Model Armour

I had to order it from Hong Kong. They're not out in the US, yet.

Waiting patiently....




Woody...

Finally managed to get some bench time last night and this morning to do some work. I've pretty much got the upper hull done and I've hit a slight snag - some poor fit.

Here is an overall shot of the hull. You can see a gap at the point where the glassis plate and the upper hull plate meet.


and a better view of it here.




I had a choice. Either I was going to have a gap at two sections of the turret tub on the left or a straight seam at the hull plate. The only remedy, short of lengthening the upper hull plate, was filling and sanding and I had to make a choice. The gaps at the turret tub were a little over 1.5 mm. To fix that, I would have to fill it, sand and smooth. If I left the gap at the front shown in the image, then all I'd need would be a straight piece of stretched sprue to fill it. That's what I opted for.

Right side view (or starboard for us salty types).


and the aft section



Other than that gap in the front, no fit issues. All in all, so far, a really nice kit and an easy build.

Now on to the turret.

The basics on the turret tub. Forgive me if I get some of the terms incorrect.
Lots of flash on the parts for the interior of the turret that required a lot of cleanup. Fit was generally good. The only fit issue I had was the installation of the shell ejection chutes, parts C68 and C69. There are twp covers (part B5) for the chutes that fit on the bottom of the tub. The instructions had you install them in step 24, but the ejection chutes, which must fit under them, get installed in step 26. If you install the covers to far down, like I did, then the chutes won't fit. I had to remove a locating pin on the two parts to get the chutes to fit. I recommend that the ejection chutes get installed first.



Another view.



Looking ahead. In step 27, the instructions call for the installation of the left side gun trunnion, part C61. In Terry Ashley's build review, he mentioned that this trunnion should not be installed her. Rather, he suggests that you build the entire gun mount first, then install it. I'll be following Terry's recommendation, as it appears that it's going to be much easier.

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/r ... 35042.html


Now, on to the gun mount.

Nice progress Steve!

You are burning through this!

Steve

Evening Guys,

Here, I've completed the twin 40's and the mount for them. Love the detail on the breech end.
In the last update, I mentioned that I followed Terry A's advice during the assembly of the turret floor. In the kit, they had you put the left side trunnion in the turret floor, then assemble the guns and mounts then add them to the already installed other trunnion. Well, that didn't seem to work and I followed Terry's advice. That lead me to another problem, but an easy one to fix.

I assembled the guns and trunnion mounts in one assembly. When I tried to dry fit them to the turret floor, I found that I couldn't get them in past the two drive assembly motors. That's because there was a locating pin on each trunnion that mounted to the drive motors already installed in the turret tub. SImple solution, cut them off. That's what the white spot is on the image below.



And here we have the twin breeches.



One thing I'd like to point out. See the dome shaped thingy in both images? (Sorry, don't know what it is). YOu can articulate it so that it stays in the same plane when the guns are elevated. Nice touch, but in my case not necessary. Eventually I'll glue the articulating arms so it doesn't move once I determine final position.

Steve

What a level of detail on the gun and turret

Magnificent work Steve, keep it coming!

Philipp

Thanks, Philipp

"What a level of detail on the gun and turret "

Yes it is. Marvelous. A far cry from the ancient Tamiya kit, that's for sure.

Nice work Steve, it really does look a good kit. Lots of painting to be done

Chris

Hi Steve
This is coming along nicely.
very Nice detail & plenty of parts in the Turret space.

Shaun