Turret Detailing And Surface Texture Before Paint
First of all, thanks Steve/Bob for the support it's much appreciated :thumb2:
I'm at a another point in the build where painting needs to happen before I can continue. In this case the main gun needs to be painted before inserting into the mantlet. In an effort to streamline the process a bit, I decided that it would be more efficient if I simply finished the turret and painted it in one go. With this in mind I set about applying all the finishing detail to turret. These details include: adding weld seams where necessary, adding the photo etch, adding subtle texture to the metal surfaces (rolled steel/cast steel).
Here's the pics...
In this pic you can see the PE detail including the vane sight.
Here's a pic of the rear with the PE latch to hold the loader's door open. Also in shot (and I forgot to mention) is the scratch built bump stop for the commander's hatch seen on the left of the cupola.
Here I've tried (unsuccessfully
) to photograph the texture to the surfaces. A rolled plate texture was applied to the turret roof by 'bouncing' a course burr in a rotary drill across the surface very lightly. This simulates the rolled surface detail of plate steel. On the cast parts (cupola, periscope armoured cover, ventilator cap) I replicated the cast texture by stippling the surface with liquid poly. If you keep on stippling the surface the liquid poly begins to lightly melt the surface and the stippling creates the rougher effect. Admittedly these effects are subtle (as seen here) but I include the description in case you want to try these techniques yourself.
Weld seam detail...
Mantlet details including the lifting lugs and the bump stops attached to the turret. Please note the plate guard on top of the mantlet is not attached, this will happen after paint. The line of masking tape behind it is there to ensure a secure attachment point after paint (it's not good to glue parts to painted surfaces if it can be avoided).
I have a choice in the construction of the periscopes. I have both aftermarket resin items and photo etch equivalents. I've decided I'm going to go with the resin options for this build The simple reason is that I cannot think of a way of cleanly inserting the glass into the PE versions once they are soldered up. I've considered pouring clear resin into them but, because they have openings at both ends, this will be difficult to achieve a clean result. Another reason is that they seem a poor fit inside the cupola and although I could make them fit it seems a lot of effort for diminishing returns.
Anyhoo here's the choices...
One of the resin periscopes had an air bubble in just the wrong spot and required some repair with plastic card...
Finally...
The biggest tool in the box!
To counteract the weight of the gun the turret requires a weight to balance it. I had purchased the Schumo Panther/Pershing counterweight to achieve this. This aftermarket part is supposed to fit both the Tamiya Panther and Pershing RC tanks. Now it may fit the Pershing (I cannot say) but it certainly does not fit the Panther straight out of the bag. The diameter of the piece is just a little too small. The pre-drilled holes for the bolts do not line up with the corresponding holes in the turret base. Drastic measures were needed. Out came... the angle grinder!!!!! Yep, I raided the garage for the biggest tool on the workbench and set about 'fettling' this mutha! First of all I had to grind away clearance for the existing bolts in the turret base. And then I ground back the predrilled holes to countersink the new bolts (as this would interfere with the rotation mechanism otherwise).
In addition to these industrial alterations I then had to fabricate some new bracket adapters to secure the weight to the turret base, seen here...
The weight is now secure and hopefully that will be enough to prevent the turret from leaning nose forward.
And that's it for now. Today I'm hopefully going to get some paint on the turret, then we will have a funny looking model - complete bottom, complete top with an incomplete middle. A sort of build-stage sandwich!
Anyhoo, thanks for listening.
Cheers
Paul
Ps. Bob: Another garage would be useful!!!
First of all, thanks Steve/Bob for the support it's much appreciated :thumb2:
I'm at a another point in the build where painting needs to happen before I can continue. In this case the main gun needs to be painted before inserting into the mantlet. In an effort to streamline the process a bit, I decided that it would be more efficient if I simply finished the turret and painted it in one go. With this in mind I set about applying all the finishing detail to turret. These details include: adding weld seams where necessary, adding the photo etch, adding subtle texture to the metal surfaces (rolled steel/cast steel).
Here's the pics...
In this pic you can see the PE detail including the vane sight.
Here's a pic of the rear with the PE latch to hold the loader's door open. Also in shot (and I forgot to mention) is the scratch built bump stop for the commander's hatch seen on the left of the cupola.
Here I've tried (unsuccessfully
) to photograph the texture to the surfaces. A rolled plate texture was applied to the turret roof by 'bouncing' a course burr in a rotary drill across the surface very lightly. This simulates the rolled surface detail of plate steel. On the cast parts (cupola, periscope armoured cover, ventilator cap) I replicated the cast texture by stippling the surface with liquid poly. If you keep on stippling the surface the liquid poly begins to lightly melt the surface and the stippling creates the rougher effect. Admittedly these effects are subtle (as seen here) but I include the description in case you want to try these techniques yourself.Weld seam detail...
Mantlet details including the lifting lugs and the bump stops attached to the turret. Please note the plate guard on top of the mantlet is not attached, this will happen after paint. The line of masking tape behind it is there to ensure a secure attachment point after paint (it's not good to glue parts to painted surfaces if it can be avoided).
I have a choice in the construction of the periscopes. I have both aftermarket resin items and photo etch equivalents. I've decided I'm going to go with the resin options for this build The simple reason is that I cannot think of a way of cleanly inserting the glass into the PE versions once they are soldered up. I've considered pouring clear resin into them but, because they have openings at both ends, this will be difficult to achieve a clean result. Another reason is that they seem a poor fit inside the cupola and although I could make them fit it seems a lot of effort for diminishing returns.
Anyhoo here's the choices...
One of the resin periscopes had an air bubble in just the wrong spot and required some repair with plastic card...
Finally...
The biggest tool in the box!
To counteract the weight of the gun the turret requires a weight to balance it. I had purchased the Schumo Panther/Pershing counterweight to achieve this. This aftermarket part is supposed to fit both the Tamiya Panther and Pershing RC tanks. Now it may fit the Pershing (I cannot say) but it certainly does not fit the Panther straight out of the bag. The diameter of the piece is just a little too small. The pre-drilled holes for the bolts do not line up with the corresponding holes in the turret base. Drastic measures were needed. Out came... the angle grinder!!!!! Yep, I raided the garage for the biggest tool on the workbench and set about 'fettling' this mutha! First of all I had to grind away clearance for the existing bolts in the turret base. And then I ground back the predrilled holes to countersink the new bolts (as this would interfere with the rotation mechanism otherwise).
In addition to these industrial alterations I then had to fabricate some new bracket adapters to secure the weight to the turret base, seen here...
The weight is now secure and hopefully that will be enough to prevent the turret from leaning nose forward.
And that's it for now. Today I'm hopefully going to get some paint on the turret, then we will have a funny looking model - complete bottom, complete top with an incomplete middle. A sort of build-stage sandwich!
Anyhoo, thanks for listening.
Cheers
Paul
Ps. Bob: Another garage would be useful!!!
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