AllenD's 1/35 Dragon StuG IV, Last Production '45 - Bob's StuG GB

[Allen Dewire]

Wow Jakko, that Tiger is something else and interesting, but like you said, sort of toy like and not for most serious folks…..

Thank you Mr. Benson and I do hope to finish this one. You go Si and hope all is well with you and the family......

Hi Andrew, I have a set of Albion Alloys sanding sticks #542 that I use. I honestly can't tell you how coarse or what grit they are. I use the black/gray one and scruff with the gray side. I don't do any prep before working with etch other than washing my hands with dish soap. When done with my etch work and before painting, I brush on a good coat of Mr. Metal Primer and let it dry for 24 hours. I use no other prep techniques at all. HTHs a little...…

Thanks Fernando, I still have to get those shields on and paint the MG and then glue it all in place. Sometimes the CA just doesn't want to stick the etch together though. What time do you normally get home from work Buddy???

Hey Paul, I really would like to attempt it one day, but then again, I have this fear of Rattlesnakes! I am looking to get some stronger lenses for the Opti too. It's just that the tiny pieces tend to ping off and with the Opti on, it is hard to track their trajectory into the unknown. Then it's a half hour crawling around looking for it. Getting old sucks my friend, stay young.................

Sorry Simon, I know you really wanted to see me totally screw up building that cupola. Maybe next time with a stronger Opti......…

Thanks again folks!!! You're the best!!!

Prost
Allen

[Guest]

Wow Jakko, that Tiger is something else and interesting, but like you said, sort of toy like and not for most serious folks…..

I had to build two of their Shermans as prizes for a running event one or two years ago (I’m not quite sure anymore ) for reasons probably obvious from this announcement:—

[ATTACH]370517[/ATTACH]

(Dutch loop /loːp/ means “run” in this context.)

These kits are entirely etched metal (chrome-plated steel, I would guess) that goes together with tabs slotting through holes, and fit isn’t exactly great. Kind of fun as a novelty, but by the time I finished the second one, I was glad someone else had put together the third of the three needed

[Road of Bones]

Nice progress so far Mr DeWire! I have a feeling that this might be the most I’ve ever seen you stick together though...:hungry:

I have a pile of Voyager frets with loads of tiny bits still attached to them- sometimes that game just isn’t worth the candle! You should see how much I had left over on the D9R ‘dozer build:dizzy:

Will keep an eye on this sir...

Alistair☠️

[Fernando N]

Wow Jakko, that Tiger is something else and interesting, but like you said, sort of toy like and not for most serious folks…..

Thank you Mr. Benson and I do hope to finish this one. You go Si and hope all is well with you and the family......

Hi Andrew, I have a set of Albion Alloys sanding sticks #542 that I use. I honestly can't tell you how coarse or what grit they are. I use the black/gray one and scruff with the gray side. I don't do any prep before working with etch other than washing my hands with dish soap. When done with my etch work and before painting, I brush on a good coat of Mr. Metal Primer and let it dry for 24 hours. I use no other prep techniques at all. HTHs a little...…

Thanks Fernando, I still have to get those shields on and paint the MG and then glue it all in place. Sometimes the CA just doesn't want to stick the etch together though. What time do you normally get home from work Buddy???

Hey Paul, I really would like to attempt it one day, but then again, I have this fear of Rattlesnakes! I am looking to get some stronger lenses for the Opti too. It's just that the tiny pieces tend to ping off and with the Opti on, it is hard to track their trajectory into the unknown. Then it's a half hour crawling around looking for it. Getting old sucks my friend, stay young.................

Sorry Simon, I know you really wanted to see me totally screw up building that cupola. Maybe next time with a stronger Opti......…

Thanks again folks!!! You're the best!!!

Prost
Allen

Hi mate, most of the time I get home at 5 followed by some running, dinner and falling asleep on the couch...:smiling5:
Sounds a bit familiar?

Hope you find some stronger lenses for the Optivisor and the cupola can be built.
Looking forward to that bit of bling.

[Guest]

Dude 2.
Think you will find that anything over 3.5 will make you feel queasy. Certainly will make you feel dizzy you remove them. :unamused:

[Allen Dewire]

Morning StuG Fans Around the World,

Thank you for the continued support and your comments Folks!!!! Sorry for the lack of an update as the Mojo has been playing yoyo on me. It has also been very hard to work with the etch with my optivisor lens being too weak (or me being too blind). Anywho, I ordered a cheap one from evilbay and it came with 4 lenses. A 1.5X, 2.0X, 2.5X and a 3.5X lens that are almost identical in quality as the real optivisor lenses. They fit the original optivisor perfectly too. The body is typical knockoff, but is functional. I think Pete Low bought the same one a while ago. For €13,65 delivered, one can't complain….

As far as the Mojo, I decided to force myself to the table and drive on. Sounds dumb, but it worked! The forced Mojo and new lenses have given me some progress on my build.

While waiting for the optivisor to arrive, I forced myself into breaking out the hairy sticks and doing the nasty….Painting the road wheels, which of course are everybody's favorites,


I painted a few red oxide along with the Saukopf for that late war feel. Don't ask why I have 20 of them as the StuG IV had 16 and carried 2 spares. Must have lost my mind there....Seeing that I decided not to do the engine compartment, I felt I had to at least make an attempt to make that space look full like the real vehicle,


See...….......You can't see the white paper through the grills, just red oxide if you look real carefully. Here's why,


The old "fake the funk" method works well. The slanted plate on the left is positioned the same way as the radiator in the real Pz IV chassis. Trust me, with that fact and €2,00, you get a cup of coffee here!!! Ok, let's talk spare track racks on the right side of the body. The kit gives you two pieces with 3 track shoes on each to glue on. I am a Friul person and thought that 3 metal links would look a lot better mounted,


What do you think??? On the plastic links, I would have had to drill out the guide horns as they are solid on the kit parts. Too much like work personally!!! The new optivisor finally arrived, so armed with a 2.5X lens, I went about making hinges for a plate over the gun mantlet. I could finally see them good enough to make 3 pieces and fill them with 0.3mm wire. They work too,


They are kind of hard to see in this pic. I didn't take a pic of them alone, but they are tiny little bits. I then decided to dive in and finish up the etch pieces for the remote controlled MG mount. It was nice to be able to see these bits too,


The MG mount needs a bit of a tweak to sit perfectly in the hole and the plate moves freely too. I have to admit that the new optivisor lenses have restored the Mojo and made playing with etch fun once more. No Folks, I am not going to build the etch cupola like you are hoping I will. Yes, I can see the parts much better, but I still don't have enough nerves or beer to do it!!! Sorry...…..

Back to the table shortly as there are a few things I want to do today with this. I also need to start slopping some Mr. Metal Primer on some of the parts and the tracks. Thanks again for all the great support and keep StuG'ing on. (I think I need help)

Prost
Allen

[Guest]

Great heavens alive Dude 1 has the wind blown you into work mode ?
Nice to see you have the mojo back, it's always good when something lifts the mojo.
Definitely think those Fruils look better with the plastic, and with a lot less hassle drilling the holes.
Keep it up buddy .

[Si Benson]

Morning Allen,
Great to see a big chunk of progress on your StuG.
Plastics tracks don’t look terrible to be fair but the fruils definitely look more authentic.

keep on keeping on

[minitnkr]

Some sterling work here bud. PaulE

[Road of Bones]

Good lord, he’s flinging paint about now!
Nice PE work too, Allen- surprising what being able to actually see will do for the mojo, isn’t it?

[scottie3158]

Allen,
It's great to see you back at the bench and what a way to come back, lovely PE work. I also found a new lease of life when I got my optivisor it made so much difference.

[Fernando N]

Looking good mate, great that the optivisor lenses helped the mojo back in swing:thumb2:.

[Steve Jones]

Very nice Allen, very nice indeed. As the guys have said its great to see you back at the bench. If we could only bottle this thing called mojo we would make a fortune. Keep at it mate

[Allen Dewire]

Evening StuG Fans,

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth or caught the Corona crap either. I am just lousy at posting progress I guess....

Dude 2 and Mr. Benson, You know how I do love my Friuls and I have to keep Giuseppe in a job at shows too. PaulE, I guess I just got a wild hair up my butt and wanted to get somewhere. Thanks Gentlemen!!!......


Alistair, Paul and Fernando, It is totally amazing when you can see what the hell you are doing with tiny stuff. The lenses are great and definitely a huge Mojo booster. Now, if a day only had 36 hours in it, I could make real progress. Thanks too Gentlemen!!!......

Oh Stevie, it does come in a bottle and we call it Weizen or Pils. Just drink it in moderation my friend and it will all be good!!!......

So, while you all have been looking at pictures from model shows, I have actually been doing something on this beasty. I had to lengthen the tracks 12 links on each side. I then coated all my metal, including etch, with Mr. Metal Primer and left it to dry for 24 hours. Only one piece was not coated and that was my headache child of an MG mount and shield. What a PITA as it kept losing pieces and I had to keep CA'ing them back on. No matter what I tried, the damn CA didn't hold them together. I had to use a half gallon of it and I hope it holds. A test fit of additional armor was in order,


This setup is the not cut in stone as I will try and squeeze another set of tracks on the front for protection. The driver's plate is not glued yet either. Another view,


It doesn't look too bad. I have to fill the holes that Dragon said to drill, for no given reason. I have painted the tracks and then decided to glue this puppy together...

The new optivisor has done wonders for the Mojo, BUT, doesn't do a thing for brain farts!!! First, we glued on the fenders and made sure they were level and placed correctly. Then I glued down the fighting compartment after making certain that it fit perfectly in place,


My brain fart came and told me that the gun had to be mounted on the pedestal before gluing the compartment on...Too late, 10 marks!!! I used a little bit of twisting and turning and some brute force to finally get it in place, without breaking anything!!! I had to drip MIG ET from the brush around the pedestal to glue it in place. I got lucky I guess. Another view,


I tweaked the right fender end and folded it back after thinning it out. I then wanted to test fit the Saukopfblende (mantlet) that I had painted red oxide,


DOH!!!!! Another brain fart, as the gun doesn't elevate enough to slip the piece on. It's too wide at the bottom to fit past the front of the side panels. No pic as I had to stop at this point after I ran out of cuss words in 2 languages. I will paint this first and then force the damn thing on as I have an idea. No, I am not going to remove the fighting compartment to do it. I have also filled and sanded the holes in the front plate. I now need to make mounts for the track links to hang on the front. Slowly getting somewhere at last…...

Hard to believe that now that I can see better, my brain goes to sleep at the switch. Really hating this getting older crap. The only real good news is I filed for my 1st retirement yesterday. Effective date should be the middle of June along with the first payment. I said "Show Me The Money".........….........

That's all for now. Thanks for looking in and have a great moggelling week. Someday, the sun will shine here again......…......…….....

Prost
Allen

[scottie3158]

Nice work dude. What's first retirement?