G
I tried adding that up not too long ago, and the truth is that I don’t quite remember all of the ones I built decades ago 
But these wheels are really just from the last five years or so … Build one Asuka Sherman and you will have at least one set of spare wheels, but more commonly two:
You get two of the sprues on the left and three of the middle one (ignore the one on the right here ) so that’s six drive sprockets, four idlers, and 36 roadwheels in just this kit … Not counting this one, I’ve only built four Asuka VVSS Shermans, but those account for most of the green wheels in that box! (The grey ones are some Dragon, where sometimes also get two sets of wheels in a kit, but I only made one Dragon Sherman, and from a MiniArt set of wheels that I bought before I had realised how many Asuka ones I would accumulate anyway.)
But these wheels are really just from the last five years or so … Build one Asuka Sherman and you will have at least one set of spare wheels, but more commonly two:You get two of the sprues on the left and three of the middle one (ignore the one on the right here
) so that’s six drive sprockets, four idlers, and 36 roadwheels in just this kit … Not counting this one, I’ve only built four Asuka VVSS Shermans, but those account for most of the green wheels in that box! (The grey ones are some Dragon, where sometimes also get two sets of wheels in a kit, but I only made one Dragon Sherman, and from a MiniArt set of wheels that I bought before I had realised how many Asuka ones I would accumulate anyway.)
G
After a lot more fettling, the superstructure fits reasonably well:
View attachment 513591
With which I mostly mean that it doesn’t have a pivot point at about a third of the way along from the back anymore. There is still a bg gap at the front:
View attachment 513592
I’ve glued it down anyway and will fill the gap once that glue has had the time to dry.
And on to the bogies:
View attachment 513589
The wheels and suspension arms are already built (two parts per wheel, and an inner and an outer arm), and the rest is almost everything you need to build six bogies, Asuka style. The only part missing is the skid that goes on top. The bogies built:
View attachment 513590
The suspension arms still work, as that will help to get everything level later on, and the wheels turn to make painting easier too.
View attachment 513591
With which I mostly mean that it doesn’t have a pivot point at about a third of the way along from the back anymore. There is still a bg gap at the front:
View attachment 513592
I’ve glued it down anyway and will fill the gap once that glue has had the time to dry.
And on to the bogies:
View attachment 513589
The wheels and suspension arms are already built (two parts per wheel, and an inner and an outer arm), and the rest is almost everything you need to build six bogies, Asuka style. The only part missing is the skid that goes on top. The bogies built:
View attachment 513590
The suspension arms still work, as that will help to get everything level later on, and the wheels turn to make painting easier too.
G
That’s where I put all of the offcuts and stuff, and that I sort through whenever I need to make something small For example, you can see the Tyrell P.34 front spoiler there, that had to be removed from the plastic body to fit the etched one.
For example, you can see the Tyrell P.34 front spoiler there, that had to be removed from the plastic body to fit the etched one.
That's us something very different Jakko. .... Will try to keep up with this.
ATB
Andrew
ATB
Andrew
G
That will get easier as I get to the detail bits, which always take me far longer than they should 
For now, I completed the six bogies. Here’s one to illustrate:
View attachment 513654
Basically, I filed the front face flat and drilled four holes into it, then added the skid on top and glued a bolt head (punched from card) next to it on the outboard side. There should also be one inboard, but once the track is on, you can hardly see that at all, so I’m saving myself half the work here.
I also glued the back plate on, but it has large gaps, worse on the left than on the right:
View attachment 513655View attachment 513656
This is why I did that now, BTW, before filling all the other gaps that the superstructure leaves There’s also a piece underneath that covers the exhausts on the real BARV:
View attachment 513657
As you can see, it also leaves big gaps but the instructions mention nothing about those at all, and I can’t find any parts that will cover them later on. I think I might just fit a piece of plastic card over the sides to close these.
Oh, and specially for Neil:
View attachment 513658
All of the bits-and-bobs pile
For now, I completed the six bogies. Here’s one to illustrate:
View attachment 513654
Basically, I filed the front face flat and drilled four holes into it, then added the skid on top and glued a bolt head (punched from card) next to it on the outboard side. There should also be one inboard, but once the track is on, you can hardly see that at all, so I’m saving myself half the work here.
I also glued the back plate on, but it has large gaps, worse on the left than on the right:
View attachment 513655View attachment 513656
This is why I did that now, BTW, before filling all the other gaps that the superstructure leaves
There’s also a piece underneath that covers the exhausts on the real BARV:View attachment 513657
As you can see, it also leaves big gaps but the instructions mention nothing about those at all, and I can’t find any parts that will cover them later on. I think I might just fit a piece of plastic card over the sides to close these.
Oh, and specially for Neil:
View attachment 513658
All of the bits-and-bobs pile
G
Next step is filling all those gaps …
View attachment 513659
Resicast says to do this with epoxy putty, but I used car body filler from a tube, because it says it’s also suitable for polyester car bodies, so I hope that means it also sticks to the polyurethane resin of the conversion set’s parts. Resicast also says to fill the turret ring with epoxy putty, but I instead glued a bit of thin plastic card over the opening on each side, because on the real vehicle, there was a piece of sheet steel there, according to this walkaround of a real one. It’s intentionally oversize, so I can trim it to size when the glue and putty have dried — much easier than trying to make it to shape and size first and only then glueing it to the model.
View attachment 513659
Resicast says to do this with epoxy putty, but I used car body filler from a tube, because it says it’s also suitable for polyester car bodies, so I hope that means it also sticks to the polyurethane resin of the conversion set’s parts. Resicast also says to fill the turret ring with epoxy putty, but I instead glued a bit of thin plastic card over the opening on each side, because on the real vehicle, there was a piece of sheet steel there, according to this walkaround of a real one. It’s intentionally oversize, so I can trim it to size when the glue and putty have dried — much easier than trying to make it to shape and size first and only then glueing it to the model.
Now, that's the completely opposite from what Brian showed us on his thread about the 1/48 U-Boat. :tongue-out3:
I think I'm somewhere between with a tendency to chaos! :tears-of-joy::tears-of-joy:
G
I’m not one to keep everything neatly stored away, but I do keep everything in its proper place This is the area for the offcuts and stuff, for example. Worst I’ve ever seen was someone I used to play WH40K with — he had a garden shed with a workbench that was completely (and I mean that literally) covered in tools, parts of not just 40K kits but all kinds of other non-modelling stuff as well, half-built models, half-disassembled models, paperwork, and more. There was not even a clear area in which he built the models, he just did that on top of all of the junk. That was about fifteen years ago, though, and I haven’t seen him in years, but I kind of wish I had taken a picture of it when I could.
This is the area for the offcuts and stuff, for example. Worst I’ve ever seen was someone I used to play WH40K with — he had a garden shed with a workbench that was completely (and I mean that literally) covered in tools, parts of not just 40K kits but all kinds of other non-modelling stuff as well, half-built models, half-disassembled models, paperwork, and more. There was not even a clear area in which he built the models, he just did that on top of all of the junk. That was about fifteen years ago, though, and I haven’t seen him in years, but I kind of wish I had taken a picture of it when I could.
G
Good to see this build on the way. With the problems of fit I was wondering if given the age of the mould it was based on a Tamiya kit.
As for the 'oddments' collection - yes, we all need one of those, it is in there that you find that bit that you were thinking of for your next build and never realised you had it....
As for the 'oddments' collection - yes, we all need one of those, it is in there that you find that bit that you were thinking of for your next build and never realised you had it....
G
It was originally a full resin/etched kit — I know someone who built that one, though I don’t remember if he ever took it with him to one of the shows we both used to be at. Once Tasca (now Asuka) released their M4A2, Resicast probably reworked the parts to fit that kit (the instructions say “Master by Graham Sellar, March 2014”), but I have the impression they didn’t do that as well as they could have. As a result, I just spent a fair while scraping away putty
First, though, I trimmed the plastic card. This was a lot easier than expected when I realised that by pushing it down firmly, the shape of the splash guard underneath would become clear:
View attachment 513729
By wiggling it up and down some more, material fatigue even cracked it along part of that white line, and then some careful work with a sharp knife did the rest, followed by scraping it down to tidy up the edge.
Next, I used straight and curved knife blades to scrape down all of the filler:
View attachment 513730
The shape is so complex that filing is almost impossible for most of the model, and sandpaper will also be tricky to use. I did find out very quickly that “for metal and polyester”, as the tube of putty says, does not equate to “for polyurethane resin” because it just chipped off the resin parts. That, of course, is useful at this point, because it meant a lot less scraping there than on the plastic bits, to which the putty does adhere well. Once done, I had to add more filler in some areas, especially the nose, where shrinkage had caused it to form a depression even though I had trowelled it on pretty thick. Now I’m kind of waiting for that to dry.
First, though, I trimmed the plastic card. This was a lot easier than expected when I realised that by pushing it down firmly, the shape of the splash guard underneath would become clear:
View attachment 513729
By wiggling it up and down some more, material fatigue even cracked it along part of that white line, and then some careful work with a sharp knife did the rest, followed by scraping it down to tidy up the edge.
Next, I used straight and curved knife blades to scrape down all of the filler:
View attachment 513730
The shape is so complex that filing is almost impossible for most of the model, and sandpaper will also be tricky to use. I did find out very quickly that “for metal and polyester”, as the tube of putty says, does not equate to “for polyurethane resin” because it just chipped off the resin parts. That, of course, is useful at this point, because it meant a lot less scraping there than on the plastic bits, to which the putty does adhere well. Once done, I had to add more filler in some areas, especially the nose, where shrinkage had caused it to form a depression even though I had trowelled it on pretty thick. Now I’m kind of waiting for that to dry.
G
At the back, I glued thin plastic card to the sides to cover the holes, trimmed it to size when the glue was dry, filled the gaps that remained with the same car filler, and filed and scraped it flat when that had dried:
View attachment 513802
I also washed thinned putty into the gap between the block with the tread plate on it and the rear plate.
At the front, I glued a number of detail parts on:
View attachment 513803
Most of these need weld beads added around them, as does the whole superstructure, but I’m still debating how to best make those.
Resicast seems to not have noticed that on the real thing, the ventilators on the hull had a flat ring welded over the opening to waterproof them. I made this by sawing two thin rings from 7.1 mm plastic tube and glueing them into the tops of the ventilators. That the plastic was softened by the glue helped a lot in getting them in.
View attachment 513802
I also washed thinned putty into the gap between the block with the tread plate on it and the rear plate.
At the front, I glued a number of detail parts on:
View attachment 513803
Most of these need weld beads added around them, as does the whole superstructure, but I’m still debating how to best make those.
Resicast seems to not have noticed that on the real thing, the ventilators on the hull had a flat ring welded over the opening to waterproof them. I made this by sawing two thin rings from 7.1 mm plastic tube and glueing them into the tops of the ventilators. That the plastic was softened by the glue helped a lot in getting them in.
That's coming very well Jakko, despite the fit issues.
Keep up the good work.
Andrew
Keep up the good work.
Andrew
Great progress Jakko, albeit a little frustrating.
G
Thanks, but nah, this is not frustrating — it’s just a little more work than expected
Looks like you're well on the way to getting it sorted Jakko.
G
I think I am, though one thing I’m not looking forward to is the splash plates that will go around the top of the superstructure. You get them as flat pieces of resin that you need to heat and then bend on a former (supplied with the kit), a method I’m not really a fan of. I’ve seen a build from someone who replaced this all by brass, but I’m not sure my skills are up to that, so maybe heat-forming it is.
That sounds like fun!
G
I haven’t checked, but maybe the kit supplies a spare I can practice on Resicast is good that way, BTW: for parts that are likely to break or go missing, you usually get more than you actually need. Those little triangular plate thingies above the viewports, for example, you need one on each side, but there were two for each side in the kit. Same with lots of other small parts.
Resicast is good that way, BTW: for parts that are likely to break or go missing, you usually get more than you actually need. Those little triangular plate thingies above the viewports, for example, you need one on each side, but there were two for each side in the kit. Same with lots of other small parts.Legal Notice
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