Gary,
first class work ! For flattening one side of the sprue do you simply scrape it down with your knife or use some other technique ?

Sean

Gary, can I just say I hate you. The attention to detail you have is phenomenal. You must have about 10 kits waiting around for the spray booth in the new house. Can't wait for you to squirt some paint on the plethora of Shermans you have. Still think your Chilean M-51 was one of the best weathered kits I've seen in a long time.

Keep it up.
Jeff

fantastic build!!! that's just a ridiculous amount of skill.

one question - if the search light has an articulating arm to align it with the gun barrel, is there a reason the search light is facing flat forward instead of elevated with the barrel?

Thank you for the kind words gents

Sean - correct.

Jeff - still a while off before I can sort out an area for painting I'm afraid.

Vance - the light will only elevate up a certain degree otherwise pointing up into the air won't be of any benefit.


Rear blocks get the same treatment as the side ones...



Some sources feel these are counterweights rather than armour blocks and I tend to agree with taht theory.

Dry fitted in place....





Gary

I love this build. Looking forward to see this one with paint on one hand. On the other the multimedia appearance it has right now, has a beauty of its own.

Keep up the great work!

Thanks Michael.

Turret armour next. This needs a little work as the Tamiya set up, while okay, is lacking in a little detail.

The framework which mounts directly to the turret is partly integral whith the armour blocks in the Tamiya set up...



To create seperate frames, I removed the vertical parts of the frames (red arrows) from the rear of the blocks and constructed the frames as a stand alone assembly...



Gary

Gary-
I'm pretty sure I've said this before regarding your other builds, but it would almost be a shame to paint this one and cover up all this fabulous work.

Thanks Russel

Framework is complete and mounted onto the turret. The rear section on the real thing is designed to lift up to allow access to the engine hatches....



Mounting brackets added to the inside face of the armour blocks - bolts yet to be added...



The blocks are all moulded together OOTB and are far too neat and uniform compared to the real thing so I split them up. I did try experimenting with a couple of ideas which didn't quite work out so had to turn to a little extra styrene sheet and Mr Surfacer to fix what went wrong Won't make the same mistakes on the other side

Blocks dry fitted onto the frame....



Gary

Opposite side under construction - essentially the same process as before so armour blocks are dry fitted....



The forward block is hinged to allow driver access. Tamiya incorrectly provide this part as a solid block. It is, infact, hollow with 4 plates inside, giving a louvre effect. I replicated this with Evergreen styrene...



Gary

EDIT. Just noticed something very striking when I lined up this last block. It's too small. The leading edge of the base should essentially be the same width as the other blocks but Tamiya made it about 3.5mm too short. That means the block, as provided in the kit, is not really useable.
Fortunately, Voyager supply the turret armour in resin blocks so I can modify one of those to suit.

You can clearly see the undersized Tamiya part compared with the Voyager resin block (which compares well in size with the real thing)...



On the other side....



I've been reliably informed (thanks Olivier!) that the cut away section on the Bovington exmaple was done to demonstrate how the block was constructed. So, Tamiya got that part right - unfortunately Voyager didn't (along with me!) so the white rectangle is filler. Also note the two square support tubes from the Voyager PE set with the locking bar constructed from brass tube and a brass nut.

The locking lever itself is constructed using scrap evergreen styrene, Meng bolt heads and heat stretched sprue with a tension spring made from .010 wire....



Gary

Counterbalance springs are made from .010 lead wire...





Gary

Excellent work Gary. When creating the styrene mounting brackets for the different bolted on armor, what sizes you making them and how are you making them? The front turret ones look different then the rear turret, while the rear and the hull side look similar.

Thanks Ryan. The turret frame use the standard kit parts while the others are made using rectangular pieces of Evergreen styrene - sizes are mentioned earlier in the blog.

Aber's D-10T 100mm barrel....



Wel;d seam is made from Mr Surface and rest of extrator is given a thinned coat of the same to blend everything in...



Gary

[quote]The forward block is hinged to allow driver access. Tamiya incorrectly provide this part as a solid block. It is, infact, hollow with 4 plates inside, giving a louvre effect. I replicated this with Evergreen styrene...
[/quote}

I suspect you're copying the Bovington example, I believe this was cut out on purpose to show the composition of the interior. It wouldn't have been cut out in service, so Tamiya really didn't get it wrong.



Really great attention to detail, love the Polish engine deck mods. I had to do something similar for my T-55 Marksman.

Jim

Hi Jim

I did correct my original post..




Gary

I think the build part can be called complete at this stage....



Just need to wait until I get my painting shed but in the meantime, some more images - http://www.plasticarmour.com/t55-enigma.html

Gary

Gary, awe inspiring work as usual. You have such a great attention to detail. Your workmanship is top notch too. I can't wait to see some paint on it.

Regards,

Eric

Gary,
Once again simply stunning work!! So much to see, so much to enjoy & lots to learn from.

Mike