I just read the resin tarps thread, and this is related, but I had some additional questions. I'm building my first resin kit, a Wespe Faun LK5 (L900) crane. Their proto research is of the same poor quality as their kit production. The part in question is the hood.



I want to make three changes, one each related to:
- poor research/design
- poor quality master
- poor research/improved look

The top of the hood is far too steeply angled, so I want to flatten it out.

The louvers are really ugly, and I'm going to replace them using .040 styrene quarter-circle. No questions here.

The grill is wrong, and I'd like to use some mesh for an open look.

Changing the shape of the top is the biggest challenge. If it was styrene, I'd cut out a narrow "V" from the middle, make perpendicular cuts at the front and back to create "flaps", make parallel scores on the inside where the sides curve into the top, then gently bend the flaps down, glue, putty and clean up.

Having discovered how brittle resin is, I don't know if that would work even with the boiling water dunk. I'm thinking I'll just cut the top off above the curves, then create a new top with styrene. One thing I'm wondering is what tools work well at cutting resin besides a razor saw. I learned the hard way that nippers aren't recommended.

Is it always better to soften resin before doing any work on it?

For the grill, I think I'll sand down the sharp angle at the radiator cap to the same angle that I want where the top attaches to the cab. I can use the center "rib", so am thinking of sawing up from the bottom on each side of it, and then rebuilding the top and bottom - would it be better to use a razor blade/Xacto to cut out the two grill sections?

Here's an image of the same area on the beautiful scratchbuilt model by Jorge Lopez, constructed before there were any kits. I'm not trying to even get close to his quality, mostly just improve the Wespe junk to the extent that I can.



Is there "resin paste", that has a similar function to filler for styrene? If there's a site that covers this stuff, feel free to redirect me there.

thanks for any info/advice.

Your changes would not be small. I would undertake scratchbuilding the whole part rather than play with the kit supplied resin part.

I have been working with resin for years and modifications by cutting can be a pain. If you want to change the hood, make a smallcut in the middle (just for reference) Then take a piece of sandpaper atatched to a flat thing (wood or so) and gradually sand the correct angle you want. Use the cut in the middle for reference to make sure the top of the bonnet remains in the middle. Wet sanding goes the fastest. Take a coarse paper, otherwise it takes ages. Any scrathes can be filled with prerably Tamiya putty which sticks excellently to resin

Thanks guys.

Roy - I had considered that and may end up there. I plan to build it as the captured US tractor, and last night I was getting depressed at all the mods I'll need to make as it is. I know Elite makes a better version, but I couldn't see spending $200 when I won't even be using the crane - at least in this project. I did try to buy their instructions, as Wespe's look like they were drawn by a 5th grader.

Mat - That's an interesting idea which I hadn't considered, but I'm not sure the resin is thick enough to sand down to the angle that I want. However, if I decide that scratchbuilding is the best approach, I might try that just before I give up, as there would be nothing to lose. I could do that as far as I can, and then decide if I could live with that angle.

> "Take a coarse paper, otherwise it takes ages."

I saw resin referred to as a "soft plastic" - if that's the case, why is it so difficult to sand?

P.S. - is that where Limburger cheese comes from? I was having some (with crackers and onion slices) outside a pub one night and a guy walked past my table and said, "I hope that tastes better than it smells". I was very close to replying, "I hope you're smarter than you sound".

Hi Charles,

Given the extent of the changes you want to make, I'm with Roy, it would probably be quicker and less work to scratch build a new bonnet.

Good luck with the project.

Al

Get Magic Sculpt resin putty made here in the USA. maybe you can put some on the underside of the hood to build it up, then sand your angle. I use this stuff with all my resin conversions, figures, and even tire/track impressions on bases.

TAP Plastics sells it. I have a store in Santa Rosa i can go to which is nice


Cut off the radiator cap and save it. Fill in the radiator grill border will Magic Sculpt after sanding and it'll harden in a few hours - over night so plenty of working time. Or add your mesh screen over the top and border with styrene, sand

Gotta agree with the others advocating for a scratchbuild. If you were only modifying the angle of the hood, I'd try to modify the kit parts, but given that you are making new louvres and a new grille and frame, dude, you are more than half way there on the work already. The slab-sided bonnet it pretty easy.

It will be simpler to glue the new parts to a styrene base anyway so it will probably make the entire project easier to scratchbuild the basic bonnet using the Wespe parts as templates where they are of any use.

Paul

I use coarse paper because the dust cloggs up the paper quickly, even with wet sanding. Resin is indeed quite soft, which means if you do not watch out you sand the edges of a surface too much.

I heard about Limburger cheese, but in Limburg I never ate it myself, nor have I ever seen it in any shop. I guess it is an invention from some overseas company Gouda cheese actually does exist I see this appear on US tv sometimes. (pronounced wrongly, it should be "ou" as in auch!! when you hit your finger with a hammer.

Not so, Mat - selected extracts from Wikipedia:

Limburger is a cheese that originated during the 19th century in the historical Duchy of Limburg, which is now divided among modern-day Belgium, Germany, and Netherlands. The cheese is especially known for its pungent odor, commonly compared to body odor.

Today, most Limburger is produced in Germany, but Herve cheese is a type of Limburger cheese still produced in the Land of Herve, in the territory of the old Duchy of Limburg. Herve is located near Liège, and the borders separating Belgium from the Netherlands and Germany. The "Pays de Herve" is a hilly area between the Vesdre and Meuse rivers.

In 2006, a study showing that the malaria mosquito (Anopheles gambiae) is attracted equally to the smell of Limburger and to the smell of human feet earned the Nobel Prize in the area of biology.

Probably best described as an “acquired taste”. A former Polish girlfriend once said, “I love cheese – and the stinkier the better”. I gather that its popularity is largely a victim of changing tastes.

ah that explains it, Limburg has been seperated into 2 parts a long time ago, I guess only the Belgian part eats it. Anyway..we managed to turn a topic about resin into one about smelly cheese. . Only reading the Wikipedia article made my stomach turn. Let me sniff some resin dust to feel better, I think Hobbyfan resin smells the best, with Accurate armour as a close second

A follow-up question: if I do scratch a new hood, are there any companies that supply such things as the external steering linkage, or do I just remove the Wespe version and bring it over? My limited experience indicates that the AFV manufacturers supply kits and specialized add-on parts/sets (PE, etc.), but I've seen no indication of anyone supporting scratch builders with parts that are more difficult to build on your own - am I wrong?
(vs. say model ships and railroads - don't know about planes)

I had noticed from photos that different variations of this linkage were used (i.e. - amount of rod from steering wheel exposed - if any; linkage external from hood, or recessed into it), and received this response from the Spare Parts department (Ersatzteildienst) at Tadanofaun (apparently a fairly recent merger):

"About the steering there have been different gears mounted I think it depends on which steering gear was available in this time. That is why some have the steering in this way and others not."

Sorry about the cheese post - must have been the A.D.D. kicking in.

If you are very, very good with one of the super thin razor saws, you can _try_ to remove the Wespe parts and reuse some of them. Generally, though, when one scratchbuilds stuff like this, you scratchbuild it all.



Weellll, maybe. Aftermarket companies do supply replacement subassemblies of existing (generally styrene) kits to make them more accurate. But this is a resin kit and getting detailing kits for a resin kit are pretty much unheard of. Resin accessories are supposed to be accurate from the get go. That's why one buys them. But resin kits are of such esoteric subjects that ya gets what ya gets.

Hopefully the pattern maker knew his stuff and cares enough to get things right. If not, you're generally out of luck. If the parts you are looking for can be identified as having been used on another vehicle, perhaps there is a model of that vehicle you can steal the parts from.

But generally, you have to scratchbuild it all.

It's not that hard, really. Some sections of rod, a few sheet styrene gussets and stuff and you are away. Remember, the guy who made the pattern for the kit scratchbuilt those parts, so you can too, if you try.

Paul

Thanks, Paul. I just looked it it under a magnifier and it's not as scary as I had thought. A lot of the problem is that I was perceiving it as some complex object that I didn't comprehend, but once I broke the component elements down to tube, sheet, etc., I can see that it's manageable.

I have a general understanding that it serves to convert the rotary motion of the steering wheel/rod to directional (I think - or does it just redirect it outwards, which perhaps makes more sense? - perhaps a pair of bevel gears). Wespe has an indent for an outward connection, but as with many other places they don't supply anything or show it on their crude drawing.

Looking at proto photos, they vary somewhat based on the model, substantiating what the fellow from Tadanofaun said. Usually there is a downward link that connects to a rod angling up to the front axle, but it's fairly impossible to see the nature of the link at each connection.

I just thought today that I should do general research into steering linkages to better understand what it's doing. The fact that part of it is external is not really relevant, other than it means I should depict it on the model. Since there are no preserved trucks, a lot of what I do will be guesswork based on the available photos, all of which are general shots with no close-up detail.

. No you cannot use the cheese to mold the piece, that would just stink .

If I wait long enough, the cheese will mold itself.

yes but then the bugs will steal your model . or at a minimum will do battle damage