BaBill, nice adjustment with the idlers...often the case when using AM tracks and always a good idea to check the fit on both the idler and the sprockets. With small tracks in particular like those on the Pz I, the tolerances are tiny if any! As far as the jerry cans go, those were included for the DAK options in the kit...they do make for great detailed items though. Can't tell you how often I've raided DML kits for the cans on various projects when needed.

Tread, the master continues with the details, sharp work!

Rob, like the missing "saddle bag", it adds character to the build.

Marc, nice added work on the Tamiya tracks...they go together very quickly so consider it a trade-off that you're adding more time/work to the runs with the sanding. You'll feel like you've "earned" it as otherwise they would go together in 5-10 mins each and you'd be let down!

Rob & Tread: You guys are making me feel bad over not adding more detail to my tank Oh well, there's always the next one!

Bill: Nice job on the treads, always thought the Fruils look nice but I'm way too cheap to cough up enough dough for them.

SP: Super nice job on the figures but why do they all look like William Holden?

Tread, Nice work as usual.  Cupla qustions... Do you have a ref pick that shows the row of bolts added to outside of the track path and the solid strip on the other?  How did you make the rivets?  Did you research the casting numbers to make them accurate?  Good on ya of you did... I plan to take some artistic license 

Stik, those figure are awesome.  Hey... there are stick figures OK sorry... another goaner.

Rob, That is really shaping up nicely.  I like the missing box.

Bill, that happened to me once but I can't rememr the kit.  I just layed the run down on the bench and took the idler and rolling it down the line bewteen the teeth with enough preeusre that aused them to bend ever so slighlty.  Perfect fit and some fun little wear scratched on the idler too.

I have made progress on the Char but mostly getting the basic hull together and y'all know what that looks like already.  I was going to spend a pile-o-cash on some Friuls becuse the edges of the kits tracks are way to thick.  I tried sanding the edges of the tracks and I am pleased with the results so I kept going.  Got about 1/2 done ast night.  This ain't no 10 minutes crapper job

Tread- Jeez, you are making it very difficult for me to build my Char when I am ready.  Damn real good looking so far!  Are you using same reference that our friend JC sent?

Bill- Good safe with the idler!  So tiny... aspirins please!

Rob- Great work on the bolts and storage boxes! 

Stik- I agree with guys... great work on the figures especially the desert camo.

I figured if I am gonna try to paint faces halfway decent, it will be nice to see that rather than silver for the lens. Just a drop of clear glue to make a new lens and a huge improvement. Those Verlinden Gulf War AFV crew gave me the idea. Just the goggle frames are molded there. You can see the glue I added is still drying and "foggy" when I took the pics. I don't have enough clear goggles in the spares bin to go around

TERRY, ERIC - Thanks for the comments

JC - Those new engines will be a huge improvement.  Cant wait to see them installed.

BILL212 - That looked scary at first with the idler.  Great save, looks good with everything back on track

STIK - Yes sir, those are Fruils.  It's nice to hear that you like her.  With the bottom section out of the way it has become a slow but enjoyable build.

Forgot to tell you, your idea of drilling out the goggles is a great one.  Will be trying that out next time I have goggles to do.

Rob, your Somua is impressing the heck out of me! Did you use Fruils on it?

TREAD - Thats pure eye candy!

STIK - The Figures are looking good.  Your Gulf figures are amazing.

Last picture for me tonight.  Was able to finish the stowage boxes and fix them into place.  Decided to leave the front one off.

treadwell

tread @ stickpusher

Hi man :  )   .... Polly S better than Vallejo for brushing ?..... If so , I must get some

thanks,

tread

I think it is. One coat coverage. Something I do not have much luck with using Vallejo. Unfortunately Polly S was discontinued from production I would guestimate around 2002 and replaced by Polly Scale. If you can find some, snatch it up and see what you think.

Some minimal progress today, as I was concentrating on another build. I did some figure painting on the crew and attached the goggles I obtained from that Tamiya Churchill...

I also have been working on these guys for a 1st Gulf War LAV C2. I just put them here for a little companionship...

The weather forecast for the rest of this week is excellent  so tomorrow and Wednesday should see good progress! Washes and airbrushing are on the schedule

Brother Tread, the Char is looking wonderful. Nice little fiddly bits added. This should be amazing when done.

Hi guys :  )

here is where I am at now, I have been working on the radio area, rebuilt the radio cable bar to be an inverted piece of  ' U ' channel , I have molded in the 75mm gun mantlet added a few more casting  numbers, re -re built the driver's cast hood....the square box in the left rear has to be cut off to add the radio output isolators  and you can see pretty well the pigtale mantlet hook.. as you can see all the cast pieces so far have recieved a little ' texturizing ' and are painted gray...... cut the bolts off the mantlet and drilled .016 holes... thought it looked better...building the brackets that hold the radio cable cover were a pain....these are rough pics... will refine the pieces before paint.... I build like a snail going backwards....sorry the pics are kinda repetitive, but thats how it is for me ..I must have modeling OCD....oh yeah... on the 4th pic you can see the right hand vision slit missing from the kit.... I scribed that in also...may have mentioned that in an earlier post ?.. anyahoo....

tread

Thanks Eric

(am sure the adventure will be successful.......  all the best)

Glad to see the corrections for the idler were simple enough. The jerry cans look good.

I got my second run glued together and am waiting an hour to attach to the tank. After reviewing my first side, I'm stuck with keeping it on, which means, I'll have to paint them on the vehicle which I've never done before. This should be an adventure.

Eric,,    keep a good attitude,,  wishing you the best, hope things keep looking up.

Marc,,      FATE!

Rob,,   thanks,,   I agree,, small must be the flavor of the month with me these days.      The Somua is looking great!  Tracks, fenders, bolts, etc. etc.,,,   excellent.

Gamera,,   feeling bad about finishing?    nahhh,,,   Good luck with the weathering,,,  will be looking forward to some pics of the Char B1

Jc,,    good luck with the 1966 Smer....  

I had a little issue with the Friuls and the idlers,,,    non-fit!

Nothing super serious though,, a little sanding and a little more sanding and the fit was there....

With this complete I will start working on blackening the Friuls...    in the meantime I needed a little break, so I figured I would work on an easy portion,,   jerry cans.

While they are not very difficult there are 5 pieces per each can.

Cleanup wasn't too bad and they went together fairly well...  other than the mounting pins for the PE being off considerably...   I just cut them off and eye-balled the PE / can halves "sandwich".

Wether I use them for this project or another,,   they are pretty nice renditions.

Not much more to post for now.....   will get into some meat of the build soon.   I am waiting on a Verlinden interior detail set....  no frikkin mail on Columbus Day.

Til next time..........

Bill

Thanks again all, it's early, we'll see.

Rob, that Somua is looking great. Love all the little fiddly details you're adding.

Hello

Terry  : you're welcome .

Rob : excellent your somua .

Ok today i received from canada the motor for my breguet 693.

Because in the box , i have that

The smer kit is the old heller out in 1966. This mould has the same age that me

Jc

Thanks for the comments guys, Jc got the mail with attachments thannnnnnnnnnnk you very much.
Eric good luck with the new job.
Rob the Somua looks killer you have me convinced that I must add casting numbers.
Gamera some more pics please I would love to see her decalled, from the last pics you posted it looked brilliant.
Now here's a dilemma, I have some pics of the Char B and I don't own the copyright they are just things I downloaded. I don't mind sharing them but posting them here might upset some people, if any body wants them look me up on facebook Terry Burke same avatar and I will share or mail meterry35@gmail.com and I will send you my photo bucket details, btw Marc I think you already have my details from the T34.

Terry.


Sent from my iPod

Bill, the bolts are from the Dragon German railway gondola.  The rail car I'm building is the one with the high box sides but the kit had also came with the plates for the short medal sides which are now spare.  These extra parts were full of large bolts and thought they looked the part for the Somua.

Rob,

Nice work on the detailing effort on the Somua. Out of curiosity, where did you source the bolts you're using as replacements for the kit parts?

Eric: Best of luck with your new job, gosh I hate having to start all over learning the ropes again but I'm sure things will work out fine.

Will: Good luck!

Wingnut and Terry: Nice looking work!

I feel bad now, I finished paint on my Char B1 and put the decals on this weekend- I only did about 1/3rd of the modifications to my kit and I don't feel like going back and repainting anything. I'll try to get photos up somewhere around the middle of the week, starting to add the mud and grime soon.

BILL - Nice work.  Like the sprue work for those small holes on the fenders.  Like how you got long PE strips on.  Had put these on before and remember them being kind of a pain.  Yours look nice and straight and the back section lines up good!  The remainder of the suspension is coming along nicely.  Friuls look great, you like that small stuff.

BROWNIII - 222 is looking good. Glad to see your going too put an interior in.  Insides of these vehicles look cool and your right, be nice to see something in there.

ERIC - Congratulations with the job!!!!  Thats great news and I know you will be outstanding!  I'll take the one with the zimmerit

The Hotchkiss is Fantastic!  Tracks are real nice!  I know Those tracks could be a bit of trouble but you made it look like a snap

TERRY - Man, great start.  Always enjoy watching your work.  Look forward too see what else you have in store for her.  I've used styrene rod as you have before but never with heat.  Did you actually touch the iron to them or just get close?

STIK - Excellent looking with the gear added.  The bikes are really nice and look forward to there paint.

SOMUA

Painted some more on the skirts and added the tracks.  After fitting the top portion again, found the front glacis join was incorrect. Where the two pieces met the bottom section should have a noticeable protrusion, an under-bit.  So built up the area with some styrene and putty

sanded

Molded on bolts were removed and then added some better looking bolts all the way around the vehicle.  Attached the fenders

Exhaust was drilled out and PE brackets

Had too add some styrene strip and putty between the two halves in the rear to fill gag.  This still needs sanding.  Also had to cut the bottom bolt attachments off.  New ones will be added later when the two half's are permanently together.

Started construction on the cargo boxes.  Still need to make two more and then add the straps for them.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

wing_nut

Now if I could only find a winning lottery didn't I don't remember buying...

You and me both brother.

And as it turns out... I didn't know I bought the right one too  Had no idea there where wide and narrow fenders  I have the narrow set which is what is needed for the puzzle camo vehicle.

Now if I could only find a winning lottery didn't I don't remember buying...

tread @ Boyd

 looking forward to more pics !

tread @ Marc... yeah ya lucky ba.... oh I suppose it could happen

tread

PS I'll get some newer pics up this week  :  )

wing_nut

The start of the Char rapidly approaches.  But something weird has happened.  I was rooting around in the pile-o-crap on the side of the bench because it was getting a little to precarious and looked as if it would topple at any moment.  At the bottom of said pile I found the Aber PE set for the Char 1 bis.  I haven't a clue when I bought that set.  And why would I buy a set for a model I didn't even own yet?  I can't begin to guess how long that was there but that pile has been growing for a long, long time.

Wing_nut

Immediately following AMPSEast, I did a complete 'bench overhaul'. I had many a, 'Hey, where'd that come from' moment.

Looks like this one was pretty timely for you!

Alright guys, I hope to do some work on the 222 tonight. Pics soon.

The start of the Char rapidly approaches.  But something weird has happened.  I was rooting around in the pile-o-crap on the side of the bench because it was getting a little to precarious and looked as if it would topple at any moment.  At the bottom of said pile I found the Aber PE set for the Char 1 bis.  I haven't a clue when I bought that set.  And why would I buy a set for a model I didn't even own yet?  I can't begin to guess how long that was there but that pile has been growing for a long, long time.

Thanks guys, we'll see. It's consuming work. I'm very worn out mentally and physically.

Terry, the Char is shaping up very well.

Very nice job Terry.

Check your mails.

The best link i think it's char-francais.net

Tigerman (eric) , very happy to you for your new job .

Jc

tigerman

Well good news and bad. The good news is I got a new job. The bad is that I will have little time to build. I guess I'll take it.

Eric, CONGRATS!   To win your customers, just throw in couple of things for free such as Zimmerit and three toned camo...

Off to a good start Terry, welcome to the races!