Thanks Alan, Bob, I appreciate it. Still haven't gotten back to the Mark IV. I've been adding some figures to the Skoda for scale and a bit of human interest, I didn't completely realize the size of the monster until I put the first figure next to it.





The figure came with the kit but I did replace his head with one from Hornet. A fellow club member remarked that he couldn't imagine being anywhere near where one of these shells went off. With this I heartily concur. Al

Nice job again Al. It looks the part. Your ground work is really picking up the pace. And I remember when you said you would never do a dio/vign. LOL. By the way, I sent those decals out yesterday, was a full set. Hope you enjoy them, will help keep you from going blind trying to do all those insignias. And thanks again for the supply packages! bob

Hello Bob, Thanks, high praise coming from you. Al

It's Baaaaaaackkk! After way too long, for which I apologize. I needed a break from this kit. So, I started what was supposed to be a simple, quick and easy build, Takom's Skoda 42cm Howitzer. But being afflicted with a serious case of can't leave well enough alone, it took on a life of it's own. And of course along with summer comes a lot of other things that take me away from the bench and out of doors. I somehow managed to squeeze in some model building time and finished the Big Gun.



I didn't appreciate just how big this gun was until putting some figures around it. So now I'm finally back to the Mk.IV. I had been working on the racks for the MG ammo boxes which hang from the roof above the engine. I finished those and added a little weathering to the interior.





Keeping in mind the very limited viewing angle once the beast is closed up, the racks are not 100% accurate, but rather give a sense that they are there. As I said before I wanted the guns to be viewable but didn't want a gaping void to be seen also. I'm very satisfied with how it looks through the door openings when the sides are temporarily positioned. Next up is getting some paint on, so I can close up the hull. Al

Excellent work Al, a man after my own thinking.

Alan

Thanks Alan, Great minds think alike! Al

Al;

GREAT stuff! How timely, too! I just ordered the Takom "Hermophrodite" kit... which I envision building to be one of those "experimental" M/F winch-tanks planned for the aborted Oostende amphibious invasion.

Your interior stuff is, well, just super. I'm pondering whether to go anywhere near that so that I might leave a sponson door open... It does appear that something needs to be in there if a door is left a-jar. Maybe I can use some sort of picture inside with a couple extending items to suggest an interior...

I'll be eagerly watching as this moves along!

Bob

Thanks Bob, Adding the interior detail wasn't that difficult. I knew the viewing angle would be very restricted so there was a lot I could ignore, like the clutches and transmission for example. I didn't have any plans, just found a bunch of photos on-line to use as a basis. I have a selection of various sizes of plastic rod, tubing, strips and square stock, as well as sheet plastic, from Evergreen, that I use. They have quite a wide selection. I started with the engine, using some square tubing to build up the basic shape. Then I added detail using various bits and pieces. I wasn't concerned with getting every nut & bolt, or exact measurements. I just wanted something there that could pass casual inspection through the open doors. If you are only going to leave one door open, even less will be visible. Give it a go, you might be surprised with just how easy it can be. Al

Terribly sorry for the long gaps that have developed in this build. I must apologize to the staff and to those who have been following along. Over this past weekend I was at Armorcon, in Danbury, CT. First off, I'd like to give a shout out to Georg, Matt, Jim, and all of the other guys from NMMA for putting on a great show. I had a really good time and saw some great models. While there I was talking to a fellow who had built the 'Male' version of this kit, very nicely I might add. He told me that the road wheels snapped into place on the outside halves of the track runs (Parts F1 & F2). A fact not mentioned in the instructions. This gave me a nudge to get started on the wheels today. Doing so I found that in my case some did indeed snap into place, but many did not. So, I mounted them in groups of four or five. Starting at the rear and working forward, applying cement from the outside where the axles poke through the holes in the side. I did a batch on the right side then switched to the left, then back, and so on. I was able to cement them all in place that way in a fairly short amount of time.





I also applied cement wherever any of the wheels touched each other for a little added strength. That's it for now, paint shop next, as you can probably tell by the masking. I promise to do my level best to not let so much time elapse til the next installment, that is "God willing and the river don't rise". Al

Well, I finally bit the bullet, dusted off the hardly been used (2 times actually) airbrush, and got some painting done. And I must say that I'm quite happy with the results. I usually use brush or rattle-can and I must admit to a wee bit of trepidation. This is the first coat, I wanted to get in all of the nooks and crannies before assembly of the hull and I will touch up after.







Even managed to paint the barrels of the six-pounders.



The painting of the Lewis guns is next on the list. Then I can close up the hull. I'll be tied up for the next week preparing for our club show on the 17th, but I'm stoked and I'm looking forward to getting back to this build and making more progress soon after. Al

Coming along well Al.

Alan

Thanks Alan, It's taken longer than it should have to get to this point. Given my lack of familiarity with an airbrush I was leery of making a mess of it. Nothing can kill a project faster for me than to screw up the paint job. I find that it's very hard to come back from that kind of mistake. I wanted to use a proper British euphemism for mistake, but didn't want to exceed the boundaries of propriety by choosing the wrong one. Al

It's starting to look like a tank! Attached the sides this morning after first mounting the two six-pounders and the three Lewis guns.









The sides fit very well, nice and tight. There were a couple of small gaps in the corners near the rear return roller on top of both sides. These might have been the result of something that I did. Nothing that can't be fixed easily enough though. Now to paint the roof of the driver's compartment and attach it, then touch up the paint. Al

Starting to look the business Al.

Cheers

Alan

Thanks Alan. Al

Just a small update, the roof is attached to the driver's compartment, closing it up.



The extra armor was added to the rear of the hull.



The tape was removed from the door openings and the doors were temporarily fitted. As previously mentioned, I had drilled out the door hinges and added pins made from very thin brass wire for a stronger joint, and to allow the doors to be posed open.



Sorry for the poor picture quality. I tried to get a close-up of the interior but had less than Sterling success. Either me, or the camera, just wasn't up to the challenge.



The opening was just too small and I don't have a good enough light set-up to get a decent picture. Despite the limited viewing angle, I'm quite happy with the added interior details. It looks quite busy and much better than an empty void. Operating the beast must have been a real nightmare for the crew inside. Tracks are next, then the weathering, base, and a few figures for scale and human interest. Al

Got a chance to work on the tracks, they were a snap to assemble (pardon the pun). One of the selling points of this kit for me were the one-piece track links, rather than the multi-piece ones included in the original release of the 'Male' and the 'Female' versions.



Some of the links were unusable, but Takom gives you plenty of extra links to work with. The kit instructions say to use 89 links for each track. But I found that the runs came up short and needed two more links (91 total) per track to fit.



Very little clean up was necessary. Some of the links have a tiny remnant of what looks to be a sprue attachment point (not that they come attached to anything, just loose in a bag) that a few passes with a file will take care of handily. There are faint ejector pin marks on the inside of each link, but they won't be visible after the tracks are mounted. That's it for now. Our club show is this Saturday so I'll have to wait til next week to get anything further accomplished. TTFN Al

Al B.;

It's looking pretty good and almost like a tank!

About taking those photos through the hatches and doors...

The camera wants to auto-focus on the door-frame - as that item offers the camera image-analyzer higher potential for finding a sharp line. And, as seen in your pic, the depth-of-field is pretty shallow.

There is a simple trick that will enable you to get that shadowed interior into focus with your typical auto-focusing point-and-shoot digital camera:

Position the camera where you did for your door pic. Let the camera "see" the door-frame and focus onto it. Press the shutter button down far enough so that the camera "locks focus" onto that external frame (as you see it in your pic). Keeping the shutter-release pressed 1/2 way (keeping the focus locked), move the camera forward about as far as your interior stuff you want to capture is inside from that door-frame. As the lens is locked in position and your focal depth of field is being held "fixed", you will move the focused plane forward just as far as you move the camera forward. When you have moved it forward enough so that your focal plane is at the interior goodies, complete pressing the shutter-release and take the picture. You should find that the inside stuff is now in focus, and the closer door-frame blurred. Try this a couple times and it will become very easy to do.

Bob

About taking those photos through the hatches and doors... [Quoted]

Thanks Bob, I'll have to try out that technique for close-ups later today. AL

Looking fantastic Al. Great job keep it going.

Thanks James, Been on a roll and will try to keep the momentum going. Al

Hey Al, thumbs up as usual buddy. Your interior work has a stunning quality to this build and makes it stand out.

Thanks Bob, A little gizmology goes a long way, something always looks better than nothing. Al

Got the tracks painted, ModelMaster's Titanium Metalizer on the inner side, Tamiya Linoleum Deck Brown on the outer side. Both applied by rattle-can.



Mounted on the tank.



The first one went on with no problem, the second fought me tooth and nail. Broke three links while trying to join the ends. Luckily I had plenty of spares (thank you Takom). Finally got it on after a few choice words and a little prayer. There were some gaps where the tracks rounded the idlers and the drive sprockets and those links needed a little touch up.



Decanted some of the Linoleum Deck Brown into a cup and brushed it on.



I'll give it a flat coat tomorrow. Two more shots.





In the second photo you can see the titanium undersides replicating steel where it would be fairly rust-free from contact with the moving wheels. I will dry-brush the outer surface of each track to show wear, then dust and mud. Takom supplies the grousers for the tracks but I haven't decided whether I will use them, or not. I'm kinda leaning towards using them. Really looks like a tank now. Al

I was able to get some more work done on the tracks yesterday. First, I applied MIG's Tracks Wash, then dry-brushed them with Testors' Titanium Buffing Metalizer.

Before:



After:









I realized too late that it probably would have been simpler had I masked and painted the white and red ID bands before mounting the tracks. Not an insurmountable problem and not the first time I let my enthusiasm get the better of me. More to come. Al