Superb work and your thought and imagination is amazing Dick. Keep it going.

Pete

Hi,

Dick: you're doing a very amazing and inventive work !

I see you also improved the rivet method i use, you reduced the danger to make holes, good job

Cheers
nico

Thanks Steph and good choice with this Ford T !

A plus
nico

Hi,

so i continued the front plates (pilot and gun places):








Then i worked on the rear plate with the only one access twin doors (a right side door was added later on MK II models):






And then i began a much more complicated part, the front bow which need accurate cut....i had to make several attempts before to have the good one !






So that's all for today,

cheers
nico

Pete and Nicolas Many thanks for the kind words.

Nico, your tank is getting really complex with all those odd angles. Excellent work. I can't wait to see it on tracks.

Cheers,

Dick

Hi,

thanks a lot Dick

Well, i'm still far away from the tracks, which will be a real challenge itself.....

Waiting this major step, i still worked on the front bow:






Cheers
nico

Nico,

This is gerat work, but I have to wonder, aren't you worried that you will lose the rivet detail when you putty up the seams between plates? Some of the seams are a tad ragged, which is fine at this stage because normally one fills and trims to get the right look, but with the rivets in place, don't you risk not only taking the heads off the rivets as you clean up the putty, but also leaving holes behind due to the punch method of making the rivets?

That's one of the reasons I always add rivets _after_ I get the major construction finished and get the seams cleaned up.

Paul

hello, here is my progress.
steph

Hi,




well i get the same questioning in mind about the rivets after the putty work, some edges will be hide by external reinforcement which i'll add at the end, so no putty will be need there. Where i'll have to use putty i think i'll use paint hiding strips as closes as possible of each edge ...... and then i'll see if it works ....

Steph: fast progress ! does the model fits well ? No major problem ? (i would like to do one of this kind in the future).

cheers
nico

Hi,

before to do the roof, i had to create the gun and machine gun shields which have a rounded shape.
I used thermoforming with one of my son' marble, for the gun i used old model cluster :




some black Tamiya bomb to see better:



The gun, i'll do the machine guns later:



It fits, i just had to do again the gun shield which was too big:



So, i'm going to do the roof now....

cheers
nico

hi,
not for now no problem, except for the instalation of the radiator I had to remove the fan. of very nice progress on your schneider.
steph

I can't say enough good things about the models in this campaign. The WWI theme seems to bring out the best modelers.

I'm having a hard time here. In a good way. I originally planned to do a Schneider 75mm howitzer for the campaign. Then we get a bunch of new FT-17s. And now THIS!


My head is spinning. This kit is to be released in December 2013, so if I went with it, I'd have a year to build it. If not, I can fall back on my "75". Or build both. Either way, I'm getting the St. Chamond for this campaign. Or maybe something else will come out!

FINALLY! Some love for the WWI modelers.

Chris

Steph - your Model T ambulance is coming along nicely.

Nico - that's an interesting technique for forming plastic bubbles. Is the candle the heat source, and if so, how is it used?

Cheers,

Dick

Hi,

Steph, thanks for the answer and the com;

Dick, thanks and yes, the candle is the heat source, the technic is just to keep the plastic sheet above at a height not too high (where the heat is not enough to make the plastic melt) and not too low (where the plastic would melt too fast ).....and make sure the sheet is large enough to prevent your hand to burn !
It takes very few seconds to melt just enough and then you have few seconds to firmly put the sheet on the matrix. few sconds later the plastic get colderand then you can remove the plastic ....which maybe has then the good shape.....

I used this technic sometimes to duplicate planes canopies and always ...failed ! It's the firt time i succeed ! (yes, i agree, the shape is more simple than for a canopy !)

I hope my explanations are clear enough...

cheers
nico

Hi all

Nico, thanks for the explanation. I'll give that a try when an opportunity appears.

A little more progress on the Paris Gun build. The first photo shows the rotating part of the base, which Col. Miller calls "the racer"in his book. A plastic cable tie like the one beside the base was used to make the traversing gear, which on the original was bronze.
Cable ties come in many lengths, and all one needs to make a many-toothed rack or gear is cut off the ends. I held the cable tie in place with a rubber band and cemented it with extra thin CA cement, since normal plastic cement doesn't work on the cable ties I have.

The next photo is a close up, showing the base gear and the railroad rails on which the gun carriage is moved into position. The rails are from the 28 cm Leopold gun kit.


The next photo shows the rotating base (racer) mounted atop the fixed base. The objects in the foreground are parts for the jacks which lift the gun carriage clear of the trucks. The trucks are rolled away and the racer is then rotated 90 degrees and the carriage is lowered onto it.



The final photo is a closeup of the base assembly showing some of the support structures. I threw in the 1/72 scale soldier for scale to show just how big this monster is.



I still have to finish the hydraulic jacks and figure out how the traversing gear works. Unfortunately, I only have a two dimensional plan view plus a few very grainy photographs.

More to come soon.

Cheers,

Dick

Right back from Telford and ready for the off.

main subject, HMS Tiger 1915, around the time of the Battle of Dogger Bank, 1/350th using the Combrig kit and whatever spare etch I can blag, mostly left over from the Dreadnought build over on Modelshipwrights.

Here's the box



and the contents



a bit more



Alos picked this, such a great looking kit I could not resist!

hope to get this built in the timescale of the campaign as well.



and the contents.



Will be starting on Tiger first.

Si

Great work Dick. Cable ties are so useful, but never seen one in a model before.
Simon: 2 nice kits there my friend.

Pete

Thanks Pete, but as always, when I am patting myself on the back for a job well done, Murphy's law is proven once again.
Something didn't look quite right, and after careful re-reading of the chapter in Col. Miller's book concerning the mounting of the gun at the Beaumont emplacement, I learned that the big ring gear was installed on the fixed base below the ball race, not on the moveable upper base.

Fortunately, I was able to pop the cable tie off without difficulty, and it is now installed in the proper location. Doing that resolved several other problems concerning the traversing mechanism, so it all worked out in the end.

Cheers,

Dick

Hi Dick,

Yes, Murphy's law lol. Fine progress none the less.

Hi Simon,

Look forward to developments.

For German fans have you seen the Kayara Ehrhardt M 1917. Looks to be an interesting kit.

Cheers

Al

A small start on the Tiger, the first job is the removal of the overpoor on the hull, thankfully combrig cast the hull hollow, and with a deep groove to guid the saw.

before.



after and with the removed waste.



on test fitting the shelter deck the location of one of the doors is off, checking the drawing in Burt the locker looks to be in the right place.



removed and replaced with an etched door.



Hope to get some colour shot at the main components tomorrow.

Si

Indeed, your first quote sums it up nicely

Meng also has another kit in the works, which I would consider as fair game for WWI:

Si, you know a WWI campaign just isn't complete without one of your ships

I have SMS Markgraf in my stash, I may tackle my 1st ship, if I have time and enter that as well.

Pete

Thanks Jeremy,

I do love ships from this period. Am getting on with putting paint on the main components, will post some pics over the weekend.

Great campaign some brilliant builds going on, glad to be a part of it.

Si.

[quote]
Meng also has another kit in the works, which I would consider as fair game for WWI:[quote]

Yes sir! That beast will be entering my stash soon!!

Chris