discussion Help needed with a simple scratchy build, please

[BattleshipBob]

Afternoon

I am going to attempt a simple (i hope) scratchy of a frame too mount on the engine deck of the StuG i am making. Pictures just show a frame running across the back of the deck and not like the later frames which went around the sides as well.

I have no idea as what size plastic i need or the thickness etc of the metal on the actual vehicle in fact i know bugger all:upside:

Are there plans anywhere? Would greatly appreciate help/ advice if possible. All black magic too me

Thanks bob

 

[Steven000]

Hi Bob, I can't really help you but it might help to show a picture of the frame you would like to build.
Do you mean a stowage-rack frame ?
Happy scratch-building!
Steven

 

[Guest]

I have no idea as what size plastic i need or the thickness etc of the metal on the actual vehicle in fact i know bugger all:upside:

Have you got a photo of this frame? Because then you can probably do some measuring in the photo to work out its size.

 

[BattleshipBob]

Good point , sorry

I have no idea Jakko/Steve how you measure then work out its scaled down size.

I have stripped numerous very large Volvo, MAN truck engines etc with no fear but scratch building really does scare me lol
Bob

 

[Steve Jones]

The ones I have made in the past have simple brackets (three in total) riveted to the pack panels. Then using two planks of wood for the support. Quite a lot of the time the crew would then add a length of track to increase the height of the boards and support more stowage. If you have a look at the 1 72 one I sent you that will give you a good idea.

As for materials you can make the brackets out of plain plasticard strips or L plate struts. The wood planks are made from two strips of 0.5mm plasticard, distressed in such a way as to look like wood. Then add some rivet heads or bolt heads from Masterclub, Meng or make your own.



I know these are from the Quad but this gives you an idea of how the boards would look like



I did do one from a PE set which gives you another option if interested.



This one came with the kit and may well have been factory fitted

 

[Steve Jones]

That's great now Bob. With that photo you can use strips of plasticard for the frame. You can gauge the position and length of the struts from the photo. Also use a section of track and a jerry can as a gauge to help with the scale of the struts.

 

[BattleshipBob]

Excellent Steve, very helpful

Ok to nag you if needed via a PM?

 

[Steve Jones]

Please do. It will make a change from the Mrs nagging :smiling5: :thumb2:

 

[BattleshipBob]

Thats not nagging, just you wait :upside:

Many thanks Steve

 

[Guest]

The ones I have made in the past have simple brackets (three in total) riveted to the pack panels. Then using two planks of wood for the support. Quite a lot of the time the crew would then add a length of track to increase the height of the boards and support more stowage. If you have a look at the 1 72 one I sent you that will give you a good idea.

As for materials you can make the brackets out of plain plasticard strips or L plate struts. The wood planks are made from two strips of 0.5mm plasticard, distressed in such a way as to look like wood. Then add some rivet heads or bolt heads from Masterclub, Meng or make your own.



I know these are from the Quad but this gives you an idea of how the boards would look like



I did do one from a PE set which gives you another option if interested.



This one came with the kit and may well have been factory fitted

How did I know It would be riveted:nerd::smiling2:

Sorry for intrusion Bob

 

[Guest]

I have no idea Jakko/Steve how you measure then work out its scaled down size.

If you have image editing software, it usually includes a measuring tool that lets you measure distances in pictures — this would be my preferred way. Lacking that, you can print out the photo or open it on your screen and just use a ruler. You’ll want the relevant part of the photo to be as large as possible there, because that will allow you to take more accurate measurements in it.

After that it’s simply a matter of relative sizes: measure the height of the rack and the height of something nearby that’s also on your model — like the rear plate. Then measure that same thing on your model. Divide the height of the rack in the photo by the height of the other thing in the photo, then multiply by the height of the other thing on your model. The outcome will be the height the rack should be on your model.

For example (this is only an example, I’m pulling numbers out of thin air here!) if the rack in the photo measures as 16 mm high and the rear plate of the vehicle in the photo measures as 34 mm high, while on the model the rear plate is 22 mm high, then the rack on the model should be 16 ÷ 34 × 22 = 10.34 and a bit mm high — call it 10.5, because you probably can’t measure below half a millimetre anyway

 

[BattleshipBob]

Oh ere my brain hurts, need to read this and a lot lol

Many thanks much appreciated Jakko

I will look into software

Thanks bob

 

[SimonT]

Morning Bob - pm sent

 

[Guest]

Oh ere my brain hurts, need to read this and a lot lol

Let me illustrate the method using your photo :smiling3: The photo handily also shows a jerrycan leaning against the rack, meaning it’s under the same angle (or as close to that as makes no different), so we can measure both the rack and the jerrycan diagonally, as well as a 1:35 scale jerrycan to obtain the height of the rack.

In the screenshot below, in the big red ellipse, you can see a little line (with a + at either end). This is the measurement tool in Photoshop; the length of the line is 3.05 units — shown near the top, after L1:



Next, I’ll measure the jerrycan:



As you can see at the top, the length of this is 4.17 units.

Now all I need to do is measure up a model jerrycan. Please excuse me while I run to my hobby room to do so :smiling3:

(…)

Back. According to my callipers, a Bronco German jerrycan is 13.4 mm tall. So for the height of the rack, we get:

3.05 ÷ 4.17 × 13.4 mm = 9.80 mm​

Rounded to a value you can actually measure and cut on a length of plastic strip, that's 10 mm.

You can work out things like the width of the rack, the thickness of the planks and posts, etc. the same way. You don’t need to do this in software like Photoshop, either — a ruler on a printed photo works just as well. Like I said before, the main thing is to get the relevant area as big as you can (this is not an option if you’re measuring in a photo in a book, of course) because smaller lengths are harder to measure accurately.

The main thing to remember is to try and measure things that are under the same angle and nearby, else your measurements will be thrown way off — if I had tried to measure the hull rear top plate, for example, we’d have gotten nowhere because it slopes forward while the rack slopes backwards. However, here the jerrycan leans against the rack, so it provides a very good reference point. Similarly, had the jerrycan been up against the rear wall of the superstructure, it would have been quite a way away from the rack and therefore been almost useless as a reference point, because it would look smaller in the photo.