nice going with this one ,Bryan,oh what a lovely big cat,
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Just caught up with this Bryon and wow what a lovely mess you have created inside ( no pun or insult intended) looks stunningly real and well dirtied up.
That is some skil
Il be tagging on to see this Cat roar!!!
Regards
RobertComment
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Hi Robert and thanks for the compliment. I do think I overdid it a tad, but am happy with it overall. However the "skill" involved is questionable, so long as you are aware of what your doing its not difficult. For the uninitiated; assuming you stick with acrylics, its base colour on, then a varnish (I use an acrylic satin varnish) which seals and protects the base colour, then the wash, I simply use acrylic black, well watered down (like 1 part acrylic to 50 parts water!) then simply slap it on. Ensuring parts like seams and edges get more than the flat areas. A little at a time until the effect looks right. When completely satisfied you should varnish it again. Job done.
Thanks,
BryanComment
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Had a little time so I thought I'd add the torsion bars and swing arms, which I'd made a little earlier. Then temporarily add the road wheels to see how it looked. The torsion bars fitted OK more or less, once I'd established the order they went in, and which side was which! But the road wheels! That turned into a near nightmare! How ones earlier throw away words come back to haunt you; I'd previously "defended" the use of the poly caps, but how I now regreted it. My first error was priming the wheels rather too well. The two halves weren't fitted together tight enough, and the poly caps floating about in too much space within the wheels ensured most wheels wouldn't fit over the swing arm ends. All the wheels had to be prised apart (thank god I didn't glue them) the poly caps disposed of, the fittings well sanded, then reassembled.
All worked out OK in the end, but a five minute "see how it looks" job turned into over an hours hard labour! I've removed the wheels again, and they won't be seen again until the build is nearly finished, despite what the manual suggests!
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A few more bits and pieces, then its on to the gearbox and engine - more elaborate detail to have fun with!
Hmmm? Its not until I just posted that last photo I noticed the gap between the firewall bottom and the sides on the hull. I think it must have sprung free when I was struggling getting the sides of the engine housing fitted (it was a tight fit). Its corrected now!Comment
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Very ambitious project for a beginner at armor, so far you're doing a great job..............Jim
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Thanks grumpa, I'm not an out and out beginner though, I've built ships in the past and done one tank previously. But I am still very much learning , as I suspect I always will be!
BryanComment
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Onward...
Gearbox Assembly and Engine Assembly now complete. The former was easy enough albeit a little head scratching was involved regarding the oddity of assembling the gearbox proper only to completely hide it in another box! One gets used to knowing most of the superb detail involved in this kit will be forever hidden once complete, but this seems to be taking it to extremes!
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But who am I to reason why...
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Gearbox treated with the wonderful Humbrol Metal Cote Spray and polished (after drying). Such a gorgeous "gunmetal" finish. Shame it has to be weathered and made dirty!
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The Engine Assembly was rather more challenging, not the least because a considerable part had to be disassebled when I realised one section had been glued in upside down! Challenging and awkward, but very rewarding.
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Again treated with the Metal Cote Spray but shown above before being polished. And below polished but not yet painted and weathered.
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Very aware the next task should be painting and weathering parts of the engine, I put it off whilst I fitted the gearbox assembly. It wasn't as starightforward as I'd assumed as the whole assembly had a distinct "wobble". The cause was identified as a slightly too proud part in the hull base, which promptly went under the knife! The gearbox then fitted fine.
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The above photo gives the impression the assembly is slightly "scew whiff", but I assure you it isn't!
Right, now to add some paint and weathering to the engine, then to fit it. I've a feeling that isn't going to be straight forward either!Comment
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Looks very nice Bryan, you're coming along great guns on this one.
And if anybody who's looking is thinking the area looks overly oily, I've read first hand accounts from drivers who said the transmission would leak & squirt oil all over the place!Comment
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Looking good Bryan, well used. And as Patrick pointed out, 'oil all over the place' is bang on matey.
Have fun, JohnComment
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Thanks guys. Its gratifying to know you agree there would be plenty of oil and muck on the interior. I'm really enjoying this build and yes John, having great fun!Comment
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Time for another update – and an apology!
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We’ve now entered what I have found to be the most challenging part of the build; the mounting of the engine assembly and associated parts. Making it fit, together with the associated piping, has been a very awkward and difficult procedure, and still is, with the flutes in the air filters (not shown) being the most trying of all to fit, and, predictably, unlike many other parts which will be comfortably hidden, they will always on show, more or less.
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Perhaps it’s this involvement that led to me neglecting to take as many photos of the engine after painting and during fitting. Sorry!
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Its perhaps worth noting that for much of the piping I ignored the supplied black "soft" plastic parts, and substituted (painted) brass wire of various diameters. I found it easier to cope with, and, once fitted, more likely to stay put than the flimsy floppy plastic that came with the kit.
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Right, back to trying to fit the flutes and air filters themselves…Comment
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Moving quickly on - the air baffles, (flutes whatever they are called) were as hard to fit as anticipated, but eventually all was well. To my dismay the filters themselves were equally tricky to position, I even cut off the lugs which were intended to position them (you can clearly see the holes intended to take them in the photo above), as they actually pulled the filters out of shape. I eventually realised the two small shelves (again clearly shown above - under the holes) were intended to hold and support the filter(s), and all was again well.
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Once all the additional piping and cabling was fitted, the engine compartment was suddenly finished, and looked the part! All that was left for me to do was dirty things up again!
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I appreciate the air filter intakes should be dusty as much as dirty, and I will investigate a means of doing that.
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...and a last lingering shot of the rear of the engine compartment, because the very next piece to put on the kit is the rear end piece which will completely obscure everything within!
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Very nice BrianComment
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This is such s nice looking build and it really is showing it's brilliance in every pic I see. Really enjoying this build thread.
Keep it up
Kind regards
RobertComment
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