SimonT - RAM Kangaroo Mk1

[Mickc1440]

Looking forward to a larger scale piece from you, and yet another vehicle I'd never heard of. Great start :thumb2:
Mick

[papa 695]

It's looking good Simon. Really liking the additions/changes.

[JR]

Greetings Simon.
( multi use, regardless of a specific time .:smiling2
Mmm, knew it, its started already and were only on the first page, so not a long wait.
Like the locker from the copper sheet, that is a very clean and crisp fold Simon.
A sighting of pewter, always heralds the start of additions .
John.

[RM6239]

Simon
See where thinking gets you Simon, clean straight cuts are the best mate and at least the blood proves you're not a modelling android :smiling4:, I put it down to a rush of excitement at building something so big. Already adding that particular Simon touch to it I see. Nice progress so far and I better follow something called a Kangaroo.

cheers
Ross

[Guest]

Simon
hope it did not hurt to much when you "Rammed" that chisel into said digit Oh! sorry could not resist i'll get my coat on the way out Lol
Great looking resin kit no signs of much Warping with this one yet ? , and I must get into rivits i'm missing out
Bobby

[Guest]

Simon,
I see what you mean about the bubbles, even on the rear hull plate. How do you make your rivets, is it brass rod with a rounded end? And I do like the locker covers, very neat work.
Cheers, Mike.

[scottie3158]

Simon,
Sorry missed the beginning of this looks like an interesting build and I am in for the ride to watch you work your magic.
Scottie

[SimonT]

Cheers Mick
Thanks Ian
John - used a small etch bender tool whatnot
Ross - :smiling: wonder why they called them kangaroos? As for the blood and androids - think Terminator.......
Bobby - :rolling: No, not much warping but plenty of air bubbles to fill
Mike - the rivets are punched from pewter sheet using the RPToolz domed rivet maker
Scottie - thanks for dropping by

Finally managed a little modelling time today so there has been some progress......

[ATTACH]307725[/ATTACH]
the tracks arrived from China - excellent service from Dawns Grocery Store and much faster than the predicted delivery date

[ATTACH]307726[/ATTACH]
added 0.6mm punched rivets to the front track guards

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and finished adding the lower hull 0.7mm punched rivets - I also managed to then knock some of them off again because I didn't give the CA long enough to set. Had to make some more

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stuck the gearbox to the transmission housing plate

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added the exhausts to the hull rear plate and filled in the side joins again

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the air filter boxes both had air bubbles in them so out came the filler again

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the small mg turret did not sit well on the hull so I used my compass cutter to knock up a new turret ring which was CA'd into place after sanding the lower face of the turret

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the turret now sits much better (before anyone says, yes the Tamiya mg is upside down - it is not fixed in)

[ATTACH]307733[/ATTACH]
these platform thingies got replaced with copper sheet versions to more closely match the ones in photos - a bit longer and wider than the kit resin version (shown alongside for comparison)

not really sure what these things are but they seem to have tarps strapped on them in most photos - seems an odd detail if that is all they were for. Why not just weld tie down loops direct to hull?

[ATTACH]307734[/ATTACH]
an overall view of the current state

Thanks for looking in

[Jim R]

Morning Simon
Great progress. A lot of work to bring this up to standard. I have used that Dawn Grocery Store and was also impressed with the service. Just love the name!!
Jim

[Snowman]

Something different and interesting. Thanks for sharing!:thumb2:

[rtfoe]

Hi Simon,
I'm into this late and missed the strawberry jam with kush kush. So far progress looks quite smooth. Some parts really look like Swiss cheese.

....wait this is really 1/35 scale I'm looking at?:smiling2: The Ram being different caught me off guard....nice.:thumb2:

Cheers,
Richard

[Steve Jones]

Wonderful update mate. I have used Bronco tracks before and was suitably impressed. Nice work on the rivets. Hopefully more bench time for you soon

[JR]

Here we go !
Dawn's Grocery Store ? I could say something but won't.

Like the use of the pweter, I had some out last week but it's now in the waiting to be used as a wreak section :worried:
John

[SimonT]

Jim - does need a bit of work as not cast quite as cleanly as it first appeared. Would probably have been better as a conversion kit using a donor Tamiya hull (looking at them I suspect a lot of parts started life as Tamiya anyway) and suspension for a cleaner finish. Might have reduced the not inconsiderable cost of £60 as well!
Dawns is such an odd name for a model supplier but can't fault the service

Gavin - thanks for dropping by :thumb2:

Richard - have managed to keep away from the strawberry jam, all digits currently intact. Needs a bit of work but it would take all the fun out of it if it just fell together :smiling:

Steve - sorry, not been around too much lately but trying to keep an eye on your truck. The Bronco tracks look very busy - five parts to a link I think. There are certainly a lot of sprues in the box anyway! Only used Broncos once, on a Leopard (another build sat in the unfinished pile) and they took ages, and lots of naughty words, to clean up and assemble. I vowed never to use them again but at less than half the price of Friuls..... :sad-face:

John - the pewter does make good rivets :thumb2: I have a plan to make an entire vehicle out of it at some point then totally destroy it based on photos in Panzerwrecks - may be a bit ambitious and will need a fair bit of time so may never come to fruition of course

[SimonT]

(Early) morning all,

a little bit more done last night

[ATTACH]308692[/ATTACH]
air cleaners sanded and attached to the rear plate

[ATTACH]308693[/ATTACH]
some tie down loops added to the tarp platforms on the rear deck

[ATTACH]308694[/ATTACH]
all the suspension parts are now cleaned up and the various holes reamed out as they were all full of resin

The suspension is cause for concern - the castings are not the best. One of the main arms broke in two, one of the wheel hubs disintegrated when I drilled it out, a couple of holes went right through the arms and a couple of holes wandered off centre

I am not sure that the various parts will assemble into anything usable

I think the next task will be to have a go at assembling the various bits and see if I can get anything that looks like a complete VVSS suspension unit