Ahhh.....the tie down loops.....yep they are TOTALLY MIND NUMBING. Besides bending them which is a blast to get a dozen all looking the same, the real fun is placing them. Some just fly off into the 4th dimension when you grab them with tweezers, then you put the glue on but they stick to the tweezers and not the vehicle, then there is about every 10th one which you knock off putting on # 11 (yes it joins the others in the 4th dimension). Of course this is not to leave out the fun of trying to apply multiple loops in a straight line, evenly spaced on a body panel. And then just when you thought you had a system and all is going well, you bump the tray you were using on the bench to hold the pre-bent loops. I wonder how many thousand of these NASA has discovered!!

Ahhh the joy of US tie down loops, in modeling it rivals indy tracks.....except smaller

Rounds Complete!!

Yep, you saved the best for last...the small stuff! Nice work on those hinges.

Marc: Love what you've got going on here, great recovery on the backwards floor assembly!

DAY-YUM!!

How come the older we get the smaller the parts get ?

I'm liking that hood Marc 

That grab handle........

Oh i get it first the giant penny now you also have a giant human finger lol

Sorry I have to say this... HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!?!?!?  But I am LOVING every work you have put on so far.  Five more days!  You can make it, buddy!

Hang in there Marc... 

That is only 200 little dabs of adhesive...

it's looking great, man

tread 

Thanks Bill... only 3. And your 251 thread response was key in deciding what the title of this update would be.

Thanks Mike.   It will be there... finished or not.

As I draw a bead on the end of this craziness it's time for some of the small (How small is it?)  details.

The hinges will all be non-operational.  So instead of wrapping the tabs all the way around a rod I just bent them over the top so each half could be glued in place.  I used a rod as a guide and layed each half of the hinge in place with some slow setting gel CA.  the trick it to time pulling out the rod before it too it glued in place and the glue not being set enough or the hinges move.

I put this off for as long as I could.  Bending 100+ insanely small grab handles.\

In the home stretch....cannot wait to see it next weekend

Rounds Complete!!

Very sharp work on the .50 Marc, no matter how many attempts it took!

that's one nice looking .50cal you got there

yes sir mr. tread SIR!

Carl...yes it did.

More brass , Cool !!!

Marc, did the .50 cal details come with the Lions Roar ?

yes indeed !

get back to work !

tread

Steve since I dunno where you live I can't say what direction it would have come from but that groan you heard in the distance was me

Just held in place with fun tack but I had to see what it looked like.

Bareback, in the saddle or even running along the side.....NICE and nice comeback.  Look forward to some more

wing_nut

 ...Rambo... just to give you an idea of what's left on the 12 frets...

SO telling you, not to fret, wouldn't help- eh?

Thanks guys.  I had a feeling you would know what I was talking about.  Guessing we've all been there.  Some of us more than others.  When I get to posting the pics of the 50 cal ring mount... well let's just say that what you will be looking at ain't necessarily the "first" crack at it

Rambo... just to give you an idea of what's left on the 12 frets...

Marc,

Just burn a coupe of left over sprues in the backyard to appease the model gods and you'll make it! Looking very nice, glad you got it all sorted out in the end.

Terrific  ' turn around ' Marc !  I am really happy for you !   ... the phrase I use for the effect we all get is  ' work blind ' ... that's what I call it anyway.

I'm rooting for ya ,man

tread

Ahh yes Marc , i am one of those that cant see what i'm seeing until i see it in a picture of what i've been seeing .................... ....................Looking real brassy !

What all do you have left to do because it's looking really close to done right now. Keep at it! It's looking amazing

Pre-post edit:  Ken, since I typed this post in Word… I do that sometimes cuz it’s easier to spell check… I saw your post just now.  You will read that I finally realized all that you said.

Back on track…err… halftrack... finally... sort of... OK... yes, it is

Had a serious bout of “not paying attention”

After getting the box all pulled apart and almost completely glued back again up I had, once again, a revelation that something again didn’t look right.  Turns out the only thing backward before was the floor.  Would have been a lot easier to fix that had I been… paying attention.  The aforementioned guys would not be bumping their head when the jumped out the back.  It’s not a tailgate. So the frame ‘round the top was right the 1^st time. Doing the redo had the side effect of the seams at the panels are just not as perfect as they were the 1^st time around.  Not sure what or where thing got misshapen but I got it as close as I could and that will just have to be that.

Nearly all the interior is done.  Seat, gas tanks, 30 cal gun mounts, storage and radio rack all there now.  Working on the ring mount for the 50 cal.  I may just make that deadline after all.  Of course by saying that I have probably hexed the whole thing.

wing_nut

I kept looking at the three sided frame around the top of the box…along the sides and across the back.   Couldn’t stop thinking how many guys bashed their heads jumping out of the back when the gate is dropped.  Then I realized the answer was zero.  Because that cross piece is not there.  I assembled the whole thing backwards.  The sides face the right way but the frame is backwards… cross piece is at the front.  And the floor is backwards… the recess areas of the floor should be to the rear for the guys to get in and out.

Marc,

while I do agree you have the floor backwards to the sides and back, there is no gate to drop. To exit the M2/M2A1 you either went through the cab, or jumped over the side/back.

If I understand you correctly, the cross piece you mention is in the right place, that is a stiffener angle iron that holds the top of the sides and back from flexing around etc. The seating arraignment and floor recess is correct to one another other, the sides and back armor just need to be removed and flipped around.

The recessed area for the feet of the soldiers is to the back as you mention and the rasied portion (due to the drivetrain/axel etc.) to the front which has extra seating on it and is flanked by the large internal stowage boxes.

Hope that helps.

Really hope you can get this down before next weekend, I'd love to get a close up look at this.

Best,Ken

wing_nut

Bang my head against the wall?  Oh... every now and then.

 

 

Acetone, sanding, blood stains on the wall but all it right way 'round now.  Pics later.

Hmmm , i thought i was the only one around here with this kind of sense of humor .............

LMAO the stress reduction kit made my morning!

Bang my head against the wall?  Oh... every now and then.

Acetone, sanding, blood stains on the wall but all it right way 'round now.  Pics later.

so Marc VERY fine work on this build just need to know how many times do you run your head in to the wall while your working on this build?? AAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA.

Clay