discussion SimonT - 1/76th Airfix Sdkfz.7 Halftrack

[Mini Me]

Nice paper weight!!:thumb2:

 

[Steve Jones]

Nice weight usage Mr T. I must get some weights as the wifes Murano glass paperweights are too big and keep squashing everything:smiling5::smiling6:

MATRON!! More pills and dont forget to call the taxi!:smiling2:

 

[papa 695]

Don’t know how I missed this Simon, looking good so far, I’m in watching now.

 

[Guest]

Don’t know how I missed this Simon, looking good so far, I’m in watching now.

Quite easy Ian as Mr T posts at some very odd times of the day. :smiling2: so he get swept down the postings.
John.

 

[Steve Jones]

Well he is from the dark side John and only feels safe to come out at night in search of his lizard legs:smiling5:

 

[Fernando N]

Another late arrival here too, nice start on this one Simon.:thumb2:
Like many others I have some childhood memories of this kit too, looking forward to see what modifications you’ll give the old kit.:smiling:

 

[SimonT]

Lee - afraid my soup comes in a tin courtesy of Heinz :smiling:

John - not yet....

Si - may have strained the springs slightly

Rick - it would make a good paperweight

Steve - :thumb2:

Ian - as John says I do end up posting at odd times of day

Fernando - thanks for looking in. Mods are under way


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it was almost impossible to photograph but I have added the rolled edge to the front mud guards and all along the track guards using micro rod - just about see the red line

I also cut the body panel detail into the front end

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with the three pieces of chassis now joined I removed all the incorrect bits from between the sides and trimmed everything down to just leave the rails

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I made a start on adding back some detail - chassis rail top flange added from micro strip

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final drive housings were sawn off with the JLC razor saw and moved forward and up slightly to match the scale plans

this is required because the gearbox does not connect directly into the final drive, like the kit shows, but rather via a gear in a smaller housing on the side of the final drive housing

(former MM members may remember I did the same mods to the old inaccurate Tamiya 1/35 Sd.7)

the smaller housing was added from a punched disk - I offset the plastic card in the punch so that the resulting punched bit had a chunk taken out of one side like a pacman to allow it to fit up to the final drive housing

starting to look a little more Sdkfz.7 like

 

[Mini Me]

Yes it is. Looking forward to the next update.
Cheers, Rick H.

 

[Steve Jones]

Not heard of micro rod so I looked it up. I can get 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4mm. However would this not just be stiff wire?? Or are you using a plastic version?? Also do you glue it on and then quickly clean all the glue off? Any info on the use of this material would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance

 

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Steve
I might be wrong, but it looks like Simon is using Slaters plastic rod...it’s red plastic and comes In sizes from 10thou upwards. It is not like evergreen rod at all. It has quite a hard texture and can splinter if cut roughly. Ideal for this application though, and a mixed pack will last years. I have 10, 20, 30, and 40 thou and they are well over thirty years old now....

Great work Simon, by the way, always love the way you bring these dinosaurs up to scratch....

 

[Steve Jones]

Tim - Found it and ordered it. Many thanks:thumb2:

 

[SimonT]

Cheers Rick

Tim/Steve - as you have found I am indeed using Slaters micro rod

The new stuff is not as brittle as it used to be. Somewhere around 10-15yrs ago there was a wholesale change in the hardness of plastic card, rod etc - maybe some chemical was banned or similar - so all the current products are much softer than they used to be. Micro rod used to be ram rod straight but now it turns up banana shaped.

My stocks of original plastic card sheet, rod and strip have dwindled so I now have a mixture of old and new

I made the arch edges from 10thou plastic rod

 

[Guest]

Suberb work Simon, your stocks of materials must be massive , as for the stash I hate to think how many you have squirreled away ! .any idea ??
John

 

[papa 695]

Nice work Simon

 

[SimonT]

Morning John,
I do have a good selection of card, rod, strip, tube etc - essential for scratch building

As for the stash - way more than any sane person should have!
30+ yrs of buying kits at a faster rate than I can build them means that I have enough to start a shop (at a guess somewhere north of 1000)
It is definitely an affliction, I just can't help myself especially when stuff is on sale

Thanks Ian

 

[Jim R]

Hi Simon
Despite the lurgy and lizard leg soup you are doing a grand job. As always I'm impressed not only by your scratching skills but also by your ability to research the build.
Jim

 

[Graeme C.]

Hi Simon, I remember this kit from my youth, looking forward to your mods & improvements. Novel use for the 'fine tuning instrument'!

 

[SimonT]

Thanks Jim - lurgy down to a bit of a cough now thankfully. Luckily there are a lot of good books on German subjects - Nuts and Bolts, Achtung Panzer, Panzer Tracts for example. Unfortunately no one is writing similar books on Allied subjects

Graeme - I think most of us have grown up with the good old Airfix kits. Some mods will be appearing below. The Birmingham screwdriver - very useful tool to have :smiling:

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Cab floor trimmed out so that the petrol tank will fit under the bench seat

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Petrol tank, compressed air cylinders and various bits of framework added

 

[Guest]

:flushed::surprised::thumb2: Impressive .

 

[Steve Jones]

Apart from Sherman's the research material on Allied machinery is a lot less indeed Mr T. Looks like you are writing a few pages yourself. Top work as always.