And also dental floss.

Just hoping that a US 5mm is the same as a Down Under 5mm. And as Tim is well aware, I’ve made the conversion from “tire” to “tyre” some time ago.🙃

—mike

Even though un needed in the end,Frenchie comes through right away with even the most obscure request.
J

Hmm dental floss eh?…what gauge? Yes JR we really ought to declare Frenchy an International Treasure. Meanwhile it was one long grind this week, after a couple of hours slicing/applying strips of masking tape…





…couldn’t miss - hard thumbnail pressure along each slat to keep it tight, slap on the pale wood paint, when dry peel off & hey presto, right? Wrong, the paint bled into the channels between each slat & then crept under the tape because the slats were never reliably flat, resulting in ragged edges everywhere. I got away with it on previous benches because the 3 or 4 wood tones didn’t contrast so much but here it was like black vs white. So another hour or so was spent retouching with a 3-hair brush, not particularly well. Moving on, to cover my dumb observational error when re-paneling the cab I resorted to a bit of trompe l’oeil painting to create the undercut…





The brake(?)-wheel assembly on the right side of the cab at each end awaits Our Solid Man in Colorado’s components. To dodge the nasty surprise of inset panels on the inside of the doors I pulled another trick…



As you can see these “inset” panels are extra panels glued onto the flat door, but if you close one eye and squirt some mace in the other…



Another unpleasant revelation was the extra set of bars on the inside of each door. To minimize the tedium I made up a paper jig (so that the glued assembly didn’t stick to the template) drawn up like a ladder to churn out ready-made trios that could be painted before attaching…



Some illuminating components from the spares boxes…



…and other cast-offs for ceiling fixtures. Mk III/IV return rollers anyone…?



Dry-fit trials…











An approximation at best, but hopefully by the time all the glass & passengers are installed it’ll pass muster. Last construction steps (before exterior painting) will be the vents & other roof-top elements plus the sunshades-housing outside the compartment windows, and then this Trial by Scratch-building will be, finally, over.

A long tedious haul for sure but it always pays off in the end buddy. No exception here.
J

I guess that round went over some heads.😁 Here you go... Frank Zapa – ‘Montana’
🎸🎺🎷🥁🎹... 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

And I thought I was the only one who spent 10yrs on one dio, HA! This is monumental in detail Bro, doesn't look like you're missing a thing. the inside detail is crazy, wow.

Ruck On Bby! Cheers, Ski.

beautifully done!

Thanks guys I’m not so sure it’s as good as it could be but let’s see how it looks at the end. Yeah Mike that was one 747 alright, I only remember you should never eat the yellow snow

for a true craftsman, every project is only practice for the next one.

Watch out where the Huskies go and don't you eat that Yellow Snow.
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 2

Cool Tim , scratchin some beautiful , clever , McGuyver parts !!
Stunning interior work .

Yes those were the days eh Robert Jan, when for a few bucks we could go to gigs without being strip-searched & enjoy great sets like Olivia Newton-John biting the heads off live chickens…uh hang on…

Thanks Glenn it’s a fine line between improv recycling & cheapskating, I’m proudly the latter mainly to compensate for these 3 kits costing me the equivalent of US$60 each for a chassis, half a floor & roof, and some passengers. Anyhow hope you’ll enjoy this ep over your toasted muffins…

Tricky to get forensic detail on the roof elements from available images but I got close enough for purpose. All scratched from the spares box, first step was to audition possible headlight elements…



T34 fuel tanks, Mk IV axles & Tiger smoke dischargers won the day…



No chance of finding this complex cover shape in the box so after several attempts at a template with 0.13mm Evergreen sheet (x2)…



The power arms…



Components review…



Fixtures & fittings…



Paint-shop…



Like the driver trams I didn’t want a uniform appearance because these vehicles had been tootling around in all weathers for years. Humbrol 32 flat grey enamel followed by skimmed-milk-consistency cheap artist acrylic washes of light beige and then black, lovingly caressed on with a broad soft square brush…



It’s exactly because the pigment quality is so crap that this kind of weathered effect just materialises as it dries…



Semi-final roof assembly, and a daylight screen-test for the roof tones…



Yep total waste of time from street level, but from 1/35 pigeon-cam…



Hmm never thought about some bird poo, it should be everywhere…anyhow the stowed power arms are just resting on their mounts because they’re way too fragile to attach with their cables until post-painting (I’ve already snapped off one of the tow bars)…



So, still awaiting the wheels package…hey Mike when you er Justsentit you didn’t literally mean “ship” it? When they’re installed I’ll have run out of (pre-body-painting) attachable items so I’ve sent some squads of mites into the spray-booth to clear out the dust. Alright it’s just a big cardboard box. Meanwhile, apart from the several hundred redundant items still on sprues in all 3 kit boxes (worth around US$100) here’s what’s left on the bench…



Next project: Death Star with full interior

Excellent spare parts gizmology !! The weathering looks the part also .
I don't know about the pigeon poo though , might not be readily recognizable unless you added the pigeons [ more work ] .
Speaking of pigeon poo and yellow snow , I got in big trouble last week . I went into town to go swimming in our public pool . I had to pee so I went in the deep end , life guard must have noticed cause he blew his dam whistle so loud I almost fell in .............

More brilliance. Yes Shep would be proud.
Cheyenne you crack me up brother,
J

This process is more than epic, as for some time a lot people feel the need to express their feelings with music, because that says it all. As for Zappa, this one from the Steve Allen show beats it.
Americans really had some sense of humor...
https://youtu.be/y9P2V0_p6vE

Regards,

Robert Jan

Yep, sounds about right — envelope outbound on the USPS Slow Boat “To” China, 05-23-2019 Mountain Time. Probably had to sail the boat East over the Rockies in order to go West to OZ... only to be detained by the Tariff Police. Hope you’ll get a handle on those hand-wheels soon.

Cheers!🍺
—Mike

Thanks guys – Jerry, he taught me most of what I (think I) know. Glenn, luckily I’d just finished my customary pre-dinner Bahama Mamas this time, or else I’d have been reverse-drinking through my nose again – nice try though! Robert Jan, wow never seen that early FZ gem before, thanks – so the crux of the biscuit really is the apostrophe, as Mike already knew…haha yeah I was thinking I’ll probably have to pay an extra 25% of sweet fanny adams before Customs releases the ahem package…which could take me some conceptual time to arrange with a Philosophy broker. Or maybe there’s some high level homeland security code red meetings happening…”Why would this guy in Colorado mail tiny plastic wheels to a guy in Sydney Australia? It’s some kinda code & we need to crack it”. Brace for the front door being smashed in at zero dark 30 mate, tell ‘em nothing

LOL , yeah , hopefully I'll get you again one of these days . Can't you scratch the hand wheels ? Your scratching skills are great . Even though we live in a golden age of modeling where almost everything is manufacture available , the skills we learned at scratching things when we were younger are still with us and sometimes the challenge is a reward in itself .
Speaking of being younger , and poorer , my parents weren't well to do but we got by . I remember my parents not being able to afford good clothes for us kids and had to buy all our clothes at the Army and Navy store , I went to school up to the sixth grade dressed as a Japanese admiral ..........

hey Tojo sure I can draw perfect circles freehand but a man’s gotta know his limitations. Besides I went to the Post Office today to see if they’d received The Colorado Dispensation (© Robert Ludlum) yet. No dice but the staff were very sympathetic…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1H34BEPFrE

(hope the choreo wasn’t performing)

Murphy's Law: Scratch them and they will come... or is that from ‘Field of Dreams?’ Hmmm.🤔

Charo? Hmmm.🤔

Did it just get even weirder here? Mike I thought my last link was obscure enough - even Cheyenne’s Registry Of Comedy Kickass came up empty on line-dancing. A real end-of-semester mood anyhow with only those pesky wheels to fix after so many months of relentless tram construction…they’re still out there somewhere & a couple of howitzer crews in the cabinet are looking increasingly nervous. Meanwhile it’s a good opportunity to review the bigger picture so here’s A…or possibly The…Plan;

Paint Tram 1 – in the dio it’ll be the one parked on the approach to the bend with only the front/offside visible, maybe also doubling as the tram trundling (i.e. slightly blurred) past the scene on the straight street from the opposite direction. I made most of my mistakes on T1 and will probably make some more in the painting/decal-ing, so T2 & the trailer should benefit from any lessons learned.

Decals - Bodoni MT font for the lettering & Algerian bold in 3 point sizes for the numbers - all up 20 decals which hopefully a mob like Custom Hobby Decals can make. But first the Algerian font isn’t exactly right (extra serifs required) & on the real thing the numbers are shadowed so I’m using MS Paint to make those modifications. They’re a kind of flat gold tinge which may be awkward to reproduce as decals, best I can do on a pc is an elusive ochre-ish shade which seems to work OK tested against the red…



Not forgetting route-number decals, which I had (!) until writing this. Then the really tricky part - black or gold pin-striping on every panel x 3. Fantasy Printshop offers sheets of 13 cm. waterslide decal stripes from 0.25mm width upwards in the right colours, they’ll do OK although little chance I’ll be able to reproduce the tiny scrolly bits in each corner with them.

Once all 3 trams are painted & final bits attached they’ll go into storage & I’m in three minds about what to do next - the base, the truck(s?), or the multi-posed figures…from memory I need about 8 Heydrichs, 15 other individuals ranging between about 2 & 10 poses each, and a handful of one-offs such as the tram drivers. So maybe re-working the 30-odd storyboard sketches I drew last year will help make my mind up, this time in more detail (& reduced to a more practicable 20) because over the intervening months additional issues have surfaced regarding angles, gradients, backgrounds, lighting, the overhead lines, and exactly how I’ll switch from pristine to damaged vehicle appearances during photography. And the IED; long-standing lurkers will recall past blasts but this time there’s no room for error so the firing range will run hot in a few months’ time.

A better storyboard will probably point to the base being next…which isn’t the desired answer, as it’s likely we’ll be moving residence again within the next few months so I’d prefer to tackle that construction after we’ve settled in. Yet another consideration is whether the diorama, post-photography, could be reverted back to the moment just before the grenade exploded. And whether I even want to do that, or leave the scene in aftermath mode - I can’t represent the Reconstruction scene because I’m not using those substitute trams’ numbers.

So, only about 200 decisions to go & I’ll be done

As a fellow detail wonk,even I am impressed by how far down in the weeds you are going on this build. Impressive!
I can remember a fierce debate on here back when I was doing an Ardennes dio concerning the type and color of stones in my building but even that doesn't hold a candle to this level of wonkiness. Good job!
J

I have to concede. the Minutiae Marauders have struck!

You’re not the only one getting English lessons Jerry, I’ve never ever come across “wonk” as a word or its meaning - only “wonky” which (in UK, referring to an object) means deranged…which is kinda what you guys really meant right?

And now….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOuBjLwOALI



Thanks Mike - at last! The 3-week delay between the May 23 postmark, June 11 Sydney Central receipt stamp & delivery today might be explained by the last line of my address – maybe it was diverted to MGM Studio’s 1939 address for forwarding? No sign of Customs tampering although a guy in a dark suit & hat has been leaning against a lamp-post across the street since last night… I’ll get to work on them tonight & reveal over the weekend. Cheers mate & until you get over here for the real thing here’s a bunch of virtual beers

⚡️⛈💨 🌊 ⛴ ... “a three hour tour... a three hour tour”... 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶 🤦‍♂️