Matt,
We should have those at Armorcon! Think of the possibilities! Thanks for the kind words.
Regards,
Georg

Great build so far, Georg. You're getting me motivated now. Must be good if it kept Matt from his shrimp fork and soda gun.

Tom,
We had to restrain Matt at the show over the weekend from just such activities. BElieve me, you'd be laughing your guts out if you heard the conversation. Thanks for the kind words.
Regards,
Georg

very good job Georg, I'm looking forward to see more. steph

Hi All,
I took today off to spend it with my bride. She spent the weekend walking in Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I'm really proud of her covering the 40 miles in 2 days. But a bunch of blisters and aching feet later, she took today off. That said, I got some bench time this evening to proceed with the project. First and foremost, I was able to get some pictures of last night's progress which included fitting the rear fenders:



They still need a little trimming to straighten out the edges, but nothing huge.
Tonight's progress was accomplished on the front of the hull in the form of the prominent bolt line across the hull. I used the Samll Shop EU's "nutter" punch set. I was pretty impressed with the resulting hex-head bolts that you can make with the set:



I also added the stiffeneing strips across the fender tops, too. Finally, I attached the bogies and found that they lined up and were level!



That's all for tonight. More progress tomorrow.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
Details, details, details. Last night's activities centered around getting the myriad of details on the model. First up was to get the bolts on the fender brackets on. Again, I used the "Nutter" tool from Small Shop EU. This time, I used one of the flat round tools as opposed to hexagonal ones. Now that I look at the picture, one fell off and needs to be replaced. Ooops!



Also, I started to add the grab handles on the lower hull. Bent from wire (using my "grab-handler" from Mission Models), I attempted to fill the mounting holes with some putty "goop" from the bottom of my glue jar. I think I'm going to have to use thinned putty to complete filling the holes. I also added the kit's fuel fuel caps.



Finally, I added the return rollers. I was initially going to use the resin kit parts but all of them had noticeable core-shift, so I used the ones from the AFV Club suspension set. I needed to hollow out the backs of the parts, but otherwise it was an easy fix.



That's all for now. Tonight is more of the same and, with a little luck, the first steps of the tracks!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
And the beat goes on. Last night's activities centered around the exhausts. The kit parts are pretty simple, but I had a problem: only one set of pipes! Using some styrene tube, I was able to make a full set (I think I misplaced them on the workbench). I also built a set of mounting brackets for the mufflers from styrene strip to mount on the rear fenders. Finally, I made up the drive sprockets from the AFV club parts.





I hope to get more of the detail work done tonight.
Regards,
Georg

Looks good so far Georg.

Hi All,
With Hurricaine Sandy bearing down on the northeast, I spent the end of last week and the weekend getting things ready for the storm. Well, work was cancelled today and tomorrow, there's no place to go and I still have power, so I headed down to the workshop to get some more building done. First, here's an update from Friday night's short foray (I did sneak some building in late in the evening):



I gave up on the resin headlights and pirated a set from a derilict Academy M3A1 Stuart kit. Also, you will notice several missing foil bolts form the fenders. I had replaced a bunch by this point and it was starting to get ot me. But more on that later.



I was also able to get the mufflers mounted. I only had one pipe for the airfilter (and I needed 2), so I replaced them both with soft solder.



I also began to size up the engine grill from Accurate Armour etched mesh. Well, dinner is ready, so I'll sign off now. More later.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
Hurricaine Sandy knocked out my internet connection, but not the power, so I've had a couple of days' building to post. One of the achievements from Monday night was to build the two guards on the hull sides. I made these from styrene channel. My initial thought was to build them by heating and bending them. First freehand (anybody want so slightly burned and generally crooked styrene channel?) and then using a wodden former (anyone want some scorched balsa wood?). After these two didn't work, I made the parts out of straight sections and then sanded the edges to show a curved corner. Here's the final result:



In other news, and I'm not sure why I didn't post this earlier, I got my machinegun barrels. The 50cal is from Lionmarc and the 30cals are from RB.



I've got more pictures on my camera and I'll post them over the next couple of days.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I was busy! My office has been closed all week due to a power outage, so I've had free time to build. One of the first orders of business was to build the engine grate cover. I used some styrene strip and fine Accurate Armour mesh screen.



I ended up redoing the hull guards, as the first set was way too short. Also the mounting "feet" were not correct. Here's what they looked like on the model.



As far as forward progress, I decided to use some Academy tools, but was unhappy with the mounting straps. So, I made my own with wine foil (thanks Tammy and Mark!) for the straps and buckles from On-the-Mark models. I think this really spuced up the parts.



Last, I sued some of the Commander's PE that I got with the kit for the headlight brush guards.



All for now! More tomorrow!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
The end is near! I'm starting the home stretch of the construction of this model. Last night's activity centered around just a couple of items. First, I noticed that the particular vehicle I want to model was missing the shovel on the side of the hull. The shovel was stowed on the front fender. Using the Academy tank accessories set (which has 2 shovels), I cut up one shovel for the bracket and after some judicious sanding, I attached the bracket to the model. Second, I converted the other shovel into the one strapped to the fender. This required removing the bracket and installing a second strap (see above for my technique for this).



Third, I began working on the gun shields for the turret machineguns. For the 50 cal turret, the shield was flat, so this was pretty straightforward. I cut out a piece of sheet styrene and then I used my punch set to cut the openings in the gun shield. I needed a way to space the shield from the turret, so I punched out a set of rings from some styrene sheet that were big enough to take the brass parts from the 50 cal barrel set.



The 30 cal shield was curved and oval in shape. So, I laminated some styrene together. I'm going to need to use my circle template to make the appropriate-sized curves. But that is for another day. More soon!

Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
It's been quite a while since my last update. New Jersey got pummelled by hurricaine Sandy and things have been a busy of late. So, now I'm back to continue my tale. Hopefully, with a bit more regularity!
So here's the first shot: the tools and the machine gun mantlets.



With these parts complete, I worked on the AFV Club tracks. The were not particularly difficult, only tedious. When they were done, I couldn't resist the urge toassemble the model and see how the whole thing looked!











All for now, more tomorrow!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
Well, I've started painting! I didn't think anyone would be interested in pictures of a model in black primer, so I didn't bother to take any. But, I did get some detail painting done and tried something a little different. I've always thought that painting wood-grain on tool handles never really looked convincing. So, I made a decal!



I wrapped around the tool handles that had already been painted with Tamiya khaki. Suppose that different base colors will yield a different finished color, but I stuck with what I had and I think it turned out quite well:



Moving along, I primed and painted the hull and turrets with my usual Home Depot house paint OD. It was sealed with Model Master Acryl gloss, because that's all I had in the house and it was late. I used some of my decals from my company Decalcomaniacs! using the set specifically for the Commander's light tanks sheet. I did, however, change the tactical number on the turret, as it is visible in the back of the reference photo, but is otherwise an unknown. I needed two pieces of each stripe to completely wrap around the turret base (the set has 4 pieces).



Since the U.S. Army serial number was unknown, I used one from another set of markings. Note that the 30 cal. tripod has been mounted on the fender.



And here's the other side.



All for now! More tomorrow!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
With the Thanksgiving Holiday here in the U.S. and just running around, I have not had a chance to post much. But I have not been idle! I did some more assembly so that this thing is starting to close in on completion! Here's the pics:



This is the Commander's turret, with the 50 cal installed and the washes and filters complete.



Here's the other turret. I really liked the way the oil dot filter showed off the dirt streak.



Just a side shot of the hull with the filter, pin wash and dot filters complete.



Here's the other side.


The top.



The front. The leses are from Sticko and cost about US$4 per sheet of 20!



Here's the rear. Sorry, it's a little out of focus. I spent this evening's session with the powders and they are drying right now, so I'll have pics tomorrow.
Regards,
Georg

I like it , very interesting tank, the scratch built details and the faded look on it really bring it to life. Hope they release one in plastic eventually.

Calvin,
Chances are, 6 months after this is done, somebody will annouce it.
Regards,
Georg

Georg thats what we call Murphy's law.

Jim,
Murphy is my Zodiac sign!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
Mud! Now where would an armor build be without mud? The vehicles from the 194th tank battalion were definitely muddy when they turned in their vheicles at the end of the 1941 manuvers. So, that's how I wanted my model to look. I used some MMP powders with some water and white glue to give the lower hull and tracks a good pasting. Here's how things turned out:







The next step will be to brush some of it off and then do the final dust coat. Stay tuned!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
So this project is pretty much done. Last night I did the finalassembly, sprayed on some highly thinned Tamiya deck tan for dust, added the exhust stains, placed some fuel "spots" on the engine deck and replicated a couple of over-filled bearing that leaked some grease. I'm calling this just about done, but if you see anything that looks particularly out of place, please let me know. I'm also contemplating draping a 48 star U.S. flag over the engine deck for some color. Let me know what you think.











Regards,
Georg

FANTASTIC Georg. JUST FANTASTIC