Took full advantage of the expiration of DST and hte 'extra hour' that grants to get a lot done on the Beute T. Healthy dose of progress to report this time around so will dive right in. I finished up the remaining details from Step 12 that dealt with the hull side details. I replaced the molded-on clamps on the tools with Griffon PE clamps and left them so the tools could be removed. The jack is dry-fit only for the purposes of insuring the correct positioning of the tools since the jack handle needs a good bit of clearance against the hull to fit properly. I will also be adding a fire extinguisher from the spares bin and it too is dry-fit only and will be installed later after painting.
I also added the front headlights as called for in this step along with the front Notek light that is mentioned in Step 21. 0.5mm diameter solder was used to create the wiring conduit for all three lights for added detail.
That shifted attention over to the turret and Step 13 which assembles the exterior and interior portions of the gun as two sub-assemblies. The kit includes a nice turned aluminum barrel that fits perfectly and was secured in place with CA gel at its base. The fit of the recoil housing to the mantlet is not so great and had some gaps between it and the molded-on weld seam. To fill that delicate area and preserve the weld detail, I thinned some Squadron Green putty with Testors liquid glue and used a detail brush to flow the putty into the area and fill the gap. I used a #78 finger drill to drill out the coaxial MG since it's molded solid
Step 14 combines the two gun halves along with the traverse mounts and the fit here is very loose. Combined with the weight of the aluminum barrel, that means that the gun will always be pointed at its lowest elevation if not corrected. Rather than glue the mantlet into a fixed position, I opted to add some brass weights with CA gel in the spent shell basket that provided the perfect counter-balance and allows the gun to be positioned at any angle. More thinned green putty was needed to address small gaps at the base of the upper curved mantlet shield that is also added in this step.
Step 15 assembles the welded turret halves together along with the mantlet and while the fit was generally good, I wasn't happy with the join and weld seam detail at the front as the fit had some small gaps and the weld seam was not very prominent. To correct that, I sanded down the join and used flexible 0.6mm diameter styrene rod curved to shape and glued down with liquid glue to take the weld seam's place. This was allowed to dry thoroughly for a couple of hours before working on it further.
After the glue had set, I sanded the curved rods down flat to the desired height and then created the rough weld texture using the tip of a sharp #11 blade under a magnifier. While it doesn't show up so well here because of the white styrene, it passed what I call the 'finger' test for roughness and texture and will look the part once painted and weathered.
The next steps in the instructions branch depending on whether you fit the standard T-34 roof or go with the Pz III/IV style German cupola. I went with the cupola of course and that meant following Steps 18 and 19 instead of 16 and 17. I installed the turret roof plate into the turret first and then added all the various details second. Thinned green putty was used where needed to ensure solid joins at all the weld seams. I opted for the open shutters choices on the cupola and will add the clear blocks later as the cupola is not permanently installed yet to make it easier to paint and detail it later since it will get a base coat of panzer gray vs. russian green in the painting process.
A test fit with the rest of the hull to make sure everything plays nice together before painting.
I also noticed that the little sprue nubs on the cupola parts had just the right shape and curve to them to simulate light bulbs. So a pair of them were cut down and added to the front headlights for a little added detail.
Rest of the day will be spent beginning the MK track assembly and watching football to help pass the time doing a repetitive task. Paint is scheduled to fly next weekend if things hold.