wBill,,     great installment. Your reads are always informative. Nice work on the extra links, PE and antenna config.....  Always a pleasure observing your posts,,,  !

Carl,,   looking forward to the pz-fix pics,,, 

I've been jumping around a bit with the pz command build.     While I was waiting for the Verlinden interior detail set I began moving into sub-assemblies.

I started with some work on the Friuls...    a dip into Blacken-It.   I like to let the tracks "blacken" in stages.....  first just a short dunk,   remove, pad dry and let air dry. I dip them again and follow the same pattern.   It blackens them in spurts and leaves a hint of oxidation / rust in some of the corners and low lying areas. I like to add a thin black brown wash afterwards...     the wash will wait until shortly before I am ready to mount them though. 

Bouncing around in sub-assembly-land,,,,   I put together the rear deck.

A lot of hatches which could be posed open...  (I was SO tempted).......       a little PE screening,,, nothing over the top.         

There was a small gap between the upper deck plate and the sides. I stretched some sprue and placed.

Cut the ends off,,,  add a little liquid glue and let dry.  

Then I use a curved / point detail tip with a small wood burner (a dremel / drill speed control to adjusti the heat)    melting the styrene stretched sprue into a weld seam.

While the weld seam looks a bit bulbous, a little micro-filing and a bit more liquid glue blends and reduces the effect.

While it's not much,,,  it's progress....    and     I am looking forward to starting on the Verlinden interior set -

I also want to thank a number of you for pointing me in the right direction on this set.....  

Hope to have some more informative build pics soon.     Thanks and as always,,, all comments welcome.

Bill

satch_ip

Bill, I was building the PE engine grille louvres today and I swear they are backwards in the instructions.  I was careful to use the correct ones and built them according to the instructions but when I try to fit them they don't.  I look at yours on your blog and they look opposite of yours.  Even the kit molded louvres are also backwards.  Were your instructions wrong or is it just me?

Satch,

Without seeing your instructions and what you've come up with, it's hard to say. Here's what my instructions showed...and there's only one way you can assemble things for them to fit correctly into the hull. Parts MB8 are designed to fit into the little dog-leg support molded into the upper hull, so when you construct the grills you have to do them as mirror opposites of each other.

Are you sure you're looking at the right kit molded parts for comparison? (I have to ask because the kit includes 2 sets...one set on the W sprue (29/30) and one on the E sprue (32/33)...and the E sprue parts are not for this variant and are legacy parts from earlier kits).

The only other thing I can think of is that you have to be very careful of the "Right" and "Left" designations in the instructions...they refer to the sides when the upper hull is upside down...if you instead assumed that meant when it was right side up, you would have ended up assembling them backwards. The good news is that all you "should' have to do is swap around the end parts to the other ends to correct the problem.

Hi Shelldude your model is great, but you have a '67 El Camino ?.......sitting on a freekin gold mine !

tread

P.S. glad you had a nice time in the wilderness with the family

Hi Rob !   nice going on the Somua :  )  the smaller petite hull hooks make a world of difference tail light looking good also... may have missed it, but I don't think my B1 has a tail light ?  how odd....

tread

P.S..... love them sharpies...... : )

deafpanzer

Shellback:

I  actually had all of the bogies glued on .............then noticed the rear two on the port side "floating " . So i removed them (cut off ) . I'll fix it tomorrow .

 

Carl, knowing your talent, it will be an easy fix for you my friend!

Andy , Stik , WBill and BABill thanks for the comments guys ! Andy , good one buddy , i like that kind of humor.

I have the little Panzer fixed and i am weathering it now . Pics latter tonight .

Bill, I was building the PE engine grille louvres today and I swear they are backwards in the instructions.  I was careful to use the correct ones and built them according to the instructions but when I try to fit them they don't.  I look at yours on your blog and they look opposite of yours.  Even the kit molded louvres are also backwards.  Were your instructions wrong or is it just me?

I will confess to underestimating the amount of time required to complete all the PE work for the fender details called out in Step 11 so it took me longer to get this one done than the opposite side. Part of that was due to the fact that several of the parts had to be modified or adjusted for the PE to work and part of that was just the number of tools/parts involved and everything that had to be installed.

I originally had planned to install the holders for the spare tracks as separate pieces but I quickly abandoned that idea after realizing that trying to get all 8 of them perfectly aligned would be nearly impossible to achieve. I selected 4 of the "Magic" links (short guide horn variety) and cleaned them up, removing the two ejector marks on either side of the horn and removing slight flash inside the horn itself. I used a #76 pin vise to drill out the front ends to simulate the openings for the track pins and added the pins themselves to the rear end using small lengths of styrene rod glued in place with liquid glue. The PE holders were added and some care is needed when bending the complex "Z" shape, so the lighted magnifier got a work out along with some gymnastics with needle nosed pliers, finger nails, and tweezers!

I installed the antenna rest tray to the hull side and elected to pose the antenna in the down/stowed position since the inside of the tray had visible ejector marks that were hidden by the antenna and would have been a major pain to deal with otherwise. I held off adding the base, W15, that installs to the fender as I wanted to get the tool layout right first before committing to that.

Repeating the process used on the other fender in terms of the included-diagram template, I started at the rear of the fender and worked my way forward installing the clamps as needed. The idler tensioning wrenches had to be shaved down slightly to fit properly in their holders. I also had to grind down the small lip protrusion on the pre-formed brass shovel bracket on order for it to fit correctly in the space available. I used Griffon tool clamps for the crank starter (the instructions say to install 2 but only 1 was used on the C), the shovel, and the axe. The PE retaining clamp for the axe blade fell apart during the bending process so I used the Plan B axe and removed its molded on tool clamps as a stand-in.

I then went back and installed W15 to complete the step, removing the locater pin from the base and using liquid glue to get it solid to the fender. Once set, I used a pair of locking tweezers to gently lift the end of the antenna tray until it sat level with the tops of the base, applied some liquid glue and held it until it set to round things out.

I agree with Stik,,,    Carl,    you'll have that lil guy patched up in no time,,  I have NO doubts.

Scott,,,     hope you are on the mend soon.........

That should be an easy fix for Carl. Some quick work with a pin vise drill and a small piece of metal rod and bam, back in business. I have fixed enough brokenb aircraft alnding gear and helicopter rotor blades to ahve gottne good at that technique.

Carl, sorry to hear about your bad luck with the suspension...but have no doubts about your ability to find a workable solution!

Shellback

I  actually had all of the bogies glued on .............then noticed the rear two on the port side "floating " . So i removed them (cut off ) . I'll fix it tomorrow .

Carl, knowing your talent, it will be an easy fix for you my friend!

dostacos

would like to join with Panzer II A/B ish, will also be finishing a 38t it only has the wheels on and a couple of minor parts as you can see the Panzer is still in the bag. these are both in 1/48 {TOTS} the latter a resin conversion of the Tamiya Hetzer.

1/48!?!   Wow, Dostacos, I think we have a new smallest panzer! In 1/48 the Pzk II would have to be smaller than a bar of soap.

Thanks guys for the kind words, having fun with this GB, I haven't built a French tank since I did the good old Heller Somua in college (long time ago.....).

Scott: Hope you feel better soon.

Your a busy man Eric

Now , the continueing Pz. 1 build story .

The GOOD .

The BAD.

The UGLY !

I  actually had all of the bogies glued on .............then noticed the rear two on the port side "floating " . So i removed them (cut off ) . I'll fix it tomorrow .

Zip done today. Too many errands and such. Maybe, maybe Wednesday. I might not get done now.

I agree Bufflehead about the work shown here. Some very impressive  builds (I don't count my UE in the same league as the others you named, those have so much more work put in to them... mine was shake and bake) I am enjoying coming back daily and peeking at the ongoing work.

PANZERWAFFE

Look forward to seeing more of your other work in the future.  Always see some of your stuff come up and always enjoy looking

PW, thank you for listing the paints and for your kind words. I invite you to come look at (or better yet join up) the 60th Anniversary Korean War GB that I am running. It will be running active until the 60th Anniversary of the Cease Fire for that war. Some very prolific and equally impressive work going on over there. Just have a look at the page one completed builds

/forums/t/129001.aspx?PageIndex=1

Wow!  I'm almost speechless!  You guys are building at a fantastic rate, its hard just to keep up with your posts!!  What I've seen so far is just amazing:  Rob's stunning Somua, Shellback's sweet little Pz. I, Cliff's incredible Char 1 bis, stikpusher's beautiful little UE Carrier, just to name a few!  Inspiring work gentlemen, absolutely inspiring! 

All colors were MM enamels.  Used: Chestnut #2107, RAF Dark Green #2060, Panzer Olivgrun 1943 #2097, and French Dark Blue Gray #2105.

Look forward to seeing more of your other work in the future.  Always see some of your stuff come up and always enjoy looking

I will not be touching the Somua before the end of this year. I have too many other projects further along right now. But I may early in the new year. After looking at yours, I am motivated to tackle mine. I wont go anywhere near as all out with PE,etc, but I do atleast want to get some MK tracks for it. Fruils are not in my budget right now (or patience with all those wire track hinge pins...) BTW, hat colors did you use for the camo PW?

ah you DO remember that golden hat ended up before a firing squad at the end, correct?

CARL -

CLIFF - No hurry, take your time on the B1.  Do look forward to your next update though.

ERIC - Hang in there

STIK - Your right, most of these French tanks had all kinds of crazy camo schemes.  After the incident with the turret I'm going to get some of those Gunze Gundam pens.  Thanks for letting us know about them.

Were you still thinking of finishing your Somua or did you have other projects lined up?

WBILL, BILL212 - It is a strange looking thing.  Not what you would thing a tank would look like.

SCOTT - Take care of yourself and hope you can make it back soon.

MARC - .....OH BOY

Thanks for the comments guys.

Not much to report on tonight.  Have just been sitting here at my bench starring at the Somua kind of lost.  Just not feeling it today and trying to figure out how to tone down the colors.  Afraid my normal filters / washes will be to dark and will lose the contrast of the gray but at the same time want to make it look a little used and weathered.  Will have to play around on some scrap pieces and see if can get something I like before putting anything on the build.  Any suggestions?

Have started painting the light assemblies and made the front light housing from PE.

Scott, you take care of yourself and get well.

Rob, Since I've married the Ft-17... can I have this little honey on the side

Take care Scott .

Hey Brothers, My health took a turn for the worse. I will participate when I can. I will stalk/lurk when I can. You have been putting out some inspiring work. Its so good to have all of you for my mentors. When I feel up to it I WILL begin the Matilda. Hopefully sooner than later. Modeling keeps me sane. See ya soon.

Scott 

Eye catching indeed,,,    very nice !!

Have to agree re: the Somua scheme! Very nice work on replicating it...definitely an eye-catcher!

Panzerwaffe, that Somua looks very sharp in the multi color camo And everybodyu goes on about how cool Panzer camo schemes are... they dont have squat on the French! Nice save on the bleed clean up for the black lines. I will definitley be using my Gunze Gundam pen for the same role when I camo up my Chars Things like that bleed can occasional trip my fuse and turn tanks into aircraft that don't survive landing against hardened concrete or brick surfaces...

would like to join with Panzer II A/B ish, will also be finishing a 38t it only has the wheels on and a couple of minor parts as you can see the Panzer is still in the bag. these are both in 1/48 {TOTS} the latter a resin conversion of the Tamiya Hetzer.

tigerman

Gee guys, i feel as though I've been gone for so long.

All I can say to the great work going on is magnifique.

....really, great builds happening here.  The level of skill and detail is outstanding.

Gee guys, i feel as though I've been gone for so long.

All I can say to the great work going on is magnifique.

Great work all around guys!

Rob: Weird how the marker ran on the turret but not the hull, still the Somua looks terrific and I love the different colour scheme. The FT-17 looks fantastic too, love the dirt and weathering, I hope my B1 comes out half as well. And BTW nice decals there

Sorry guys, didn't get as much done this weekend as I hoped, I did give most of the mud and dirt added to the B1 and a coat of semi-gloss. Just added the chains to the rear of the vehicle last night and glooped mud all over the bottom ends, Still need to paint and add a wash to the mud and hopefully I'll be set for the filters.