Allen's 1/35 Brach Models 16 tube Reihenwerfer auf Somua MCG S307(f)

[minitnkr]

I decided that upon retirement my new job was to complete the stash, so I dedicated 6 to 8 hrs per week day to that. This was of course subject to interruption from SWMBO & beloved grands, but the general outline prevailed for several years when I was convinced to go back to work part time (2-3hrs per 2 day week). I still manage 4-6hrs benchtime most week days.

[Allen Dewire]

Morning fine folks,

Some progress has been made even though work beat me up a bit yesterday...

Hello Younger than me,
See you have been having some fun doing the floor crawl hip hop dance.... Did you check John R's nose, that is where he usually finds his parts - stuck to it... I see the build is coming along since I last looked in and from the original to this, there was some inventivness of converting from one to another with the original vehicle. Looking forward to more of your fine work.
Prost
Older than you.

You know the deal, older than me...I don't think I've ever spent so much time looking for a tidbit on the floor. Thanks for looking in Mike and what's this noise I hear about you building a wing thingy??? I'll have to check you out Buddy......

I decided that upon retirement my new job was to complete the stash, so I dedicated 6 to 8 hrs per week day to that. This was of course subject to interruption from SWMBO & beloved grands, but the general outline prevailed for several years when I was convinced to go back to work part time (2-3hrs per 2 day week). I still manage 4-6hrs benchtime most week days.

Thanks Paul. I too work a mini-job for 5 hours a day, 6 days a month. I wanted to have dedicated table time and work my way through the stash too. Fergitit, damn stash has too many kits in it and the brain has too many ideas for them. I really think it has to do with working for so many years, thinking about retirement, and when it finally comes, all you think about is working...Does that make sense???...

I've hairy sticked a lot of parts and have let them dry for a day or two. When I test fit the steering wheel, I did notice that the big L-handled stick next to the shifter was warped to the right. It butted against the steering wheel rim and there was no way a driver could steer this thang without ripping his hands open. As it was already CA'd in place, how could I straighten it up to clear the wheel...I had a massive brain fart and decided to try some off the wall thing to correct it,


My Lidl Soldering station to the rescue. I set the temp to 100° C (Water boiling point) and placed the tip on the base of the offending lever. I pressed the lever to the left with my finger and waited. After a couple of minutes, the lever stayed to the left (about) where I wanted it. Pulled the iron out and blew on the part to cool it while still holding it, so it didn't go back to the right. Be damned, it worked!!!


I originally bought the iron for soldering etch pieces together and never thought of using it for heating resin parts. You can see the lever handle is still bent downward a little. I might try this again to straighten it up some more. Also note that there is no damage to the lever from the heat......

Now, with the parts painted, I could move along with some assembly,


Still a little hairy stick to do on the road wheels. They are small and to try and hold them, I would risk scratching/removing paint. I then mounted them in their frames,


It was a bit tedious to paint the rubber tires on the road wheels, but nothing got scratched/rubbed off in the process. The front tires were a breeze to do. The axle needs a touch up where I held it with the gator clip to spray. The gray squares on the springs are their attachment points to the frame. The next step is to add the idler wheels, being extremely careful CA'ing the caps on the pin ends so they can slide back and forth to adjust the track fit......

Once again, thank you all for looking in and all Q, C, C, and abuse is welcome. I'm still trying to ketchup with all the other great builds being posted on the forum too. Ain't no rest for the weary...................

Prost
Allen

[scottie3158]

Coming on nicely dude, it's good to see you at the bench more often.

[Guest]

I originally bought the iron for soldering etch pieces together and never thought of using it for heating resin parts.

I found that they work very well for that when building the tracks for my on-hold M29C Weasel. It’s definitely a tool to keep in the back of your mind when you’re building resin kits that have warped, small parts.

[Scratchbuilder]

Hello Younger than me,
Ref the wingy thing, just got the urge as i neede the break from the bridge thing, but it is not permanent and the matron reackons a good dose of her favourite oil rememdy should see me ok in a week or two.
Older than you.

[Jim R]

You're really going to town on this. The soldering iron trick is worth remembering. Progress is good and speedy.

[Allen Dewire]

Evening All,

A week has gone by and it's time for an update I think. Been kinda busy, between work, helping my good buddy Dude 2, trying to keep up on the great builds here, shopping (oh no) and playing in resin at the table. So,

Coming on nicely dude, it's good to see you at the bench more often.

Thanks Paul, I'm trying to keep active at the table, but there is still a lot going on that eats up my time away from playing...

I found that they work very well for that when building the tracks for my on-hold M29C Weasel. It’s definitely a tool to keep in the back of your mind when you’re building resin kits that have warped, small parts.

So true Jakko, I used my old iron (from my R/C battery pack making days) to bend plastic rod to make my cable reel carts. I saw this one in Lidl for €9,95 and thought...Why not!!! Temp control is the great thing about it...

Hello Younger than me,
Ref the wingy thing, just got the urge as i neede the break from the bridge thing, but it is not permanent and the matron reackons a good dose of her favourite oil rememdy should see me ok in a week or two.
Older than you.

Hey Mike, everybody takes a dip in uncharted waters. A shame it didn't turn out positive as it was a beautiful build. Let the snake oil remedy work for a few weeks and maybe the 1/48 madness urge might strike again...

You're really going to town on this. The soldering iron trick is worth remembering. Progress is good and speedy.

Thanks Jigs. I really think progress is moderate and not too speedy. I'm always double checking each step before the CA and seeing what has to be painted first. I have to admit building a resin kit isn't all too bad. Better than I first thought too...


After getting the road wheels painted up, it was time to add the idler wheels and pins. I thought the pins were long enough so I could glue the caps on them. Nope, the pins are about 2mm too short and scratching new ones was an option. No, I decided to use the kit parts as they fit the idlers snuggly and allowed them to slide back and forth as required. With this done it was time to glue the whole assembly to the frame, but first I needed to add the brake mechanisms to the diff hubs,


I had to make a couple of short pins from plastic rod to fit into them because the cast pins were too short. I then CA'd them in place. Next, I CA'd the whole rear thing in place,


It was important to ensure this assembly was straight and had good contact with the frame. Letting it dry for ten minutes, I could check the fit,


Looks pretty good and the springs sit well on the frame points. In between, I kept busy cutting the tracks to their proper lengths (top & bottom runs) and slapping a coat of AK 722 dark tracks color on them,


The I went on to add the front tie rod and steering arm. Had an oopsie and broke the tie rod when trying to pick it up after it fell in my lap,

I did my best and glued it together again. Not 100% perfect, but it held and with a dab of paint, prob solved. I also had to add the diff stabilizers (gray parts) to the road wheel assembly. These were a tad too wide, so I cut some shims from 0.05 sheet pieces, 1.5mm x 1mm and CA'd them on the inside side of both ends. Then added them with more CA,


Hard to see them in this pic, but they fit spot on. You might notice the left one is more canted inwards than the other. One of the joys of a resin cast kit. Nothing is perfect and you won't even see these anyway. On to the steering. Care is needed so you don't snap the tie rod (again) or the steering arm while fitting them in place with tweezers. Some dabs of CA on the pins and a steady hand, gives you this,


With the steering done, I painted up the muffler in AK 787 and then coated it in MIG rust pigment. CA'd that on and went about doing some painting and touch ups with my Tamiya dark yellow mix,


So, the next step will be adding the tracks, but before I can do this, the underside needs to be weathered and mucked up. It would be too difficult to do after the tracks are in place. As a last step for today, I test fitted the front wheels,


Hey, they're steered!!!......These will have to be on when I mount and glue the tracks together, so my baby sits level. After the tracks are glued and set, the suspension won't be moveable anymore. Sort of a bummer, but no one makes indy links for the Somua 1/2 tracks...

That's all for this episode of building a resin kit with sausage fingers. So far, only 2 broken pieces and with care, hopefully no more!!! I have to work tomorrow, so, if I'm not too tired, I can start the mucking up of the underside...A huge thanks for your interest in my project and all C, C, and abuse is welcome and appreciated. Have a great night........

Prost
Allen

[Mini Me]

Allen........looking the Bomb Diddy!! Lots of tiny parts to fool with on this build. Defo coming together very nicely....keep it coming Bro. :thumb2:

[minitnkr]

Lookinfine.

[JR]

Considering most of the gluing is done with CA it's brilliant that it's so neat . Funny that CA bites so quickly when you don't want it to and takes for ever to grab when do.Hence my ordering of the looper.

As you start the tracks I shall look else where

[Mini Me]

You have a "one track mind" JR!!

[Allen Dewire]

Allen........looking the Bomb Diddy!! Lots of tiny parts to fool with on this build. Defo coming together very nicely....keep it coming Bro. :thumb2:

You have a "one track mind" JR!!

Thank you Sir and I plan to get this puppy finished in the near future. The tiny parts aren't really too bad to deal with as long as you plan out when to add them. And Rick, JR's fear of indy tracks is well known, and his success rate is under 20% to this day, but he still tries and won't let tracks beat him...

Lookinfine.

Thanks too Paul!!! It'll look even better with a camo coat on her. It's nice that the mortar table is separate and not camo'd. So whatcha working on these days???..

Considering most of the gluing is done with CA it's brilliant that it's so neat . Funny that CA bites so quickly when you don't want it to and takes for ever to grab when do.Hence my ordering of the looper.

As you start the tracks I shall look else where

Thanks Dude 2, but I'll let you in on a little secret. Use the CA and then slap a little paint on it to cover any boo boos. You're right about CA too, and I found slow setting CA isn't so slow when you needed it. You can look away now as we are at the track application step now Buddy...


As I said in my last post, before the tracks could be fitted, I had to do some mucking up. I did that this morning and let it sit and dry for a while. Still thinking about the best way to add the tracks, I decided to glue the top and bottom runs to the idler wheel track section first. I figured I could slide the assembly forward over the road wheels and top idler to meet the drive sprocket section of track in the front. I could then see where I had to set and glue the drive sprocket in place using MIG Slow Dry CA. I did the left side first and all was fine until the MIG Slow Dry dried almost immediately while I was turning the sprocket to the correct position (a mm or 2). I was a bit PO'd, but the end product didn't turn out badly,


It did create a little stress on the 3rd link join where I had sawed into it to make the bend. Luckily, it didn't break, and I can cover the gap with (our favorite tool) mud! Now don't tell Dude 2 (JR) that this kit only has three track sections for each side and there are no indy links at all. I then added the track run to the right side,


This side came out ok as I got the drive sprocket in the correct position before the CA set. I also added the mud scrapers for them and gave them a quick hairy stick. The best help was the free sliding idler wheels. I pulled the track run rearwards to apply the CA to the track ends and then slid them forward to join the top and bottom runs. There is a minute wobble in the whole affair, but the front wheels are solid on the ground. No biggie really, as there is still some movement in the rear suspension to even it all out...

Dude 2, you can come back to looking in now!!!...

As I said, I had to muck up under the tracks and for this job, I use a favorite of mine. It's Mud in a Pot from my friend Olaf Smeets of Reality in Scale. The pot is in the pics and it works really great. There are different types and I used the medium brown dry mud one. I use a stiff flat brush to apply it liberally all over. It thins with water for better coverage where needed and brush cleanup is fast and easy using dish soap and water,


I might have to clean some of it off to add the ammo storage bins to the rear outside corners. Then I can muck up the rest of the under sides. NO, I'm not going to paint the bottom track runs as you won't see them anyway. They'll get mucked up and that's it...

Tomorrow will bring weathering the driver's compartment, painting/adding the IP, adding the steering wheel and then attaching the top plate on her. After that, I think a few cold ones will be in order!!!

Once again, all C, C, and abuse is welcome and thanks for looking in. Have a great weekend and enjoy the warm weather while it lasts...

Prost
Allen

[Mickc1440]

Just had an enjoyable catch up with this build Allen and it's looking really good. Hopefully I won't be so long catching up next time.

[yak face]

Brilliant work allen , the tracks look perfect . The mud in a pot looks , well , just like mud ! What a great product , sounds easy as pie ( mud pie obviously ) to use too.

[Ian M]

Enjoying this build. Nice one with the soldering Iron!