This is a Re do , to put everything together.
Hopefully I will not mess this up again.
Donald

The Box Art.


Most of this kit is new molding, there are some of the basic parts from the Ausf. H kit.
Note below on the lower hull the 3 return roller mount areas, the side armor extensions on the front & rear of the hull.

The Upper & Lower Hull are completely new moldings.
Note the Bolt Heads along the rear edge of the engine deck.


I'm not going to use the engine or other parts in its compartment.
You can't see much in there anyway .

Donald

I started work on the interior.
This time I'm building from the inside out.
Below are the Ammo Bins, they are the same as the ones in the Ausf.H kit.

The Transmission is temporarily installed on the floor rails.


That's all for now.
Donald

I've been working on the outside of the lower hull.
I plugged the holes where the radiator mounts, I'll not be using it.
On the Ausf. H they are covered with the Zimmerit.

Be careful how you place the small cover part # N2 on the rear armor Plate, it will fit either way. The flat spots in the 2 holes in it should go down.

I trimmed the edges on both sides of the rear Armor Plate, to get it to sit more flush with the sides.


Next I added Part #E23 to the top of the Rear Armor Plate, then slid it down into its final position on the rear of the lower Hull.

It should look like this, about as flush around the edges as you can get it.


There are some holes in both sides for mounting some internal parts, I partially filled them with some plastic rod then filled and sanded the areas. I left just enough of the holes on the inside to mount the parts.



That's all for now.
Donald

There is a new Glacis Plate for the Ausf. J model.
I used the lower hull as a jig to set the angle of parts W3 & X4


Front View.
The gap will close once everything is glued in place.


The inside view of the plate, once it is installed you will not see any of it.


Some of the sub assemblies

Finished for today.
Donald

I have started installing all of the interior lower hull parts.





Since I'm not using the engine, I used the Flywheel Gear to hold the Drive Shaft in position,

I then slid the whole unit into the lower Hull


It's easier if you install the Brake Units first, then their ducts followed by the Front Ammo Bin then the Transmission.

After the Seats are installed I inserted the end of the Transmission into the opening on the Blower

Then I lowered it into position and glued it in place.


I still have to install the side drive shafts.

Donald, what glue are you using?

Top View of the Drive Shafts installed.






This is all that can be seen with the Glacis plate installed.


Well that is the Re Do now I can get back to the new stuff.
Donald

Hi Dustin.
To answer your question, I use both Ambroid Proweld & Plast-I-Weld from the Flex-I-File company.
I use the Touch-N-Flow from this company also.
It's easy you just stick the metal end of the glass tube, use the suction bottle supplied with it to draw the liquid glue into the glass tube. Then touch the end of the metal tube to where you want the glue. Just be sure to keep the tube horizontal when not applying
the glue.
Donald

Now for some new stuff.

I installed the fenders without the Sponson Ammo Bins , this makes gluing them to the Hull sides easier.


Next I installed the engine Vent Covers & the small wing nuts.


( You should remove the Wing Nuts from their sprue and place them in a small plastic bag, they are verry delicate and easy to loose.)

I had to trim about 1/16" off the center leg of the front support to get it to fit. I must have done something different this time, because it fit fine on the Ausf. H kit.

I'll be working on the Ammo next, and was thinking about scratch building new Sponson Ammo Bins.
It might be a while before I have more to post.
Donald

I've been working on the Ammo, man is that a pain in the backside.
They are in the paint shop.
I have decided to do something different this time for the Sponson ammo bins. I replaced the Photo-etch covers on the bins with some I made out of .015" Sheet Plastic. They were a lot easier to attach to the plastic backs & bottoms of the bins.

Here is some of the Ammo.


I have to paint the bins, & when the ammo is ready I'll be attaching the rounds to the bin ammo trays & then installing the trays in the bins.
I installed the rounds into the trays last time after the bins were complete. That was a mistake, some were damaged & it was hard to do.
That's all for now.
Donald

The Ammo & Bins are finished and installed, here is how I did it this time.
This time is completely different, and easier than when I did it for the Ausf. H kit.

First I used Gloss White for the under coat instead of Gloss Black.


The rounds on the left are completely painted, you will see all of them. The rounds on the right, I only painted the casing part, you cant see the rest of the round.


Some of the rounds have Brass casings & some have Natural metal casings.

I started with the box with two rounds per. layer.
I glued them in with super glue.

I then super glued 2 rounds to each of the shelves for this box.

Then I glued in the first shelf.


And finally the top shelf.


That completes this box.

Now it's the Nine Round Boxes.
First 3 rounds on the bottom of each box.


then 3 rounds super glued to each of the 4 shelves.


Glue in the middle shelves.


Here all the shelves are installed.

It's a lot easier this way, on the Ausf. H build I installed the rounds to the shelves individually after the shelves were installed in the boxes. That was an almost impossible job.

You may have to trim off the pins on the bottom of the Ammo Boxes to get them to fit.

Here are the installed Pics.

That's all for now.
Donald

I have been working on the upper hull.
The front of the upper hull was warped slightly, I started gluing on the right side edge and pulled the parts together a little at a time gluing as I went along. In the end it looks pretty good.



The drivere view port is closed off on the end, I opened it up and used some clear plastic for the front glass.
(note the light shining through it)

Fill the 2 holes above the view port.

Fill in the push pin marks on both edges , they can be seen same as on the Ausf. H kit


I was going to make the front hatches operable , It didn't work this time so they will get glued in the open position.


I replaced the tow cable mounting hooks with a piece of nail bent to shape. The plastic ones break off too easily. I found that out on the Ausf. H build.

The hinges on the engine deck need trimming the hatches will not fit otherwise .


I drilled out the holes around the turret ring.


Finally for today I installed the engine intakes on both sides, no problem there.


That's all for today.
Donald

I have the Radios & their rack finished and ready to be installed .
I used the Photo-etch from the kit this time. It was a lot of little super gluing at a time.
First the rack.

Here are the Radios .
You will have to sand all of the sides to get them to fit in the rack. Trumpeter has molded them with a slight taper front to back, and they will not fit without the sanding.

Here they are installed in the rack.



Next they get installed in the upper hull.
That's all for now.
Donald

The Radio & Mg. are installed in the upper front of the Hull.



Here I have the top & bottom of the Hull clamped together.
It's a lot easier this way if you don't have all the small assemblies getting in the way.


Clamps off, a really good fit.


There was a very slight gap, I filled it with some thin strip plastic .

There are 2 small tabs that help locate the rear panel .

That's all for now.
Donald

Impressive build so far, Donald. Keep up the great work sir.