M29C Water Weasel

[Guest]

Thanks. I’ve built plenty of resin conversions as well as full kits, and this is really an odd one. Usually when the casting quality isn’t great, then neither is the kit in general — detail etc. This one, though, has great detail but fit and especially casting quality aren’t very good. They could have simplified a lot of parts and made the whole thing easier to build, but I guess they didn’t want to. That would have been OK, if they had had Verlinden-type of casting standards, I suppose. This isn’t quite Elite Models in terms of casting (shovels bent into an S-shape, etc.) but it’s not one I would recommend unless you like a challenge.

[Guest]

It’s only getting worse Putting the front floatation cell on was easy enough by doing it in reverse from how the “instructions” recommend. That is, first this:

[ATTACH]439810[/ATTACH]

And then this:

[ATTACH]439811[/ATTACH]

Because that way, you automatically avoid gaps between the etched parts and the cell. After that, though, things didn’t go as smoothly. There also needs to be an etched part along the bow, and bending that to shape is (to put it politely) bloody difficult. I spent at least half an hour on trying to get it right, and ended up with …

[ATTACH]439812[/ATTACH][ATTACH]439813[/ATTACH]

It just doesn’t fit. If you put the centre section onto the resin you have gaps on the angled bits, if you put the angled bits against the resin, the etched part overlaps it at the front. And that’s assuming the whole thing is properly flat, which is almost impossible to make it because of lack of strength:

[ATTACH]439814[/ATTACH]

I think I’ve got a solution, though: ditch the etched part and make my own from plastic sheet. I intend to tape a piece of paper to the front so I can accurately mark out the shape of the resin bow and use it as a template to make a new bow plate.

[Tim Marlow]

The flared shape of that part looks like it’s impossible to make the corners from a flat etched sheet, as you’ve discovered Jakko. Not sure you can make it from plastic sheet either?

[Guest]

The real thing is sheet steel, so I think it will be possible:

[ATTACH]439829[/ATTACH]

The main problem is getting the bottom edge right, I think, because when that and the height both are, the angle should follow automatically. The paper method will hopefully work to get that correct …

Meanwhile, I went on to the rear floatation cell. It fits like a charm:

[ATTACH]439830[/ATTACH]

A bad luck charm, that is. In the photo above it’s held in place with Blu-Tack at the correct angle (the top being flat) and that puts it about half a millimetre from the hull rather than against it. Still, this is no real problem, because it butting up against the hull is not correct anyway:

[ATTACH]439832[/ATTACH]

On the real thing its sides overlap the hull, and the top also overhangs it, both of which are impossible with the kit part. So, same solution as at the front:

[ATTACH]439831[/ATTACH]

Plus a few strips of plastic to space the cell from the hull, that you can also see in the picture.

[scottie3158]

Jakko nice work so far. Can you take that piece off, anneal it then bend it to fit the profile of the resin.

[Jim R]

Hi Jakko
That pe front shield thing - I reckon your solution was the best and your only choice. The rear is straightforward because of the overlap.
Certainly a testing kit but you have it sorted now.
Jim

[Guest]

Can you take that piece off, anneal it then bend it to fit the profile of the resin.

It’s not glued on, the Blu-Tack was all that was holding it in place Annealing may help with getting the bends right, but that won’t solve the problem of the gaps between the shield and the floatation cell

Certainly a testing kit but you have it sorted now.

I wish I was that confident that this is the last difficult bit

[Tim Marlow]

not convinced by the etched piece anyway Jakko. It doesn’t show the top edge beading or the join in the middle.

[Guest]

I had observed that too. The etched part had a thin raised line along the top edge (as do the bits on the side) which I think is supposed to represent the beading. I intended to glue some thin copper wire or plastic rod along them anyway, as well as add the reinforcing strip in the middle and other bits that are missing. Might as well scratchbuild the whole thing

[Tim Marlow]

I had observed that too. The etched part had a thin raised line along the top edge (as do the bits on the side) which I think is supposed to represent the beading. I intended to glue some thin copper wire or plastic rod along them anyway, as well as add the reinforcing strip in the middle and other bits that are missing. Might as well scratchbuild the whole thing

The thin raised line could well be the etched cusp left behind when the part is made. It used to be quite common on poorly etched parts back in the day. It usually happens because the etch acid is spent and should be changed, so is cutting more slowly. Remember, etch acid cuts a curve through the part. The slower it cuts then the longer it is in the etch bath and the more sideways it cuts. The etcher was probably squeezing out a few more parts to save money before changing the acid. Basically poor quality control.

[Guest]

No, this line is definitely meant to be there The part has half its depth etched away for most of its surface, so that two little fittings on the front and the line at the top remain. You can see them in this picture:

[GerryW]

Caught up on this.
Looks as though it's a right PITA, but you're doing a wonderful job, overcoming all obstacles and creating a silk purse from a sows ear.

[JR]

Seems it some sort of lip ? or have I missed the point. Normally Mirror Models are good at PE, that's a shame in this case.

[Guest]

The little etched ridge, you mean? I think that’s what it’s supposed to represent, or at least the rounded edge that’s there on the real thing. My idea is that it would have been better to cast it in resin together with the bow, though that would have made it thicker, of course, and probably tricker to cast.

[Guest]

I continued work on the rear floatation cell first, by trimming and filing the plastic card to shape:

[ATTACH]439900[/ATTACH]

The curve on the underside is slightly bigger than on the resin part, to avoid having an odd step there instead. Then all that remained (for now) was to stick it to the rear of the hull:

[ATTACH]439901[/ATTACH]

At the front, I taped a piece of paper tight over the bow, like I said I was going to try:

[ATTACH]439902[/ATTACH]

It’s angled so it sits flat against the lower part of the bow and so extends its line upward. Then the problem of how to transfer the shape needed to the paper. If you use a pencil, your line will end up just a little bit above/inside the material, meaning you would then have to guess how much to compensate by. Spraying paint at the join line would work very well, but I don’t like cleaning airbrushes and didn’t have anything else I want to spray either right now (killing two birds with one stone, so to speak), so I hit on trying the same with a brush:

[ATTACH]439903[/ATTACH]

I had to press the paper against the model from behind when doing this, and had little paint on the brush so it wouldn’t run, but it worked very well:

[ATTACH]439904[/ATTACH]

The next step will probably be to scan this, trace over it in Adobe Illustrator, draw the upper part as well, and then print it out so I can paste it to plastic card and cut the shape I need. But as my computer still isn’t usable, that will have to wait a bit, I guess