Campaigns
Where Armorama group builds can be discussed, organized, and updates posted.
The Fighting Frogs
Hudson29
#460
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California, United States
Joined: September 16, 2014
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Posted: Wednesday, October 26, 2016 - 08:58 PM UTC
Bryan - That is one neat tank! What is it? It almost looks Soviet, I had to double check which campaign I was reading.
Hudson29
#460
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Posted: Wednesday, October 26, 2016 - 09:07 PM UTC

Quoted Text

This is one of the worst kits I have ever built. Congratulations for getting this far already. Have you yet noticed that you have to remove some plastic from behind the idler wheel to get it in line with other wheels?



Nope, I have not seen that yet. The drive sprocket & the idler wheels have such small nubs to hold them in place that a trial fit has not yet happened. I'm going to try a bit of BluTack to see if it will hold the wheels in place well enough to check alignment and get the link count right on the Fruils.

Considering how bad the fit is in so many areas I will not be amazed if the wheels do not line up.

You did get your Hotchkiss built? How does it look? I would be disappointed to spend this much time & effort and find the completed model doesn't look right . . .
Sean50
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Manche, France
Joined: March 20, 2007
KitMaker: 340 posts
Armorama: 328 posts
Posted: Wednesday, October 26, 2016 - 10:33 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Folks, I bought a Meng FT-17 for this campaign off Amazon. I opened the box this evening and discovered the kit only has decals for an American version and a Chinese version. Very good, but now rather disappointed a French tank kit did not come with French markings. It looks like they had minimal markings anyway but does anyone know where I might get some 1/35 French decals for this kit? Thanks Brian



Hello there

I have some spare décals.... send me your address by PM and you can have them.
Riveted or cast turret?

Cheers

Sean

Chaman911
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United States
Joined: August 28, 2015
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Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2016 - 12:15 AM UTC
Hi Paul. This is the kit. With the rate I have been going I'm going to be lucky to finish!

VelluS
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Keski-Suomi, Finland
Joined: November 04, 2014
KitMaker: 52 posts
Armorama: 50 posts
Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2016 - 03:47 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

This is one of the worst kits I have ever built. Congratulations for getting this far already. Have you yet noticed that you have to remove some plastic from behind the idler wheel to get it in line with other wheels?



Nope, I have not seen that yet. The drive sprocket & the idler wheels have such small nubs to hold them in place that a trial fit has not yet happened. I'm going to try a bit of BluTack to see if it will hold the wheels in place well enough to check alignment and get the link count right on the Fruils.

Considering how bad the fit is in so many areas I will not be amazed if the wheels do not line up.

You did get your Hotchkiss built? How does it look? I would be disappointed to spend this much time & effort and find the completed model doesn't look right . . .

I managed to get it ready. Not happy with the results but one french tank more to my collection of french tanks. http://www.pienoismallit.net/galleria/malli_9096/
Hudson29
#460
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Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2016 - 05:23 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Hi Paul. This is the kit. With the rate I have been going I'm going to be lucky to finish!




Wow! I never would have guessed the basic tank as you photographed it was the same one as the one on the boxtop. I guess by the time you get all the gumph on it is really a different animal. I'm not up on modern AFVs and will have to look into getting one of these for a future built. Thanks for the introduction!
Hudson29
#460
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Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2016 - 05:30 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I managed to get it ready. Not happy with the results but one french tank more to my collection of french tanks. http://www.pienoismallit.net/galleria/malli_9096/



As it happens I have already oogled (looked at) your Hotchkiss found in an internet search a few weeks ago. It was one of the reasons I decided to go ahead with this kit. The pictures made it look great! Perhaps if I could read the writeup in Finnish I would have been less keen. No matter, the worst of my build is over now and I will complete it in some fashion. My skills are basic but get a bit better each time.

What tracks did you use? They look great!
Chaman911
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Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2016 - 09:52 AM UTC
I need a little help. The yellow areas show my options for what looks like radio antenna mounts or just a bolted down plate of steal. What would be accurate for an AMX 30b2?
VelluS
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Keski-Suomi, Finland
Joined: November 04, 2014
KitMaker: 52 posts
Armorama: 50 posts
Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2016 - 01:05 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

I managed to get it ready. Not happy with the results but one french tank more to my collection of french tanks. http://www.pienoismallit.net/galleria/malli_9096/



As it happens I have already oogled (looked at) your Hotchkiss found in an internet search a few weeks ago. It was one of the reasons I decided to go ahead with this kit. The pictures made it look great! Perhaps if I could read the writeup in Finnish I would have been less keen. No matter, the worst of my build is over now and I will complete it in some fashion. My skills are basic but get a bit better each time.

What tracks did you use? They look great!

I used kits own tracks. Parts were small and required some cleaning but they were best part of this kit. You are already through worst part after getting suspension together. Friul tracks you are going to use should ease your efforts a lot. I´m looking forward to see your finished model.
bison126
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Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
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Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2016 - 04:25 PM UTC

Quoted Text

I need a little help. The yellow areas show my options for what looks like radio antenna mounts or just a bolted down plate of steal. What would be accurate for an AMX 30b2?



Left and right bases are correct. If you add only one antenna, you should use only the right base.
The central base should look like that :


or simply plated with part H15 like on this picture :


Note that you could also have an antenna base in front of the loader's hatch, when present it is protected by a "cage".



Olivier
bison126
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Posted: Saturday, October 29, 2016 - 01:27 PM UTC
Hi all,
thanks to some free time yesterday, I managed to make some progress with my EBR.
First I added the ring mount for the VC cupola MG. Then I started making the MG support as the resin part of the Azimut conversion was useless because of a huge air bubble.
I also attached the searchlight frame just to discover it was the wrong size compared to the searchlight itself. So I will have to modify the bottom part.

















And I guess I will have to do some etra work on the muzzle brake

bison126
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Correze, France
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Posted: Saturday, October 29, 2016 - 08:43 PM UTC
Today's progress. Not bad considering the job to be done. The macro mode is merciless









Olivier
Chaman911
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Posted: Sunday, October 30, 2016 - 08:31 AM UTC
Great thanks Olivier. Again your pictures prove invaluable.
Paul, I believe there are also a couple of other versions of the AMX 30 available in 1/35 kits as well if you find it an interesting subject. I got my Gulf War version from hobbylinc.com for around 45$

bison126
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Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
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Posted: Sunday, October 30, 2016 - 10:04 PM UTC
Small progress today on the turret. I added the rubber "joint" between the oscillating part and the turret base.
The smoke-dischargers are fro mHB, the antennas bases are Azimut and quite fine indeed. The white inverted L shaped things are the supports for the early type auxiliary sights.









The build is close to the end. I just need to address the auxiliary sights and wait for some replacement wheels.

Olivier
Hudson29
#460
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California, United States
Joined: September 16, 2014
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Posted: Monday, October 31, 2016 - 01:33 AM UTC
A bit more progress on the Hotchkiss:





Here are the Fruil tracks next to a set being made for a Panther:



These track links are very tiny. A trial fit on the wheels and sprockets show they should look good when finished.

I still haven't figured out how I'm going to paint parts of this thing. I may end up doing parts of the interior with a brush through the driver's hatch. More on this as the project goes along.
Chaman911
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Posted: Monday, October 31, 2016 - 11:27 AM UTC
Nice detail Olivier!
I managed to put some solid build time in. Seven steps left of build!
I have discovered the trick is to get the kids to bed, massage the wife's feet right before a show she likes, and then I get to have some uninterupted modelling time!



bison126
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Correze, France
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Posted: Monday, October 31, 2016 - 10:37 PM UTC
Looks really good Bryan!
Chaman911
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Posted: Saturday, November 05, 2016 - 09:52 AM UTC
Thanks Olivier. I have yet another question. There are three scopes/lenses that I have the option of displaying open or closed. Can you tell me which would be open/closed on a routine daytime patrol type situation during the Iraq conflict? The less clear parts I have to deal with the better in my book

Shoot I didnt realized the pic would be sideways.
Pieces in question are boxed in red. Thank you
bison126
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Correze, France
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Posted: Saturday, November 05, 2016 - 02:56 PM UTC
Bryan,
the gunner rangefinder would be open.
The thermal camera (DIVT 16 and not 13 as stated by Meng) and the PH8B (not only IR) seachlight can be closed. They would be primarily used at night but in daylight conditions the thermal camera could be used as well.
The so-called panoramic sight is not a sight at all. This is the IR jammer against IR guided missiles. So if you depict your AMX30 during the invasion, you should show the flap open if the kit allows this.
HTH

Olivier
bison126
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Correze, France
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Posted: Saturday, November 05, 2016 - 03:38 PM UTC
Some progress on my EBR.
The MG ring mount is complete. I had to make the travel lock for the MG stock as the PE one in the conversion is wrong.
The barrel is in place and a rolled tarp has been attached to the turret bustle.











Next time, I'll probably show pictures with the base color.
Olivier
Chaman911
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Posted: Sunday, November 06, 2016 - 03:47 AM UTC
Thanks Olivier. Your EBR is looking great.
bison126
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Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
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Posted: Sunday, November 06, 2016 - 11:02 PM UTC
Thanks Bryan.
Here are the latest pics with some more details I noticed on my ref pictures. I promise the next ones will be of the painting in progress











Olivier
Hudson29
#460
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California, United States
Joined: September 16, 2014
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Posted: Monday, November 07, 2016 - 04:27 AM UTC
I love the EBR. Where did these vehicles see service? As I recall, the instructions contained very little information on when & where the markings might have been used.
bison126
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Correze, France
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Posted: Tuesday, November 08, 2016 - 12:51 AM UTC
Thanks Paul,
the one I depicted was used during the Algeria war. The HB kit out of the box is good for a vehicle used in France or Germany till late 80's.
The markings on the decals sheet are more than disputable. They do not match any picture I came across so far.

Olivier
Hudson29
#460
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California, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, November 08, 2016 - 03:26 AM UTC
Its too bad that HB and other makers put so little effort into the final details before bring such otherwise fine models to market. I will be building one of these 8 wheelers before too long and will be interested in finding more accurate markings.