251 Halftracks GB 1 October '08 - 8 June '09

bbrowniii wrote:

Man, a night with your stash....  you really know how to tempt a guy....  maybe I could bring some stuff and we might do some 'swapping'...

I didn't "spend the night" with dupes' stash but got an eyefull of her...TWICE!  He even let me hold a few kits...longingly...  It's a thing of beauty!

    Look what was in the mail when I got home today. Unbelievable, I ordered it on Tuesday morning!

  Didn't think I get this till Saturday at the earliest so I started on the tracks to get them out of the way.

   Dragon plays a cruel joke on you with this kit. They include two sets of tracks.

   These

  And these, which would have been way easier but are not accurate for this version. They were only used from Feb 44 till Jun 44.

  Here's a pic of a jig I made for doing tracks. I plan on taking it to my brother who's a machinist and having him make me one using a piece of aluminum.

   I plan on finishing the tracks tonight while watching A Bridge To Far.(love that movie) and tomorrow I should have the running gear done. Gonna keep my eye out for the floating front wheels that seems to get the better of some of us. It happened to my /10.

     By the way Dupes showed me his stash list at GranitCon and I'm still in awe.

panzerguy wrote:

By the way Dupes showed me his stash list at GranitCon and I'm still in awe.

Yeah, but that was the LIST.  He's talking about letting me see the real thing.  Man, that's like the difference between 'reading' the swimsuit edition and being in a hottub with the 'ladies'...

dupes wrote:

Heh...and it's grown quite a bit - doesn't even fit in the closet anymore! :0

Oh my....

panzerguy:  I'm knee deep into a similar set of PE!, the one I have has three sheets...a lot of it is for the rocket launcher boxes (I'm doing 251/1) I also have the same set of tracks...I'll be curious to see how that jig works for ya!  Sidenote...did you do that toot' for the Nazi flag yet?

bbrowniii: I've never seen such passion for a stash...brings a tear to my eye...

SMJmodeler wrote:

bbrowniii: I've never seen such passion for a stash...brings a tear to my eye...

Yup... and let me tell you, I got some passion right HERE...

I mentioned the other day that I had made a minor haul on E-Bay (AFV Club2 251/1 D with Pak-40 and DML 251/21 D Drilling).  Well, the AFV kit came yesterday and the DML today.

Don't you just love that moment... you know the one I mean... when you crack open the box for the very first time... you get that 'oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, YES!!!!' rapture moment...  yeah... that one... 

I'm still coming down from it...  

And let me tell you, not to take anything away from the AFV kit, but boy, no one, and I mean NO ONE, knows how to stuff a box full o' styrene like DML!!!

   Smj the jigs working pretty good only thing is it just a mock up gonna have one milled from a piece of aluminum.

  Here's a link to the flag toot

     /forums/1100765/ShowPost.aspx

Hey guys, I need your help...

On the 251/1 variants, there are storage bins under the troop seats.  Any one have any idea/pics on how they open?  The AFV kit has hinges, but no latches or anthing to indicate how they open.

Thanks for any info.

Well in-between rebuilding my porch and cleaning out the basement I managed to get a little done.

     After I got all the torsion bars on and lined up I ran into a discrepancy with the instructions. They show partD22 as being attached to the outside of part D21.

 It has to go on the other side in the notch.

 Strange considering Dragon instructions are always so clear and precise.

  Next I started on the firewall and dash. The Eduard set comes with some tiny stuff.

  The dash is a little plain in detail so I'll need to add some.

I was pretty nervous about send some of those parts flying. Luckily I managed not to lose anything.

   The tracks are done so tonight I should have the lower hull completed.

Steve - glad to see you're well on your way! That Eduard PE set sure spruces things up on the dash. Wow. Thanks for the track-type info, btw - I need to go through all of my DML 251's and see how many of the other ones come with two sets of tracks...no need for AM sets if I have a bunch of spares already!

Boyd - went through my refs over the weekend, couldn't find ANY evidence as to how that storage stuff opens. Sorry bud. 

dupes wrote:

Boyd - went through my refs over the weekend, couldn't find ANY evidence as to how that storage stuff opens. Sorry bud.

Ah, no problem.  I'll just wing it.  I'm guessing, just be looking, that they probably folded down from the top...  Maybe I just won't open one, since there is no interior detail...  I just don't know...

panzerguy: How you gonna' paint that dash without painting the instruments ...? I been wondering how to do that because mine will look the same.  I've never had to deal with that before before.

Thanks for the link to the flag toot'!

SMJmodeler wrote:

panzerguy: How you gonna' paint that dash without painting the instruments ...? I been wondering how to do that because mine will look the same.  I've never had to deal with that before before. Thanks for the link to the flag toot'!

  Your very welcome.

  Steve I'm going to put a couple of drops of clear lacquer on the dials and then use some liquid mask.

panzerguy wrote:

Steve I'm going to put a couple of drops of clear lacquer on the dials and then use some liquid mask.

I've never heard of that technique, is it like a rubber cement compound that can just be rubbed off when your done?! 

SMJmodeler wrote:

How you gonna' paint that dash without painting the instruments ...?

Panzerguy's approach sounds pretty straightforward.  An alternative would be to use a small pinch of blue tack over the dial face prior to painting.

 Don

SMJmodeler wrote:

panzerguy wrote:  Steve I'm going to put a couple of drops of clear lacquer on the dials and then use some liquid mask. I've never heard of that technique, is it like a rubber cement compound that can just be rubbed off when your done?!

http://www.modelsbuzz.com/liquid-mask-hows-it-work-204145.html

dupe's sorry for the delay. But finally, here's my finished 251/17. She ended up darker than i intended, due to me not allowing for the affects of the washing. But this is a major leap forward for me, going from just dry brushing and pastels to adding washer's. Overall, i really like the result, even if it is a bit heavy. But it deffinatly give's me something to work on.

dupes wrote:

Steve - glad to see you're well on your way! That Eduard PE set sure spruces things up on the dash. Wow. Thanks for the track-type info, btw - I need to go through all of my DML 251's and see how many of the other ones come with two sets of tracks...no need for AM sets if I have a bunch of spares already!

dupes I think most of the DML 251's i have come with two sets of tracks. But be aware, i think alot of them include one set of the metal cleat tracks which are of limited use.

Bish wrote:

Bish - love it! While the weathering may be a bit heavy (read - dark), I think the end result is quite good. Lightening the base color next time would certainly alleviate that issue.

Thanks for participating! Hopefully you'll stick around to help everyone else out, and if you get the urge to build another, let me know.

About those tracks - do you know anything about the usage? Why the were/weren't used? Were they from one specific manufacturing facility or something?

The metal cleat were tried in early 1944. But they were found to cause to much vibration so were discontinued. They can be used on vehicles from Feb to July 44 going off the top of my head. The metal ones are those with two raised lines on them. I think if you had the patience you could remove the lines from the dragon sets and pass them off as rubber pads. I am going to try it anyway as i would like to use my left over Dragon tracks on my tamiya and AFV 251's.

I do like the end result and i know it will fit into the dio i have planned, a muddy scene in march 44. I have already taken on board what i can improve on and am putting it into effect on my Kugelblitz. But for my first time doing washes i am very happy.

As for doing another 251 i am sooooooooooooo tempted, i will think about it. And i will deffo stick around. The 251 is my favorite German vehicle, the predecessor of modern Infantry fighting vehicles like the Warrior that i drove for 8 years. I hope i can help others and i know i can learn a few things for future builds as i have alot of the kits being built on here.

A great GB, thanks alot. And i hope your mum is getting better.

And now my big cats badge won't be lonely any more.

        Bish your /17 came out great.

   Well bench times been a little scarce but I've managed to get some in here and there.

  Here's my progress so far.

   After playing around with the torsion bars and the front wheels I managed to eliminate any floaters.

     The kit comes with two upper hulls. The one to the left is the early hull with the split engine access doors the other is the later version with the single piece door. Either can be used with this variant but I chose the early.

   I'm really glad I decided to go with the pe set for this and here's one of the reasons why,

  As you can see the kit radio mount doesn't even come close to the Eduard one. I managed to get a bit done yesterday, Attached the sides and stowage bins and got the gun mount together.

  The mount is giving me a little bit of a fit problem where it attaches to the bulkhead but nothing I can't handle (I hope).

   I have Wednesday off and that's when I plan on going to work on the Pak.

Hi Bish,

Like the 251/17 great job....

Bish wrote:

dupe's sorry for the delay. But finally, here's my finished 251/17. She ended up darker than i intended, due to me not allowing for the affects of the washing. But this is a major leap forward for me, going from just dry brushing and pastels to adding washer's. Overall, i really like the result, even if it is a bit heavy. But it deffinatly give's me something to work on.

Bish: This is a REALLY nice build!...it's a bit dark but not bad..in fact, you just muted the tones some, but it's very convincing...DEFINATLY consider it a succcess, nicely done!!! 

It's easy to "correct" on the next project if you're not satisfied.  When you airbrush the base color, just post shade it one and then TWO shades lighter  It will seem too light at first but not after you get the filter washes on.  Everything else is superb...the chips and scratches are just right, well placed...again, very convincing.  I like that open storage bin too!

FYI: You might want to watch those streaks on the front, make sure they are straight down! 

...here's an example of the post shading I mentioned for your reference:

dupes wrote:

Steve - looks great so far! So is the "floating wheel" trick solved just by setting the roadwheels on a length of tracks? PE work is !

     Thanks Dupes 

   The trick is to just let gravity do all the work.

   Here's how I did it 

   First I assembled a section of track for both sides and the road wheels. Next came the front wheels and suspension.  As you know, even with the little guide pins the torsion bars have a little play in them. Using liquid glue I attached the torsion bars and after about twenty minutes slid on the road wheels, no glue, and then placed it on the sections of track. Using a piece of styro foam to prop it up to the correct height and making sure the wheels were straight I let it sit over night. Simple and effective. 

Bish

Really nice work on that /17.  Good job