Hey all,

Following on to the published review HERE of Black Dog's 1:48th scale Jeep with Rocket Launcher conversion, here's the beginning of the build.

The conversion kit #T48027:



The donor kit #32552:



Even though the kit appears to be figures, Tamiya has "snuck in" a light vehicle...better known as a Jeep . Licensing issues??

Anyhow, the first bits of the Jeep's frame and running gear and some of the body. Very little clean up has been needed and I didn't run into any problems of fit:



Mike

Okay, at about the end of the Jeep build. Getting really close to needing to start assembling the conversion.

Jeep frame and running gear, sans the wheels, is basically done:


The donor kit's upper body is mostly completed; still a couple of things to add:


Once the little bits are on, I'll shoot the jeep with Paul Raines' mix for WWII US armor....NATO green with some yellow green. I've found this to be a very nice "color." I'm guessing the next step, prior to paint, is to build the framework for rocket launcher with the pivot table, and install it. While it's got "360 degree" elevation, I can dry fit the armored back panel, roof, and windshield....and attach the "aiming/elevation" gadget to the back panel. Hopefully things will dry fit nice and I can shoot all the parts together.

Mike

nice topic

i'll be following this build log!!
keep us posted!!

Finally got back to the bench on this. I've begun the Black Dog conversion now.

I began by removing all of the "aiming" device's components from their pour-block along with the armored rear plate. A real fine razor saw made this quite easy (and touch up with a #11 and sanding stick). Once I had all the parts were cleaned up and laid out, I dry fitted the armored back with the aiming box and the bracket that goes on top. There were no issues, however it's necessary to ensure that the box is set within the armored back's cutout properly in relation to the bracket....the bracket being the key factor for alignment. Once that box and bracket were in, I added the crank handle and the two box brackets for the underside.

Here's where the first "issue" with the instructions arrises: The instructions show that both brackets are angled in towards the center - as in a trapazoid that has one short long side and one long long side. However, the parts are not moulded that way. One is "short-long and long-long" and the other has the end angles in the same direction. Both brackets would be flush with the bottom of the box and the armored back (I really hope this makes sense ).

Anyhow, the outer bracket was fine. The inner bracket was mounted so the top was flush with the box and the bottom would be flush with the floor (versus flush with the armored back).

Lousy pics, and I'll reshoot them later:




Mike

Edit: Quick fireworks pic to show you what I meant about the aiming box's support brackets:

Yeesh! Been a bit.

First things first; Black Dog sent the replacement "ignitors." Pretty darn quick considering they came from the CR.

Here's an "updated" picture showing the "crank" brackets:

Pretty much all that needed to be done was to shave off the very bottom of the two brackets to make them flush with the bottom of the rear armored plate.

A couple of shots of the rear armored plate installed:


As far as alignment goes ( where it's placed), I've removed all of the supporting brackets and braces. The instructions show the layout of the two upright braces that hold the rocket tube cradle; with a visual of where those will go I set the rear armored plate behind the seats with just a little bit of clearance. After the plate was glued in, I double checked the brackets for the cradle - all's well.

So far it's going well; little bit of clean up here and there - seams and the like. I removed the roof armored plate from it's pour block. On one side (top) there's a small indentation along the back (this is the top) and a thin strip on the other side - this is what the back plate snugs up to. While cutting it off the stub, I think I got the angle off which jacked up that thin strip. Once I've gotten to gluing the roof to the back, I'll use a really thin piece of copper sheet (or PE fret left over) to replicate it.

Mike

Alright, got a little more going on.

Started on assembling the rocket tube stand. No issues so to speak. The following pictures show the left and right brace glued to the cradle, but with the cradle just sitting in the back dry-fitted:



As you can tell, things are a little off with the alignment. That'll quickly be fixed once I begin attaching it to the jeep. The other thing that is clearly evident is the air bubble in the top of the brace; that will easily be fixed by some putty.

Oh, at the top-right of the third picture, you can see the armored windshield - note the twist to the mounting bracket on the left versus the right. Right side is good, left is off. This will be fixed with a wee bit of heat and CA glue.

Mike

Starting along nicely. Which countries use this vehicle?

Lars

Lars,

I'm not 100% sure on this. At one time I had several photos of this vehicle, but in a 'puter replacement, I've seemed to have lost them...which really stinks because IIRC, one showed the wiring. I'm still searching....

Mike