a word from the wise - the next bit - the rollers - can be challenging but if you don't need them to rotate the easiest thing to do is to cement them to the inside sponson side. [Quoted text]

Hello Simon, Thanks for the heads-up. That was my plan, just cement 'em. I won't be rolling it across the carpet. Al

Hello Ralph, Glad your enjoying this build. Thanks for your offer, I'll send you my email address as requested. Al

Hi Al, another nice build review. You have a way of meshing your actual build and discription together so it is very easy to follow and understand. These W.W.1 tanks are so ugly that they appeal to me. If I didn't have so much going on I would try one, but the South Pacific projects are taking up a lot of time. Waiting for the next installment. bob d.

Hi Bob, Glad to have you following along. I try to explain things as best as I can as I go along, especially any potential problems or hidden pitfalls. Al

Hope everyone had a Happy Holiday this past weekend. I was finally able to do a little more work, finishing the left-hand sponson.





Even though the instructions don't cover it, assembly is quite straight forward and easy to figure out. Here are the two together, side by side.



The two sponsons are not identical, there are differences. You can see them in the next two photos. First, the right side.



The left.



You'll note that the difference lies in the openings for the six-pounder gun mounts. Which parts to use and the way the left-hand one goes together is pretty easy to figure out. For the purpose of this review I'll eventually assemble one of the 'Female' MG sponsons even though I won't be using them. All questions and comments are welcome. Al

A small update, the ball mounts for the Lewis guns can be left moveable. I preferred to cement them into position, after choosing how I wanted them angled. The mounts have two slots, one above and one below the hole for the barrel.



As I mentioned, the guns fit very loosely in these mounts, so I added a 1/16" long tab, made from .030 x .030 (0.75 x 0.75mm) square strips (Evergreen #131), to the bottom of each gun.



Doing this helped the guns sit properly. I did have to file the bottom edge of each tab just a little bit, so it would fit in the slot in the ball. Be careful if cementing the ball before mounting the gun. You need to leave clearance for the guns to slide through. There is a small sight blade on the front of the gun's barrel. Because of the angle of the ball's opening after cementing it, I had to insert one gun upside down to clear the sight, then rotate it to line up the tab. Worked like a charm. Here are a couple of shots with one of the guns fitted temporarily in place.







You can see the tab engaged in it's slot in the second photo. I'll mount the guns after painting them. As a side note, there are five Lewis guns included in this kit. If you do the Hermaphrodite, you'll use four, the Male, only three, the Female, all five. Well, that's all I've got for now. Al

You still have my attention Al and I am enjoying the prodgress made.

Thanks Darren, I'm really enjoying this build. It's going together well. It may not be a Tamiya kit, but it's just about as good. Al

Started working on the two Six-pounder guns. Beautifully detailed, it would be a shame to hide them away unseen.



You can assemble them with the breech block closed, or open. I did one of each.



I drilled out the breech on the gun to the right with the block in the open position. Here is another shot showing how detailed the guns are..



Still a few more parts to add, not to mention the gun shields. There should have been a couple of Poly Caps included to mount the guns to their pedestals, to allow them to rotate. I thought that I might have misplaced them, but I'm beginning to think that they weren't there to begin with. They aren't mentioned on the parts list page of the instructions. I'm considering my options. Worst case, I cement the guns into position. Al

Hi Al,

The Male kit has the poly caps, but I understand the Hermaphrodite and Tadpole don't for some unknown reason. You're not missing much, as the roof holds the gun on the spike anyway - just add a "filler" of plastic tube where the poly cap should be. Or steal some from old Tamiya tank kits...

By the way, the round base that holds the cap should really be fixed to the pedestal mount on the real tank - the ring above it (forming the top of the cap pocket) is the bit that should turn with the gun! This was a concession to "play value" I guess.

Keep up the good work!

just add a "filler" of plastic tube where the poly cap should be. Or steal some from old Tamiya tank kits...[Quoted]

Hello Tom, Great minds think alike, both of those options crossed my mind. The folks at Takom seem a little confused where this kit is concerned. The instructions would have you build two six-pounders, when you only need one for the Hermaphrodite. The parts list says that there should be two metal barrels, but they only give you one. Seems like they took the original Male & Female instruction sheets and mixed and matched them to suit this kit. Al

Well, the madness has begun, AMS has reared it's ugly head. Those guns are just too nice to bury behind closed doors. So, I've decided to leave the sponson doors open. The problem being that while the open doors allow you to see those lovely little guns, they also let you see a great, gaping, featureless void, inside the hull. What to do? Scratch-build an interior of course! Madness, I tell you, sheer madness! Can't help myself, Lord help me. I remember, as do a lot of modelers, those colorful sheets Monogram used to include in their kits with those captivating dioramas by Shep Paine. I still have a few floating around somewhere. Before the advent of after-market, he used what he called 'Gizmology' to add detail to a kit. His guiding philosophy was, "Something looks better than nothing", to which I heartily agree. While I will try to stay as close to what the interior of a Mark IV should look like, I'm not going to add every nut and bolt. I'm more concerned with giving the appearance of the crowded interior of the tank and not having just a black hole when looking in. I've found a lot of photos of the interior on line, and have begun working on it. I'll post some pictures of my progress later on today. TTFN Al

Oh no - that way lies madness!


The good thing is it's pretty dark in there, so you might get away with just a "lump" for the engine cover, without needing to add the driver's station etc. I tested the view on mine, and you really cannot see the ammo stowage in the track frame forward of the 6pdrs (phew!) or the differential at the back, so unless you open the roof hatch or leave the roof off you don't need to build any of the more fiddly stuff! The engine had a sheet-metal cover, so it's a slightly-curved box with three pipes coming out the top - easy enough to scratch.

Good luck! (We'll keep the men in white coats on stand-by)

Thanks Tom, Good to know they have the nets ready.

As promised, a few photos of my progress so far. The left side.



The right side.




You can make out the rear of the driver's platform, so I think that I'll need to add the seat-backs at least, if not the whole seats. Next, started on the engine, this is a view of the right side.



As Tom mentioned the viewing angle will be very restricted, limiting what can be seen. I tried to get a shot looking in through the doorway, but all I got of the interior was a white blur. There should be three inverted 'Y'-shaped exhaust manifolds leading down from the muffler to the left side of the engine. But only the front-most will be visible, so I only need to make the one. There are some more details to be added to the engine and that will busy it up a little more. Thanks for looking, all comments and/or questions welcomed. AL

This link may help Al even though it is a Mk2. I hope to be heading to Bovington Tank Museum on Tuesday, if a Mk 4 is open for viewing, I will get you some images of the guts of the beast.

Al, I'm afraid it's too late! You're definitely in need of AMS-anonymous... (But I love what you've done! Was this all installed through the side openings?)

That Mk 2 should help - the engine and mechanicals were the same as the Mk 4. (Big change to Ricardo engine came with Mk 5...) The real differences between Mks 1-4 are in the sponsons, so don't affect usefulness of the pics.

Al, I'm afraid it's too late! You're definitely in need of AMS-anonymous... (But I love what you've done! Was this all installed through the side openings?) [Quoted text]

Yes, it's too late, and yes, it was all installed through the sides after the hull was assembled. The bottom rails and pipes only go so far towards the rear, they end just past the openings (where they'll be out of the line of sight). The engine will be installed after some further detailing and painting. I think I will also have to add the ammo racks that are at the front of the sponson opening in the track run.



Shouldn't be too difficult, just time consuming. Al

Thanks Darren, Missed this post earlier. Any and all info would be a great help, appreciate it. Al

The madness continues. I've begun making the inverted Y shaped exhausts that connect the muffler to the engine. It turned out to be easier than I feared. I started by cutting a piece of 3/32" (2.4mm) (Evergreen #223) tubing diagonally. I used trial and error to settle on the angle of the cut. Then I glued the two pieces together to form a 'vee'. After the cement dried I bent the tubes slightly, so they would meet the engine. After bending, I shortened the 'vee' and sliced off the point. I then inserted a piece of brass wire into a short length of the same diameter tubing and cemented it to the 'vee', turning the vee into a 'Y'.







In the last photo you can see the slight bend of the pipes. The next photo shows the pipe cemented into position.



I placed the engine temporarily into position to line the pipes up before cementing them into the section of tubing coming down from the roof, which are 5/32" (4.0mm)(Evergreen #225). The sponson doors are meant to be cemented in place. To make it easier to attach them after painting, I drilled out the hinges on the doors and added short pieces of brass rod.



Here is one of the doors temporarily mounted.





Though the doors are moveable, I'll probably be cementing them, once I determine how I want them angled. How much of the interior will be visible (or hidden) depends on the angle of those doors. I'm really happy (and somewhat surprised) with how this excursion into scratch-building is turning out. I'd recommend to anyone who thinks that they can't do something like this, try it. You might be just as pleasantly surprised at the results. Al

I bet, like me, you're wishing you'd thought of it BEFORE you built up the hull into a box! I'm lovin' the skill and the insanity of this build!

Hi Al,

Nice work on the internals, look forwared to more.

Cheers

Al

Dunno Tom, it might have been easier in some ways, but then again it might have raised other problems. Luckily, I don't have to be too precise because of the restricted sight lines. It really hasn't been too difficult working through the hull openings, they are fairly large. But, I have gained new respect for those who build ships in a bottle! Al

Hello Alan, Thanks, it's good to hear from you. Still working on that impressive WW1 diorama? Have you heard, Merit is supposed to release a 1/35th scale X-Craft sometime this month. I have one on pre-order. Hope they won't disappoint, like Italeri did. Like to see them pick up the gauntlet and bring out some more small craft in 1/35th. They did announce a WW2 Russian G-5 class MTB. But then, so did Masterbox. Keeping my fingers crossed. Al

Hi Al,

I'll check that out. The Stalingrad figures are neat, one of the officers is improperly dressed, but still a nice figure. Some internal riverts?

Keep up the good work.

Cheers

Al