discussion SimonT - 1/35 SU-122

[PJR]

Enjoying this piece very much. If anyone is interested there is a pretty good book by Vasiliy Krysov called Panzer Destroyer-he crewed one of these in The Great Patriotic War. It's a very good read.
(for informational purposes only)

 

[monica]

real nice,work,with this,one,do like the added detailing and scratch work,
just adds so much to a build,the engine deck louvres ,look real good,
were did you find the eyelets for the railing,that I,do real like,
keep up the great work with this one,:hungry:

 

[SimonT]

John - no, nothing clever. Dad currently as well as can be expected ta

Allen - I have caught the brackets a few times but luckily the plastic card just bent rather than breaking. The brackets will be stiffened up once I get their top plates on. The track pins are just single size on these

Si - cheers

Jim - thanks. A lot less messing about to just make them in this case

Mike - thanks

Paul - cheers

Monica - thanks. The eyelets for the rails are made from brass wire that has been flattened with smooth jaw pliers


View attachment 320830
as is usual with Eduard etch they only provide an indication of where rivets/bolt heads need to go (either by etching a hole or an engraved circle) so I added all the missing rivet heads - and that was all I got done apart from cleaning up more track links

 

[Steve Jones]

Best tip you ever gave me about PE and rivets. It makes it look so much better:thumb2:

 

[SimonT]

There are a lot of builds get done with etch that is devoid of the rivets/bolt heads

If you look on the etch fret Steve you will usually find a series of holes - they are provided so you can mould your own rivets/bolt heads if you don't have punch and die sets

Heat up the end of a length of sprue and push it against the fret then slice off the resulting bumps and glue to the etch

 

[minitnkr]

Now that's a tip I've not seen before. Always learn something reading your blogs. Thank you. PaulE

 

[BigGreg]

What a fantastic level of details...

 

[scottie3158]

Simon great work as always. A great idea about forming a block of the individual items to get them the same.

 

[SimonT]

Paul - no problem

Greg - ta

Scottie - cheers. Have used that method a lot over the years - generally works quite well. Need to take care when sanding to keep things square otherwise you will end up with one end thicker than the other

Morning all, a small amount of progress to report:

View attachment 321467
plastic cables cut off, ends drilled out and twisted copper wire CA'd in place

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View attachment 321464
main stowage box had the lock and hinge blobs removed and the sides scraped to square them up

new locks and hinges made up then end mounting plates added from pewter and punched disks

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View attachment 321466
the smaller box got similar treatment plus a complete lid from pewter

the track link clean up is also continuing - nearly done now so then I get to drill out all the holes for the link pins

 

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Simon
Nice tip on the etch rivets. Always surprises me that military model based etch doesn’t follow the convention established at least thirty years ago for railway kit. With quality railway stuff the rivet locations are half etched on the rear of the piece so they can be pushed through to the working face with a rivet punch or blunt scriber, so embossing the rivet.
To be clear, to a railway scratchbuilder (who usually works in brass or nickel silver) a rivet punch is an embossing tool, not a punch and die tool such as plastic modellers use... don’t use your expensive die set to emboss rivets on etch because you will probably ruin both....

 

[Guest]

Always surprises me that military model based etch doesn’t follow the convention established at least thirty years ago for railway kit.

Probably because of parallel development, where one “side” came up with a solution that the other didn’t see. Modelling is (oddly enough) fairly compartimentalised, where techniques that are commonly used by people building one subject seem to be hardly even known in another, even if they use the same basic material (like all building plastic kits).

 

[Steve Jones]

Nice update Mr T. Are you pleased with the way it is all going?? Any chance of a shot of the whole model on your next update please? Many thanks in advance

 

[Jim R]

Hi Simon
The detail on the boxes is quite amazing :thumb2:
Jim

 

[Mini Me]

Ah Simon, "The Force Is With You"!
Rick H.

 

[Guest]

Simon.
Great tip on the PE and using a piece of sprue to produce a rivit.
What I enjoyed most was the thought of heat being employed. Fire ! Fire !
I have some sprue now where are the matches !
John.

 

[Mini Me]

Never mind the pyrotechnics John! Matron is just out in the hall, shall I call her?
Rick H.

 

[SimonT]

Tim - definitely not a good idea to use punch and die set on brass

Steve - it is going ok so far I think. Photos follow

Jim - cheers

Rick - :thumb2:

John - oh dear, forgot you were a pyromaniac, better get a fire extinguisher....


Morning all,

View attachment 321568
added rail deflectors over the pistol ports as per reference photos

front vision slot cover modified again as per photos

View attachment 321567
modded the main hatch hinges

the commanders vision block covers have a circular bulge at one end. The kit parts have the bulge too small and in the wrong place so they were shaved off and new ones added from punched pewter

View attachment 321569
added some new wire handles on the inside of the main hatch to replace the moulded ones

View attachment 321566
made a start adding the tie down loops on the right hull - looking at them now though they are a bit uneven so these will be coming off again

Steve asked for some overall photos.....

View attachment 321564
View attachment 321565
View attachment 321570
View attachment 321563

 

[Guest]

Wonderful work Simon. A joy to behold.

 

[Jim R]

Steve asked for some overall photos.....

..... and they show just what incredible work has gone into this.
Jim

 

[minitnkr]

Some kits are to Simon as flour to a pastry chef. PaulE