A few 1/35 IFV's and AFV's

[Buzzbomb]

Whilst the seats really do look great, the amount of work to assemble with teensy tiny Etch parts would put me off these days. I spent 10 mins a couple of days ago looking for a tiny resin bolt head for the Leopard AS1 model I am currently doing, there were spares, but principle was involved.

I do like the HumVee work you do.

[Ramba]

Impressive!

Thanks!

Whilst the seats really do look great, the amount of work to assemble with teensy tiny Etch parts would put me off these days. I spent 10 mins a couple of days ago looking for a tiny resin bolt head for the Leopard AS1 model I am currently doing, there were spares, but principle was involved.

I do like the HumVee work you do.

Thanks!
I didn't bother with those itsy, bitsy, teeny, tiny bolts as you won't even see them anyway.

The PE seat bases took me a little longer than it should have because the instructions for folding them was not very clear. Step A shows to bend two areas but after that nothing else.

[finsrin]

Attention to detail.  Patience required.   Surprised seat kit is made.   On second thought can see there being a market for it.   Beats trying to do it scratch.
Interior is going to pop.   

[Ramba]

Attention to detail.  Patience required.   Surprised seat kit is made.   On second thought can see there being a market for it.   Beats trying to do it scratch.
Interior is going to pop.   

I was planning on closing the doors but after all that work on the seats, I will probably leave one or two doors open. Even with the doors open though, you still won't see much at all.

[Old Wombat]

I was planning on closing the doors but after all that work on the seats, I will probably leave one or two doors open. Even with the doors open though, you still won't see much at all.

As Brian (buzzbomb) said, there's principle involved; you will know they're in there, & so will we, that's all that's important!

[Ramba]

Started another what if project. I am using the Zvezda 1/35 BMPT Terminator and the MiniArt 1/35 SLA APC T-54 with dozer blade. I am attaching the dozer blade to the BMPT.

I got the Zvezda kit as a gift from my brother back in 2018 but am just starting on it now. The MiniArt kit I also got as a gift but just recently. I was only looking for the dozer blade but the person sent me the entire kit.



Here is the MiniArt dozer blade.



Test fitting the dozer blade to the Zvezda BMPT glacis plate.


The dozer blade didn't fit the Zvezda kit as there are two pieces sticking out of the glacis that connect to the front fenders. I need to remove those for the dozer blade to fit.



With the glacis protrusions removed, the dozer blade fits the BMPT glacis plate now. The dozer blade looks like it might block the driver's view but won't know for sure until I get the hull completed.

[Frank3k]

The blade looks good! It looks like it fits well with only minor "field mods"

[Ramba]

The blade looks good! It looks like it fits well with only minor "field mods"

Thanks! The mount is definitely too high and blocks the driver's view port. Being what if, I will make the driver's position either the left or right side instead of the middle. I will have to eliminate the side mounted grenade launchers. The left and right side have higher view ports which can see over the dozer blade mount. I did forget to attach the glacis plate ERA though which will make the dozer blade mount even higher. I will have to trim the edges of the ERA blocks so they can fit around the dozer blade mount. The ERA blocks are shown in my next post below.

[Ramba]

The dozer blade mount will definitely block the driver's view port so being a what if build, I will make the driver's position either the left or right side instead of the middle. The left and right sides have higher view ports which can see over the dozer blade mount and dozer blade itself. I will have to eliminate the side mounted grenade launchers though but not a big deal. I forgot to attach the glacis plate ERA though which will make the dozer blade mount even higher. I will have to cut the edges of the ERA blocks so they can fit around the dozer blade mount so the mount will sit on the glacis plate.

In this image, you can see the driver's position is in the middle. With the dozer blade and mount interfering with his view, the new driver's position will be either to the left or the right.


Zvezda includes two different ERA blocks for the glacis plate but they say to use part B7 which is option #1. I also showed option #2.



The dozer blade mount has two raised sections on the bottom of it. They are to raise the mount off the glacis plate. I might have to trim them off so the mount sits flush on the glacis plate which will lower the mount and dozer blade a bit for better driver's view.


These images show the mount fitted on top of the ERA blocks. I will see which one is easier to cut out for the best fit for the mount. Option #2 looks like it will work the best as it is just a straight cut across.

[Frank3k]

#2 looks easier to cut. You could add a taller periscope for the central driver position - tall enough to see over the blade.

[Ramba]

#2 looks easier to cut. You could add a taller periscope for the central driver position - tall enough to see over the blade.

I was going to go with #2 and just cut straight across but decided to go with #1 and leave it as is. I will trim the tabs off the bottom of the dozer blade mount and have it sit flush on top of the ERA blocks. The front part of the ERA blocks won't be ERA though. I will fill in the panel lines/grooves to make it smooth and use the front part of the ERA block as a mounting plate for the dozer blade mount. I don't have any spare periscopes tall enough for the driver int he center position. I will move the driver tot he left side and remove the grenade launcher from that side. The grenade launcher will still be on the right side.

Only thing is with the dozer blade attached, it blocks the headlights but either way, the headlights won't fit as part of the mount blocks where the headlights mount to. The headlights will have to be relocated from the glacis plate to the fenders.

[Ramba]

The Zvezda suspension attachment points are extremely flimsy and look like they will snap easily. I glued them in with Mr. Cement S liquid cement but then reinforced the joints with CA for a stronger hold. Hope that works.

[Ramba]

AFV 1/35 M1128 Stryker MGS. I started this kit just over three years ago on February 03, 2020 but never finished it because I was looking for the Eduard PE set for it but Eduard discontinued it. I searched and searched for that specific Eduard PE set but couldn't find it anywhere. Recently, someone informed me of a store in Switzerland that had it in stock and I quickly placed the order. It finally arrived. It was cheaper than expected which was nice.



I also have the Blast Models driver enhancement kit and air cooling system to add to the kit. I still haven't decided if I am adding the air cooling system yet though.


I wanted to do one in either Iraq or Afghanistan and they didn't have the air cooling system on them when they were there. Unfortunately, no slat armor available for the MGS so no slat armor for mine. Not all MGS' had the slat armor though when deployed. I found this image that says it was in Kandahar, Afghanistan and it doesn't have the slat armor. It does have an antenna painted in sand that I am unfamiliar with so will have to find out what it is.

[Old Wombat]

Good to see a stalled build on the move again!

[Buzzbomb]

Builds moving along nicely

[Ramba]

Builds moving along nicely

Thanks!

Good to see a stalled build on the move again!

Thanks!

Build stalled again. Had a family emergency that sidelined everything. Everything is OK now but this kit is still sidelined.

[Ramba]

After a little hiatus, I went back to the Hobby Boss ZTL-11 that I am converting to a what if ST-1. If you remember, I moved the turret further back and also scratch built a whole new front turret and upper hull. Got most of it filled and sanded. Some smaller areas still need sanding but will hopefully get to that today. I lost a lot of detail like the applique armor blots. Meng makes a nuts and bolts set but not spending any money on this as it was a trashed kit that I am trying to salvage.

This is how the kit arrived. I tried fitting the parts back together and as you can see, lots of seam lines and parts broken off.







After a few hours filling and sanding.




I have some Academy M1A2 road wheels and drive sprockets from a trashed kit I got from someone. They have nuts and bolts on them. The front side of the road wheels have the bolt heads and the back has the nuts and bolts showing. The drive sprockets only have the bolt heads. The drive sprocket bolt heads are pretty big and way oversized for the ones on the applique armor. The ones on the road wheels are smaller but still bigger than the ones on the applique armor. I don't have enough road wheels to replace all the bolt heads on the kit so I will have to mix and match the ones from the road wheels.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

The repairs to the hull appear to have been successful.  Considering the damage done this was a great kit save. 

[Ramba]

The repairs to the hull appear to have been successful.  Considering the damage done this was a great kit save.

Thanks! It's a lot of work salvaging it but it's getting there, slowly.

[Ramba]

Did some more work late last night and early this morning. Got a lot done on the turret adding the sensors, smoke grenade launchers and turret basket. I also added the posts for the MG mounts which are seen in this photo but I removed them. The MG's sit a bit too high and didn't look good. I also added some of the PE to the upper hull. Still a few more parts to add before I can prime it.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

The WIP images so far have documented your progress with this project quite well.  Keep up the excellent work! 

[Old Wombat]

Liking the work you've done to date!

MG mounts on most vehicle turrets look too tall, especially on smaller turrets, but, to be the most effective, they need to be.

[Ramba]

Liking the work you've done to date!

MG mounts on most vehicle turrets look too tall, especially on smaller turrets, but, to be the most effective, they need to be.

Thanks! To me, the MG's sat higher than I wanted and looked odd. Yeah, they need to sit high but I didn't like the way they looked.

The WIP images so far have documented your progress with this project quite well.  Keep up the excellent work!

Thanks! Hope to get more done today but not much else to do before priming it.

[Ramba]

Test fitted the tires to check the ride height.


The air cooling system and exhaust are still exposed because I need to paint them before putting the PE covers on. The exhaust should technically be moved from the rear as I moved the engine to the right front of the vehicle. I didn't feel like redoing the entire hull just to move the exhaust.

[Old Wombat]

The exhaust should technically be moved from the rear as I moved the engine to the right front of the vehicle. I didn't feel like redoing the entire hull just to move the exhaust.

Which is as good a reason as any & it can be explained in the backstory.