Ok, with the re-sizing of the upper hull complete, it was time to begin on the interior.
Most of this will be scratch built (certainly in the lower hull) however, one of the main peices; the transmission was aquired from tank workshop.
I must say that after examining the TWS casting I was disapointed, the detail in places is quite crude and the quality of the casting is quite poor, and some details are missing or the wrong shape.
I therefore decided to fix what I could and re-cast the part with the new details added.
First up, a shot of the transmission being detailled:
(note lead rivets, putty and some white plastic)
With this done, the transmission was enclosed in a plastic box made from sheet styrene:
Next I mixed the silocone rubber compound (10-1) and after a day leaving it to set was able to extract my own mould of a Pzkpfw IV transmission!
With this done I was able to mix the resin (1-1) and pour it in, and after 30 mins had my own version:
While generally a success, this is my first ever casting and I think I have a lot to learn, many of the smaller details were not re-created due to the resin not filling the mould properly, but the general impression is there:
And trimmed and filled as neccesary we end up with the beginings of the lower hull interior:
I have since had another go and produced a slightly better version, which i'll be using instead, however, I don't think this resin casting is as easy as I had led myself to beleive, so perhaps I won't be casting the entire turret interior up. We shall see.
That'll have to keep you entertained over the weekend (It's a bank holiday in the UK so I get Monday off!
)
Thanks,
James
