Just found these....
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Porpoising like a Mercedes F1 car in the first clip! They must have got the aerodynamics wrong.
PeteComment
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Took me two sessions to get an overall coverage - AK Olive Drab Primer
I'll leave this overnight to harden off, before the Russian Green Basecoat.
I initially thought that this machine had hydraulics to operate, but it's all chains, gears & drive shafts, rather agricultural......
I've decided to finish this in the 'open'. or ready to dig state - in the transport position,, too much of the guts are hidden. I won't have any moving parts - that's just an invitation to break bits off. If you were going to try & made things work, you'd have to work towards that from the beginning - not an easy prospect - assembling it as a static model is difficult enough!
DaveComment
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Two passes of the Russian Green & all the parts are gathered for what may be a tussle
I can see where all the bits go, whether they will cooperate is another matter! I have a few details to paint that will be unreachable after assembly, but it's getting close to the climax of the whole build!
There are tow cables to add, and the statutory shovel & pick etc, but the sprues are nearly empty, I have a couple of Red Star decals to add , but no other markings. I think all the fun will be tomorrow morning - CA at the ready, sadly I've just emptied my kicker spray, so it may take a bit longer to put thing together..................
I then have the problem of weathering. By it's very nature, this thing will get very dirty, but I think that will obscure a lot of detail. I'm leaning toward a more dusty finish, but I can't really make my mind up..............
DaveComment
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Looking good, Dave. Definitely a touch of the Russian "Heath Robinson " about it.
John.Comment
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DAVE just a dusty finish so we can see the details there ive made up your mind for you lol
chrisbComment
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I'm for the dusty finish too. My educated guess is that the "Thing" is to be washed at least with high pressure water after every use or even field maintenance would become almost impossible.
AndreaComment
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That's looking real good Dave and I hate to rain on your parade, but the videos that Chris posted both show some sort of grid or chain mesh at the back of each of the buckets. I can't see how it would pick up the soil without that feature and I'm surprised that Trumpeter haven't included something to represent it.Comment
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I'd seen that, but wondered if that was a field modification! - It seems such a rather flimsy add on, when the whole thing is built like a brick sh*thouse - either way I haven't got it on my model, and its too late to add it on! None of the reviews I've seen point this out - I was only able to trace one full build review & that was on a pay-per-view site, but I screen grabbed part of their final build piccy
Yep - backless buckets! - I feel better that at least one other modeller has followed the same route!
DaveComment
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The assembly of the bucket wheel to the chassis/frame - not particularly difficult, but you really need another pair of hands..................
The pins & location on the frames are rather fragile, you'd have to somehow replace them if you were going to make the thing moveable. It's just held together with Blue glue at the moment. I'll leave it for an hour or so & then see how rigid it feels - it may be prudent to put drops of CA on the joins to add strength. It's rather tail heavy at the moment, but the cab may compensate for that, but a few weights glued into the hull, if not. Touching up needed - I've used almost a bottle of Russian Green already on this - it has a lot of surface area & loads of nooks & crannies!
DaveComment
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Looking good Dave. I can see what you mean about how difficult it would be to fabricate and fit those chains - it would have to be done before the buckets are fitted to the wheel, certainly not at this stage of the build. Be interesting to see if ever anyone does decide to have a go at them.Comment
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Dave, that's looking very, very good indeed. A real testament to your patience on a very complicated build.
Very well done!!
AndrewComment
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What a build, good modelling to get to this stage Dave .:thumb2:Comment
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It helps that the engineering of the model is first class - I was expecting to have trouble in fitting the bucket wheel between the frames - either too wide, or too narrow - but it was spot on. The difficulty was in lining up 6 points of contact simultaneously. It took a bit of trial & error to find the right way, and a bit of luck!.
I went round and put CA on the joints, I think it's always gong to be fragile & vulnerable, by it's very nature, but it is what it is. Almost at the finishing line, but I'm still looking forward to the addition of the final bits..........................
Dave
ps. I only found one comment from another masochist who had made this - " it's no cakewalk"Comment
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Looks like a fiddly job to assemble Dave, but you seem to be getting the better of it.:thumb2:Comment
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