Italeri Kfz 305 Opel Blitz with Tamiya 20mm Flak 38 MIT Sd.Ah.51

[Steve Jones]

Hi Everyone

MrT - I saw that. I have sanded them down as best as possible but it doesn't look like one solid piece. I will try again
Scottie - I will try that as wire wool gets everywhere:thumb2:
Jim - More madness to come. Sadly Matron is late bringing my pills again:smiling3:

Well after a day roasting in the garden it was nice to cool down with a little bench time. Firstly I would like to start with a mini rant. I would luv to go to a kit manufacturing plant and find out how the moulding process is designed. I can deal with seam lines. I can deal with flash. I can even deal with the odd badly formed part but injector marks on the front of parts that are clear to see??!! How difficult can it be to put the marks on the back of the part out of sight of the viewer. This seems to happen all the time

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Any way rant over. The injector marks have been filled and sanded. The wheels went together well. They even supplied a spare for under the chassis

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I completed the detailing on the rear axle with the completion of the ribs and the addition of some bolt heads

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I still cant bring myself to finish the springs so I jumped to the next section which deals with the engine parts

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I am no engine person and all the parts will be fitted as is. However if you want to detail the engine this is a good base to work from. None of this can be fitted until I finish the chassis detailing so it was onto the rear floor

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This is the blank canvas that the kit offers you

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Firstly the wood parts are heavily sanded with the coarsest sand paper I have. Then I sawed off the back end

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Next I added wood grain to the planks with heavy marking with a craft knife at each end. The a few grooves along the length of the plank

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However at the sawn off end I went to town on the grooves adding as much damage as possible. Then the rear end was reattached giving a nice worn out look

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Thats it for today. Thank you all for your continued support

Steve

[Fernando N]

Homemade springs very nice Steve and good job with the hood hooks.:thumb2:
Great woodwork too, keep it coming.

Fernando

[Guest]

Hi Steve sorry for being stupid, you added the bolt heads to back of the diff housing using Johnsons Klear, what as a glue ???
Pete.

[Wouter]

Seems like someone really likes etch and extra detailing ey ^^. Nice build Steve, and what an original way of trimming the mould seams on wheels :smiling2:

Cheers

[Steve Jones]

Hi Everyone

Fernando - Springs are on the sidelines at the moment as my attentions are being diverted elsewhere:smiling3:
Pete - That's right. It's ideal for difficult to reach places. You need to apply a couple more coats once dry. Its far from perfect but the ease and lack of glue stains does make it appealing
Wouter - Cheers mate. Some bling on its way

Sorry everyone but I have had no time this week to do regular updates so here we go

First heat damage was added to all the fenders. This will become more evident during the painting phase

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The PE rear mud flaps were made up and added to the mudguards

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The rear number plate was replaced with a selection of PE items and a strip of plastic. The number plate was bent up. When the decal is applied it's quite a good look. Certainly better than the kit offering on the left

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If you look on the original photo there is a row of jerry cans on the L/H side. However there was a lovely PE box which I decided to make and put there instead. So I have moved the jerry cans to the other side

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The rear kit boxes are nicely detailed. So rather than replace the padlock and clasp I left as is and just added hinges and brackets

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In between these boxes is a PE jerry can holder. I have made this up and put in a captured American can from the battle at Kasserine pass. I also added a pin and chain for interest

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Next I turned my attention to the make shift jerry can holder. The picture showed seven cans. So I made these up and checked to see if they would fit

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Next I stuck them all together with two decent ones at the ends

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The easy way to make the frame would be to just stick the strips of plastic to the cans. However I wanted to create depth so I built the frame around the cans. I used styrene strip and brackets

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Then I added strengthening bars at each end and then a holding bar all the way around the centre of the cans

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I added a padlock and rivets for extra detailing

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So now I have a drying table with a lot of components that all need to be put together. However firstly I need to look at making the sledge.

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Thanks for watching

Steve

[Si Benson]

Evening Mr Steve,
Ever so sorry for missing so many updates. I’ve just had a thoroughly good catch up with all yer mods and extra odds and sods.
Very impressed with how the tyres turned out....I’d never of thought to rough em up, they look good like that.
You’ve done loads to improve this kit...I only did some PE on my Italeri one as a practice piece but you’ve really gone the whole hog:thumb2:
Keep it rolling mate. If you want any more pics give us a shout:smiling4:
Si

[rtfoe]

Whoah...after going through the pages I need to rest my eye from all that bling. This is what happens when you miss so many updates.

Steve, must you detail the undercarriage as well...you're killing me. Overall fantastic work.:thumb2:

Cheers,
Richard

[JR]

Steve.
You are indeed related to Mr T with out doubt !
Mad as a box of drunk frogs ,but I like you.:hungry:
Matron will be around later to tuck you in.:flushed:
Blown away mate, just amazing .
JR.

[Steve Jones]

Hi Everyone

Si - Thanks for the offer mate:thumb2: You know me, I like to add lots of detail:smiling3:
Richard - I am thinking of doing all the wiring on the under carriage as well but we will see how I feel when I get to it
JR - Sadly not mate as I am a southern softy. However I am certifiably madder than Mad Jack McMad, the winner of last year’s Mr Madman competition:smiling5:

Well today has been a rewarding day at the bench. The task was to scratch build the sledge for the flak unit to go on. I have unashamedly copied Ron Lebert's wonderful blog that he did in 2010 on the site with no name about how to build the sledge. Although not as good as his, and despite the disaster at the end, it hasnt turned out to bad.

So firstly we need a base.

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Following Ron's hand made scale drawing of the base, I cut a piece to the right size and added a central line to work off.

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I then drew on the shape that needs to be cut away. I dont have the correct tools to do this exactly so I used free hand and then sanded it into shape.

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I then checked the Flak base would fit in position okay:thumb2:

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Next I made the stops for the three feet on the Flak base. I dont have a drill bit this size so again this was done free hand and they came out "okay"

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Next I had to build a simple frame underneath. I did not have the correct size struts so I doubled up the ones I had and glued them together

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These were then cut to size according to Ron's instructions, sanded and glued into place. I also added a couple of supporting struts

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Next the rollers were made from these parts. One day I will learn how to cut a piece of tubing straight:smiling2:

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These were then put at the front and end of the sledge. There should be one in the middle but as this will not be seen I didnt bother

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Next I attempted the criss cross support at the top. My first effort on the R/H side was to thick. So I cut a smaller strip and this looked far better

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Final detailing was added with copper handles, bolt heads and rivets

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I then put it onto the truck and DISASTER! It was too long!!. Ron had designed his sledge to go up against the back board of the truck. I actually needed mine to be shorter and supported by a plank of wood bolted onto the floor.DOH! So I had to go all the way back to the beginning and build another one. Yeah - that aint happening:thinking:. So I cut 7mm off the end and redid the handles which I was happy to do as I was not happy with the first ones. The cross members were left as is so it's a little out of proportion. However if we dont tell any one we should get away with it:tongue-out3:

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So as you can see it fits as it should do and the support plank will fit okay now and it still leaves the damaged plank ends showing:thumb2:

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The support planks around the outside will be tomorrows challenge

Thanks for watching.

Steve

[JR]

Steve.
A cunning piece of scratchery indeed. The wood work dept here at Race Towers are highly impressed with the timber work on the bed.
JR

[bazers]

Great detail work Steve.

[scottie3158]

Steve,
A cracking job so far, nicely done.
Scottie

[Guest]

Hi Steve great scratch work on the sledge, I like it a lot, well done sir :thumb2: keep it coming.
Pete.

[Allen Dewire]

Evening Stevie Wonder,
Wow Buddy, it looks like you're leaving no stone unturned here. Don't you love the scratching business to death!!! It appears that you get it right only on the second try. I really like the worn wood work on the back of the bed. It adds character to the whole scheme of things. A good fix on the length hiccup too. Keep it coming Sir!!!
Prost
Allen

[minitnkr]

Very strong Steve. Love the foil work, and the buckles! PaulE