Just glad to hear that it is helpful to you. It certainly eases some misery.

Doesn't it ever.

Wow! Bish, the 555 is looking great! The detail in the cockpit is fantastic!

I'm seing some fantastic work so far! I hope I can be at par with what you guys are doing when I can get some time to start my entry.

Bish, are the seat belts PE or did you scrtach them? They look great, and I love the addition of the brake lines.

Thanks for the comments guys.

Steve, they are PE belts from a couple of spare He 111 sets i had. And i have gotten into the habit of useing wire for the brake lines as even when i have PE ones, they are flat and don't look right.

Colin, i am sure you will do just fine and i am looking forward to your Arado when you have some time.

Thanks Bruce, i rather like it. Just a shame a lot of it won't be visible. But its all good practice. 

She's looking terrific Bish! Love the replacement gun barrels and seatbelts.

I think you'll like the Mike Grant decals, I have one or two sets. I haven't used them yet but the printing is very sharp and detailed.

Thnaks G. Ye, they are really nice. Only problem was cutting out the rund ones. I tried going right round the edge with a fresh blade in the knife, but ruined a couple. So i definatly need somthing to remove them properly.

Bish

Thnaks G. Ye, they are really nice. Only problem was cutting out the rund ones. I tried going right round the edge with a fresh blade in the knife, but ruined a couple. So i definatly need somthing to remove them properly.

 

Bish

Sounds good enough to me Aaron. Glad to have you on board, i'll add you to the roster.

 

Thanks, I was going to get some photos of the kit up ,but just haven't found the time (in the middle of a home repair project). It doesn't look like a bad kit for a short run.

thats no problem Aaron, look forward to seeing it when you can.

Excellent work everyone. I started my Academy T-34/85 yesterday, the lower hull comes in four main parts with springs that go into covers. First I glued the two sides to the bottom and dry fit the center part to help in alinement. Next was gluing the springs into there holders, then when the lower hull had dried I glued the springs with the covers in. So far the part fit has been excellent, very thin, tiny gaps. My next trip the my local hobby shop I'll be pick up some of Model Master's Russian green colors, along with a tank crew.

Dan,

Excellent start on the T-34. I have never build a T-34, so the suspension to me is interesting. Is this a working suspension, so you could pose the tracks running over uneven ground?

Nice strat Dan. That is an interesting suspension there. Looking forward to seeing how that come together.

Looks good Dan, I've built a couple of Dragon T-34s that are engineered in a simular way. Looking forward to seeing more. 

Just finished the cupola, FM gives you a sprue of clear parts for the periscope. I masked them off last night with a few dabs of white glue and cemented it to the turret. Hopefully I'll ready to paint the interior soon. 

Here's the muffler, the instuctions tell you to paint it burnt metal, I'm guessing a rusted out finish would make more sense? 

Thanks Hogfanfs: There are nubs inside the covers for the suspension, I could see if you wanted to pose them in a different way you would need to cut those nubs off.

Thanks Bish.

Thanks Gamera: Wounder what the part count is on those Dragon T-34's, this Academy is 370 total. It also comes with parts to build a Korean War T-34. Nice cupola and muffler.

Construction is moving along smoothly. Have the mantlet and it's top cover in place, the upper hull glued excellent to the lower hull. When I was gluing the two side parts to the bottom I should have also glued the rear angled part, there was a nice gap after I took the tape off. It's on a curved area so that was a little of a challenge filling in a sanding it, but I think I cleaned it up well. When you look at the wheels it looks like Panzer tank, 20 road wheels in total, five doubles per side. And final the suspension arms went in with no problem.

@Cliff,

The cupola looks good, and that is an interesting exhaust.

I'm still deciding on how beat up and weathered I want to make the Type 4. Would these tanks have been take directly from the production line and put into service in 1946? I would think so. If so, how much ware would be visible? How much rust and dents? Where would they be placed to defend?

@Dan,

That Academy kit looks very nice. The cast texture on the turret is a nice feature. It's coming along very nicely.

Thanks guys!

Dan: I say the Dragon kit probably has about two-three times the parts, over half the links for the tracks. And then as typical Dragon engineering about 30% - 60% of the parts are marked 'not for use'.  The Academy kit probably builds much easier. On the Korean War version though that's interesting, from what I'd read the Soviets just handed a bunch of late WWII T-34s over to the North Koreans, I wasn't aware there was any difference. 

Bruce: That's an interesting question. I'd figure they would have been knocked out almost as soon as they were built but who knows? There's a bunch of stuff about 'Operation Downfall' on the internet, lots of room to come up with your own scenerio. I'm aiming for a little fading and rust on my Type 5 but not too much. 

Thanks Hogfanfs: Yeah the cast texture on the turret is great.

Gamera: Looks like the only difference is on the turret. Korean War version has large commander's cupola one-piece hatch, and forward and rear ventilator. World War II has small commander's cupola, two piece hatch and rear ventilator.

Construction is pretty simple on the Academy T-34/85. The kit comes with a one piece barrel, all that is needed is to clean up the mold seem. I wrapped sand paper around the barrel starting with 600 grit, and working up to 2000 then white printer paper to polish. By just turning the barrel with the sand paper wrapped around it, the paper removes the mold seem. The kit says it a level four but I think it's pretty simple to build.

Great great prgress on that armour guys, coming along really nice.

Thanks guys! 

Dan: I like the looks there of your T-34, looks about as detailed as the Dragon kit and a lot less work. Seems you're about halfway there with having her assembled. 

The Arao has been coming on slwly but i am really happy with how its going and its nice not to be rushing things. With everything else done, it was time to add the vertical tails and close up and mask the pit.

And also masked the bomb bay and wheel wells.

I have decided to try out the Black bashing method as used by a few otehr members of the forum. So after looking at several builds, and bending a few ears with question, i decided to go for it. I like to try new things if i think they will give me the look i want, but at the same time i don't want just one look as i like to approach each build differantly as to the finish as it will all depend on a number of factors. This being a Luft 46 build, i felt it was a good one to try out something new.

So first of all, it got an overall coat of Black Alclad primer. Some may have seen my thread where i asked about an issue i ha with the primer blistering where it was over some enamel overspray fom the unit and Eastern front markings. That was an easy fix but somthing i will look at to avoid in future.

But the rest of the aircraft was fine and i do like the finish Alclad gives.

Is it just me, or does anyone else thinks this looks like something Batman would have.

next up was a random dotting of RLM 76 on the underside. I am useing the new colourcoats, first time i have tried these since WEM closed down. They go down really nice, typical Enamel's. I did have a bit of splattering at first, but after a drop more thinner, it was fine.

After leaving that to dry, i have it several thing coats over all of the same RLM 76. I really like this approach as you can build it up until you achieve the level you want. If its not subtle enough, add another layer. I wanted a finish more on the subtle side and am really happy with how it turned out.

I have also been working on the vehciles this wek, the Kubelwagen and truck are now ready for primer, no pics of those yet. But yesterday my SS100 arrived from Kora.

But clearly i had misread the box when i ordered it. The otehr bomb i have is a 4ton device, this is a 4.5 ton and is some what bigger.

Kora left, Antares right.

So, not only is the Kora bomb to heavy at 4.5 ton, it won't fit in the bomb bay. I kow its a What If subject and the bomb won't actually be in the bay, but i like to be some what realistic. So the plan is to use the Anters bomb and just scratchbuild the cradle the bombs sits in on the trolley.

Thats all for now folks.

@Dan,

Very nice progress on the T-34. Looking forward to seeing some paint on it.

@Bish,

The 555 is coming together very nicely! I'm really intrigued with this blackbasing technique. I plan to use it on the Spitfire I'm currently building. Oops, my apologies, I said "spitfire"! lol The kora bomb does look more impressive, however, I have faith you will configure the Antares bomb effectively.

Thanks Bruce. But be careful, i may have to impose a penance if you keep useing the S word like that.

I know what you mean about the kora bomb, but if all goes to plan, the bomb might not be seen that clerly anyway. I am sure i will find anotehr use for the kora bomb.

The blackbasing is a nice method, i like being able to have plenty of control ove rthe resulst. I did find that once the paint had dried, i found i wanted to add another coat. But thats easier than going to far and trying to remove a layer.

Again nice work Bish. I like that marbling technique, I'm going to have to try it. And I'm sure you can find some use for the second bomb. That's one of the big reasons I like having everything on hand before starting something, you never know what's going to fit and what isn't. 

@Bish: 

Could you give some backround on those bombs? I've never heard of them before and I'm having trouble finding information on them.

Thnaks gamera. Thats why i like having a stash of weapons and vehciles as well as the aircrfat kits themselves. And seeing as the SS100 doesn't fit under the bomber, that stash has come in useful as i have ha to make a change of planes.

Mof, these bombs never existed and as far as i know they are a fiction of the model companies only. Even Luft 46 website does not mention them. I am guessing these are just ideas by the model companies of what the Germans could have developed.

Bish

Thnaks gamera. Thats why i like having a stash of weapons and vehciles as well as the aircrfat kits themselves. And seeing as the SS100 doesn't fit under the bomber, that stash has come in useful as i have ha to make a change of planes.

Mof, these bombs never existed and as far as i know they are a fiction of the model companies only. Even Luft 46 website does not mention them. I am guessing these are just ideas by the model companies of what the Germans could have developed.

 

I got my WIP thread up and running. So, am I supposed to post updates here and there? 

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/3/p/169631/1872155.aspx#1872155