Naughty Mayor, Peter!

Haha! Take em off! Angel - the compressor looks great - a key reason I’m ok with seeing them, or at least one side on, is knowing you actually stamped sheet metal to make them! Wow - just one heck of an all around build!

Thanks to you and Peter too for the approval of the Big KRAZ!

I’m traveling for work now - In the rainy Philippines - so not much (none) model building for me right now...but, I did decide on the next one - I’m going to try the MRAP MAXX Pro recovery vehicle - it appears to be adequately difficult to figure out how to do!

Happy model building
Cheers
Nick

Sucker for punishment then. Looking forward to seeing that one too. Take care on the trip, don't get too soggy.

PS if you see any AIFV vehicles with wooden plank armour over there, can you take a few all around shots for me? I have seen one photo of one, but nothing else.... Always wanted to model that vehicle.

Cheers

Thanks Nick!

I'll probably have one side on-I'm thinking of building a ZIL-131 or ZIS-151 or even ZIS-150(that would require a serious modification and scratchbuild) one day to tow it.

I'm in love with truck-n-trailer builds!

Congrats to Nick and Angel for their completed works.
Impressive builds, both of them.

Hope all the participants are happily working away with their chosen projects and things are going as planned.

Not much progress from me. Managed to throw some more undercoat on some bits, and slowly working away at the multitude of sub-assemblies.



Only 4 more sub-assemblies/components for the front frame and another 9 for the transmission.
Best I cut the chit-chat and cut some more bits .

Peter - as you may guess I'm not exactly the most serious of modellers , and no you can't have my secret modelling friend .

Thanks Roger!

I still need to paint and weather some bits, but I guess I'll be ready before Sunday's World Football Championship finale.

Nice progress with your Stalinetz too!
I especially like all the bolts,struts and rivets-they give your build the look of a real machine.

Home again, home again - now...to spend a few jet lagged days. Peter - I know the vehicles you’re referring to - fortunately I was in Makati so no need to have those rigs running around - unfortunately tho, no pics either.

So about 3 AM I was wide awake...good times, so what else to do other than get to work on the MRAP MaxxPro MRV?? This build will require some mixing and matching - I’m building the version with the independent front suspension, but also need solid axles for the rear - so I’m starting with both the kinetic and panda kits as donors for various parts. The latter for the independent front axle, front half of the body/cab area, and chassis, and kinetic for the rest.

A funny thing is that while the Panda kit uses the “new” suspension, the hood/body seems to mix old and new, while the kinetic kit appears to use the newer hood, but older suspension and body. The “new” hood is narrower than the “older” and has vertical slats in the grill - hmmm...I can’t figure out how to cleanly separate the trucks hoods to swap them - I’ve already cut the back half of the Panda body - which is pretty nice - but I think I’m out of luck on the hood - which is a bummer because the newer one looks a bit better (per my eye that is!). I’ve also begun splicing the chassis - so far so good.

An attribute of this version of the truck is it uses “super single” rear tires versus pairs in the rear. I fixed this before I left - I had an extra set of resin tires/ wheels from another build - I kept the rear wheels as is - but cut the front two in half vertically and sandwiched them onto the remaining four rear tires. While a bit tedious, (cutting, sanding, try and try again, glue, fill the “gap”), they look pretty good now that they’re done. I like the look of the big fat rear tires!

Next up - keep going on the chassis and find out if I can make it all level - all six tires sitting on the ground at one time! Piece of cake! Lol.

Everything in the bed will be scratch built - two booms for the wrecker, hydraulic stabilizers, each side, mid and rear on the chassis, and, a heavy hydraulic towing “tongue”....yeah....right - oh, and a long service body....yeah again...

Ok - happy model building
Cheers
Nick

So Nick, you are cooking a nice mix in the middle of the night?!
Your new SB definitely sounds promising!

I had a day that I wish could be rewinded- early in the morning the almost ready Compressor slipped from my hand and fell to the floor.
The result:



I was too angry (to myself) to start repair, so I decided to leave surgery for tomorrow.

You know what they say: "Men plan,God laughs"

At least-I can now easily paint some parts that were hidden before



And take several to calm down!

I agree with Angel, the Stalinetz looks great.

Nick, sounds like a plan coming together. I did not know that such a relatively new vehicle had so many modifications, and quite major ones.

Angel, I hope it was not too badly damaged. Did something similar recently. Took an old fully completed model out of the box to take to my club, and dropped it. It was on a wooden base and landed upside down...... Panzer IV jigsaw puzzle.......

At least the mishap had a side benefit:

Nick - sounds like an interesting build you have planned, looking forward to see how it progresses.
Angel - my most sincere condolences on your 'mishap'. been there and done that a few times so can relate to your situation.
Thanks for the kind comments on the slow progression of my entry.
Just trying to get some motivation to make a start on a number of repetitive piece's, plus mulling over the best way of constructing the tracks .
To all entrants - keep up the work on your planned projects and don't forget to give a bit of "show and tell".

Hi!
I have not been to the forum for quite a long time and I see that some have advanced a lot in their projects.
Nick, impressive ... it's hard to find words for what you're doing.
Angel, I know you and I wonder what it would make you hard to do.
Roger looks very, very big. I'm sorry, I did not track your work at first, but I'm impressed.
As for my machine, I managed to finish it. I'm sorry to get you more photos, but I had a problem with my computer and I got more photos from my work.












Good luck to all.
Kalin

Well done,Kalin!

Congratulations on your first finished entry and don't forget to upload it to the Campaign gallery,

Hey guys - Angel - ouch! Bad news there - I appreciate your thinking about it though - an unexpected opportunity to do some super detail painting! Haha - I’m sure you’ll pull it back together, but now with some real life wear and tear! Incidentally, last night I nearly tore all of the right rear fender off the big KRAZ....perfect - only tore half off and the other side is now re-glued. Looking forward to both: 1) the finished compressor; and, 2) your next build!!

Kalin - your communications truck looks great - very nice, uniform coat of dust outside - looks real, and the interior - wow!

Hi Roger - wow - making your own tracks - while no doubt tedious, it does sound like an interesting challenge - maybe you could post some progress while you pull it together? I’m curious to see how you’ll do it - though based on your work so far, I’m sure it (they?) will look great!

Cheers
Nick

Very impressive all round Kalin. Was a joy to drool over the pics...

more great work appearing... mine are on hold now until later in August so will watch for now

Thanks Nick!
I woke up yesterday without my mojo, so decided to give the compressor 2 more weeks rest.
Spent some quality time building and painting the interior of a CV3/33 tankette(Interior Campaign).

Will also use this time to decide what I will build next.
I have several shelf queens, like the:
SU-6

3-K AA Gun with gun mount

RRH auf Sd.Anh.104


Might choose one of them and finaly finish it.
Or all of them.Will see!

Happy modelbuilding!

Hello guys! Thanks for the good comments and the attention paid by your old! For the first time I'm doing a scratchbuild.
Well well well? Someone returns to the good old days! How long have I been waiting to get him back on! Full ahead!
Success! Kalin

Angel, the SU-6 looks pretty close, I'd go for that.

Angel - both the SU-6 and 3-K AA Gun with gun mount look amazing build qualities (makes me ashamed to show my efforts near your's ).
Just did a dry-fit of the engine block to the frame and it appears I've made a few little boo boo's. So the project is on hold while I figure out how best to correct it.
More "show and tell" from the rest of you participants thanks.

Kalin,Greg,Roger-thanks for your feedback!

Well, then I'll finish the SU-6 first.I'm glad you like it- that vehicle is my first scratchbuild project, so it is sort of "where all my SB obssessions started from"

The SU-6 is more than 90% done, just need to add some interior details and paint/weather it.Next weekend I'll post some WIP pictures, taken between November 2016 and March 2017, while I was actively working on it.

And because finishing the SU-6 off will not take too much time, I will continue working on the 3-K AA gun with gun mount.
It is a splendid piece of machinery and a very pleasant scratchbuild challenge:


Pictures from National Museum of Military History-Sofia/Bulgaria

Saying do all is greedy, but like the others I'd love to see the SU-6 and 3-k gun done!

Peter,
Your post reminds me of a joke we have:

An orthodox priest marries a young couple.
Once the ceremony is over, he is invited to the festive table and asked by the groom's father:
"What would you like to have for drink,Father?Wine or rakia?"(rakia is the pan-Balkan high alcoholic content drink-grappa comes close to it)
The priest answers:
"Both! And I will take beer too, my son!"

Some nice work being done.

Sorry for the late start. As posted earlier, I've had some design problems and have had to restart a couple of times.

As a refresher, I'm building what-if assault tank based on the T-55. I used the Trumpeter T-55 1958 with the BTU-55 Dover Blade.

I began by assembling the hull. Years ago, I had built Dragon's ISU-122/152 kit and had the spare 122mm gun, mount, and mantlet in my spares. Originally, I was going to remove the 152mm gun and use it, placing the 122mm on the ISU. I'd end up going with the 122mm gun on making this a ISU-55-122.
The hull and dozer blade were assembled so I could begin on the casemate.

Earlier attempts were too large and gave it a really high profile. I cut the front glacis so the gun could mount lower. I would have mounted it even lower had I not had to accommodate the dozer's hydraulics.
The casemate is pretty simple. I had planned on the glacis and casemate front to be the same angle. It's front angle was determined by the angle of the gun mount. The advantage is it allows for a larger fighting compartment.
I reinforced the corners with styrene strips. The ones added to the top edge will give the roof section support. Also, I plan on sanding down the edges. This should give the sides a thicker look.


The roof section was a bit of trial and error. You can see the changes made by the pen marks.
The original idea was to mount a BMP-1 turret. I ended up using a BTR-70 turret. I cut a ring, reinforced it, and added a bullet splash ring.
I also added some more strips to give the front and side plates the impression that they are thicker.
I added hatches and a periscope from the spares.


I changed the periscope to a smaller one included in the T55 kit. I didn't like the look of it.
I worked on the gun mount some, giving it some detail. I mounted matching storage boxes to the side. One came from the kit and the other was in the spares.
Thin styrene strips were added at the bottom edges of the casemate to act as trimwork and cover some of the gaps.
I added front fenders and a ventilator. I also added an armor vision plate for the driver, both front and side. I really don't like it but I don't want to damage the casemate by trying to remove them.


Another view. You can see the rear hatch and ventilator. I also removed the BTR turret's periscope and replaced it with something larger.
You can also see where Ive sanded the top edges of the casement, rounding them off.


I mounted the dozer blade. It's a bit tricky and the instructions are pretty vague about their placement locations.
I added locking mechanisms to the top hatches, added smoke launchers, and added a light to the BTR turret.
For lights I went with two fender mounted setups like the Chinese use for their version of the T55. They are a bit heretical for Soviet purists but visually they work with the boxy ISU-55-122 profile.
I added lift loops to the roof, grab handles to the sides, and tie loops to the rear.
The casemate uses up half of the fenders so I left off the gas tanks and used stowage boxes.








And that's where I am at the moment..and I must apologize for the chaotic assembly. This build was pretty chaotic and I was changing stuff so much...it really shows.

I still need to add the plumbing for the dozer hydraulics, the rear gas tanks, and give it a good cleanup before I start paint. I might give it a large light, mounting it above the main gun. Likewise, I might drop the 122m gun and go with a 115mm gun from a T-62. I think it's shifted more to a tank destroyer role than bunker buster so the T-62 gun may be more appropriate and more fitting for the time period.
For paint I'll probably go light green and dark green.

Very nice result, Alex!
I like the box-type superstructure and your work to lower the silhouette, combined with the Dover Blade is giving your WHIF vehicle a bulldog(don't mess with me or it will hurt...) appearance.

Looking forward to your next steps!

Very interesting concept Alex. A no-nonsense built for a purpose vehicle.