DML Brummbar Mid COMPLETE 07-30-12

Tread, thanks for the comments as always!

Mike, painting is always one of those major milestones in the build process...fortunately I was able to get the blocks of time necessary to get it all done this weekend. Next weekend will be a busy one with Father's Day and what-not so had to take advantage! Plates on sticks...now there's something I haven't thought of in a while.

Humm looks like you are up to your usual painting voodoo......

Now as a side note....for the older modelers....looking at all the road wheels on sticks reminds me of the plate jugglers from the old Ed Sullivan show...I hear the music in the background!!

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks Bill :  ) .... been waiting for Sunday  ... Looks great man !  

tread

This weekend was a productive one with a lot of progress on the paint work for the exterior. Not a lot of prep work was required except for the mounting the road wheels, sprockets, and idlers on trusty toothpick handles using blobs of blue tack poster putty. First round of airbrush work involved the application of a primer coat of Model Master enamel Italian Dark Brown. This helps check the putty work and insures there isn't any bare plastic peeking through the base coat.

Speaking of the base coat...that was applied next by airbrush using a 50-50 mix of MM enamel Panzer Dunkelgelb/Light Gray. I used multiple passes with the airbrush to slowly build up the finish instead of applying as a single heavy coat. This is particularly necessary due to the increased surface area and nooks/crannies produced by the zim application.

Next up was the camouflage pattern. Using the reference photo I dug up earlier along with the box art, I applied a brown squiggly pattern freehand using a 50-50 mix of MM enamel Military Brown and Leather. The pattern deliberately stops at roughly the height of the schurzen plates on the hull side to mimic what the reference photo shows. 

Last step involved applying a mist coat from roughly 12" away from the model using a heavily thinned mix of the base coat and opening up the airbrush needle all the way to create a nice wide pattern. This toned down the camo work, fading it slightly, and tying it in nicely with the base coat as a foundation for more work later on in the weathering stages.

The road wheels, sprockets, and idlers got their due as well. They were primered at the same time as the hull and the rubber portions painted via airbrush using MM enamel Gunmetal (not the Metalizer!). The hubs on the road wheels were airbrushed using a circle template to mask the rubber tires.

Next up will be working on the exterior details and getting things ready for the weathering stages.

Thanks Will, glad to see you back around these parts.

Progressing along very nicely.

Looking very well done as usual! Keep it up.

Very true Mike...that's why I only do one set per build!

Ahhh...indy tracks....the knitting of scale modeling.....

Just remember, too many indy track sets in succession could cause brain damage

Looking good

Rounds Complete!!

My pleasure Steve!

Bill:  Thank you for taking the time to write that thorough and helpful info on the MK's...I do appreciate it.

Carl, yes indeed...but fortunately MK designed them intelligently so they are easy to handle.

Tread, thanks for the comments and support! I've gotten pretty comfortable with MKs and they've become a staple on builds the way some guys always use Fruils.

Marc, I think you've been spending too much time on your Enigma...you're starting to hear things!

Steve, it is more work, no question there, but the payoff comes in the end in terms of weathering and handling for installation. As you've discovered, working withe one-piece tracks for "dead" track design vehicles is always a challenge. Workable sets overcome that, allowing you to tailor your sag accordingly. This is even more flexible when you have a kit that includes adjustable idler wheels (and some MK sets include parts to allow you to adapt mounts to be adjustable as well depending on the "host" kit you're working with).

MK stands for Modelkasten, they are a company in Japan that produces the sets (among other things). Here's their home page (it's in Japanese, so Google Translater will help). http://www.modelkasten.com/ As far as quick Pros/Cons...here goes:

Pros: Styrene links, no special glue required to assemble, produce workable track runs, sets include spare links/pins, can be painted using standard model paints/methods, not kit-specific, wide range of tracks available for different vehicle types (1/35 scale), cheaper than metal tracks (depending on supplier/source, I use www.rzm.com for all my MK track needs).

Cons:  More fragile than metal tracks, time consuming assembly process, sensitive to "hot" paints like lacquers, some clean-up required depending on set in question, not ideal for "live" track types (i.e. Sherman tracks).

HTH!

Eric, separate guide horns add a little bit to the assembly time but not very much...and you can't argue with the in-scale result!  

Separate guidehorns? You have way too much patience.

Bill: You sure know how to roll with the punches...the tracks look nice.  I cringe when I think of indy links and this sounds like even more work! 

BUT...I'm reaching a point where rubber band tracks just aren't cutting it!  I like the ease and speed but the process to attach them and then gluing them to the road wheels to get the sag stinks..not to mention that it doesn't look very authentic.  

Can you give me a bit more info on MK Tracks?, maybe a web link?  A quick PROS vs. CONS? 

Thanks Bill...looking forward to seeing the paint!!!

PAINT?  Did I hear someone say paint?

Heya Bill :  )

Thats a lot of work, but I know you use these MK tracks all the time, and one thing I know, they sure look great and that is the important part in my opinion.  

Looking forward to instillation !

tread

Phew ! Lots of small parts Bill

Dealing with the track assembly is always a time-consuming and repetitive exercise but the payoff comes in the end in terms of flexibility with the weathering and other finishing steps, so it's worth it. The MK set assembles fairly straightforward, just a matter of removing the links from their sprues, cleaning up the attachment points, and using the supplied jig to assemble the runs. The set includes 2 jigs, so it's possible to work on two sections of 8 links at a time which allows the glue to set up on the pins and guide horns but not cause an interruption in the process. The pins come with their own handles which simply twist off while the guide horn handles need to be removed with sprue cutters and the attachment point cleaned up a bit with a sharp blade tip.

The set recommends 99-100 links for a Pz IV family vehicle but I stopped at 96 links to allow for flexibility when the time comes to install the tracks onto the suspension and will add the extra links needed at that stage. So 192 links, 192 guide horns, and 380 track pins later, the runs are done!

Next up will be painting the exterior and moving on to the remaining details.

Andy, thanks as always! MK tracks are always a milestone with any build. They are worth the effort IMHO but kind of hard to show progress while they are getting assembled. I don't buy a lot of zim sets due to not building very many vehicles that require it, but when I do I usually buy from Atak direct or through Jadar Hobbies in Poland. HTH!

Tread, thank you kindly sir! The MBA program is moving along, only 7 classes to go, so getting near the mid-point. It's been a while since I encountered a problem of this magnitude in a build but they do happen from time to time. I always try to report them as honestly as possible when encountered, fortunately this one wasn't a show-stopper!

Carl, thanks!

Clay, appreciate the comments, sounds like you've got the makings of a full line-up similar to what Tony has going on with the Jagdpanzer IV family.

Mike, that's a good analogy, I like it! All that's missing is a tie around the ball mount. I'm enjoying the weekend and setting some time aside for relaxation...in between reading 4 chapters on Economics that is!

Moving along nicely....the zimm work looks like it has the vehicle pants on and a vest.

As much as you can, enjoy the weekend...

Rounds Complete!!

I have the Early Tristar kit too. Looks busy and even a little intimidating.

awesome work Bill!! i have the hole Family of Brummbars Early Tristar. and mid & late Dragons none with Zim. i like Atak zim, looks better than Zim added to the kit.  just looking at your's tells the hole story why. again AWESOME.

Clay

That zimm sure looks good Bill .

Hi Bill :  ) 

Congrats on your continuing higher education, of course the Bear looks great and I must say it is unusual for your builds to have so much as a ' hiccup' but great recovery and have a great week end !

tread

A day early? WOW!  Life is really good!  It is really looking GREAT!  Can't wait to see it primed and painted soon after you are done with the tracks.  Have fun with those MK tracks!  

I neglected to ask you where do you usually buy Atak Zimm sets from... thanks!

The Memorial Day weekend just happens to coincide with the completion of my latest MBA class so in celebration I'm posting an update a day earlier than usual because this is as far as I'm going to get this weekend!

Work continued on the fighting compartment roof as called out in Step 10. All of the hatches were installed in the closed position with the exception of the commander's "rabbit ears" scope hatch. I installed the base for the scope to the roof plate and will add the scope itself later after painting since a test fit revealed I could easily install it through the opening without problems. The plate was attached to the vehicle first and then the hatches and details added to avoid any complications with the fit. The gunner's sight and the driver's periscopes were masked with small amounts of blue tack putty to keep their faces clear during painting and small amounts of Steel painted on their rear faces to provide a little reflective color.

I also paid a little more attention to the ball mount collar...I wasn't 100% satisfied with the fit/gap look around the edge so I used some of the thin resin carrier film from the Atak set and some CA gel to add some strips around the curved portion to tighten things up a bit. Careful trimming with the tip of a #11 blade removed the excess and a little bit of sanding to make sure it was flush was all that was needed to improve it to my satisfaction.

With that done, it was a case of going through the various steps in the instructions and looking for details that needed to be installed before painting and cleaning up the stuff that had been temporarily skipped. I used the kit-supplied PE to add the rear superstructure scalloped braces, installed the fire extinguisher, the rear Notek light, and the rear side tool box. The antenna mounts had their bases drilled out with a #76 finger drill to prep them for the installation of brass antennae later on. I also surgically removed the spare wheel portions from the original kit rear engine deck plate and transplanted them to the Atak plate and added the rest of the mounts with CA gel.

The front fender details also received some attention. The front Bosch light was assembled and installed with some 0.5mm solder added to create the missing wiring conduit. The jack was also assembled and installed into position to round things out. The other fender tools and details will be added later after the hull base coat is applied.

The reason this is where the update stops for this weekend is due to the fact that the next step is the MK track assembly. That's a somewhat repetitive task and won't get done this weekend so there's no point in holding off as a result. Once the tracks are done it will be on to the painting stages!

Thanks Steve, glad to have you along for the ride!

wbill76

Great photo of the barrel, looking foward to seeing this painted!

Thanks Tony, we must've been posting at the same time! Glad to hear I'm not the only one who had trouble with the gun.

Carl,

Have to agree, Dragon did a fine job with the gun details. Most of it is on the non-hatch side so once installed most of it isn't visible but I could see it being used in say a field-repair scenario for a dio or similar.

Mike, thanks as always for the comments!

Ernest, glad you like how it's coming together! The Atak zim (like anything AM) is never 100% and some adjustments are always needed here and there...for example on the left side superstructure angled panel, one of the openings for the schurzen braces was missing and I had to do a little surgical work there to correct it. Still beats having to putty and texture everything yourself IMHO!

Mark, my pleasure to share the good and bad when it comes to a kit...even if it might have been partially self-inflicted! Anything that helps someone else enjoy their build a little better. Thanks for the comments!

Eric, so far I've been able to keep up a fairly good pace with it since it's in the building stages. Things will have to slow down a bit once painting and weathering starts but I'm doing my best to keep to a regular schedule with this one. Fingers crossed!

Andy, yes unfortunately, you do have to wait until Sunday...unless something unusual happens mid-week and a window of opportunity opens up.

Yeah Bill I had to spend a lot of time getting the ball down where it belonged. I had to remove much material on the inside first, little by little, a real pain.

Good progress made otherwise Tex.

Tony lee