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Armor/AFV: Modern Armor
Modern armor in general.
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Tamiya AMX-13
TAFFY3
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Posted: Monday, April 04, 2016 - 03:22 PM UTC
More work done on the turret last night. 1st the upper flange for the dust cover was added. It consists of three parts (C20,C21,& C19). The fit is excellent.





Then the cover itself.



Also three parts (C31, C32,& C33),and once again the fit was outstanding. The seams are practically invisible. They just need a little touch-up with a rat-tail file to disappear completely. Congratulations to the folks at Tamiya for making what looked to be a difficult assembly a piece of cake. A mishap occurred when I attempted to drill out the barrel of the co-ax MG, the bit 'walked'. So, I made a replacement from a piece of stretched sprue.



A few other bits and pieces were added to the turret, making it look very busy. All that's left is the Jerry can and some tools. There are also two very fragile looking pieces (A10) that go on the front face of the turret that I am waiting to add. Not sure what they are, kinda "Y" shaped. They remind me of a lourniette, (Impressed?) those old style, handheld eye glasses, that I once saw in a very old movie about the French Revolution. Couldn't find a picture of what I'm talking about. But, you get the idea. Who says you don't learn stuff watching movies. Sorry, I digress. Been waiting for the last photo to upload to Photobucket. Don't know why but sometimes a photo gets to 90% then just sits there spinning its wheels. Finally had to refresh the page, but now the pic is there. I took Olivier's advice and removed the bottle-shaped piece (C78) from the rear of the turret.



So far I'm loving this build, except for some ejection pin marks and locating holes that need to be filled on the undersides of the fenders, no putty was necessary and everything goes together exceedingly well. Thanks for looking, as always, all comments and critiques are welcomed. Al
bison126
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Posted: Monday, April 04, 2016 - 08:42 PM UTC
From what I understand parts A10 are the auxiliary sights.
TAFFY3
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Posted: Monday, April 04, 2016 - 10:25 PM UTC

Quoted Text

From what I understand parts A10 are the auxiliary sights.


Thanks Olivier, that's what I thought they might be for. BTW, I'd like to leave the driver's hatch open and put a driver in there. Do you know of any suitable figures, or half-figures, that are available? Al
bison126
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Posted: Monday, April 04, 2016 - 11:34 PM UTC
Azimut of France issued a set but ordering from them is a bit risky!
There probably are other sets I am not aware of.
Cantstopbuyingkits
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Posted: Tuesday, April 05, 2016 - 12:33 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Azimut of France issued a set but ordering from them is a bit risky!


How so?
HermannB
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Posted: Tuesday, April 05, 2016 - 01:24 AM UTC
Azimut is known for charging the customers CC and NOT delivering. I was lucky enough to get my Lkw Wolf LWB conversion years ago.
GeraldOwens
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Posted: Tuesday, April 05, 2016 - 03:57 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Couldn't stop working on the little beast. Test fit of the upper and lower hulls.





You can see that the fit is excellent, especially on the upper front. In the photo of the back end, you'll notice two small brackets protruding from the fenders. They can be broken easily if you're not careful separating the top from the bottom. Another reason to just cement them together. I skipped around a bit and assembled the large and small tool boxes on the fenders.





Also added the upper half of the intake fan to the underside of the upper hull. The fan is two pieces, I think it will be easier painting the bottom half separately before joining them together. The only piece of PE in the kit is the grill that goes on top of the fan. Then it was on to the turret (couldn't resist). The lower turret.



It has two poly caps that will have pins inserted into them to join the upper and lower turrets together. The upper turret will elevate unless you choose to add the included dust cover. The upper turret.



The barrel is one piece and nary a mold line to be seen. The muzzle brake is two halves, left and right.
The turret temporarily fitted together.



The ammo loading doors attached. The only flash that I've seen so far was on the handle of one door.



There is a small fitting between the doors, and aft of the ventilator, that has to be removed. It's already gone in the photo. Another version in the works perhaps? Wouldn't it be neat if some after-market firm came out with the auto-loaders, and maybe the rest of the turret interior. Thanks for looking. Al

I see the thickness of the forward edge of the turret base appears correct. Other makers depict it as razor thin, rather than a substantial armored casting. If the baggy canvas turret seal is installed, it doesn't matter, but early AMX-13s used a rubber gasket that was bolted to the top edge of the turret base, and slid freely against the upper half (it wasn't a very good dust seal, which is why the later tanks used canvas). Depicting this variant (also used on Egyptian Sherman AMX conversions) would be easier using the Tamiya kit.
TAFFY3
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Posted: Tuesday, April 05, 2016 - 07:15 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Azimut of France issued a set but ordering from them is a bit risky!
There probably are other sets I am not aware of.


Will Not! I say again, Will Not, ever do business with Azimut again. Just mentioning them leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Al
TAFFY3
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Posted: Tuesday, April 05, 2016 - 10:59 PM UTC
Just a small update. 1st, the muffler and its cover were installed on the right fender.



The end of the exhaust pipe (Part C34) was molded hollow, but I deepened it a bit more with a drill bit. To give it more depth and a better appearance. I also attached the three covers for the driver's periscopes (C26 & A27 x 2).



The instructions aren't too clear on just how C26 goes on, but you can figure it out by looking carefully at the part itself. In the photo you'll also see the previously discussed, folded down, rear-view mirror on the left front fender. Next, the arms of the gun travel lock were assembled and added to the lower hull front, along with the hold-down clamp (C86).



With careful assembly the arms can be made movable. I glued the two halves of each base (A6 & A11) together then slipped the pins on the end of each arm into place before the joints hardened. There really is no need for them to be movable, but since the upper half of the lock (C83) is a separate piece, it just gives you the option of showing it in use rather than stowed, if you desire. The front and rear towing shackles were also added at this time. Thanks again for looking. Al
TAFFY3
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Posted: Wednesday, April 06, 2016 - 08:00 PM UTC
I have diverted from out of the box. Tamiya provides a nice half-figure to place in the Commander's hatch. They include a piece to support him (A32) that gets cemented to the underside of the cupola (C15). To me mounting a figure this way is less than optimum. It allows light to enter around him and it's very obvious that it's not a full figure. Awhile back, a friend told me that he boxed in the opening under a hatch when using a bust or half-figure, and painted it black. I've found this works very well and is a lot more convincing. So that's what I've done with this kit. I used a draftsman's template to scribe out a circle for the bottom. Then I measured the height of the post on A32 to cut a strip of plastic to go around the bottom. It took a little finagling to get it to fit in the turret. The trunion for the upper turret intrudes into the the area so the bottom had to be notched out, and one side is cut to fit flat against the inside of the turret.



Here it is installed in the turret.



I had to use tweezers to place it into position and the rectangular piece on the bottom was a piece of scrap glued into place to give me something to grasp. the next photo shows the figure temporarily placed in the opening.



For visual interest, I like the idea of leaving the driver's hatch open and placing a figure in there. So I'll eventually be boxing that area in as well. Suitable figures seem to be very scarce, so I contacted TamiyaUSA about obtaining the sprue containing the parts for the figure from this kit. I was told that the kit is too new for spare parts to be available yet. They said they'll notify me by e-mail when they are. I'm thinking that I'll modify the one that I have to use as the driver. Once his arms are attached I don't think he would fit through the hatch and will have to be fitted into place on the under side of the upper hull before it is finally mated to the lower hull. That's all for now, more to follow. Al
TAFFY3
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Posted: Thursday, April 07, 2016 - 07:34 PM UTC
The TC has been demoted, he's now the driver. His position has been boxed in, and he's mounted to what will be the bottom of the box.



I had to perform a little surgery on him and remove a portion of his left elbow to get him to fit.



Here he is taped temporarily into place.



I'll paint him before permanently cementing him in. I won't be attaching his head 'til later, to make masking the position easier when painting the hull. When the parts become available from Tamiya, I'll order another commander to fill the turret hatch. He can be placed in the hatch even after the build is completed, unlike the driver. Al
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ARMORAMA
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Posted: Thursday, April 07, 2016 - 08:16 PM UTC
Nice touch Al
TAFFY3
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Posted: Thursday, April 07, 2016 - 11:17 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Nice touch Al


Thanks Darren. Since my last post, I've installed the driver's hatch and the triangular head protector in its raised position, together with the linkage that connects the two of them.



The headlight guard assemblies were added to the front fenders. I'll install the lights themselves later on. Tamiya only supplies solid 'lenses' for them. I'll use a drop of epoxy to simulate the glass after the lights are painted. Al
bison126
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Posted: Friday, April 08, 2016 - 03:18 PM UTC
Al,
are the headlight guards fixed to the fenders or just to the glacis which is the right way?

The inner light is attached to the hull while the outer one is attached to the guard. They are not perfectly aligned on the actual tank.

Have a look at one of my walkarounds to see what I mean.

Olivier
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Posted: Friday, April 08, 2016 - 04:44 PM UTC
Al, that looks really good so far. Rats...you are making me want to buy one of these.

Best wishes,

Ian
TAFFY3
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Posted: Friday, April 08, 2016 - 07:51 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Al,
are the headlight guards fixed to the fenders or just to the glacis which is the right way?

The inner light is attached to the hull while the outer one is attached to the guard. They are not perfectly aligned on the actual tank.

Have a look at one of my walkarounds to see what I mean.

Olivier


Hello Olivier, The headlight guards are attached to the glacis, but there is a small pin on each that supports them above the fenders. You could remove it but it is barely visible. In the kit, the IR light gets attached to the frame but the regular headlight goes through the frame to the glacis. Haven't checked out their alignment yet, but looking at the parts, the IR light sits a little further back than the headlight. I won't be adding them 'til later in the build. I have been looking at those walkarounds and they have helped a lot, thanks. Al
TAFFY3
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Posted: Friday, April 08, 2016 - 07:55 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Al, that looks really good so far. Rats...you are making me want to buy one of these.

Best wishes,

Ian


Thanks Ian, I know the feeling. Every time that I swear that I won't add another kit to the stash, something new comes along, or I see something that someone else has built, and the next thing I know. Al
TAFFY3
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Posted: Friday, April 08, 2016 - 10:15 PM UTC
Here is a better photo of the headlight guards, Olivier.



PE might be thinner and more to scale, but they look pretty good to me. Al
bison126
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Posted: Saturday, April 09, 2016 - 12:31 AM UTC
Thanks Al!
It looks like Tamiya did their homework.
TAFFY3
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Posted: Monday, April 11, 2016 - 07:41 AM UTC
Replaced the stubby, kit supplied antennae.



With some new ones made from steel wire and some lengths of hypodermic tubing.





Time to get some paint on it. Have to paint the driver also, so he can be mounted, before joining the upper and lower hulls. Al
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Posted: Monday, April 11, 2016 - 08:14 PM UTC

Quoted Text

A mishap occurred when I attempted to drill out the barrel of the co-ax MG, the bit 'walked'.


You need a little preparation to avoid this. Invariably the the end face has a slope to it or a minute seam (or both) as a result of the molding process. A drill will have a hard time running true against that. First, use a file to make the end face flat and perpendicular to the axis and remove any seam. Second, make a pilot mark in the center. I use a needle in a pin vise. (Others use a knife blade tip but it does not remove material symmetrically and that alone can cause the drill to run off-center.) Third, start with a small drill and clamp it in your pin vise so that only about three to five drill diameters are protruding. This will avoid deflection or breakage. This pilot hole only needs to be about two diameters deep. Finally, when drilling your hole, limit the protrusion and drill depth.

One more thing that helps the appearance but that isn't related to the actual drilling: Make sure the barrel OD is round!

KL
TAFFY3
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Posted: Monday, April 11, 2016 - 09:51 PM UTC
Thanks Kurt, but sometimes, for whatever reason, even when I've done those things, I've found the bit has slipped, or even, as in this case, it started out centered but was the tiniest bit off and came out the side. Part of the problem, or rather most of the problem, is that my hands just aren't as steady as they once were. The "Golden Years" my foot! Al
TAFFY3
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Posted: Monday, April 18, 2016 - 01:31 AM UTC
Been a long time since my last post. I haven't given up, just been doing battle with some kind of stomach bug, first the wife, then the kids, and then, just when I thought I dodged a bullet, me. Today I did finally get a chance to get some paint on the beast. More to follow. Al
Tojo72
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Posted: Wednesday, April 27, 2016 - 10:51 PM UTC
Hi Al,

I will be starting mine this weekend,wonder what green you will be using ?
TAFFY3
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Posted: Tuesday, May 10, 2016 - 09:35 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Hi Al,

I will be starting mine this weekend,wonder what green you will be using ?


Hello Anthony, Sorry I took so long to answer your question. I missed your post and I've been otherwise occupied with the things that keep you away from the modeling workbench. I'm using Testor's MM Medium Green (FS34102) as the base color. Here are some pix of the lower hull, upper hull, and the turret.





I also started with a couple of washes using black and and a very dark green to bring out the details.









Typical for Tamiya the wheels are held on by polycaps and will be removed for ease of weathering.

One other note, there is a seam where the front and rear halves of the weather seal meet on both sides of the turret.



Don't remove it, though hard to spot in photos, I realized after close examination, that it's supposed to be there. Al
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