Joe,

Two words: out standing!

ref cutting circles i have a compass with a scapel handle secured to it, also depending on what size circles you make the most of buy a larger compass and drill 2 holes through the scalpel handle and place a slot in the compass so the blade is at the correct height to use. the restriction on this last method is it cant be used to make small circles.

Awesome work Joe. Having done this before (my article was in Oct 2006 issue of Model Military International), it's neat to follow your build and note how the construction took a similar path (yours is much neater than mine, however!) Here's a few pics of how mine turned out, hope you don't mind the 'hijack', but if others are contemplating this, it's not really that hard, just have to break it down into smaller parts, eg, start with the floor, then engine compartment, etc, and it won't seem as such a big task.






Cheers,
Jim

Well for cutting ovals, it’s like this. First draw the lines of how wide it’s going (blue) to be then the lines how wide(red). Using my circle template draw the size circles needed at both ends(green). Using a sharp knife cut lightly at first and deeper as you go.

Now to get it’s shape and smooth, I used a wide handled paint brush and wrapped sanding paper around it and sanded till it looked right.



Ti, doing the nuts were easy as well. I just sliced many, many and many. I sliced them as close of the thickness of the hole, just barley going over the top. Glued them in place and using a sanding stick lightly sand them flat.

Hey Jim, yes I did happen to run across yours during my on-line search for interior shots along with some others great references, by the way yours looks great. Would you happen to have any shots of the gunners station, I was able to get these from a few members.

Thanks Joe, that was a really usefull tip. Never thought of using a brush handle for sanding.

Erik

Hey all it’s been sometime since my last update, my new medication has me less motivated. Anyhow I was able to do some touch up painting today. I still have a few things to add along the sides and add in the center benches. I’d like to thank the following for their help and many reference photos that aided in the build…ptruhe, bison126, jungleJim and HeavyArty...thanks guys.













I’m hoping to have the interior done and buttoned up this weekend, and to start on the exterior work. More to come…

Joe

Hey Joe. You've done it again. You are simply a master at what you do. Everything is dso darn neat. Do you use a precision cutter or what?? BTW, what did you use for the seat cushions? I'm interested in doing something like that. I'm really envy at your way of getting everything so perfect. Great job.

Thanks Charles, as for a precision cutter…no just my trusty hobby knife, 6inch metal ruler and cutting matt. As for the seat cushions ,which I was a bit sloppy in doing are made by using baking modeling clay. There’s no end to using this stuff, just make what ever you need and bake at 250 degrees for 10-15mins.

Charles… follow this LINK here, it'll give you more information.

Joe

It's looking great Joe. Good job so far. Can't wait to see it done. Are you going to do it with the RAMS/RS upgrade to the tracks and new exhaust?

What an ambitious project!
But it's coming out fairly nice!
Great work!

Joe thats amazing!! Everything looks just so neat and perfect, you have done a masterful job with the plasti card there and all the little components look spot on. You'll be laughing at anyone whos spent a fortune on the Hobby fan kit.

Will you be building this as a RAM/RS version with EAAK?? Ive just picked up an EAAK kit and Tamiya base model, I dont think after the Bradley though that I can be bothered to scratch another interior for a while. I will be watching this build with great interest.

Joe,

Absolutely fantastic. You got skills! Can't wait for further progress shots.

Joe,
I don't often use the superlative - stunning. But in this case what else can I say! Tremendous job!

Mike

Wow, Joe, that looks incredible. Ive been watching this thread with silent enthusiasm, and I gotta finally speak up and say this thing looks amazing. Man, you really have some serious scratch building skills. I wouldnt have the patience to do all that. Keep us posted, cant wait to see the rest of it!

Gary

Thanks Joe. I figured you used something like that. I saw this clay in a hobby store, so now I have an excuse to buy it. Thanks for the link. I appreciate it. Again Joe. This model is going to be your masterpiece. Thanks for inspiring me.

Pleased to help. And when I see what you can do, it's a real pleasure to be of some use.
I love the details you add like the heater conduct, the radio set, the instrument panel and so on.
Why bothering paying so much for a Hobby Fan interior set ? Just do it yourself

Olivier

Excellent work Joe,Joe, with the paint on there you would not know that was not an AM interior, very impressive.

Regards from the Swamp

Eth

Amazing with what someone can do with plastic card!
Terrific work!!

Well I finally got it buttoned up, and did the welding in the seams. The welds were done by gluing on 0.4mm rod with Ten-X, and then using the Ten-X to soften the plastic I took a number 11 blade and broke the tip of and closely pressed into the rod to simulate the weld bead.

The EAAK blocks are Evergreens 1x2mm strips. If my calculations are close then that makes them 1.5 inch by 3 inches in 1/35th. They took two days of laying and gluing them on, I used Hobby Fans instruction sheet as a guide.

I’m now off to paint, and for the first time I’ll be painting in the whole camouflage scheme using the airbrush. In the past I’d just airbrush in the green then using Q-tips filling in the last two colors by rolling the paint on with the Q-tip. It does work out pretty good, but there are to many lumps and bumps on this build. I’ll post more tomorrow with it’s cammo on.

Joe

You posted that pic for me didn't ya? Just so I'd know exactly what I did wrong on my scratchbuilt one? Yeah? Well It worked. :-) I can see exactly what I did wrong AND what I did right. :-)

Looks freaking awesome, Joe! I wanna know how we're gonna see the rest of the finished interior now that the cap is on? I mean, good job on the blocks and everything, but, I wasn't done marveling at the amazing interior ya did! You did snap a few more piccies, didn't ya?

Erin Go Bragh!
Cuhail

Joe this is simply amazing!!!!!! It looks absolutley fantastic, and soo well deatiled. Have you got any shots of the interior of the turret you have done? I feel i may be getting bitten by the AAV7 bug....hmm now wheres my Tamiya kit!? Those weld beads looks stunning.

Looking fantastic Joe. May I ask how you did the welds?

Charles,
What I’ve done was use a 0.4mm round rod, then glue it in place with Ten-X or any liquid cement. Don’t use superglue to glue in place, the liquid cement won’t penetrate through the superglue and soften the plastic rod.

In fig.1 and fig.2 shows a no.#11 blade, in fig.2 the tip is broken of just at the tip.

Now your ready to weld, first run a couple of passes of cement over the rod, about an inch or two at a time. Then take the blade and press into the soften rod. Small soft jabs is all needed. It’s almost like welding for real. There are other ways in doing weld beads, but I found this way to be easier and realistic. Oh yeah…if you mess up some just let it harden and go over it again. Also you don’t want to really get the rod soaked with the cement or it’ll just turn to blob.



Joe

Well here she is with some paint. The green is Model Masters while the other two are from Tamiya. This is the first time I used my airbrush to do a three color cammo paint job, it was so easy enough to do that I will continue to do so from now on. Next step is to lighten the three colors some to highlight certain areas. The hardest part doing armor (for me) are the tracks, I did a search here and found some great suggestions.

Joe

Wow Joe thanks for the tip and boy does it look fantastic after painting it. You are a fantastic modeller Joe. Thanks for sharing. BTW, is it a must I use this particular type of glue or does any modeller glue work?