Real cutie there Carl. How along until you get your grand-daughter building.

treadwell

 

Heres my Pz. 1's turret assembled .There were a couple of sink holes to be filled . I drilled out the tips of the two 7.92 machine guns with a .018 drill bit .

Nice Shell !.... hey believe it or not, excluding the hull, your turret is about the same size as the Char turret... just a bit smaller.... those dudes must have been tested for claustrophobia before they entered tank service!

I like your new avatar.. its like your Shellback and Shellback is on your back and it is reminiscent of 'Dude, where's my car' .... the tattoo scene.....awe ya woulda had to see it...

it was corny anyway

tread 

[/quote]

Yes CornTread , i understand but i have no idea what your talking about .

I didnt get much done on anything today , watching the Grand daughter keeps me busy otherwise .

Good start and nicely detailed Darren.

Wow Eric that turret really is tiny!

Ok I haven't been able to do much yet but I thought I would post a couple of progress shots to show how the Pz.III E is coming along.

The road wheels were no problems and next to the tracks are the boring job for me so I always get them out of the road first.

The detail on these Dragon Smart kits is just astounding if a little over engineered.  The escape hatch in the hull is made up of four separate pieces not including the interior which I didn't bother fitting.

The suspension in this kit can be made to be articulated by trimming off a locating tab on the arm but I didn't bother with this feature.  Wheels on just to see how it looks.

Dang that IS tiny! I wonder how small my H-39 is? Is can't be much bigger, but arguably taller.

wbill76

Best solution Eric is go adopt a kitten. I lost my dog Dusty earlier in the year (she was 14 years old) and thought that would be the end of dog ownership, didn't want to go through raising a puppy, etc. That lasted all of about 2 days and I couldn't stand the emptiness around the house. The fact that I worked from home didn't help as Dusty was part of my daily routine in many ways and the void was too much, it had to be filled.

I told my wife no if I start begging for another cat. Actually I have two left: Kylie 16 and Kassie 8. Kylie is practically mine anyway. She always comes up to me and even did when Katie was in my lap. Stupid cat. Katie would swat her, like she was protecting her property. LOL

I don't know what I'll do when Kylie goes, but it does open the door to another, though my wife and I swear that we won't get anymore. I would probably adopt another 2-3 year old.

Bill, very sorry to hear of the passing of your beloved Dusty. I know it must have been hard and realize that no other dog could replace her.  We can always hold onto the memories we shared with them though.

tread,,,   thank you much!           I actually think I lucked out as the bend didn't really cut across any super important parts. I pulled the section off the cardboard backing and gave it a little flattening roll and a slight reverse bend,  and it seems the original screw-up is hardly noticeable...  I probably won't know for sure until I get to that part of the assembly      (with fingers-crossed)

Thanks again,,,  I do appreciate your help and advice

Heres my Pz. 1's turret assembled .There were a couple of sink holes to be filled . I drilled out the tips of the two 7.92 machine guns with a .018 drill bit .

[/quote]

Nice Shell !.... hey believe it or not, excluding the hull, your turret is about the same size as the Char turret... just a bit smaller.... those dudes must have been tested for claustrophobia before they entered tank service!

I like your new avatar.. its like your Shellback and Shellback is on your back and it is reminiscent of 'Dude, where's my car' .... the tattoo scene.....awe ya woulda had to see it...

it was corny anyway

tread 

So,    I open the kit and begin checking out the sprue's...          the PE, decals and clear sprue are all attached to the usual Dragon cardboard protector....

The only problem is the placement of PE part MB...   It was packaged / taped over the seam of one of the zip lock protector bags,,, 

Arrghhhhhh.....

A huge bend right through the PE ...  I carefully removed and tried to roll flat. Luckily it did not ruin any of the larger pieces on this "sprue"...   still not happy though.

Anyway, I hope to get started soon....     While I do have a set of Friuls for this baby, I cannot help wanting to tackle this sea of tracks....

Not much else to post,,,, so I am looking forward to all the help and insight this GB will undoubtedly offer....

Talk to you soon Gentlemen.....

Bill

[/quote]

Hi Bill..  :  ) 

rough luck on the P.E.   Maybe after you anneal it it will smooth out easier...trying to straighten it out without annealing will only 'work harden' it..... I am sure you'll get it fixed up !

Gonna be a cool build!

tread

Best solution Eric is go adopt a kitten. I lost my dog Dusty earlier in the year (she was 14 years old) and thought that would be the end of dog ownership, didn't want to go through raising a puppy, etc. That lasted all of about 2 days and I couldn't stand the emptiness around the house. The fact that I worked from home didn't help as Dusty was part of my daily routine in many ways and the void was too much, it had to be filled.

Carl,,,    muah? Trying to get rid of them,, nahh...            was thinking just looking at one would be great therapy for your Pz I build,,,     35th scale would look SO big...  if  you change your mind, lemme know,,  no worries

BaBill212

Chazzer,,     good to see you jumping in!

Eric,,   day by day pal

Carl,,   nahh,,  no nightmares,,,  (yet,,  ha)                 If you want to feel better about that little turret....    send me a PM,,,  I'll ship you one of the lil Nitto's or Fujimi's,,    hell, I will never build all of them

Bill , that just way to small for me . I bet your trying to get rid of them little things arent you ?

Eric , you cant forget the good times . Hang in there .

Chazzer,,     good to see you jumping in!

Eric,,   day by day pal

Carl,,   nahh,,  no nightmares,,,  (yet,,  ha)                 If you want to feel better about that little turret....    send me a PM,,,  I'll ship you one of the lil Nitto's or Fujimi's,,    hell, I will never build all of them

Hurry up Chazzer. LOL We're less then a week in, so you've got time.

Carl, it's a process. I did ok yesterday. Today I was stupid enough to watch this 30 second video that my wife took with her iphone. It shows Katie with a toy bear in her mouth making these crazy noises when she picks one up. So cute, but I was stupid to watch it. It's a process.

Hope to get back this evening. presently I have to job search as well.

Bill , hope those flashbacks dont cause nightmares !

This has got to be the smallest turret (and tank ) that i've ever built .

I'm in. Just not sure what I will build. I'll get back to you ASAP.

Gents,, thanks for the PE words and advice...  I am at a loss as to how it happened other than possibly poor packaging. I have never seen this from Dragon in the past. Luckily I think the bend won't do much real harm.

Will,,   I would be stoked about that half track too,,,  great looking piece!

Carl,,  That turret is giving me flashbacks of my micro pz III build,,  good job so far

Erik,,  Great pic of Katie,,,,  am sure she is munching on some treats in a good place

Bob,,   thanks for all the advice on the track options...  not sure which set I will go with as of yet...  crossing that bridge in the near future though

Am really looking forward to dipping into the build....  will be fun!

Bill

Hey Eric sounds like your feeling better today .

Cliff, i'm a sucker for all cats, small and big alike. Perhaps I should have gone with a Catman username. Tigers just happen to be the biggest of them all. Much like the WW II armor.......

Eric: Thanks for sharing the photo with us. I suppose it fits since I've been told every cat is a tiger in their dreams...

Bill: Glad you were able to save the mangled PE, I've never seen a piece bent like that before either.

Bill:

That PE mess-up.... Bummer! Huh. I've opened (no, I didn't say BUILT!) many of my Dragon boxes and have to say they are usually pretty careful about the PE. Maybe this one was packed on early Monday AM...  But, from what you show, it should, I think, roll out flat without screwing up any detail...

About those tracks.... I'd say "Go for it!".  I've done a few older Dragon Pz. I - kits (including this one) and found the itty-bitty links actually can be managed - and without much loss, either. Just use a small cutter, clean the nubs with a sharp new X-acto blade, and you are go to go.  And they will look really nice. And yes, they ARE tedious (but I'll bet that the Fruils for this little beast would be at least as much so - as are the ModelKasten, Tristar on-the-sprue types, and MasterBox links. Built some they are fiddly )  The one serious lack I found in the older Dragon on-the-sprue Pz 1 links is that you can end up trimming away much or all of the track pin in clean-up. You CAN try to save some "pin" during link-cleaning, OR... A really tedious but effective fix is to actually clean off the sprue-nubs where there should be pin - ends, and go ahead and assemble the track runs. After setting these on the tank, you can actually add on some "pin-ends" cut from stretched sprue to the outter side link edge and it will look GOOD. But did I say TEDIOUS...? Yeah

The Kleiner 3 in 1 kit comes with a "somewhat corrected" idler that shows the form of the original much better than those provided in the previous Dragon Kleiner, but nowheres as well as do those in the newer Pz. 1B- variant "SmartKits"... It does capture the two rims supported by some angular bracing, albeit rather chunky bracing and rims with a too-small gap. The real piece was pretty light and "elegant-looking".  You can easily make that idler look a whole lot better by assembling it per instructions, and then doing some careful trimming and thinning on the inside surfaces between the wheel-halves. That is, trim out some of the styrene and make those rims skinnier and the groove a little wider.  Likewise, thin down the angular bracing parts around the hub.

I'm looking forward to seeing how you do this little boxy beast!

Cheers!

Bob

Thank you Cliff. Yes, that's my Katie. I will be updating the avatar of her for the immediate future. I just want to honor her memory.

Hope to get back to the bench today.

First off, let me say- great stuff guys!

Tread: Thanks, will pull out the Mr. Surfacer (how did I model before I found this stuff?)

Eric: Nice new avatar- I'm assuming that's the cat you just lost?

Shellback

Modeler , just noticing that you have your Group Build Badge shown in your signature line . I have seen your G.B.Badge in your post on others forums also . We havent chosen a G.B. Badge yet .If you look on page one of this thread there are some guide lines that we are all asked to go by .I high lighted the guidline about the G.B. Badge in red .

The guidelines for the GB are as follows:

• You can enter anytime from when it starts to when it's finished
• Any scale
• Any AM item
• All kits must be NIB or very lightly started (10%)
• No crossovers of other GB's
• A badge will be created, but can only be obtained for a completed build within the time frame
• Please share info about the kit and have fun, fun, fun!

Thank Carl. As host of the GB, I should have addressed this myself, but thanks for reminding me. 

Yes Modeler, that was the guideline I created. If this is your first GB, then I appreciate your enthusiasm and will accept your posting of the badge that you created as nothing more. However, we has of yet to vote on a GB Badge as a group. Once we decide on one, I will post it to the first page so anyone whom completes their build within the time set, can claim it. Each GB has its own set of rules, or as I like to call them: Guidelines. Some GB's just give them for participating, which I don't care for, because many drop out. I like to think of it as a merit for completing the build.

Please don't take this personally, because you might have missed it.   

Thanks.

Modeler , just noticing that you have your Group Build Badge shown in your signature line . I have seen your G.B.Badge in your post on others forums also . We havent chosen a G.B. Badge yet .If you look on page one of this thread there are some guide lines that we are all asked to go by .I high lighted the guidline about the G.B. Badge in red .

The guidelines for the GB are as follows:

• You can enter anytime from when it starts to when it's finished
• Any scale
• Any AM item
• All kits must be NIB or very lightly started (10%)
• No crossovers of other GB's
• A badge will be created, but can only be obtained for a completed build within the time frame
• Please share info about the kit and have fun, fun, fun!

Like the scheme you chose Andy.

Bill, that is a bit weird about the PE being bent in the box. 

Bill , i wouldnt care for my p.e. sheet having a crease in it like that  either . Bad enough when we damage or loose parts on our own , but when you open a new kit and see that kind of poor packaging , well thats bad . I thought these kits were inspected to a certain extent .

Heres my Pz. 1's turret assembled .There were a couple of sink holes to be filled . I drilled out the tips of the two 7.92 machine guns with a .018 drill bit .

AndyT - Now I understand why you picked that Gladiator, Pretty sharp. I had no idea The British had RAF units in France in 1940.

BaBill - That stinks about the PE, hope it bends back well

I Finished setting up my workspace, (for those of you you didn't know I just finished moving) just in time because the Halftrack came today!!! I haven't bought a new kit in a couple years or so and I have to say, Boy have kits changed! This is the first time I've seen Magic Track, how are they? They look pretty amazing. Any special glue I should use or anything?

I took a look at the decals and they are all for units in Russia in '42 So does anyone know where I could find the right markings and where I could find decals to match?

I'm stoked to start cutting sprues, may be posting progress soon.

AndyT.......   good luck on the Gladiator launching...  (nice looking bird!)

So,    I open the kit and begin checking out the sprue's...          the PE, decals and clear sprue are all attached to the usual Dragon cardboard protector....

The only problem is the placement of PE part MB...   It was packaged / taped over the seam of one of the zip lock protector bags,,, 

Arrghhhhhh.....

A huge bend right through the PE ...  I carefully removed and tried to roll flat. Luckily it did not ruin any of the larger pieces on this "sprue"...   still not happy though.

Anyway, I hope to get started soon....     While I do have a set of Friuls for this baby, I cannot help wanting to tackle this sea of tracks....

Not much else to post,,,, so I am looking forward to all the help and insight this GB will undoubtedly offer....

Talk to you soon Gentlemen.....

Bill