1/72 UM SU-100 Self Propelled Gun.

[Jim R]

Hi all
Now this is going to prove rather more of challenge than I thought. I should have listened to Jakko :tongue-out3:
I set to with a happy heart and got this far. The plastic is very soft and it is much smaller than I imagined but it went OK.


Before sticking the wheel axles on the other side I had a look at the wheels themselves. The instructions tell you to put on the rubber tyres - not to glue them.


You can't glue this "gum elastic" stuff as they call it. It is made of a strange, stretchy material that is untouched by any glue I have :thinking: I doubt it would take paint either and that is why the box art just shows them unpainted. They are also nothing like the real thing! I think they are left over car tyres!!!


I took some strip styrene, wrapped it around a rod, stuck it in boiling water and then cold water a few times and cut along the length to give circles which I will use for tyres.




Tried it out and it worked. Just needs a little clean up. There's 20 wheels to put tyres on :crying:


I was having a tootle around the old tinterweb and found this photo. An Egyptian SU-100 destroyed in one of the Arab/Israeli conflicts.


Now I know that wrecked armour is very, very hard to model. My namesake, AKA Grumpa, is the master at it. This one actually doesn't look too difficult - famous last words.

So the plan is to imagine that the SU-100 has been hit by a Bazooka/RPG or something. X marks the spot


A length of knackered track, a couple of wrecked wheels, a bent up, pewter mud guard and a load of black pigment and job's a goodun :tongue-out3:

That's the plan at the moment.

Stay safe everyone.
Jim

[JR]

OOh nice Jim. I like it. Great work on those hard tyres , really impressive. About to try some bending of plastic sheet, was considering that use of cold water after the boiling.

[Guest]

Now this is going to prove rather more of challenge than I thought. I should have listened to Jakko :tongue-out3:

Told you so

You can't glue this "gum elastic" stuff as they call it. It is made of a strange, stretchy material that is untouched by any glue I have :thinking:

Pattex sells a superglue that comes with a kind of marking pen containing some chemical that will make superglue adhere to plastics that are normally unglueable. I wonder if it would work for this.

They are also nothing like the real thing! I think they are left over car tyres!!!

I get the impression they were trying for the type of tyres on T-34s that have small notches in them:

[ATTACH]404398[/ATTACH]

… but didn’t quite get the size right

I took some strip styrene, wrapped it around a rod, stuck it in boiling water and then cold water a few times and cut along the length to give circles which I will use for tyres.

Nice!

Now I know that wrecked armour is very, very hard to model. My namesake, AKA Grumpa, is the master at it. This one actually doesn't look too difficult - famous last words.

That’s what I thought of my M113 too …

So the plan is to imagine that the SU-100 has been hit by a Bazooka/RPG or something.

In that case, your work putting tyres on at least half the wheels was wasted (assuming you did all twenty already). An AFV that has burned out usually misses all of its tyres where the fire actually raged, as you can see in your photo of the real thing.

[Lee Drennen]

Jim. The improvements look great

[Steve Jones]

You certainly have your work cut out Jim. Keep at it my friend. It will be worth it once done

[Si Benson]

Well done getting some decent looking rubber on the wheels...ingenious :nerd:

[Jim R]

Hi all
Thanks for all your comments :thumb2:
Most reference photos and the box art shown spare track links across the front. The kit uses 7 individual links for this. Because I want to show a wreck with a broken track I thought I would need some extra individual links to use for the bend in the shed track. I decided to resin cast the 7 links for across the front.
A box made from a fruit juice carton and glued together with a cheap hot glue gun. Rubber poured.


Mould removed


Filled with resin


Just need some cleanup.


Completed the undamaged side of track.


Removable for painting.


I didn't realise how small this is at 1/72 - just 8cm long.

Jim

[Lee Drennen]

Jim. Nice updates I like the molding reminds me back in the day I used to cast

[wotan]

Jim

Very nice job on this mini. Tell what product do you use for making the rubber mold and what resin do you use?

John

[Richard48]

Nice work and great job with doing ypur own castings.Some great work allround.
Excellent.
Richard

[JR]

Just the sort of thing Simon would do , cast it. Your taking this to another level with the casting Jim. Well done you, when's the pewter going to appear, perfect for doing bent bits !

[rtfoe]

Jim, putting everything into the mix including moulding tracks with resin. :thumb2: ...the Simon touch.

Cheers,
Richard

[Si Benson]

Tidy work getting the track and wheels together :thumb2:

[Jim R]

Hi all
Lee - even being able to do very simple resin casting, which is all I can do, can be very useful.
John - I use rubber and resin from Sylmasta. The stuff I use is just their "general purpose" products.




Richard - thanks for looking in :thumb2:
John - pewter will be used in honour of the great man himself. Ideal for the damaged fender.
Richard F - Simon certainly managed to bring all his skills to bear on all his models. I should probably use a load of Green Stuff :smiling:
Si - As I said I didn't realise how tiny this is and the track is very fiddly but at least the links do fit together quite well.

It was appropriate that I did the resin casting as it was Simon who introduced me to it way back in 2015. I still have saved all the PMs he send as he showed me how to go about it.

Thanks, as always, for your kind comments.
Jim

[Jim R]

Hi all
A small update.
I've been working on the damaged track. The rear part was fairly straight forward. All I've done is remove the rubber from the front of the tyre nearest to the damage as if it had been burned off by the fire/heat. Like the other side the wheel/track assembly is removed for painting.


The front was harder to do. I made a simple jig and built the track on that. Leaving it to set solid before I remove it. Just hope it actually fits :thinking:


Sat at the bench and looked out of the window. The rainy weather at least has something in its favour.


Stay safe everyone.
Jim