Hey Jaros!

Thanks for the comment! I use a great pair of tiny tweezers I got at a local flea market (they are in one of the pics of the ammo rack above) and just dip the part in a small puddle of thick CA. Occasionally, if I know exactly where the part will go, i"ll put the CA on the larger part with a toothpick. I'm sure there is a better way, though....

Terry

PS - Just dive into that Griffon set! You're not getting any younger

I am going blind just following this! Can't imagine what you're going through, this PE set is intense!

I hope this build is going under glass for I for one would be afraid to dust it once it's finished!









~ Jeff

Thanks Jeff, I will find a display case, assuming I ever finish this thing!

84 pieces of PE and not a single one ever hit the floor, that's a new record for me!


Roy Chow was nice enough to point out the poorly represented bolt detail on the turret lifting eyes. It should be a hex, and it's just a molded line! I borrowed a technique from the esteemed Steve Zaloga and taped some tiny hex rod together and "salami sliced" some bolt heads. I used masking tape to keep 'em from flying everywhere. A drop of Testor's liquid on the desired area and placed them with my tiny tweezers. Repeat 16 times and voila!


That's it for tonight!

Fantastic build Terry, I enjoy it almost better than I do myself! (less frustration, perfect results.) Such a clean work with that small parts - amazing.

Hi Terry.
Nice job with the etch. For nuts´n´stuff, maybe you should check out MasterClubs site instead of cutting down plastic rod? They are really beautifully cast bolt and rivet heads and add so much to the finished details. Saves trying to cut them all flush and evenly!

MasterClub UK

I really love this build, the level of detail is very impressive.

Hey Frank!

Thanks for the link, I wasn't aware of that company. How are the bolts delivered? Are they on a sprue, or already cleaned up and loose in the package?

All they show on the site is the package label.

Thanks!
Terry

I agree, Terry. I'd be interested in knowing that info myself.

Oh wow! How did I miss this?

Incredible progress for just a couple of weeks, Terry!

I'll be looking forward to watching this as it unfolds.

BTW: I enjoyed seeing your Sherman up in Fayetteville (but wish the venue had had better light).

Thanks Mike!

Good to hear from a fellow Carolinian! I would love to get an AMPS chapter started up here in Raleigh, but I don't think we have the numbers to get it off the ground. Our local IPMS chapter are all wing nuts

Where in SC are you?

Terry

Hi Terry,

I live a couple of miles west of I-77 in the "Great Piney Woods" (for our international friends, it's kind of like the Black Forest without the Fairy Tails!) between Columbia, SC and Charlotte, NC.

I was actually in the Fayetteville, NC IPMS chapter way back (late 80's) when I was stationed at Ft. Bragg and even attended a few shows up in the Raliegh area.

I assume that you know about the AMPS chapter down in Fayetteville. If not, here's their contact info:

AMPS All-American Chapter

That chapter's POC, Kerry, is a good guy, and I know they would love to see you at their meetings. Maybe if you live towards the south side of Raliegh, the drive down might not be too long for you. I believe they meet on Saturdays.

In so far as AMPS events in the South East, our chapter will be hosting our second AMPS contest this summer, 14 July, 2012 in Columbia (Lexington), SC, and there is the coming show in Atlanta, 17-19 Feb, 2012.

Check out our club's website, http://www.ampscentralsouthcarolina.org for more info on our coming 14 July show. I should have the contest page up-dated in a couple of weeks. Our show theme for this year will be "Stranger in a Strange Land."

If we have enough interest, we might even host another official AMPS Judges' Training Seminar the evening before our show in July. I do believe that Mike Petty, AMPS Chief Judge, will be holding a judges' training seminar on Friday evening, 17 Feb, at the Atlanta AMPS show. At any event, if you make it to any any of the AMPS shows (including the International Show up in Auburn, IN this year), sign up for a judging shift. You don't have be "certified" to do so, and you'll enjoy the time spent with your team in the "pits!"

(It's not only a great way to really internalize the judging rules, but the time spent with fellow armor geeks around the judges' table is a good way to get to know guys.)

Hope to see you around some where, some when to meet in person. (Sorry we missed the opportunity at the Fayetteville IPMS show!)

Happy Modeling,

Got a little work done this evening. I had "Inglorious Basterds" on HBO on demand so I was half watching the movie and half building (too many subtitles!)

Anyway, removed the molded on detail from these two storage boxes, then added the photo etch bottoms and latches



Started on the fighting compartment, and was dismayed to find big mold marks on the bottom:


So I got real smart and cut 2 sheets of 10 thou sheet plastic to cover them up


Only to find that the big area would be covered by a part in the Dragon kit. Doh! One of the hard parts of this build is the logistics of cross referencing 4 seperate instruction books...Oh well, the rectangle cutting practice did me good and I needed the smaller cover plate anyway. Onwards and upwards!

Started work on the panel between the cab and the fighting compartment:


This includes the cartridge rack I made before and the radio shelf and box (have to add the lid later, you can't put the radio in after the lid is glued) and 18 tiny little hex bolts.

Then removed a bunch of detail from the rear panel, and installed the p/e bumpers. Still more to do back here, but will wait til I get the four walls of the fighting compartment assembled to avoid popping off any little pieces during that operation


That's it for this installment. Headed to Orlando for work the rest of the week. Hopefully more progress this weekend.

Thanks for looking!
Terry

As a long-ago armor modeler just hoping to return to the hobby, I can't tell you how enormously helpful I find your descriptions and the excellent photographs you hgave taken of the various steps in adding photoetch to your halftrack. Bravo! Keep up the outstanding work. And thank you most sincerely.

Thanks for the kind words Fred. Glad you're finding some value. Don't hesitate to drop me an email if there is anything particular I can help you with! There are some challenging sub assemblies coming up with working photo etch hinges etc. lots more pressure when you're building with an audience!

Well, just remember ... we're all rooting for YOU, Terry, and NOT the model!

Wow, sorry for the long hiatus fellas, been in Orlando for a good part of the last two weeks. Wanted to work tonight on the hinges that attach to the fold down armor along the top of the fighting compartment. Almost two hours to do these hinges. I documented as well as I could, the bending operations took two hands so I couldn't photograph it. I just held the pieces down with a razor blade and bent the tabs with the tip of a #11 xacto.


I use a pair of smooth grip pliers to hold the pieces and file off the nubs

Lined up half the hinges on a strip of masking tape sticky side up with another piece laid across sticky side down for alignment

Then interlocked the other side of the hinges, and stuck them in place

Laid a thin (.05mm) piece of plastruct rod where the hinges intersected and taped it down

Then bent the tabs around the rod with the tip of the xacto

Then cut the rod and the masking tape to seperate and remove them
I thought I might have to melt the ends of the rod to secure it, but the two tabs wrapped each way are tight enough to keep the rod in place, so i will trim the rod down flush

Hopefully will post another installment before the weekend is out, thinking I will assemble the fighting compartment next. Thanks for looking!

Terry

Great work Terry! And thank you very much for showing this step by step. It surely is very helpful!

Cheers

Another week of too much travel, sorry about the delay! I assembled the walls of the fighting compartment tonight. Used these awesome little spring clamps I picked up at Harbor Freight Tools. $4.99 for a whole cannister of them. they seem to have just the right tension. I think I will get a lot of use out of them! The fit of the walls was pretty good. I used Tamiya Thin, which is a new tool for me, it apparently has been unavailable until just recently, so I picked up a bottle. I really like it, easy to apply in a tight spot, and little to no "marring" of the plastic where you touch the little brush. I just worked the pieces one section at a time to maintain a good tight, square fit. Really no gaps to speak of except the corners of the skate rail that runs around the inside perimeter, a little Mr Surfacer should take care of that, no problem



Then I added the pedestal for the Quad .50 cal turret



Here are a couple shots of the main subassemblies dry fitted together (I couldn't resist!)




Next up a whole bunch of interior detail, storage boxes, ammo cannister straps, etc. Hope to make some good progress this weekend.

Thanks for looking!

Terry

I am late to the thread...awesome workspace

Ugh! Decided the evergreen rods in those tiny hinges were too large, so just spent two hours pulling them out and replacing with thinner stretched sprue and melting the ends to hold the sprue in Very frustrating, but now I'm glad I did it...

Terry,
Thanks so much for doing this build log! As a direct result of your efforts, I bought the DML M16 kit, and the Griffon Royal PE set, and have been pouring over all your advice, and the accompanying photos.

Last night I starting adding the passenger compartment details, and noticed what may be a discrepancy between your driver's side firewall plate installation (Griffon part# F10), and the Griffon instruction sheets drawings. This discrepancy could potentially cause problems when installing the engine covers, and the positioning of the firewall details, so I wanted to bounce this off you before you get to that portion of the build.

I think I have the parts properly installed on my kit (please see attached photos), but I am not sure, as the Griffon drawings are a bit difficult to interpret.

Please don't read this as a nitpick, I just know that others may be following along and thought it might be worth a look.

All the best, Don

Great update Terry! It comes beautifully together.

Hi Don,

Thanks so much for the tip and the pics. I will check the way I built it and make sure it won't cause any fit problems.

I am beginning to question some of the Griffon parts and whether they are superior replacements for the kit parts...The hinges are great, in theory, but I have found that any pressure exerted on them will pop them right off, and they may be slightly out of scale (too big.) Also, the hinged armored flaps around the top edge of the fighting compartment are made of two pieces of p/e glued together which leaves a seam and makes them about as thick as the kit parts! The flaps were flat on the fret, but once I cut them loose, they "sprung" into a curve. I'll post some pics later, but I think I am going to use the kit parts, thinned down a little. Unfortunately I already removed the molded hinge detail from the sides of the fighting compartment, so I will end up using the Griffon hinges.

There was an IPMS contest in Richmond, VA yesterday (I won first place for my Jackson, and second for my Sherman that are pictured earlier in this blog!) and I picked up the Verlinden engine compartment detail set. It is made for Tamiya, but I'm hoping I can adapt it to this kit.

All that being said, I humbly invite you to share this thread with me and post your work as well. I can sure use the guidance and I think anyone following along will benefit too!

Thanks!

Terry

Here are pics of the flap that I mentioned above:



Also some of the interior details


And the storage boxes on the rear panel

I also want to give a plug to my friend Pete at PH Designs ( http://www.phd-design-etchings.co.uk/index.htm ) He has come up a great little tool for creating bolt details, by pressing melted sprue into the holes in the p/e. Here are some pics:






You can even make casting numbers! As you can tell, I'm still practicing to get the correct pressure, but this little baby will save a ton of time and money!

Pete, if I'm not using it as intended, please don't hesitate to correct me!

Terry