T34/85 w/bedspring armor WIP *finished*

Here’s Biffa in action last night.
Late into the night, while all the rest of us sleep…..



…….  the machine continues to run.

(....the sound of "24" in the background)




This is #6 already ! .

Steve

steve how you get a camera into the basement

Thanks guys i appreciate the support, Eric the painting and weathering will be the hardest to log but i will give it my best effort. Zoran did you experience any of the problems i mentioned below with your build? Bill this whole idea is kinda your fault, you've spoiled everyone with your build logs

I know all too well the trouble with poor fit. However, your work looks like it is well on its way to becoming a showpiece worthy of the effort. I look forward to the completion photos.

Cheers;

Gregory

Thanks for the comments guys i really appreciate it, i dont want to give the wrong impression about this kit i believe the replacement fenders are the biggest culprits with the fit issues and these are easily overcome once aware of it, and believe me this kit is going to look nice when done looks like i will get the tracks on tonight and some of the PE on the rear deck.

Heres a pic of the PE.

Last update for the day, and finishes up all steps from 1 through 7, Nothing to report except everything went nicely and looks great .

Step 7, The tracks. i simply laid out two long runs then using a small brush and testors liquid cement put the tip of the brush in the center of the track and let it pull the glue. After giving the two pieces of track about 30 minutes i simply fed the track around and glued it on the wheels.

Cutting out and replacing the engine deck intake with the PE set. Be careful to only cut the center of the plastic grill out leaving the frame then sand it flush this may sound obvious but for a crazy moment there,,,

Fitting the PE louvers

PE fender support brackets

The four smaller intake vents.

Well wrapping up step 7 and i am very happy with the way it looks and cant wait to continue on.

Thanks for looking and feel free to comment in any way.

Moving right along Ron, making very good time on this one. I think disaster's right about the factory in your basement.

The approach with the engine deck screen is interesting and probably easier to get the mesh and frame to fit the curve vs. glueing the mesh to the frame and then trying to get both to curve. Have to remember that.

thanks guys for the comments,

Bill this seems the best method to me simply because i only had to bend the grill, the frame i just glued the back run and set it in place then glued the front run and it layed across the curve perfectly, i had imagined trying to bent two pieces together and one or both of them trying to buckle.

Zoran i will be saving a lot of PE from this also seeing as with the bedspring armor none of the fuel tanks will be used plus a lot of handles and straps. But i do have three more T34's in the stash so,,,, 

hi jimz, yes i did glue the tracks and wheels in place its just how i have always built, ive tried the other ways but i end up losing something or messing it up attaching it or some other brainless act so its easier for me to built everything and paint it altogether

Treadster i guess im in your neck of the woods now heh your point is totally valid but the only thing is the decals i want to use (the white band around the turret and #k230) looked too cool to pass up and this calls for rounded fenders so off they came it might have been wiser to get some different decals but being wise is something i have never been accused of heh.

Thanks GT appreciate the support.

Hi Ian, the bedspring armor was designed to prematurely detonate the shaped charges fired from panzerfausts during the close quarter fighting in the city im sure someone more qualified will beable to elaborate more.

A small update.

Steps 8 & 9, these went well with no major problems except for he hull mg see pic, point 1 is supposed to fit over point 2 and trap the ball to make the mg movable but it does not fit and i didnt see the need for it too so i just solid glued the whole deal

Steps 8 & 9 completed

Step 10, this is nothing more than the exhausts and covers, now here you have a choice dragons new slide molded ones which are a tad long or the two piece which are correct length i used the new ones. (top one)see pic below

Step 11 & 12, 11 consists of the external fuel tanks which i will not be using because of the bedspring armor so i skipped this step and 12 is the the handles and hatch on the engine deck and rear access hatch i also filled in the holes where the fuel tanks go.

Step 13, this is where i start getting into new waters part of this step consists of removing the plastic handles for the straps which hold down the ice cleats and replacing them with PE ones, now i knew i wouldnt be using the ice cleats because of the bedspring armor but i still put the handles and straps on for visual effect.
 

now needing a break from the small stuff i decided to put the turret together which is steps 16 & 17, and also address the issue of the metal barrel being too small for the hole, although the plastic barrel is nice being done using the slide mold technology it just isnt shiney like the metal one :)
So i first filled the hole with filler and squished the barrel in and left to harden.

I then cleaned around the hole and scraped a slight indention then dropped a little thin CA glue in and she looked good to go i also taped off the seam around the turret and used the same filler to create a weld bead i want to make this one look a little rough the weld seam in the pics still needs a little cleaning up.
 

this thing is starting to look like a tank :)

thanks guys i appreciate the feedback.

Steps 14 through 16 finish up the details of the hull all except the bedspring armor which will go on after the basecoat and decals everything goes on well through these stages there is a little pe work on the tool box and a nice kit supplied tow cable

for the tool box instead of cleaning of the plastic ends i just replaced them

tool box with PE fittings
 

tow cable complete and grab handles added

toolbox fitted and the rest of the tools, handles, lights etc,,
 

and here is where we are at as of now with steps 1 through 17 completed

thanks for looking and feel free to comment in anyway.

Thanks chaps, just a short update today i couldnt get motivated so i piddled with the PE bedspring armor a little, the instructions are very vague for the pe parts but its not overly complicated luckily and i soon figured it out.
All pieces are just posed for the time being.