Hey Bro, check it out. Magic tracks (or any plastic indie link, for that matter), can be super easy if you go this route- TEST FIT, TEST FIT, and um, oh yeah- TEST FIT.
Build the sprockets, idlers, and return rollers. If the track tensioning arm is a separate piece, DON'T GLUE IT ON. Next, go to a craft store. Buy 2' of A) 3" wide, 1/4" thick strip, and B) 1" square wood strip. Buy beer. Go home. Nail the 1" to the 3" flat with the 1" strip flush against the edge of the 3". Viola! A track jig that you can use for any, and I mean any, project after this. Then, cut the whole thing in half. Then, give the other half to a modelling friend. Christmas gift problem- solved.
Now, assemblage. Research the tank that you're doing and find out the # of tracks that went on each side. Divide in half. Place (DO NOT GLUE) one side of sprockets, idlers, return wheels and rollers, and the tensioning arm on to the hull. Take the halved amount of links, make a run on the jig (1' is all you will need for most projects, hence the gift idea). Glue the tracks together using regular plastic cement. Once you have the links together, put them on the tank and shape them. The time it takes to put a 1/2 run of tracks together, the glue will still be pliable enough. then make the other half of links, place those on, and shape. DON'T GLUE THE ENDS OF THE RUNS TOGETHER. Use the unglued tensioner for it's original purpose- move back and forth and get the desired amt of "sag" in your tracks. Make sure the ends meet, add or subtract a link or two to get it right. Then put a dot of glue on the tensioner to hold it in place (for this, I use CA to lock it up and add regular glue later). then clamp/ stabilize and leave to dry completely. Repeat on the other side. When you come back, you can separate the two track runs from each other, take all the wheels and idlers off of the sides, and paint/ weather as you wish. Then when you're ready, glue it all in place and you're done. Then tell your friend he owes you a six-pack for the jig.
HTH.

I have been meaning to ask, that kit comes with interior?

Also, I have no idea where this is coming from, but because I am inspired by reading about this campaign, I'm probably going on a spending rampage tomorrow. E-75, and I might- MIGHT- scratch build a PZ III/IV. (Shudders- What am I thinking?) Any ref material that anybody has would be greatly appreciated.

The answer to your question is HELL YESS there is a very detailed interior on this kit but it only has all the gubbins in the turret nothing for the engine or the rest of the hull interior only the turret you will see when i eventually get that far....

oh yeah been away for a couple of weeks but I have made some progress on the vorne. I will have the pics up by tomorrow.

Ok little bit late but hell here we go, finally got the progress pics for you!

firstly, lower hull painted and suspension and road wheels/drive sprockets and idler wheels attached


first dry fit of the upper hull + tracks going together


finally got all the tracks together and fitted to the tank


sorry for the terrible quality of the last photograph i could not get the camera to focus properly so this was the best of a bad bunch really

With slow progress on the other kits I'm working on, I did manage to just about complete one of my builds. The Amusing hobby VK 3002 DB. Time to build those workable tracks so I can finish it.

Great looking builds, people.

@ComradeMP: how's the quality on that VK3002DB kit?

Great campaign. I have just gotten back online with my builds. And this one will make two campaigns I will be building for.

For this campaign, I am going back to my old faithful, that until Mediums were taken to Tier 10, I would run on a daily basis for Clan Wars. I loved getting my T-54 up along side a Maus that couldn't get enough depression to shoot me.

Hmm, don't know if it's the plastic/color itself but the detail doesn't seem to be as crisp as other kits. I'd replace the tools, but no real complaints.

Also have the Amusing Hobby Lowe. You can really get a feel for how big this thing is.


Again, the tools could use some replacing. Metal barrel in the kit but that just makes the barrel point downwards. I put a support under the mantlet to keep the gun level. And the holes on the muzzle break is mostly solid. So I got to spend a good bit of time drilling out every single hole...... but it really improved the look of it.

Well better late then never. I am in with a Trumpeter Dicker Max.

Nice one, Kevin. The D.Max is fun to play. I love the gun depression and the damage per shell.

@ComradeMP: So you're one of the lucky ones who got the metal barrel? My Löwe-kit did not, unfortunately.

Damn there are some great builds in this campaign, as an avid WoT player I'm gutted I somehow missed taking part here.

But I have to add since there have been so many new vehicles released into the game it would be rude not to have a part 2 haha

keep up the good work guys

Tristan

I did some work on the Cromwell 1/72 T29 and T30 resin kits I got a few months ago, and to be perfectly honest, I doubt I'll ever finish them. They are rather on the rough side with tons of air bubbles and overall really crappy castings to them. The barrel on the T29E3 is just about useless (warped and poorly molded). So much for a quick and easy build!

I'll have to see if I have something else outside of the T-26E3 Pershing conversion I have I can build from WoT. Otherwise I don't see me finishing a kit in time...to many other projects at the moment!

You might get some AM barrel...


Sorry to hear your plight; and to be honest, happy to read it now, before I ordered those models. I really would like to have a T29, but now you made me doubt it.


Sorry folks, for being absent even though I'm supposed to be the organizer here. I had some busy months getting my degree done, getting a job, and now trying to learn evrything for my new job -and I don't have internet at home.

I did a few reviews for 1/72 kits usable for this campaign, and I'm thinking about ways to somehow reach out to WG -perhaps they would be interested in featuring the finished models in their website.

Any ideas?

That'd be neat. I remember that they ran a paper model contest in 2011 so I don't think your idea would be far fetched.

Well I might pop back in...I see Trumpeter makes a KV-122 aka KV-1S in the game. I've been wanting to build something straight OOB for a while now and this might be the ticket. Would be fun just to slap something together and get it done.

Got the kit in last week (Squadron had 25% off sale, so couldn't resist) and broke it out tonight. I spent about an hour and half on it. Fit is generally good, but the side plates for the hull sides could have fit a little bit better. I need to do some minor gap filling and cleaning up of the kit as I go on, but should be pretty easy to finish up by the end of the week build wise if I can put an hour or two a night in.





My intent is build quickly OOTB and then fix minor problems and have it ready to paint by the end of the month at the latest.

For all the late-comers: I think this campaign could be ran consecutively, if there is enough interest. After all, new tanks, new players.

Hi. I missed this forum completely for the past few years. Anyway, I didn't know about these campaigns. I would consider myself an average modeler. in my head thou I imagine myself doing better than reality.

Anyway, I've played since beta. Im interested in seeing how that Isu-152/bl10 comes out. it was my first tier 8 death cannon. I only have 1 tier 9 due to tank ADD.

Hmm as for what to model. I'd spring for the Tamiya T-55 with a T-54 conversion but I'm not certain how accurate a conversion that is. Maybe the Trumpeter T-54 in 1/72.

In WoT you can add me of you want. Leftydan

If anyone is curious about doing a scratchbuilt KV-5..check this out

http://www.militarymodelling.com/news/article/the-beast-of-leningrad/4335

Hi Leftydan, I added you on WOT.

Andras, I don't think I've got time to get anything together for this campaign but I wonder if tanks that WERE in the game would have been acceptable, for example the Russian T-28 with 85mm gun? Now the most damaging gun you can mount is a 57mm but dang I miss that 85.

Wouldn't mind having it that way. They've added over two dozen new vehicles to the game just in the past six months.

Here is where I stand after 8 days, I've been working on it for an hour or so a night, besides doing other projects, like my Thunder Run Build and a Renault UE in German usage that I've ben playing with for over 3 years now. Got some time in over the weekend to work on it and its all down hill from here.

Overall shot, I put the tracks on today. The tracks fit together nicely with enough friction fit so you can stick them together then worry about gluing them. Only downside is that it took me 45 minutes just to remove them from the sprues! Lots of cleanup with attachment and knockout points on them, thankfully no knock out pins on the track shoes themselves.



I also toyed around with the turret with trying to make the casting more defined on it, after seeing JS series turret pictures on line. I added a thin piece of sprue and some Mr dissolved putty on the upper side to smooth out the transition. Then I sanded top to bottom to further smooth them together to keep the "edge" on the bottom.



I need to pop the track off, clean the road wheels up and then start painting the hull before I put the tracks then fenders on.

Time to contribute around here.

So I'll start with my wonderful little freak tank, the Panzer 2 Ausf J from Hobbyboss.



This is a fairly rare tank in game, as it was never offered for purchase except in the Russian collectors edition. The only way to get them in the EU was to either import a Russian copy or to get one of them direct from WG at a special event like Gamescom. They're almost non-existent on the US server as a result.

In-game it's an oddly imbalanced tank. As a tier 3 it has 80mm of frontal armour and 50 on the sides and rear. Meaning it has more armour than many tier 6s, and is invulnerable to many of the tanks it meets. The flip side is that it only has a 20mm autocannon, and conversely it can be difficult to harm anyone.

This is how it looks in game:

http://omg.wthax.org/59fmVZ.jpg

(big image, so I won't link it in-line)

Kit-wise, the kit seems very similar to the previous Panzer 1 ausf F from Hobbyboss. There's a choice of two gun barrels, so I'll go with the shorter one, that matches the in-game appearance.

Here is where I stand as of this weekend on my build:







Deciding if I want to keep in Green or apply camo like the game...