Hi Terry,
Thanks so much for the invite, and all of the advice you are providing. You have already kept me from making several errors, and I cannot tell you how valuable an asset your build log is for the community.

As for your comments on the Griffon kit, I could not agree more, especially with regard to the hinges. For the rest of this build I also plan to use many of the kit parts, as some just look better to my eye. I have also learned, the hard way, that annealing almost all of the Griffon PE with a cigarette lighter will save you a lot of heartaches; especially if you make a mistake and have to rebend or straighten one of the small "ears" on some of the PE boxes and brackets.

Because I chose to model the early variant of the M16 (just couldn't resist the White heater box and the resevoir tank), I thought you, and the folks following along might like to see what the early variant parts look like. I have also included a photo of a great product I use to hold small PE parts for gluing to the model. It's called "Clear Museum Gel", and it beats the heck out of tweezers. I take a small ball of it and place it on the end of a cut-off toothpick, grab the item, add glue to the bottom of the part, and slowly guide it into the desired location. This stuff has just enought tack to hold the part when it is being attached, but easily releases it when the glue starts to set. I also use it to temporarily attach small parts when test-fitting them to the model. You can find it here: http://www.quakehold.com/safety-during-earthquakes-safety-preparedness-safety-furniture-straps/safety-preparedness-safety-furniture-straps-collectibles.html

Congratulations on your accomplishments - Keep up the good work Tarheel!

All the best, Don

Hey Gang,

Back in the saddle after my third trip to Orlando in 30 days(!) As I mentioned previously, I picked up the Verlinden engine set at the IPMS contest in Richmond, so I have made the fateful decision to trick out under the hood. Keep your fingers crossed....

Luckily, the engine is molded in two pieces, seperated at the oil pan, which fits into the dragon chassis with just a little filing. I hated the wire I used for the dml engine (too thick!) so I used stretched sprue on this one attached with JB Weld epoxy



I thought about trying to attach each wire individually to the distributor, then I regained my senses and drilled a hole through the middle and threaded them all through that.



Then I attached the remaining pieces to the block and made the double fanbelts from electrical tape cut into the tiniest strips that I could. Krazy glued one end into the pulley and after it dried I stretched it around and glued the other end on the bottom. The pics below show the Verlinden engine next to the dml one. Decent improvement I think, and worth the effort. Once I get the engine mounted I will add additional wiring and hopefully it will be worthy of an open hood!




Next is detailing the firewall with some additional wiring. Below is my method for making the little wire clamps. I tape down a piece of stretched sprue the same width as the wire. Then slice some lead foil into REALLY thin strips. Next I form each clamp over the taped down sprue by pinching with my tiny tweezers, then cut the ends close,




Finally I put a drop of Krazy glue on the wire, place the clamp on and push it down to the firewall with the tweezers. Turns out a little something like this



That's it for now, hope to be posting a little more often since work has given me an extended homestand! Thanks for looking!

Terry

Sorry about the break guys, daughter had spring break, busy at work, sleepy at night, blah, blah, blah...

Assembled the hood sections tonight. Each of the sections is comprised of an inner and outer piece, which caused some drama of getting them aligned and glued. I arrived at the following method and am pleased with the result so far.

All the pieces were removed from the fret and carefully aligned on a sheet of paper, labelled so I wouldn't mix them up. There are many similar shapes!



Then, I aligned each piece with it's mate and "clamped" them together with a strong pair of cross action tweezers.







Once they were clamped, I aligned them again by pressing down on a hard level surface (my formica worktop) Then I laid down a shallow line of extra thin CA.




Using the tweezers, I touched each edge to the puddle of CA and let the capillary action draw the glue up between the pieces.



Any excess glue on the surface of the brass can be cleaned off with your fingernail once it dries. Here are all the pieces, lined up. At some point soon, I will need to commit to permanently attaching something to the cab, and hoping the rest lines up as it should.




Going to see Springsteen tomorrow night in Greensboro. Hope to be pretty productive the rest of the week. My dream of attending AMPS is in serious jeopardy and the lack of an April deadline has caused me to slack off a little. No more!

Looks good! I follow your build with great interest!
Whole hood from PE? Looks good but must be hard to assemble.
Cheers

Some progress to report.

I got the dual fan belts on the engine


And the hood structure started, notice the ten tiny hex bolts on the cross member, I sure hope they show....



Boy, with this kit I am starting to feel like a brass modeler! Maybe I should start a local chapter of IBMS!

Next, the hinges for the hood. If these are going to be workable (a question that is still very much in doubt) I am going to need a stronger bond than CA, which pops off with the least amount of torque. I am attempting with JB Weld two part "steel" epoxy"



I epoxied one side of the six hinges on the center plate of the hood and let them harden overnight



And what do you know, this morning they were still functional!



So with the unglued side of the hinges in the up position I taped down the three hood sections



Then applied a tiny line of epoxy on the other half of the hinges and pressed them into place



I will let them dry overnight again and hopefully will have functioning hinges to report tomorrow morning!

While I had a puddle of epoxy, I went ahead and attached some tubing and wires from stretched sprue to represent the connections from the dashboard. I am using the Squadron Book as well as the Topshots book for references. They have some great under the hood photos



Next up is fifteen more hinges and will then put the armored flaps on the top edge of the fighting compartment.

Thanks for looking, more soon!

Terry

Hi Terry,
I did the hood a few weeks ago, and getting the hinges on in the proper location took me hours; with the hinges right on the two side hood assemblies being the big challenge.

When I attached the hood pieces together I did the three top pieces/hinges first, by aligning them just like you did in your last pic; this was very staright forward.

When it comes to the two hinged side pieces make sure you position them at a 90 degree angle, EXACTLY like it shows on the instruction sheet, before you glue the side hinges on the inner surface. If you try to do it with all of the pieces laid flat, edge-to-edge, there will be too large a gap between the two side pieces and the top when the hood is in the fully closed position.

I took the liberty of adding a pic of my hood. I am not real happy with the alignment of the front hinge on the right but will probably just leave as is, as it should not be noticeable after priming/painting.

I also wanted to ask you how you plan to display your hood? These hinges just aren't sturdy enough to be operated more than a few times and, like you, I am super-detailing the engine compartment and want it to show. I have seen an actual photo of a restored M16 with the hood opened exactly like I have mine in the attached photo, but wanted to get your opinion.

I plan to display this model in a realistic diorama with the entire crew posed around the vehicle, with two of them looking under the hood. Do you and the rest of the folks think this position would be ok?

Hey Don!

Thanks for the pic and the advice. All I can say is when I finish this I'm gonna build a Tamiya Jeep to decompress!

I have some pics of the hood open and most of them are looser than you have yours positioned. I'll try and post a few, or send me your e-mail and I'll send them directly.

My mind is boggled right now as to how I am going to get the engine painted and detailed, get the star and the numbers on the hood, then get the hood in place. Logistical nightmare...

I built 15 more hinges today and am in the process of epoxying the first halves on the armored flaps. Slow going,

Please keep posting your progress as you are able!

Terry

Wow, Don! Beautiful photographs, and an excellent tip about the Clear Museum Gel. Sometimes the most difficult part of modeling is manoeuvering those little bitty 1:35 hinges or 1:72 antennae with my enormous, clumsy 1:1 scale fingers!

I spent a whole lot of time brainstorming this exact same issue, and here is the checklist I came up with:
- Build, wire, detail, and paint engine assembly
- Complete frame, muffler, brake lines, etc.; prime and paint
- Install painted engine into frame, add upper radiator hose
- Prime and paint front wheels, tracks, sprockets and bogie wheels; install onto frame
- Build entire forward portion of the halftrack, minus: instrument panel and steering wheel assembly, engine bonnet assembly, windshield and protective armored flap, top of the driver's compartment and radio antenna assembly
- Prime and paint forward portion of the halftrack, including all detail painting
- Paint and detail instrument panel, and steering wheel; install into driver's compartment
- Add all PE to the windshield, minus the windshiled wipers; mask off and paint windshield frame and protective armored flap. Add windshield wipers, and install completed windshield, flap, and supports.
- Add top assembly to Driver's compartment
- Complete entire passenger/gun platform enclosure, and all PE (including fold-down armor, bucket assembly, etc.). Set completed, primed, painted, and weathered quad .50 assembly aside.
- prime and paint passenger/gun platform enclosure, paint and install small arms, medical kits, fire extinguishers, etc.
- Add mud to underside of fenders on forward portion of the halftrack, and underside of sponsons on passenger/gun platform.
- Dry-fit forward portion, and passenger/gun platform enclosures onto frame; While still on the frame, align and glue these two assemblies to each other, then seat entire superstructure onto frame, invert superstructure and frame, glue superstructure to frame
- Spray entire superstructure with Future Floorwax, and apply decals
- Install all engine wiring between firewall and engine
- Prime, paint, and Future Floor Wax engine hood assembly; add decals, and attach to forward superstructure
- Weather wheels, tracks and superstructure - I plan to use multiple oil-washes, and dry pigments, with an overall dust spray to even things out. protect windshield and spray clear, flat varnish onto entire vehicle
- Add crew stowage and other impedimenta to outside of superstructure and weather - voila!
- Keep large handguns and sharp objects as far away from work area as possible, just in case you drop a sub-assembly or can't find the 100th piece of microscopic PE that just zinged off into oblivion
- Commiserate with Terry Barrett - Take 1 month off to recover from this incredibly challenging build
- Build Tamiya Jeep as part of recovery process =D

If you like, I can post some pics of the completed sub-assemblies.

All the best, Don

Hi Terry
Thats some amazing detail work youve got going there, looking forward to seeing more, you`ve definitely got me hooked.

Tom

I hope everyone read the third-to-last detailed instruction in Don's build schedule:

"Keep large handguns and sharp objects as far away from work area as possible, just in case you drop a sub-assembly or can't find the 100th piece of microscopic PE that just zinged off into oblivion"

Also, I'd like very much if you "can post some pics of the completed sub-assemblies." Best wishes!

Nice - Are you by chance an engineer in real life?

Pics and input always appreciated!

Regarding the hood, I plan to have mine open. I have seen variation in the look of the flaps when open. In the below descriptions, I will refer to the hinged plates that are horizontal when closed as the "top plates" and the ones that are vertical when closed as the "side plates"

Squadron Signal M2/M3 Walkaround p. 20-21 show the top plates can be folded back 180 degrees to rest on the stationary middle plate, while the side plates seem to hold their 90 degree position

The Concord "US Halftracks In Combat" book has a couple pics that show the top plates meeting to form an inverted "V" (p 14 and 16) On P 24 there is a shot that looks like the side plates are removed or possibly folded back to flat against the top plate.

On Page 24 of the Topshots M16 book there is a clear picture of a restored M16 with the top plates open only about 45 degrees and the side plates hanging straight down vertical.

I couldn't find any pics of your 90/90 configuration.

The Hunnicutt book doesn't have any pics of the hood open, but it does have the vehicle I am planning to model on p. 191, which appears to be an M-16 but with the early "grill" headlight guards.

I am thinking I will have my top plates meet in the inverted "V" and I haven't decided what to do with the side plates.

Send me your e-mail and I can scan and send these pics to you, or is it OK to post them here? Don't want to infringe on anyone's copyright!

You've got an outstanding build going on there!

and a scary amount of brass

Your pics of the PH designs Nuts & Washers tool inspired me to order one, but the link you posted to their website does not work (it looks like they changed webhosts)

The new, functional website is

http://www.phd-design-etchings.co.uk/index.htm

(maybe you could edit it in to your earlier post to help anybody else who just has to have that new bit of modeling kit )

Thanks for the post! I've updated the link in the previous post.

Oh, man...I am so busted. I'm a retired Naval Officer (27.5 yrs),who now work for the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. =D

As for the hood, I am so glad I asked; will use the Inverted 'V' arrangement you suggested, wide the side panels folded flat against the top panels. The 45 deg. option just doesn't allow a good view of the engine compartment.

Here are few pics, humbly submitted for illustration purposes. Many thanks Terry, this is the first armor model I have tackled in the last 35 years (normally work on the model railroad); you are the one who got me kick-started with this wonderful build log.

All the best, Don

Interesting work, Terry. How do you plan to add details such as registration numbers, stars, etc. My dad was the driver of an M16 and M17 in N. Africa, Sicily and Italy and the vehicles in the family photos show very little markings. One picture shows a rear view of the M17 with a little stylized white halftrack on a storage box. Another shows quite clearly the unit and vehicle rear bumper numbers. But no visible stars or registration numbers on the sides. Of course these surviving photos may be from 1944-45 by which time many crews had learned to hide or omit such visible markings.

Hey, I'm new to this place but not to modelling, I'm in the midst of building the very same Dragon kit but with the Griffon PE set without the hood and engine comp. since I'm building an "action" scene diorama with the vehicle. The PE kit you have chosen, does it have the same PE details that are found in the Griffon PE set for the US M55 quad .50 AA trailer? After I got the DML M16 and Griffon PE set, I also picked up the DML M55 kit and the Griffon PE set for that, and surprise, the PE set for the M55 has gonzo detail for the turret not included in the M16 set, especially the generator set. Also, I decided to cut and bend actual wire handles for all my "tombstone" .50 drums, this really ads to the look. I bought the Tank Workshop front wheels w. chains and found them the wrong size, so I'm just going to make chain sets for the DML wheels..I own a US Army 2-1/2 ton truck (a real one) and my manuals tell me to DEFLATE my tires to almost nothing for mud/snow ops..like 3-5 psi. I think tires under a 15,000 lb track would flatten a little, mine do..I also belong to a couple of military collectors clubs and have friends with actual military vehicles,I personally collect WW2 weapons, have 1919 and M2HB Brownings, Garands..
Anyway, this build looks absolutely amazing, looking forward to seeing how this looks when the finishing phase comes along.

Hey Terry! It looks great so far, the interior cabin detail is awesome!

On the front tires, how many LPI are those chains? I kinda like that look and may use it on my T19 build coming this summer.

One thing I do know about tires & chains, you cannot deflate them AND have chains on at the same time.

Keep it up!








~ Jeff

Now THAT could be a true statement..low pressure and chains, hmm..probably not good. I'll look into the manuals and see what it offers on this. But that could be right. Noticing the number of posts deleted by posters..what's up with that?

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the posts, compliments, and info about the tires. 3-5 psi?? wow, that should settle all the fiery debate about the bulged tires in the Dragon kit!

I have been making some minor progress and hope to post an update tonight. Here is a pic of the vehicle I am modelling, pretty clear on the markings, I will have to make some educated guesses on bumper codes.

Thanks again,

Terry

Yeah, I'm not sure why this ongoing debate is so heated. I know a couple of guys who own and go out to play with M3 and M16 halftracks, the M16 particularly is quite heavy and if the crew deflates as per military manual to get a grip in the mud/snow, they're gonna get fat at the bottom, at least a bit. Now on the more common use of chains ( I have tons of M16 pics, most are wearing tire chains), this seems to have been the favored method of increasing front wheel bite in the mush, and since the chain sets do not lock to the rims, deflated tires would "slip" inside the chain, so I'm rethinking my plan on the front tires altogether..chains seem to be the traction device of choice, but would not be accurate with deflated tires.