Recent Posts

11

Land / Re: Post WW2 7,5cm PaK.40 (Tamiya kit)

« Last post by Jeffry Fontaine on Today at 12:42:08 AM »

Two additional images to share. 

The ammunition boxes that are supposed to hold four rounds each.  Not sure if the real PaK.40 actually used this style of container.  I have seen a similar four round container for the smaller 5,0cm Pak.38 which are available in resin but these are significantly smaller in size.  If anyone can share information on these things I would be most grateful. 

Images attached showing the containers and the container lid with the shell holder that fits into the container. 

One problem encountered with the shell holder is the actual open holes are too small in diameter for the size of the shell that it is supposed to hold.  I addressed this issue by reaming each hole and dressing each hole with a rattail needle file.  Far from exact but it will do for my purposes. 

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Land / Post WW2 7,5cm PaK.40 (Tamiya kit)

« Last post by Jeffry Fontaine on Today at 12:22:07 AM »

The ancient Tamiya 1: 35th scale (35047) 7,5cm Pak.40/L46 anti-tank gun kit that has been around for as long as I can remember.  Not a bad kit to be honest but the gun crew figures are really showing their age by current standards.  That said one of the first things I did was to toss the figures into a bag for donation to some other modeler's stash.  The rest of the kit(s) six in total have sat in my stash for far too many years.  So long in fact that the current price for this kit is now four times more than what I originally paid for the things when first purchased. 

I recently gave away four of the kits in an "as-is" condition.  They were all missing the odd hard rubber tyre star-shaped wheels and the ammunition box that holds four rounds of ammunition.  The ammunition boxes were retained while the star-shaped wheels were disposed of by donation. 

The remaining two Tamiya kits were retained with the intent on creating a post WW2-early NATO anti-tank gun.  This idea is based on nothing factual, only on the rationale that with all of the surplus German weapons and equipment that was left behind upon surrender it would have been something that could have been put into service until better weapons could be acquired.  I know from my past research on other WW2 German weapons that the 2,0cm FlaK 38 was in use with Portugal and Yugoslavia long into the late 60's and early 70's.  So a Pak.40 in NATO use appealed to me as a way to build this kit as something not WW2 German. 

I started working on this kit about a year ago and the construction progress has been very slow.  One of the reasons for this was my search for suitable replacement wheels that would look compatible with the PaK40.  The large star-shaped wheels are easily recognized as being WW2 German equipment so they had to go.  I had several replacement wheels and tyre candidates to choose from and the best of these came from an Italeri Opel Blitz truck kit.  These are the front wheels though I did consider using the rear dual wheels it did not look very convincing to me.  So I am staying with the front wheels from the Opel Blitz.  I suspect that the same tyres/wheels in the Tamiya Opel Blitz kit will also work since the Italeri and Tamiya kits are nearly identical. 

Now that I have decided on the replacement wheels I have been able to get a bit further on this project.  Far enough to take a couple of WIP images to share my idea on a post WW2 PaK.40 in use with NATO. 

Dry-fit to see if the wheels will interfere with the carriage and splinter shield did not appear to be an issue.  The gun was able to traverse with no apparent interference. 

13

SciFi & Fantasy / Re: Sci-Fi Drone & Anti-Drone Systems

« Last post by Old Wombat on Yesterday at 11:46:18 PM »

I'm sure someone/something will come along soon to fill the void soon.  

14

Land / Re: Scale-O-Rama Glencoe Models M274 Mechanical Mule 1/15th to 1/35th

« Last post by Jeffry Fontaine on Yesterday at 09:38:09 PM »

My prototype scaled up Mule has been destroyed in the process of prototyping.  It had lasted as long as possible before realization finally checked in to make me finally admit that this horse was indeed dead. 

Not a complete loss though as I learned what not to do on the next iteration of this idea.  This after all was a learning experience and that means mistakes will be made in pursuit of the idea.  Sharing the WIP will continue as I began again on Mega-Mule Mk.2. 

Some work was done on the new cargo platforms last night/early this morning to assess how badly warped they are.  Also some minor cleanup of surface features that are out of scale. 

Thank you all for the support given and suggestions on the Mk.1 Mule.  I hope to get further with this second attempt. 

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SciFi & Fantasy / Re: Sci-Fi Drone & Anti-Drone Systems

« Last post by Story on Yesterday at 09:23:33 PM »

Thanks but... umm....

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Other / Re: Buffalo & caravan, red : hybrid aircraft/animals e.a.

« Last post by Kerick on Yesterday at 08:36:58 PM »

A fireman’s pole for getting down.

17

Tips, Tools & Techniques / Depicting tarnished structural aluminium.

« Last post by ChalkLine on Yesterday at 06:28:17 PM »

I want to do a very heavily weathered aluminium-hulled vehicle and then do chipping over the top of it.

Can anyone give me some hints in making that grey-silver aluminium colour and texture?

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Other / Re: Buffalo & caravan, red : hybrid aircraft/animals e.a.

« Last post by ericr on Yesterday at 04:46:00 PM »

 

there must be a small helicoidal stair ...

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Other / Re: Buffalo & caravan, red : hybrid aircraft/animals e.a.

« Last post by Jeffry Fontaine on Yesterday at 07:43:58 AM »

Is there an inside access hatch to the caravan from the "garage" below?  Definitely a falling hazard for some one with a few drinks under their belt otherwise it will be rather precarious trying to navigate to the main entrance.

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Other / Re: Buffalo & caravan, red : hybrid aircraft/animals e.a.

« Last post by finsrin on Yesterday at 07:37:33 AM »

Feels like it should belong in a certain Group Build...

Looking more like swords to plowshares to me !