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AFV M40 155mm SP Gun, WIP, 01-17-10, Finally Complete!!

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  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 6:39 PM

Marc - Thanks....the paste adventure continues.....working well.....more in the next update

Rounds Complete!! 

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: beacon falls , Ct.
Posted by treadwell on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 7:58 PM

Mike Big Smile

One of your finest hours approaches. This is a real kick$1***$2build man!

Kudos !!

treadCool

   

 

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Thursday, December 31, 2009 5:26 PM

Well, I did not want you to think I was just lounging around. First I finished the weathering on the hull with the snow. The mixture of taping compound and white glue worked well.

With that complete it was time for the tracks. As I threaded them around the road wheels one of the center pins had a hairline fracture and broke…then another…then another……After numerous attempts to repair them….this is what I have

A perfectly weathered pile of excrement!! Aggrrrrrrr Bang Head

I then quickly ordered a set of T80 Dragon DS tracks. Very nice. Cleaned up the center pins and assembled….primed, painted, dry brushed and weathered.

Again I tried to put on the tracks only to find that yes there are the correct amount of links….but the track set is too short for the M40….Aggrrrrrr squared!! Bang HeadBang Head

SOOOOOO…..I have ordered another Dragon DS track set as I do not trust the AFV tracks to extend the tracks. Once that arrives, I will assemble, prime, etc and then perform surgery to extend the tracks.

While I have been waiting I have assembled some extras to include a spare road wheel, crew rifles, 30 cal can for primers, 155mm projectile, lanyard, ramming staff and “dunnage” as in spent powder cans.

Meanwhile I am stuck….

Once I am back on track….hopefully in a week or so, I will have more updates

The moral of the story…..if you have AFV type T80 or T84 tracks….sell them on e-bay…they are pure JUNK.  Invest in Dragon T80 but have extra to go to length if needed.

As always all comments are welcome and thanks for looking

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Thursday, December 31, 2009 6:32 PM

WOW, Mike, that's a bummer!

Gotta admit--it skeers me quite a bit too, buz I have those same tracks, I believe? Well, don't give up--remember what I went through with those Jagdpanzer Kanone tracks? Just stay patient, and keep plugging away!

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Texas
Posted by wbill76 on Thursday, December 31, 2009 8:45 PM

Ouch Mike, sorry to hear that about the tracks! Especially after all the effort you put into them. I wonder if the pins were just fragile to begin with or if perhaps they became that way after the painting and weathering prior to installation? Either way, it sounds like the DML franken-track option will set you straight.

  • Member since
    May 2005
  • From: Eugene, Oregon
Posted by hughes2682 on Thursday, December 31, 2009 10:42 PM

Mike,

I think I stepped on my jaw when I saw the pic of the tracks.  Oh man I am so sorry to see all that work set back.  Good luck with the redo.  That's a kick in the Censored

Cheers and Happy New YearToast

Dave

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/Aaronw/Groupbuilds/ClassicAviationGB2010bomb.jpg

With enough thrust, pigs fly just fine.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Friday, January 1, 2010 6:52 AM

Karl - You should know me by now...I NEVER quit. It will get finished and I will move on to the next build. Just a bit disappointing. Thanks

Bill - I do not know what did me in. The bit I moved the tracks around during painting and weathering, I had no major problems. Installing them required a bit more "handling" but the seemed to fall apart like an ancient mummy. The was A LOT of colorful metaphores that night!!!

The Dragon tracks are very nice.....just short. Hope to have it soon. Thanks

Hughes - Thanks for stopping in and your understanding!!

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Texas
Posted by wbill76 on Friday, January 1, 2010 12:57 PM

We'll probably never know Mike what caused it...I know that in some cases with styrene it can become brittle if exposed to thinner such as in washes. Same thing with glue, sometimes the glue join will dissolve or become fragile. It may not show up under normal handling but once you try to draw it taught for a live track system that can often be enough to cause the pins to shear under the circumstances. That may be what happened here but it's hard to say one way or the other I guess.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Sunday, January 10, 2010 8:15 PM

Well….I’m back on track. Received my extra set of Dragon tracks and after assembling  16 links, prime and finish then used them to perform surgery to extend the current set.  I had to carefully cut around the center pin and the end pins to separate the track. CA glue worked well to reassemble with the extension. I measured where the extension would be so it would be on the bottom under the road wheels.

Once each track was extended 8 links, the tracks were assembled onto the model. Whew…finally!

Here is the model mounted on the base.

 In order to line up the model on the base the recoil spade had to be installed. After installation and lining everything up on the base, the model was glued into position. I then filled in the area behind the spade with taping compound to look like depressed snow and in front to be a pile of snow.

Next was the spade cable system. I cut and painted a long section of waxed shipping line using Alclad Steel.  After a few wraps and gluing in place on the reel, the line was feed through the opening in the body and the reel glued in place. I would pull the line through one roller at a time and use a micro clip held by helping hands to keep the line taught. With the line taught, a dental pick was use to apply some CA glue to the line in the roller. I repeated this process until the line was in place. A small piece of foil makes the final secure wrap at the cable end.

Next I moved on to snow weathering the tracks.  The outside edge was rubbers with the 50/50 mix of glue and taping compound. To fill in the creases and give the treads the snow look, I took the taping compound and thinned it with water to a paint consistency. This allowed me to brush it on and let it fill in. I would then use a wet clean brush to clean areas with too heavy of a deposit. For the raised cleats, a moist hard cotton swab was used to clean the wash off.

 Here is the completed driver’s side

Here is the view from the front

On a roll now, the next update should be completion. I need to finish a little more snow weathering, and then it is assemble the gun, rear deck and add the few final details

As always all comments are welcome and thanks for looking

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    August 2008
  • From: S.W. Missouri
Posted by Pvt Mutt on Sunday, January 10, 2010 8:33 PM

Oh WOW she's on the road again.YesCool

One good thing about those tracks,at our age we soon forget.Big Smile                                                                         Tony Lee

Shoot Low Boys They're Ridin Ponys

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Niagara Falls NY
Posted by Butz on Sunday, January 10, 2010 10:58 PM

 

 Wow Mike.. I am really taken by your M40... Your over all build is outatanding!!  I am from Niagara Falls just north of Buffalo and yes, seeing your build brings a lot of chills especially now.. Lol

 More so I am glad to see that you over came the track issue... You added 8 extra links.. Just taking notes!! Looking forward to seeing the final build my friend

 Flaps up,

Mike

Rangers Lead The Way

  If you would listen to everybody about the inaccuracies, most of the kits on your shelf would not have been built Too Close For Guns, Switching To Finger

  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Monday, January 11, 2010 4:05 AM

Mike,

Kudos to ya on a great build, and for your persistence! The M40 is rockin'!

I think Bill is right--I've moved away from using thinner washes on my tracks because of issues with styrene rot after the thinner gets in the creases and takes forever to dry. One thing that might help is using a hair dryer to quicken drying time? I have used acrylic cut with dish soap washes on the last two tanks, and that seems to work just fine, 

Alternatively, you could shoot a coat of acrylic flat to cover the paint, and then try the thinner washes?

The PITA was worth the fine model you have here!

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Monday, January 11, 2010 6:06 AM

Tony - OK....you had to bring up our ageWink.....Thanks for stopping in

Mike - Once I had the extra Dragon set, I used the kit supplied T66 track set as a measuring guide and counted up the extra required. It is between 7 or 8 links that were required and after my experience to date and the fact that the rear roller adjusts....I added 8.

Thanks for the comments

Karl - We will never know what killed the AFV tracks. I think the insertion of the center link puts a strain on the center pins and may have fractured them so the thinner was able to "get in" and really weaken the stucture. The only way to describe them is like the mummy when he crumbles to dust.....they just crumbled!

Yeah....it's been a PITA.....but I am happy with it nowHmm.....just have to finish!

Thanks for the long distance stop by!!

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    May 2005
  • From: Eugene, Oregon
Posted by hughes2682 on Monday, January 11, 2010 11:15 AM

Woo hoo it's back on! Glad to see it.

Cheers

Dave

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/Aaronw/Groupbuilds/ClassicAviationGB2010bomb.jpg

With enough thrust, pigs fly just fine.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Monday, January 11, 2010 12:04 PM

Dave - Thanks for stopping by and the vote of confidence

Wayne - You know the pain...Bang Head...it causes multiple colorful metaphores!!

As far as snow.....it is that white stuff on the ground that you get once every 10 years which melts by 9 am. As I sit here with temps in the teens to 20s......and thinking of you in short sleeves.....I can understand.

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Texas
Posted by wbill76 on Monday, January 11, 2010 1:36 PM

Nice work on the surgery Herr Doktor! Tracks look good and the work on the spade and cables is spiffy as well! Yes

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Monday, January 11, 2010 1:52 PM

Bill - Thanks....the cable was a PITA to make sure I could keep it taught but not pull so hard to pop the rollers loose of the glued on shakles.....a mind numbing experience!!

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Sunday, January 17, 2010 7:54 PM

Down to the details so here they are

Finished up weathering the tracks, and added a spare road wheel from the parts bin

Here is a view of the tracks looking at the drive sprocket

I mounted the gun assembly. Added a lanyard from wax coated ship builder’s rigging painted with Tamiya OD. The end of the lanyard is a shaped styrene rod painted with Tamiya Flat Black. I used 26 gauge wire to make the connection hook and drilled out the firing lock to make attachment. 

I also did some dry brushing of the hand wheels and of the handle on the spade reel.

The crew would need weapons. I added some M1 carbines from Tamiya. The stocks are painted with Vallejo Red Brown and the metal with Alclad Steel.

The 30 cal ammo box for the primers is from the parts chest painted with Poly Scale Dark Tactical Green

 

I assembled the rear area with deck and used the removable boxes section boxes to support the pull out extension. Added some snow prints from the crew

Communications of gun commands would be via wire. The wire reel is from Italeri accessories kit painted Tamiya Flat Black for the wire and Poly Scale Dark Tactical Green for the reel. The wire is 26 gauge SS painted Flat Black. The speaker box is a casting from the parts box painted Tamiya OD. The microphone cord is 32 gauge SS wire, wrapped around a dental pick and painted Flat Black. The microphone is from a Verlinden kit and is also painted Flat Black.

The gun is in place as if it has already fired a few rounds. The empty powder containers are from the AFV 155mm/8inch ammunition kit painted Tamiya OD and washed. Then cuts were put into the snow, and I put fresh taping compound in the cuts. By then pushing the containers into place the fresh taping compound oozed out as if the containers were thrown into the snow

The crew would run the vehicle often in the cold and would need fuel often. I created fuel spills around the fill caps with Floquil Oil Spill

Lastly, they would be prepared for the next mission. A powder can was placed on the deck. The projectile carrier was painted with Alclad Steel. The 155mm projectile from AFV is painted with Tamiya OD, the fuse is Alclad Burnt Metal and the rotating bands are Tamiya Flat Copper along with the kit projectile markings.

The ramming staff is styrene rod. The ramming end is some shaped styrene tube with a disc punched from styrene sheet. The staff is painted Tamiya OD and the ramming end is painted with Alclad Steel.

After all that…..here is the finished M40.

As always all comments are welcome and thanks for looking. Also thanks for hanging on for this long build!!

Rounds Complete!!

EOM

Next up Vision M1A1 75mm pack Howitzer!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Texas
Posted by wbill76 on Sunday, January 17, 2010 8:16 PM

Very nice work Mike! I like the snowy footprints, very nice touch and implies that the crew has only very recenly just stepped away from this one. Yes

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Sunday, January 17, 2010 8:37 PM

Bill - Thanks for stopping in and for the comments!

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Valrico, FL
Posted by HeavyArty on Sunday, January 17, 2010 9:11 PM

Looks great Mike.  Looks like the crew just stepped away for a hot cup of joe next to the burn barrel to warm up a bit.  Awesome job as always.

Gino P. Quintiliani - Field Artillery - The KING of BATTLE!!!

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"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

  • Member since
    August 2008
  • From: S.W. Missouri
Posted by Pvt Mutt on Sunday, January 17, 2010 9:20 PM

Well Mike you hung in there didn't you bud. Sure glad you did cause you dotted all the I's and crossed all those T's even though they fell apart.Toast

Great Finish to a tough job                                                                                                                                Tony Lee

Shoot Low Boys They're Ridin Ponys

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Sunday, January 17, 2010 9:40 PM

Gino - Night firing.....cooks come with the 1 am soup!!..... Heat up the leftovers with a powder burn at sunrise!....Yummmm....muzzle blast soup

Thanks for checking out my position!!

Tony - The devil is in the detials......I love Hades!!.....

Thanks for stopping by

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    October 2007
  • From: N.H.
Posted by panzerguy on Sunday, January 17, 2010 9:51 PM

 

   Mike, great piece of work my friendBow Down! Nice to see this one all done up. Looking forward to seeing the Bruiser in September.

"Happiness is a belt fed weapon"

  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Monday, January 18, 2010 3:42 AM

Hey Mike!

A beautiful job on a very impressive kit! It looks great sitting there in the snow! The boot traces are a nice touch and detail.

Only two things I can critique--it looks like you got a little "track sag": near the rear idler; is there any way to tighten that up just a smidge?

The other thing I would suggest is to put more randomly-distributed snow around the walked-upon areas. That grating would have robbed snow from the boots, and you gotta think that a light dusting of maybe MIG pigments (they do have a White pigment--I forget it's name)---or even some talcum powder--dusted over the surface and maybe the lower hull might make it look a little more authentically in-the-scene?

It's just what I would do, but it's not by any means deficient as it stands. I think it looks great. Good job, and I'm sure it's going to take some award, somewhere!

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Monday, January 18, 2010 9:54 AM

Steve - Thanks...yep Bruiser will be there....as always, the important thing is seeing all of the guys from the forum!!

Karl - Thanks.

On the track...yep it is the right side. Being a band track there is no way to adjust the track. There is the same number of links in each. The rear adjusment is as far as I can get it, sooo I think I am stuck. With all the trouble I had with these tracks.....I was afraid to put too much pressure on the band glue joints of the extension or the road wheels. I cannot for the life of me figure out why it is longer on that side. They measured the same when laid out. The rear adjusment on both sides is full.....a strange quirk!!.

On the boots and snow, the MIG you are thinking of is Ashes. Thought about doing that, glad you brought it up. May try a little on the chest on ground level first!!.

Thanks again for the comments.

Rounds Complete!!

 

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posted by zokissima on Monday, January 18, 2010 10:33 AM

Beautiful work.

  • Member since
    December 2006
  • From: t.r.f. mn.
Posted by detailfreak on Monday, January 18, 2010 10:35 AM

Very nice build Redleg.Now wheres the rest of the battery?YesYes

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  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Everett, WA
Posted by Schnobs on Monday, January 18, 2010 11:05 AM

Hey Mike!

I am really impressed with how many details you wove into this one! I love the breach of the weapon the best well done!!!!!

The stencil you used in lieu of decals really shows here.

You are a master craftsman of the the OD my friend!!!

The snow is also well done!  Great technique and I will bookmark this for later use.

Thank you for taking the time to document this for prosperity it is appreciated!

 

 

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer
  • Member since
    April 2005
  • From: Piscataway, NJ!
Posted by wing_nut on Monday, January 18, 2010 2:07 PM

Mike once again you take solid green and make it wicked mean.  Nice.

Marc  

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