Terry, that is some magnificient detail you're adding there! I admire your PE skills! It's good to see largte PE is possible even without soldering...

Cheers!
Stefan

OK, a small update. Did the brass on the top flaps of the doors

Made the bucket, which, along with the mounting pieces, is like a small model in itself! The bucket itself is 5 brass pieces. I rolled the bucket around a smaller diameter dowel, clamped it together and flooded the inside with CA. Then put the bottom in, the 2 handle mounts and bent the handle to fit

I decided to forgo the brass straps as they seemed a little stiff, so I cut strips of copy paper to the right width, using the P/E buckles as a guide. The carefully threaded them and attached with some watered down white glue around the straps and the little handles that attach them to the rear panel









Tedious going...Maybe I'll be finished in time for AMPS 2013!

Thanks for looking!
Terry

I'm on a roll! Actually have gotten to the point where I am attaching some sub-assemblies and I now have a manageable "to do" list before I fire up the airbrush!

Here's how the straps and buckles turned out on the bucket



Then I put the shield on the gun mount.



Built the Jerry Can racks for the front bumper



Then I tacked the fighting compartment to the frame with a couple drops of Tamiya thin. This left enought "flex" to attach it to the cab using a drop of extra thin CA applied with a toothpick. Then I positioned the engine compartment sidewalls and attached them to the cab with the same extra thin CA. I must say the engineering of the Griffon set is spot on, and matches the Dragon components perfectly! I put the straps on the Jerry Can mounts using the same method as the bucket straps





Then attached the rear hood piece, again a perfect fit. I was anticipating a lot more wrestling with these pieces!



Finished the P/E detail on the doors



Am really having fun now as it starts to take shape! Thanks for looking!

Terry

One word ...


... wow.









~ Jeff

Terry,
It is looking Great!

It's nice to hear that the parts fit so well, I have the full Griffon sets for the M16 and M3 GMC will be doing the latter inthe upcoming Halftrack campaign.

Cheers Rob.

A few updates as I trudge along the path to paint!

The armored grill slats are made from two pieces each in the instructions, I opted to just use one for the sake of scale appearance. These things are actually designed to be operable(!) So here are the slats with the tiny brackets attached and the tiny pins that will hold them in place over the radiator (had to break out my trusty penny for this one!)



Then I glued the pins into one side of the hood



Then I inserted each slat one at a time and locked them in with a oin on the opposite side. This was mind numbing, and I took to pictures to prove they were operable before I glued them in the open position! :-D



Next, I worked on the headlights. The vehicle I am modeling had the old M2 style lights and guards. Luckily the old style lights are included in the dragon M16 kit. I pilfered the guards from a Lion Roar M2 brass kit I had in the stash.



I tacked the headlights in place with some rubber cement just for alignment purposes. Then, I rolled the guards in a P/E rolling tool that happened to be the right size.




After assembling I attached to the fenders



Next stop, the doors (more hinges, ugh~)

Thanks for looking!

Terry

Greetings again from Raleigh. Here's the latest update, a mixed bag. I put the doors on, built the hinges using the previously described method. Glued them onto the frame, then taped the doors in pace and glued the other side of the hinge to the door. They are operable for the moment!



Next was the winch. Huge screw up here. First, I didn't realize that it was installed from the bottom, so I had to remove the three tiny connector rods I had painstakingly installed too early. Then, I realized that you shouldn't build the winch then install (as the dragon instructions indicate!) Rather, it should be assembled as you fit each piece into the frame. I had to do some major hacking, essentially ripped the winch apart and re-assembled it in place for the proper alignment.



Then I conquered the hood clamps. Ridiculously small pieces. Each of the four clamps is comprised of two pieces of brass (that had to be bent 4 and 2 times each) and a 3mm length of plastic rod.



Since I will display the hood open, I attached them in the folded down loose position and attached the cleats and handles on the hood



Then I masked the windshield. I used Bare Metal, adhesive backed foil. Applied it to each side and burnished with a Q-tip to show the seperation lines between metal and glass. Then just cut along them with a brand new #11 Xacto. The foil is so thin that you can literally let the weight of your knife slice through it!



Finally, I put the eight handles on the front fenders to replace the molded on lines that were there.



That's all for now, thanks for looking!

Terry

The detailed, well-focused photographic documentation of your work is matched only by the quality of workmanship you have put into this model. This leads me to two conclusions:

1) That I want to subscribe to any and every build you do on Armorama, and;

2) That as a former modeler whose degraded eyesight and grotesquely deficient eye-hand co-ordination put me out of the pastime 30 years ago --- when models were far simpler, and "PE" stood for "Physical Education" --- I suspect I've build my last tank.

Many thanks, and best wishes!

Thanks Fred, I appreciate the kind words. I can relate to the vision going. I'm 48 and have noticeably deteriorated in that area! I wear reading glasses and use a 5x magnifying lamp and still have a hard time seeing many of these pieces. I can pretty much guarantee my next build will be a Tamiya with no Physical Education!

Well, I have a pile of old kits in the basement that are already bought and paid for --- many purchased at the old Squadron Shop when it was still in Madison Heights just north of Detroit --- so I may mangle them for future amusement.

Seriously, I find that coming here and admiring the works of really adept model-makers such as your self may not be making them myself, but sure feels like the next best thing!

Great effort on the etch .

This is a piece of art in the making .

The pe work and superdetailing is masterclass workmanship.

Well done Terry.


Michael

that kit is a great looking build.i would be crazy after all the work. doing a great job.

Hope you guys didn't give up on me! Have been travelling a bunch and have actually started building "on the road" in my hotel room (i.e, nothing this complicated, a Tamiya PZ II and M5A1 so far, straight out o' the box) but that's probably a topic for another forum entry!

I tackled the guns last night, the Griffon parts are exquisite, but still a little tricky. The Dragon guns are irregularly shaped, so a mitre box wasn't feasible. Needless to say my hands were a little shaky when I attacked the first one with my razor saw!

An "L" shaped cut is required, and it has to be 90 degrees in every direction or the quad 50's will be pointing every which way!

Here's the barrels I lopped off!



Here are the completed guns, (6 brass pieces added to each. And they all sighted true!









More updates soon, thanks for looking!

Terry

Another small bit of progress. The brackets for the spare barrels (I wish Griffon had included turned barrels for the spares as well as the mains!)

The brackets are six pieces for each barrel. Here is the base



Then the cover, naturally the hinge is operable....



Then a two piece latch and a two piece holder for the business end and they are complete



Thought I had finished the guns, but noticed the vehicle I am modelling had the handles on the barrels (some M-16s did, some didn't) so I will need to make those. Then - I may possibly crank up the airbrush and spray a little gunmetal!!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Terry

Made the handles for the barrels last night. The Verlinden sets that have a 50 cal in them include a nice little jig for bending these, although I wish the protrusions were a little taller as it is tricky to bend and keep the wire in place with only two hands!











Also last night I cleaned up the tracks and the resin wheels, and made the Jerry cans (3 german and 4 US.) Everytime I think it's time to paint, I remember something else that needs to be done first....hopefully soon!

Okay, now 2 words. Wow, WOW!

I have an upcoming T19 build and I must save this as inspiration for mine, even thought the main armaments are different, there is a lot that can be referenced. I'm particularly impressed with the headlight work.

Thanks for showing all this and I will wait for more pictures.

Very nice!








~ Jeff

Thanks for the kind words Jeff!

Finally sprayed something on this beast!

I painted the turret, wheel hubs, windshield, armored cover, engine, hood, and the guns



I use Floquil "Roof Brown" for my OD, cut 50/50 with plain ol' lacquer thinner and shot with my trusty Iwata. To me it's the best version of a weathered OD and I just love the "bite" of a lacquer paint! I used Tamiya gunmetal for the guns. Cut 50/50 with rubbing alcohol. I know they look like chrome in the picture, but they are not nearly that bright in person. I will also be toning them down with Black and Dark Gray washes to approximate the "Parkerized" finish.

I'm sure you'll notice in the next pic that I couldn't resist test fitting a 50 cal in it's mount, and a little gunmetal rubbed off, don't worry I'll fix it!



I will also warn anyone who's following along, don't make the same mistake I did and leave the bare metal mask on the windshield for three weeks! The lines were sharp as could be, but it left some gummy residue on the windshield. I will have to experiment with some rubbing alcohol and/or "goo gone" to clean it up.

That's it for now, thanks for looking!

Terry

This build is really great, love all the PE work

Greetings everyone!

Some detail work on the gun mount today. It has been bothering me that the little Briggs and Stratton engine did not have a muffler. So I broke out Toadman's Excellent photo CD of the M-16 (His CDs are an awesome resource www.toadmanstankpictures.com ). Well, adding a muffler turned into a whole bunch of other little details, so here we go!

I turned the muffler from a piece of Evergreen rod on my Dremel. Painted it with Floquil rust and dipped it into some dark rust pigment while still wet and brushed off the excess



It also bugged me that there wasn't a pull rope so I made that from a strand of speaker wire and another bit of Evergreen rod



And of course while I was looking for these details I came upon a few more things to add. Data plates and "Lift Here" stenciling from Archer (a plug for my buddy Woody from just down the road in Youngsville, NC! www.archertransfers.com ) Then I added the battery cables and the power cables for the gunsight from thin solder. I put a drop of future on the "glass" part of the gunsight. Lastly, painted the canvas gunner's seat with Modelmaster OD to differentiate it from the rest of the "metal" OD. Here's the progress so far:

















Thanks for looking, more updates soon!

Terry,

What a great build. Looks more like your building a metal monster with all that PE your using.

Definitely going to bookmark this one. A great clinic on using PE for sure.

Dave.

When you started talking about the Briggs motor, I had no idea that it was on-board this vehicle! I do need to get Toadman's CD to check it out. I do have his StuG G walkaround and it's excellent.

Well, again nice work on the M16. I couldn't bring myself to painting this because once it's covered, all that work will not be realized by others. But that's just me. You have an incredible project here and I now know what Phill (WARDUKWNZ) must be going through on his.








~ Jeff

Thanks for the comments guys! Jeff, I have that T-19 you mentioned in my stash, although I think I will take a break from half tracks for a while when I finish this one!

Terry

Nice work Terry.












Don,

if you mean that white, cylindrical object on the firewall it's actually the radio noise suppressor and not a reservoir tank.




Any half track who's registration numbers end with -S would have one mounted, although there is also a square version of the filter but it is less common.

Hey Gang!

Sorry it's been so long. Busy time of year, but I do actually have some progress! First, here's my high-tech spray booth! As you can guess painting is in full swing.



And here's the selection of paints. I love Floquil Railroad enamels!



I attach all the small pieces to scraps of 2x4 for painting



I painted the ammo cannisters and jerry cans/racks with a darker OD (50/50 Rail Brown and Pullman Green in this case) since they would be "newer" than the vehicle itself



I repainted the 50 cals in a very dark grey (Floquil Weathered Black), the gunmetal didn't look right to my eyes. Also the liberated German Jerry Cans



And the tracks and tires in the same dark grey (light black?)



Then the Rail Brown for the vehicle and associated parts that haven't been attached yet





Things are getting fun now. Coming up is detailing engine compartment, cab, markings , camo then weathering. I'm pretty motivated to finish since this showed up in my mailbox last week!



Stay tuned!
Terry

Hi Terry. Sorry for the late reply .... drowned at work just now, so I dont have time to reply and follow all threads at the moment.
The Masterclub bolts are all sinlgle pieces and cleaned. You can use them directly from the packet. The thing I like about them is that there is two ways of using them. You can mark the positions on your model, drill holes and insert the little pin of the bolt in the hole .... they can be glued from behind so no risk of losing details ... this is important on the very small bolt heads. Alternativly, you can cut off the pin and glue in place. Quality-wise they´re lovely.
The build is amazing so far ... great attention to detail. Its perfect to able to read through it this morning ... start to finish ... instead of waiting for each new update. Keep it going ... builds like these are real candy for the eyes!!