DML Bison II Complete 04-28-12

Bill , i was stumblin around the Armor forum and found this build ...............typical of me ............ glad i found it ........ i should of looked here sooner ................but here i am , at least b4 you finished it !

Looks really well done . Tracks cant be far from being applied .

Thanks Carl, this one's slated to be completed this month (hopefully sooner rather than later) barring anything really unusual happening while I'm on my break.

  AHHHH, missed the last two updates Bill.

Looks like you're almost ready to bang another winner off the gavel.

As usual, everything here up to your usual high standards.

It took some time to go through a 9-pages WIP-thread, but it was denfinitly worth it! It's like an expert digital instruction sheet, that should put DMLto shame.

The Bison is looking just great, Bill! It's hard work building a vehicle with such an exposed interior. I've always shunned from that because my planning skills when it comes to the building part is not that developed.

One thing that I like with the Bison - and the Wespe and Marder II - is that is's a testament to the Germans ability to put a existing chassi to good use by upgrading its armament. Who had thought in 1934, when the Pz II was planned, that it in the near future would be toting a 150mm gun?

Keep the updates coming!

/Bultenibo aka Tony

Thanks Steve! That little gavel-like stand is the perfect accessory...it's actually a small figure pedestal that I picked up from a model buddy years back by accident and have been using ever since. I've been busy overhauling my site a little bit in the form of updating the home page and adding a Kit Reviews section as well, so that's kept me away from working on the Bison but should be able to get back to it and have another update here soon.

Tony, thanks for taking the time to read through the full thread and for your comments! You're right about building an open-top vehicle, have to give it lots of thought before committing to different stages but that's part of the challenge. You should give it a try...it's no different than painting/detailing stuff on the exterior, just a matter of masking and protection as you go along. Also agree about the ability of the Germans to not waste existing designs/components and put them to creative uses as the war progressed. Makes for some interesting branches on the development tree for sure!

Hard to believe that I let 2 weeks go by without an update on this build but Spring has arrived here in the Borderland and various things have conspired to keep me away from the bench as a result. I managed to squeeze in bits of time here and there until I finally had enough pulled together to justify an update, so here goes.

First off I went ahead and added the fighting compartment canvas tarp supports that are called for in the final Step 21 diagrams. I encountered a slight problem in that the "tall" version of the gun sight interfered with the placement of the first support so I had to move it forward a bit vs. using the kit-supplied location marks. This isn't an issue with the regular "short" sight and my guess would be that DML designed the placement only with that type in place.

I also did a test fit with the idlers and realized that they are designed to fit only one way into their mounts due to a "hex" nut pin on their base and a slightly oval form to the hull mount opening. I removed the hex pin and carefully removed paint and lightly sanded the mount opening with a round needle file to give me a little more flexibility so that I could adjust each idler slightly when it comes time to fit the tracks. The idlers are not permanently glued just yet.

ModelKasten tracks are a time-consuming assembly project so I typically will work on them a little bit at a time to avoid boredom and repetition. The set I'm using doesn't come with a jig and has one of the mount pins already molded in place, so the links assemble fairly easily. There are three sprue connection points on each link that need minor clean-up if you've got a good pair of sprue cutters and a sharp #11 blade handy. The links are "handed" with the molded on pin representing the outside pin for either Left or Right. I worked 10 links at a time until I had two runs of 100 links each assembled.

The DML instructions call for 110 links per side so I used a bit of blue-tack poster putty to temporarily mount the sprockets and checked out how many links I needed. Turned out that 111 were needed for the left side and 112 for the right to get the idlers aligned properly on both sides and the sag about the same. The tracks are held together with small pieces of masking tape and will be removed for painting and weathering before final installation.

I went ahead and glued the idlers into position and will let them set up overnight so that I have a fixed reference point for the sag later on. Next up will be applying some Future to seal everything up for the decals and weathering stages.

Tracks just pull things all together don't they.

Waitin Bill

Tony lee

Looking very cool now with the tracks Bill. Bring on the weathering buddy.

That's a great looking cammo color combo.    I can't wait to see the weathering part, this is where the model comes alive.

Excellent build so far...

Ahhh.....the beast has shoes.....moving along very nicely

Rounds Complete!!

Tony, yep, nothing like getting baby a pair of shoes to make her sit up right!

Rob, I had a feeling you would say something like that!

Plasticjunkie, thanks for the comments on the camo. Agree with you on the weathering stage and desert-service vehicles always provide for some interesting options.

Thanks Dano!

Mike, making progress slowly...had originally planned to have this one done this month but other things have been stealing time. That's life in Spring!

Hiya Bill   :  )

Just checkin in buddy :  )   been peekin in but where your at now is my favorite part: you know,tracks, weathering and final details.  I love the colors on this one and as always meticulous to the point !  

yer pal

tread

Always looking great, Bill!   I couldn't figure why links are not even sometimes for both sides.  It is OK not to be normal you know. 

Tread, always a pleasure to see you stop by and sit a spell! How's your hand recovery coming?

Andy, the simple answer as to why tracks don't always come out exactly the same on each side is simple...fractions of mm add up when you have 100+ pieces...so small variations in the molding sprues, the "tension" of the links on their pins when assembled, etc. can add up to needing one or two more (or less!) links on any given side. That's why it always pays to treat each side independently and test each track run!

Yup, the links look great.

Thanks Eric!

Looking good Bill!  You normally build so fast that I miss most of your WIP posts, but I managed to catch this one near the end!  Looking forward to another dazzler from you!

Thanks Ernest. My build speed has slowed waaaay down these days and projects are taking longer to complete for a variety of reasons. Glad you were able to swing by and catch this one.

Rolling, rolling, rolling - keep the Bison rolling - on tracks!

Looking great!

/Tony

Thanks Tony, it's getting closer to the finish line for sure!

wbill76

 

 

YYYYEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH

Eric you have excellent taste

Tony lee

Thanks MR! Have to agree with you...the chassis was stressed way beyond tolerances and they were prone to mechanical breakdowns of all kinds...but in the looks department it's low-slung and mean beyond a doubt! Appreciate the comments (as does Tony!)!

Bill, as usual, your WIP is a treat to the eyes!  WAY BEYOND NICE!!!!

Always enjoy your blogs Bill,looking good

Jean-Michel, good to see you, it's been a while! Thanks for the comments and glad you like where the Bison is headed.

Tojo, much appreciated as always, thanks!

Would have to agree with Manstein, coolness-factor is way up there.  She is looking GREAT Bill

Yup, very cool, Bill. I haven't had much time to weigh in as of late, but coolness needs to be recognized.