling the dio 'Calling The Coordinates' The radioman is surprised because he was just informed that his target had moved around his flank. Its a king tiger.

Better call a Priest!