Gray,
She is certainly shaping up beautifully with all the additions & love how the lights & fuel tanks look!!
Out of curiosity what was the thickness of the styrene you used for the fenders & tubing??
Mike

Thanks Mike.

I used .010 sheet (.25mm) for the fenders and .060 x .060 (1.5mm) for the strengthening bars.

Made a start on the side armour blocks next. I began by assembling the 2 kit parts and once the cement has fully cured, carefully cut the blocks into seperate units. The open ends are then filled with a piece of styrene, a layer of Tamiya putty added and then they are sanded smooth. WIP shot...



Gary

Further progress with the armour blocks. An saw blade is used to roughen up the edges to replicate the weld seams. Mounting brackets are made from .005 styrene and Meng nuts/bolts...



First side dry fitted...





Gary

Driver's hatch needed a lot of work - ended up using two hatches to create a more accurate one...



Hull is now just about completed I think...









Turret next

Gary

Gary,
Just gob smacking amazingly beautiful work!!
The side armour blocks look great.
Question what changes did you make to the drivers, hatch, besides the hinge & why??
Mike

Thanks Mike.

The biggest things of note with the hatch are the small flap which needs to be removed and the lip around the edge. Bovington example shows neither of these.
The 'hinge' bracket which bolts to the hatch is thinned down and two small ridges are added using thin styrene along with new attachment bolt heads. I also added the hatch stops to both teh hatch and the hull roof.

Gary

Hats off Gary!

This is some serious sratchbuilding skills.

Cheers,

Adam

Thank you Adam.

I've used the MIG resin mantlet cover here so the gun can be depicted in the elevated position. It had to be modified a fair bit though to enable me to add the cover stips on the leading edges as per a Polish built behicle. The upper part of the cover is remade as Tamiya didn't get it quite right...



New support rods etc were added underneath...



Gary

Searchlight is made using a mix of kit parts, stryene and Aber PE. Most of the PE is too thin for some parts, hence the scratch built styrene bits...





Conduit is lead wire with one end hollowed out.

Gary

Searchlight linkage made using kit parts and Aber PE. Fully articulating at this stage to allow ease of positioning on vehicle..



And fitted...





Gary

Work continues with the turret. Voyager PE periscopes are fitted - the moulded on kit one in front of the loaders hatch is cut off in favour of a PE one. Missing bullet splash is added by grafting one on removed from a spare Tamiya Tiran 5 turret. Attachments are being added to loaders hatch/MG mount...





Gary

I am really enjoying following your work Gary, this is inspirational.

Cheers Bill.

Loaders hatch is now complete...



While working on the commander's side, I notioced something I hadn't seen before. A 3rd perisciope facing rearwards - plain to see on the Bovington example. No idea how common this was, but decided to add it anyway. I also removed the bullet splash around the small flap on the hatch as the Bovington vehicle doesn't have one either...



Gary

Commander's hatch done and awaiting its searchlight...





Gary

Searchlight on. Just need to add some cabling...





Gary

Incredible amount of details here Gary, I'm amazed!

Thank you Edson.

Small details to add to teh turret rear inclding a 12.7mm ammo box and holder...



Ammo box is from Voyager while the exquisite hoder is from Aber. Can be made to work just like the real thing too

Tie down loops are made from fusewire, grab rail is brass rod while MG stowage holder is from Aber...



Ammo box side brackets have yet to be fitted...



DShK is next up. (WIP) Detailing parts are primarily from Aber. I remade most of the recoli system from brass tube and .010 wire for the springs....



Gary

Wow! Superb work!!

Thanks James.

DShK is complete....







Gary

That DSHK is by far the most impressive I have ever seen- incredible amount of detail. This build, put simply, is just amazing. I keep looking at all the updates and its just brilliant to see such dedication go into every little area.

Onto to the rear of turret armour block supports. The bulk of the frame is made up of Voyager PE....





Gary

That's amazing amazing detail. So inspiring.

Keep up the great work!!

Thanks Dustin & Karl.

Rear frame is made up by soldering the stowage box support frame to the sides. I used styrene for the main rear beam for ease - also the same dimensions as the fender beams onto which teh armour blocks attach.
The side brackets which are welded onto the turret are remade in styrene sheet rather than using the PE options. This will make it easier to mount the unit onto the turret with styrene cement...





Voyager provide the brass bolts, but I'll probably swap them for styrene ones from Meng as they are slightly too big IMHO and the insides are nuts, rather than bolts.

Gary

With the bolts replaced with more accurately sized ones courtesy of Meng, the assembly is attached to the turret. Careful alignment is required here so lots of measuring of angles before committing fully to cement. Welds are made using Tamiya epoxy putty...







Gary

Another stowage box. I added the missing ribbing on one side using heat stretched sprue which is flattened on one face before cementing in place. Lid clamps are a mix of Aber PE and 5 amp fusewire with the screw clamps made from two different diameters of brass pipe soldered together....



And fitted in place....





Gary