i cant wait to see the finished product. awesome so far.

Hi all,

Thanks for the comments Craig and Gary !!

I wanted to post a quick update, about my progress on the Panzer 1a engine bay. Tristar do a really good job reproducing the Krupp M305 engine (apart from the really annoying mold seams) and it is going togther well so far. The engine is stock at this stage and it fits in the engine bay, which is some what of a relief.

I have added a generator made out of Brass tubing (just visible within the oil line wiring) but have yet to wire it up.



Thanks for looking

Steven

Great job Steven!
About the flags-I'm sure they were considered a back up to the radio or used during radio silence.
Dan

Hi All,

Quick update, more to follow later today. In this post and the next we shall be focused upon completing the Panzer 1a engine and engine bay.

I have completed the engine and it is ready for priming and painting. I have added some extra detail to the engine but Tristar have done a really great job with it as it is so I did not want to go overboard.





I was hoping to get this tank finished In December so that I could begin work on one of my other modelling related Christmas presents (My Tamyia 1/16th KingTiger is calling me) but I have decided to maintain the momentum on this project

Thanks

S

the king tiger must be very tempting but it would be a shame to abandon the panzer I. great job.

Thanks Craig,

As you can see from the pics below I have now completed the engine bay and with it the lower hull interior







There were some fit problems with the exhaust shields which necessated some sanding but other than that quite straight forward.

From my reference pics I did note that there were several oil lines and pipes which I have chosen not to replicate, since I do not know where in the engine they began or ended. I did not want to add random bits of wiring which would have added nothing to the model.

Thanks for looking

Steven

I truly hope I won't cover that panzer I with a small turret... leave this little tank wide open

Great work !!

Small advice, don't start the King Tiger yet, otherwise you won't finish the Panzer I and end up like me... with 4 or 5 models waiting for months on the bench...

Hi John,

Thanks for the comments, I am not planning to glue the top of the hull onto the tank so that it can be removed.

I agree with your comments about the KingTiger, but I am tempted to start it

I'm drooling over the keyboard... that KingTiger is very tempting...

Anyway it was just an advice, I have 5 or 6 kits on the bench at various stages, mostly in the middle of building. you most have several dozens of hours on that panzer I and there's still lot to do, wheels, suspension, tracks, top hull, hatches, equipment, turret...
still it's too bad to hide all that work...

it would be nice to have a bergepanther with the panzer I turret suspended.

I was almost getting a Griffon set for a Grille, but I guess it would be too much PE, I don't have the skills to tackle it.

Great work so far .. but I wonder if you would work with that level of detail on such a tiny kit again after this

Hi All,

Thanks for the comments John! Is the Grille you're thinking of buying the H version? I received the Dragon 6470 Grille H kit and the Griffon model bonus pack for Christmas but I have yet to start it. It looks very impressive.

Quite a big update tonight. I have been fairly busy with the tank and made a lot of progress.





Firstly, I began the process converting the stock kit parts with the Aber upgrades. The two pictures above illustrate this. I have not glued the wheels and suspension together and have attached them to the hull for illustrative purposes only.





Next I began work on the front armour and driver's instrument panel. Not really much to say about this part of the build, construction was relatively straight forward.





In these next two pictures you can see the completed and dry installed wheels and suspension. I have not added the strengthening bars to the suspension yet, although as you can see from the picture below, they are fully assembled.



I then began work on the upper hull by constructing and soldering the Aber components. This process was extremely frustrating and time consuming. It was very hard to solder all the various hull armour angles together , There are one or two minor issues with heat warping, although these will be fully worked out when the upper hull is fully assembled.





In the following pictures I have dry fitted the upper hull to the tank. Thankfully its dimensions are identical to the Dragon stock part it replaces.The same cannot be said of the rear of the upper hull which is at least four millimetres too long necessitating the use of the stock Dragon kit part although I will be heavily modifying it, as you have come to expect of me by now!!





Thanks for looking,

Steven

Impressive work Steven! Shame to paint it up in a way...
Dan

Wow, the engine is a stand alone model in its own right!
I really like the PE on the upper hull as well. For whatever reason I keep putting a slight springy warp in large flat pieces.

That 1:16 KT is looking pretty tempting to me as well. I'm still trying to save up for one to intimidate my T-34 with

Yes Steven, I mean I have both Dragon versions, and I was wondering to get both Griffon Sets... maybe too much PE work... I still have to find a decent webstore that sends it my way and won't charge me an arm and a leg..

Great work on that hull soo far, I mean outstanding as usual..

Can I ask you a few questions when I'll start my "PE bumpy road" ? I might need some help..

HI steven,

the build is comeing along nicely man. the engine bay looks awsome! love the pe upper hull.

Happy New Year!
Gary

alls i can say is wow!

Hi Steven,

mighty updates!

Your work on the engine compartment is awesome and that PE upper hull looks great!

Hi All,

Thanks for all the kind comments

Work has been progressing on the Panzer 1 upper hull. Firstly I decided to solder the front of the superstructure to the upper hull, originally I was going to glue it in place but decided that I wanted the entire interior to be visible after the model is completed. As you can also see I soldered on the transmission inspection plate.







The above shots illustrate the now almost completed armoured superstructure in place on the tank. There is lots of internal detail left to add. This superstructure will not be glued onto the tank but it will be painted and detailed.



The next picture illustrates the vision port frames. All five are now in place and soldered to the superstructure. The vision slits will have the ability to be opened and closed so it was important that these parts were securely attached.



As you can also see from the above picture I have attached the superstructure supports. I had to attach them at this stage dispite the problems that they will present when I am painting. The Panzer 1 hull is made up of a series of complex brass plates, it is almost impossible to get them fully lined up correctly and soldered. Gaps between the panels have occured and a limited amount of heat warping is inevitable. The supports help restore the superstructure to its correct shape. I will use milliput to fill in the panel gaps immediately prior to painting.



The above picture is of the completed 3rd tool box, although it looks more like a map case box to me. I have soldered all the components together and have decided to leave it open in the hull as soldering it closed would be a crime. The hinges are made from brass wire.

The next picture slows the tool box installed in the hull. Interestingly the front of the tool box when opened will hit the driver in the back of the head if he is in his chair !!!!!



Thanks for looking

Steven

Hi All,

100th post update !

I have been continuing to work on the upper hull adding the stowage compartments, and radio frame. Not everything in the radio frame is soldered, some of the smaller, finer parts are glued in place, I did not want to risk heat damage although it is soldered onto the hull.

I encountered no real issues at this stage other than the fact that I cannot get the radio frame to line up correctly , it is up against the front storage box, but is still not straight. I will have to live with it as I risk unsoldering other components if I mess aound with this section any more.









Thanks for looking

Steven

Hi BrassNautilus,

Thanks for the comments. I am planning to use the Aber turret on this model and hoping to make the hinges workable but will review as I go along.

The rear of the tank is where some potential problems exist, as you know the Aber upper hull rear deck is too large as it was originally designed to convert a Italeri Panzer 1b into a 1a. I will have to use the Dragon kit here although I will have to heavily modify it to get it to work.

I am going to do a comparative build of the Tristar, Dragon and Aber turrets together, actually quiite looking forward to it.

Thanks

Steven

Hi All,

I have spent the last few days working on the hull access doors. My work was made harder by my decision to solder all components and make the doors able to be opened and closed.





And Finally a view from inside



Thanks for looking

S

Hi Steven,

your PE work is fantastic! what type of solder, rosin, and what wattage soldering iron do you use? i have radioshack brand solder and rosin. the iron is a cheap wal-mart brand. i just cant get the solder to flow. its ok on big parts that i can sand but the solder just seems to want to ball up on the small stuff. not sure if i have the proper materials or if im doing something wrong.

Thanks
Gary

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the comments.

I use the following products:

Solder: 60 % tin, 40 % lead, resin-cored.

Flux: Not too sure about the chemical composition as the product has no labels (itself against UK COSHH directives) but here it is on the manufacturer’s website:

http://www.clasohlson.co.uk/Product/Product.aspx?id=155158715

Soldering Iron: Solder Pro 70 Gas Soldering Iron, its equivalent power to a 70W mains iron, works on butane, really quite fun. (Apart from the time I forgot it was on and badly burnt my arm)

I found a mains soldering iron too difficult to work with although I am sure that it was down to me rather than the iron I have seen it used successfully on many occasions by other modellers.

I believe that the problems that you are experiencing are down to technique, particularly solder balling.

I have reproduced the following passage from Wikipedia:

“In high-temperature metal joining processes (welding, brazing and soldering), the primary purpose of flux is to prevent oxidation of the base and filler materials. Tin-lead solder (e.g.) attaches very well to copper, but poorly to the various oxides of copper, which form quickly at soldering temperatures. Flux is a substance which is nearly inert at room temperature, but which becomes strongly reducing at elevated temperatures, preventing the formation of metal oxides. Additionally, flux allows solder to flow easily on the working piece rather than forming beads as it would otherwise”

So when the solder balls it means that the flux has burnt off.

I use the following soldering methods when constructing my Panzer 1. I am not an expert on soldering and consider myself at best an intermediate level modeller. This section is written to illustrate how I solder components and to write about the techniques that work for me. This is not written to stimulate debate on the pros and cons of different methods of soldering, that debate, while important, is better suited to a dedicated thread and not a build log.

The following picture shows the construction of a 20 magazine ammo box. This first picture shows the piece as cut from the Aber sprue and basic construction taking place.



Make sure that the parts that you wish to solder are clean I use Tamyia Thinner applied with a cotton bud, or Brasso (A commercial metal polish not sure if this is available in the US) if the area is really contaminated or oxidised perhaps because I have soldered there previously.

The next photo shows the two parts of the ammo box after the first phase of soldering. I did not really need to solder the inside of the ammo box but I decided to anyway.



I lightly "painted" the area to be soldered with the flux. It burns off quickly when heated and can make any attached components literally jump when it turns from a liquid to a gas. I advise great care at this point to avoid hands and knee searches for small pieces!!

Once the flux is in place, attach a small amount of solder to the model. I find the smaller the amount of solder the better as it means less clean up work after.



In the above photo you can see a compressed version of this process as used to complete the box catch.Once you have the flux and solder in place, hold the lit soldering iron about 2-5mm away from the component and the solder will melt. Then carefully take the part and attach it to the main model and heat the component, the solder will melt.



After clean up and the addition of the catch the ammo box is now completed.



Thanks for looking,

Steven