How did they get such a big bridge on a little Renault?

I agree looking good so far.

It must have been very well balanced

LOL. Well, the Renault is just for scale comparison in the photo. In fact, the Renault is actually too small to even go over it!

Thanks, my kit went together pretty well. The lower hull was slightly warped and I couldn't figure out the rear, engine fan doors, based on the instructions. They seemed to describe it backwards or something like that. Anyway I glued them in and walked away to the next step.

The mold release material they used on my kit was thick enough to scrape off with a slotted screwdriver, though







Haha

Yeah, the mold release agent on this thing was nuts! It was sticky and thick like resin. Had to soak everything in Simple Green to get it off.

I would like to change to the Rye Field Model BergeTiger.
Is that okay?

No problem, should be a very nice build, looking forward to it, Tom!

Am constantly impressed by the builds going on here, as well as the selection of kits. Kind of makes my bumbling along seem out of place, but for whatever it is worth here is the latest update....



Starting to make the push pads. The fancy ones are for the sides and the simple one is on the center. You can see my lights in progress. Basically thick clear plastic, tin foil and in the case of the marker light... Tamiya Clear Orange.



You can see the light setup in the one side push pad. Didn't figure that I would be able to do a decent job painting it all after it was built so I did it now.



The center push pad sort of in place. I have gotten pretty good at stacking stuff to hold things like the push pads in place.



The three push pads hanging in place. I need to do a bit of adjustment and then I will glue them solid. The support system is a modification of the one shown in the Leopard Trilogy books.... as that shows an early configuration, and I am modeling a later one.

Next back to the work deck frame. This will also include the tow points that come up through the work deck at the front.

Later, Bob

I don't know what you mean by 'bumbling along'; your scratch-built conversion is amazing!

I concur, you are far along,

Bumbling along Bob? You scratch build faster than I unbox a kit!

That is a lot of fine looking plastic hanging off that beast.

Love the way you created the lights.

Here is my start up photo Of the BergeTiger by Rye.


Tom

Here is my in progress photo.
Base coat of paint is on, now on to weathering.

That's looking great Tom, another one of my must-haves!

Bob, Tom, Looking good!

Nice B.Panzer, Tom!

That was a fast build Tom. Must be a fairly decent kit to build. Any issues with fit or anything?

Got the bridge span planked, painted, and distressed:



Still need to distress the steel parts in order to start bringing it together.

Looking pretty authentic there, Mark!

Hope I can finish this one in time. Just found out I'm moving to different job in a different part of the country in June or July. Going to be tight!

That is the look I was only trying to achieve. That looks super realistic! This is going to be a fantastic looking bridgelayer.

Sweet finish there Mark.

Are you kidding me?! I'm using your build as the benchmark I'm aiming for! I don't think I'll come close, but at least you've shown me what it SHOULD look like!

Thanks for the comments, everyone!

KoSprueOne,
Did you find that nothing on this kit fits the way it is supposed to? Every hole is a little too small for whatever is supposed to go in it, and the "turret" and lift arm supports don't fit on the raised alignment marks without major trimming. Crazy! But, then, what did I expect from a Russian kit?

yes, yes, yeah, and yup. Some of the grab handles were either numbered incorrectly on the I-Sheets or they didn't fit. The engine deck access panel had to be shaved down a little to fit, etc.