discussion SimonT - 1/35 Zvezda Stug.IIIB - Bobs StugGB

[Jim R]

Hi Simon
Fire extinguisher looks excellent as does all the micro detailing.
Jim

 

[SimonT]

Wasted most of weekend being asleep again so only managed a couple of etch tow cable brackets - nothing worth a photo :sad-face:

 

[SimonT]

Finally managed a little progress - made the two tow cables to fit on the engine deck

Kit doesn't provide anything, not even a misshapen lump



twisted up some wire and then laid it out on the brackets to get the length

ends made from aluminium micro tube with the centre of the eyelets being from pewter


as can be seen, a single cable is shorter than the chassis so will not run from front to rear towing points

all I have to do now is persuade them to sit nicely on the engine deck

 

[SteveH]

Lovely cables Simon

My XXL's were too long?

I'll leave them as they are too nice to cut down and are only placed for the photo.

I did see some interesting photos of tow cables holding spare track links.

Great work Simon, hopefully a better Sunday for you this week?

Regards

Steve H

 

[SimonT]

Morning Steve,

unless I have mis-measured - I will find out when I install in the brackets

Those XXL cables are nice - presumably you got the set for the A-E and not the F-G

Fingers crossed for a good day but currently watching a rapidly rising river level for the river next to my sisters house
Since midnight it has risen from 0.8m to 3.18m

 

[Road of Bones]

Nice cables Si (I’d expect nothing less, tbh).
I’m on drip watch myself today- it appears that the wind has found a gap in our roof and is blowing the rain right into the loft. Woke to a steady drip from the bedroom light onto the bed. :crying:

 

[Jim R]

Hi Simon
Cables are nice. I like the way you made the ends. Any special reason for wire rather than thread?
It's very wet here but although the wind is strong it's not too bad. Having spend 10+ years on the Outer Hebrides gales here in Shropshire are just gentle breezes by comparison :tongue-out3:
Jim

 

[SimonT]

Oh dear Al - hope you get it fixed ok

Jim - Tend to find that thread is a bit floppy. Originals are wire so using wire gives similar characteristics - bends, self supporting

 

[Road of Bones]

Cheers Si- closer investigation up there exposed a rip in the roof-liner, so got a bucket under it while I figure out a temporary fix.

 

[SimonT]

What a weekend. The river next to my sisters house rose by 5.89m, if it had reached 6m she would have been flooded so a lucky escape.

I managed to stay awake for a few consecutive hours here and there this weekend so made some progress on this
took a few hours to install the two tow cables CA'ing to each bracket in turn, waiting for the CA to set, bending the cables with round nose pliers and repeating until complete


more hidden detailing - I hollowed out the underside of the Notek and added some detail


made up the base from various punched disks



conduits added from Plusmodel lead wire

 

[Guest]

Wow !

 

[SteveH]

Lovely work Simon

I have only just noticed your Eduard set if for the Tamiya, I did wonder as yours is brass and my set is grey coated and there does seem to be a range of different pieces.

I will have to think about putting some cable ties on the front light cables, they do look good.

I did find some references without the ties, but they could be wreaks and they had been torn/blown off?

We had several flooded roads here in Bradford but not as bad as they predicted.

Nearly finished the upgrade?

Regards

Steve H

 

[SimonT]

Thanks John

Thanks Steve - the Tamiya etch was the only one I found at the time. In theory a B should be a B regardless of kit manufacturer and the Tamiya kit is one of their newer ones so I was fairly sure it would fit
(can’t say the same for etch designed for the old inaccurate motorised Tamiya kits - I found that the set for the old Tamiya Stug IV has had parts fudged to make them fit the inaccurate kit parts)

Side lights, horn and jack still to go then the tracks......

Just remembered the track guard end flaps as well - left them off so they didn’t get knocked off

 

[Guest]

Oh my!

 

[Jim R]

Hi Simon
Your sister had a lucky escape. The worst is over I hope.
Cables look superb. I can appreciate why you chose wire rather than thread. As usual your detailing is superb.
Jim

 

[Steve Jones]

Thrice wow!! Lovely work as always Simon. A joy to watch

 

[Steven000]

Lovely detail Simon :thumb2:

 

[BattleshipBob]

Superb Simon

Looks fantastic, excellent detail!!!!

 

[SimonT]

Morning all,

decided to pick this one up again as the end of the GB looms ever closer

Can't really remember what I was doing so will need to catch up on my own build

Decided to do the tracks as they take time and will need doing so spent most of Sunday cleaning track links

These Masterclub links proved to be nicely cast with most just needing a quick swipe with an emery board on each side to remove some small moulding nibs

The track pin holes usually need drilling out but in all the ones I checked they were fine so I chose not to check them all

At the end of the day I had one side (110) cleaned up and about two thirds of the second set


so I mixed up a 50:50 solution of this stuff and water then dunked the first 110 links


good stuff - turned the milk chocolatey just like coco-pops :thumb2:

I wonder if there will be anything left by tonight............:thinking:

 

[SimonT]

managed to get a few minutes to flush the track links out

a lot of debris in the fluid but at least there are still some links

flushed through with soapy water and now air drying

will try clean up the remaining links tonight