Alabama Slammer

[Kerick]

Thanks for all the kind comments!

While I was at the Roscoe Turner Invitational in Indianapolis, Indiana I stumbled across a set of resin wheels for a 5 ton truck. I wasn't even looking for it but for ten bucks I said sure! I don't know if they will work as the brake drums are molded in and they look kind of skinny. The brake drum problem would cause me to chop up the axles which I would rather not do at this point. Here's a picture so let me know what you guys think.





The detail on the side of the tire and wheel is great.



Compared to the military tire they look skinny. There's no practical way to widen them either that I can see.

[Old Wombat]

Military tyres are often a bit wider & built tougher than civilian tyres, & the tread is more "all-terrain".

However, the civvies should still be quite functional, maybe even a touch more "optimal", for regular road driving.

[Kerick]

The army was using up tires like crazy when I was there in 2003 so I’m sure they started buying civilian tires to fill the gap. Since the convoys were cruising the paved roads I’m sure they worked better than the GI tires. I’ll probably stick with the kit tires and use the resin ones if I try this again.

[Kerick]

I'm going ahead with the kit tires and wheels. If I had found these civilian tires and wheels earlier before I glued all the axles together I probably would have used them. Oh well, saved for next time.
The Slammer is now overall sand. I have pictures to prove it!



Side view.



Bull bars.



Backside.



And the ladder still works!
A great deal of final assembly still needs to be done but this is a major hurdle to have overcome. I'm anxious to get the wheels on ASAP. I have decals I made and some from both kits. I just wish I had some gloss that didn't change the color. The paint right now looks just right. At least by the time I get back the paint will be thoroughly dry and ready for gloss of one kind or another.
Tomorrow starts our trip to sunny Florida. Saturday is already booked for a fishing trip. I hope I catch some something for dinner! No, not the flu either!

[Old Wombat]

That's really brought her together! She looks fantastic!

[Frank3k]

It really looks great under a coat of paint. Ready for an apocalypse or a trip to Florida!

[Claymore]

 

[Kerick]

Thanks guys!

[Buzzbomb]

Transformed with a coat of paint.

Really looking great

[Kerick]

Heading back home today. I’ve got two weeks to finish this beast! At least the decals are already printed.

[Kerick]

I painted 11 tires NATO black tonight. Next some gloss and decals.

[Dr. YoKai]

I gotta say, it is really shaping up nicely. Getting parts to fuse effectively like that is one of the things that really distinguishes a good bash.
Looking forward to seeing the final scheme.

[Kerick]

I bought some half round Evergreen stock to go around the windows to simulate the rubber seals. I’ll have to paint that black and cut it to fit. Otherwise it shouldn’t look all that different. I might try another gun truck pretty soon. The  NIMCON show is in June so maybe I can find another truck kit there.

[Kerick]

Thanks!
Now I'm redeciding what guns I'm going to use on which model since I forgot while I was gone! This includes the Slammer, the Badger and the Weasel.

[Kerick]

Another day, another screw up. Too many things on my desk at one time and I managed to knock over the open glue bottle! I was fiddling around with the guns and the M240s got ruined. The two round hatches might be salvageable but I have a mold for that so I can just make new ones. The round hatch for the center turret will definitely have to be repainted. It’s the back hatch in the M113 ramp that’s the worst. I was going to have it open so that will hide a lot of the damage. I’ll have to see what I can sand out. It could have been worse. The Slammer, Badger and Weasel were out of the way. Not only did it stink up the place but I had to clean it up with lacquer thinner which added to the smell. The spill was on the aluminum sheet I put down a couple months ago so that simplified clean up. It could have been worse but still a PITA!

[Old Wombat]

I know your pain, Brother!

[Kerick]

Fortunately I’ve managed to save the back door. I’ll just have to put new hinges on it but they kind of sucked anyway. I have to make one more drivers hatch. I had one extra from the first molding attempts so that will work. The center hatch was picky to clean up but ok now. I’m more ticked off about the waste of time.

[Kerick]

Here's a quick pic of the damaged and salvaged parts.



Like I said, it could have been worse. I just got done painting the OD green.
In my strange observations thread you can see my solution to the spilling problem.

[Kerick]

I’ve got the decals laid out so maybe some progress tomorrow.

[Buzzbomb]

Still moving along.

Oh.. .I knocked over a full bottle, as in just took the lid off a new bottle of SMS paint today... so you are not Robinson Crusoe with stuff like that happening.

My worst fall out was the white backdrop matting of my mini photo both now has spattering of German Panzer Grey. 

[Kerick]

In my strange observations blog I have pics of my solution to that problem. Just the flat electrical box covers and different size pvc pipe parts glued together. I even made one from two pill bottles which were just the right size to hold the Micro Set and Sol bottles. A little searching might find something the right size to hold the paint bottles of your choice. The electrical box covers add some weight to make it harder to knock over.

[Kerick]

I've got the decals on! Yee Ha! I just might finish this in time!



I also installed the air intake pipe. The hull and the veranda are glued to the frame. The wheels are the only major parts to be installed. I'll do that after the flat coat.

[Old Wombat]

Great work on the decals!

"Blood, Sweat & Tires*" - I like it!




[*: Tyres, for those of us who speak English.  ]

[Frank3k]

The decals look great! They almost look like the crew used electrical tape to make some of the slogans!

[Kerick]

That’s sort of the look I was going for. I searched for a font that looked hand painted or as close as I could get. Plus extra large stars.