Here's my entry for the Campaign, Lets Get Small.

It's UM (UMMT)'s Armored Self-Propelled Leningrad Railroad Car in 1/72nd scale.

I'll post a couple pictures shortly of the sprues, PE, and instructions.



I have one of the full armored trains and each car/loco comes with PE which is a very nice bonus.

Mike

A shot of the parts (not many!):



And the instructions:





Mike

Hi Mike,

Very unusual, but interresting model, looking forward to see this one come together!



Jelger

Oh no!!!!! You got the same model, I have ready waiting for campaign. Now I have to get another kit for campaign.

Jelger,

Yes it will be an interesting (and quick) build. This will eventually be the first of UMMT's trains I build. I have a couple more "singles" and then one of their full armored trains. Very much looking forward to this (and them).

Kimmo,

Build it! There is nothing wrong, IMHO, with folks building the same thing. Heck, we'll be able to compare notes, see each others work, and help each other out, if needed.

Mike

Okeedokee....

Started. I've gone through steps 1 thru 6, more or less.

Steps 1 and 2 were quite basic: the only things that have to be watched out for are 1) the length of cut for the axles [so they mate to the rail], and 2), removing the rail wheels from the sprue [they're thin at the connecting points, but because 3/4ths of the wheel is not seen, this is no issue].

Step 2 is merely "covering" the axle with the "cap." The axle fits in there, but I don't think the "depth" of the slot is adequate - the axles stick up just a tad. There's really no reason to make the axles/wheels "turnable," so once they're in place, turn the "sprue-tab" cuts center horizontal and it'll be fine.

Step 3 calls for the access panels (for the rail wheels) to be installed. However, I would wait until the upper hull is attached to the lower hull; the hinges on the access panels overlap to the upper hull.

With that said, there are prominent indentations set for those panels; nothing much more than laying down some thin CA and attaching them.

I more or less skipped 4 (in part) to go to step 5 where the fixed MG "tower" is. For that step, I just glued to the the hull and added a litte bit of Squadron Green Filler. Once the "tower" was set, I took the MG mounts and the PE "plates" and attached them.

The one side of the RR car has a louvered vent, the other does not. For the louvered side, I took some flat black paint and spread it around (focusing on the raised part) to "pre-shade" it. Once I spray the OD, it'll blend.

So, without further ado......




Mike

p.s. Daaaayuuuuum....I just might be back into it.

Step 4 is complete minus parts 67 (left and right side MGs). I'll wait until the RR car is painted in an OD-ish color.

Step 5 is complete. I found that when doing the louvered "vent" (engine exhaust/air intake?), it was easiest to take one of the flat X-Acto blades and slip it under one louver and take the back side of a #11 (unsharpend) and lay it across the fold. Once both blades were in position, I simply lifted the flat blade to bend the louver up. Once all five louvers were up, and it was glued to the hull, I took a flat edge and aligned them.


Another minor issue is that the instructions (step 5) call for the hull doors (#22B) to have the hinges set towards the outside of the car (front?). However, when you look at step 6, the hinges are set to the inside (towards the louvers). In this case, I referred to the box art and painting diagram - hinges forward on the louvered side and inwards on the other side. (Alas, I have no reference material (yet) for the Russian armored train cars, so I went with the box art/painting instructions)



Once the PE was set, I took it to the paint booth and primed it. There are a couple of areas that I'll need to address which shouldn't take too long.



Step 7 is "interesting" to say the least. It calls for you to drill out a hole on each side of the twin MG mount. There are no markings at all as to where you should drill. Once I removed the turret parts from the sprue, I realized that the whole purpose of this was to allow you to tilt the twin MGs up or down (I decided this was not necessary). Basically, in my opinion, step 7 can be ignored.

Step 8 is the turret construction. Here I took the two turret halves and the part 49D from step 7. I applied glue to the rear of the turret halves, inserted 49D, and allowed the glue to dry (there is a significant gap in the front of the turret that will take some of the Squadron Green to fill). Once set, I removed 49D and tried a test fit of the turret; the hole for the turret in the hull will require that it be "opened up" as it did not fit. I did dry-fit the turret roof to the turret sides (with the MG mount in place) and the fit tolerances are pretty good.

The last thing I've done so far was to turn the mount "frame" upside down on my bench and insert the part (55D) for the MGs. Once they were reasonably level, I applied a small amount of glue to "seal the deal." I gave it a couple of minutes to set then adjusted the positioning of 55D to more of less have the MG barrels in a horizontal position (I may adjust turret 2's positioning to have the barrels either elevated or depressed; don't know which yet).

I do hope to get back to the basement and finalize both turrets today. We'll see.

Mike

I slowly worked on the two turrets yesterday and this morning.



As mentioned before, I didn't make the main MG mounts movable, but just glued them in.

I did a dry fit with the two turret halves and the MG mount; the mount will separate the front seam so I glued the rear seam and let that sit. Once set, I installed the MG Mount and glued that in place (both turret seams are now glued). Once that was dry, I installed the "shields" on both sides of the mount, installed the individual MG mount on the side, and then the roof. Oddly enough, with the front seam "split" some, the roof fit well.

When all was dry, I added some putty to the seam lines and that's now drying.

I also drilled out the mount holes for the "bumpers" on the front and back of the car and filled a small sink mark on both ends (slightly visible).

Later I should be able to get to the shop and sand the filler and re-prime.

Mike

Turrets are now done (sans MGs), everything is primed, and should give it's first coat of a "russian green" today:



I also cleaned up the ejector marks on the track (using some filler right now).

Mike

Looks good Mike. "Q"

Hi Mike,

very nice buildlog. All steps are pretty clear. Seems to be a straightforward build. Looking forward to see this one with paint.

Are you going to make a ballast bed for the tracks?



Jelger

Jelger,

My references on Russian RRs is pretty limited, but with a brief Google image search, it appears that most of the RRs were ballasted. I may do something quite basic for this particular Campaign (I have several more individual cars and a full train) so that eventually all of the track I have can be put together in a long dio.

Mike

Ahhhhh, the RR car now has it's first base coat; Testor's "rattlecan" Olive Drab.



I'm figuring that I'll shoot it with Future then apply some washes, apply a couple of the decals, then flat-coat it. After that's done, I'll install the MGs.

The rails/ties are primed. Here soon I'll start their paint.

Mike

Hey Mike,
Looks good. Now I see what you were talking about earlier today. I'll have your PE tool back to you tomorrow.

Nice work Mike, good work.

Thanks Brian and Martyn.....'preciate it.

The MGs are now installed and the turrets fit tight enough that there is no glue used there:



Decals, weathering, and the rail is all that's left.

Mike

Did a little bit on this one too today. I shot it with Future and after a while I dabbed some Titanium White on it, then heavily went over it with thinner. My intent was to lighten it up some (maybe should have used the "yellowish" color I have?). However, I'll go over it again but with a Raw Umber wash....that should "mellow out" the "whiteness."



Mike

Been a while, huh?

I'm calling the RR Car done:



However, I'm experimenting with various methods of painting the tracks (ultimately leading to a method that works for me to use on my little dio):



Picture is kinda blurry, but here's pretty much what I've done so far to it:

1) Puttied, cleaned, and primed the tracks and ties;
2) Painted the rails and "keepers" with Games Workshop "Boltgun Metal;"
3) Painted the "ties" with Testor's enamel "Wood;"
4) Using a "chopped up" brush, I painted some Vallejo acrylic "Mahogany" to give the wood some grain;
4) Painted the sides of the rails with very heavily diluted Tamiya acrylic "Flat Black" to deepen the color of the rails.

Mike

Finished the track this morning.

Compared to the last photo of the track, I added a very thinned black wash to the ties and a wash of Burnt Sienna to the rail sides. I made a little (very little) base and used HO scale balast.





Mike