Well in that case it feels good to be alive If I get to liking this too much I may end up building more small scale for other campaigns in the future

Hi everyone!

Again, few days of absence and hundreds of new posts, models, and interesting photos... Hard to go thru all of this

Thanks to all who commented my Flitz (I really loved that name ). Now I'm working on figures (kitbashing Preiser, Milicats and Italeri ones).

@ Neil - Nice built! Looks really good considering quality of Ace kit. To be honest, sometimes it is easier to scratch some parts than to use and re-work original one from the Ace's kit

@ Bob - another FT-17 variant. Well, what a nice surprise. I really like this tank and I plan to do one in Polish service in 1939. So i'm looking carefully how is your built going on

This is what little I was able to accomplish with the FT17. The white strip is an attempt to remedy the gap I caused by trimming too much from the door.




Dillion these did not break on me while cutting from the trees



and this set of parts took way to long to cut from the trees


I started this KV 8S when the FT17 was giving me so much trouble that I put it away and the KV 8S has its own problems especially with the indie tracks






Bob

Bob,

Nice work. The rear panel where the engine crank is came out way better in your hands tan did mine.

Bravo on the removal from the parts tree. Getting the parts off the tree was maddening for me, but once I was past that, the kit was enjoyable.

Did you appreciate the four or five contact points of sprue for the MG? Perhaps this is overdone to prevent the pieces from breaking when they pop the kit out of the mold maybe?

~Dillon

Dillion,
I stopped using the parts cutter after the body and the destroyed MG's, I started using a very sharp no. 11 blade to slice off parts. The MG that is protruding from the side of the turret is just the barrel since the receiver is still on the tree I enjoyed the 1/35 Kogata (Japanese lic. built FT17) that I built a couple of years ago for another campaign much more so far.

1/35th Kogata






Bob

For me, a fine toothed razor saw is almost always successful. For really delicate parts I cut the surrounding sprue away until I'm left with a small sprue handle extending from each join point. Hopefully by this point there's enough access to get the saw blade in to the join point. When sawing I always hold by the sprue handle so that there's no stress on the part. The cutting action should gentle strokes of the saw blade, the harder you cut the higher the stresses in the plastic, and the further the potential distance that the part can fly (inevitably into the jaws of the carpet monster). With a light enough action the part will just eventually fall off.

I've used this technique successfully on ultra fine 1/700 ship components, if they can survive, then anything can.

Hope this helps.

John

Hi all, everyones builds are coming along great.
Korpse: I'll be looking around for a BA-64, such a great looking little Armoured car. I recently built a GAZ-67 in 1:72 scale for the softskins campaign and would really like to build the BA.Your builds looking good!
Bigrip74: Nice looking build. I'am keen to do some Polish armour next year so great to see this kit exists! Will be watcing with interest. What sort of paint scheme are you doing for it?

Here's a progress shot of the Vickers VI. I brushed on the camo, painted the exhaust,did the tracks,painted the folded tarp in the back (the only stowage that comes with the kit) and made a small 'license plate' on the front left track guard for the unit code number.The Vickers has 2 small recessed 'headlights' on both sides of the upper hull,these weren't molded in so I drilled a small shallow hole for each and literally filled it with silver paint,crude but it looks passable.

Next up clear gloss,decals and weathering and i'm almost done!
Cheers,
Tim

Boy!!! And I though that things would slow down with the approach of the holidays! We have just started on page 17 of this thread while barely seven weeks into the campaign and up to 47 participants. Seemed like a good time to post the updated chart.

@Biggrip74 - Braille kits may not have as many parts as larger scales but they they require their own set of skills and devotion to complete, As one fellow at our local IPMS chapter is know to extol "...that's what magnifiers and tweezers are were invented for..." when small scale kits are derided.

It looks like you are making good progress on the FT-17 and you are to be commended on you perseverance. Think how proud you will be one you subdue that little monster. We all have the greatest faith in your skills. As for the KV, I also loath those link and length tracks. I've built my last four models with them and that feeling has only grown. They require tons of patience, time and in many cases ingenuity to get them to fit properly. I could build three kits in the time I spend on the tracks of just one.

@Firefly74 - I like the camo and the little tyke is really coming along. You are almost at the wire and could be the first to qualify for a ribbon/award. No pressure, there is still lots of time so you should not rush.

Cheers,
Jan

As they say in Hollywood "One more time, with feeling!"
Fixed the Nashorn gun support, so now I'm back to where I was, albeit with a little more detail then before.



Maybe this SNAFU was the modeling Gods' way of getting me even more into PE.

Jan, I live with that monster no matter what scale. The smaller the scale the bigger the monster


Bob

Finally, some progress on my "Second Front" or SU-76i. All parts except for the headlights are glued on (still looking for those little buggers). The paint is pretty much on and I have started the tedious and laborious process of colour modulation and detail painting. There is no other way around the tire rubber except with a 10 X 0 brush, 5 X Opti-visor and cramp inducing hand control.







This has been my first experience with a resin kit and while the majority of detailing is very good the experience is not something that I would quickly wish to repeat. The amount of "clean-up" alone was not what I have grown accustomed to. Add to all of that I have had to repair breaks in the tracks more times than I care to count. An acquaintance that is far more knowledgeable about resin than I, has stated that the kit I received was obviously from a mould near the end of its life span.

@Keith - Congratulations on getting that puppy straightened out.

@Bob - Think positive thoughts, Robert or as Oddball said, "...enough with them negative waves, Moriarity." It seems like a few of us must beat our builds into submission.

Cheers,
Jan

A nice build!

Is that the PST KV flamethrower kit at all?

@ Michael, you are correct this is the flame gunned KV.

@ John: I think that I will just shut one eye and maybe the double vision part will only be one, and then I can attempt to cut. Ha! As for the carpet monster, there needs to be something done in the way of a catch pocket on the bench.

@ Tim: nice going on the Vickers so far. Love the color, the muffler, and the tracks look fairly real, what is you secret?

@ Jan: nice spread sheet, I just took a class on excel and at first the math formulas just kick me in the head then it became easy. As for the indie tracks I still like the good quality rubber bands better. That is a mean looking SU-76i, what color did you use for the Russian Green, I am still not satisfied with what is in my supplies.

@ Keith: nice barrel and attachments, what kind of tweezers are you using for the small parts?



Bob

Wow! 17 pages of posts and cool builds -- Jan your campagins sure do attract a following. Work has kept me from building (and even completing campagins) since September. As planned, I'll be doing a Sturmtiger, OOB -- or should I say Out of the Bag?

Anyways here's the required pic to kick-off my contribution:



Cheers and all the best to everyone for the holidays,

Tat

Hello

@Biggrip74, the 1/35th FT-17 looks great, I guess you'll be using it as a "benchmark" for the standard of finish you are aiming for with your current smaller build. The KV-8 tracks are a bit uneven on these PST kits, I built one of their KV-1s a few years back, I know what you mean. You just need to tidy some of the edges with a file to get a good look to them

@naimbrain - thanks for the tip on removing tiny pieces, beats repairing or scratching replacement parts

@Firefly74 - the Vickers is looking very tasty.

& if you are thinking of getting a BA-64 I wouldnt try to dissuade you. As ACE kits go, this is one of the better, needs a little filler on hull joins and for a couple of sink marks on the hull roof, and at the rear, & a bit of sanding to fit some parts. The detail is almost non existent on the axle leaf springs, but they are not much seen anyway. I'll buy another to make the alternative 'rail' version

@tread_geek - looks like you are well on the road of "turning a pigs ear into a silk purse" . I have the MW 1/72nd SU-76i kit, moulded in injected plastic, and the cast detail is as indistinct as your resin one, plus it has fit & accuracy issues with the hull and parts provided in the kit... looking forward to seeing how yours turns out when all done, I'm sure mine will be pretty awful, if I ever get the masochistic urge to build it

@tatbaqui - looks like the postman treats your mail the way mine does here ! Boxes arrive squashed and/or wet due to what looks like being a prolonged rainy season here. Good luck with the build

here is an update on my build

I attached the rail wheels front and rear, but they stick out too far, as in first picture below

I found another picture of this vehicle in the book "'Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two' by James Grandsen and Steven Zaloga. It shows no rear mudguard on the other side, and no tools, and as the other photos show, no headlamps, or turret MG.

I trimmed the front and rear rail supports, they are much closer to the rubber wheels as per the two bottom pictures below,this one is now finished the build stage. Turret needs to be affixed to its base, so it sits square and even, and the whole model witha fine file, and smooth some edges & imperfections a bit.

And also need to wait for 'the big wet' to end before I'm prepared to paint

@ Tat: how big is the kit for that tiger since it is a bag

@ Korpse: thanks for the kind words, but that 1/35 FT17 was just as big of a pain to build as this 1/72 and if my memory serves me correct.ly it is an RPM also. As for the KV I plan to put so much mud on the tracks that I do not need to trim them I have had enough fun.

Bob

Little by little...
Added more gun detail:


And started on the running gear:

I tried something new and detached both sets of return rollers from the main sprue and glued them together in strips. Saved a few minutes of searching for lost parts in the carpet.

@ Bob R.--I have a pair of needle nose, reverse action tweezers, but since these small parts keep flying out of them I’ve been using a monster set of normal tweezers which seem to be working.

@ AJ-- I’m not sure how I’m gonna paint the interior either. Small brushed I guess. With lots of washes to help mask the overpaint.

@ Jan & @--Radek thanks again for the research and input. I hope my mods look okay after all is said and done.

@ Everyone else—Lots of nice work going on. Too many builds to comment on them all. Wholly smokes, what a campaign!

Keith

As usual, I am always late at any party... but after some gentle prodding, here I am.
Looking at all the entries, I feel proud to finally be a part of it.
Looking around at my stash, I chose this one, as it is a fairly recent kit, which I already previewed and I guess building it will allow me to write a construction review as well.
At first glance it seems a very good kit, and I hope it is, so I can catch up swiftly.
Cheers
Rob

 

@Bigrip74 - I hear you with the mud solution. I have one or two unbuilt kits that mud may be the salvation of too, an RPM R-35 with no exterior track detail and a Caesar SWS which has simplified track detail. Its mud or I drive myself (more) insane adding missing track details..

@woltersk - as a friend of mine used to say: 'Slowly slowly catchee monkey'. And sticking those return rollers together as soon as they are removed from the sprue is a neat idea to minimise loss of small parts - I know how easy it is to lose them, and the frustration of trying to find them.

@Rob_Haelterman - great to see you onboard for the build. Looking forward to seeing your progress shots. Maybe you can get your canadian colleague (A.M.) in as well.

cheers
Neil

"Am I never to be given a moments peace!"

Now that was strange! I had considerably more written when I posted the above. Anyway, I believe that the quote is from some TV show or movie (Cdr. Scott in Star Trek?). I turn my back for a second and this thread is approaching 500 posts and 18,000 views . I must commend the enthusiasm and commitment of all participants involved.

We are now up to 48 members with the recent enlistment of Rob. Welcome to our little campaign. (pun intended) The master chart near the top of the page has been again amended to reflect new members and build status changes, Keep up the good work, gang.

Cheers,
Jan

Jan, I had a strange post recently. I posted some pics for the Sherman campaign and my post was on two campaigns that I participate in.

Bob

Rob,
Welcome. It is good to see another open interior vehicle thrown into the mix. Have you done one of these before? If so, how did you go about painting the interior and all the details?

Are the roadwheels moulded together on that one sprue??? Not fair!

Keith

Hi Keith,
Yep, I did a fair number of open topped vehicles in my day, and I even entered one in the softskin campaign. (The great MPK/MK72, injection plastic, Demag SdKfz10, now you ask.)
Campaign rules don't allow me to enter it twice, though.

I am not sure if I understood your question correctly, but if I did, my answer would be: it depends.


I mean, it depends on the lay-out. The Demag has an interior that remains accessible for spraypainting all over (if you leeave off some details, like seats, steering wheel), so I paint it just like the exterior.
A SdKfz251 is slightly more complicated, so I will paint the interior in two halves first (top & bottom, assembling the two halves completely before painting) and once both are finished, I will scrape away any paint near the seam, and glue them together with MEK. If I use the MEK sparingly, no paint will be damaged, and I will only need to touch up the inner angle where both hull halves meet. This I will do by hand.
One the halves glued together: masking and painting the exterior as usual.

About the road wheels...
It's the "new" approach taken by Dragon, revell, and MPK/MK72, and I like it. Nothing of these arches will be seen, and you get perfect alignment. The downside is that all wheels are molded at the same rotational angle, which is not very realistic. (Same issue with the roadwheels on Dragon's Shermans, btw)


HTH
Rob