New Project

[steve_pickstock]

So.
A few years ago I made one of these:

1/72nd scale and about complete and ready to sail on my local boating lake.

Then a couple of years ago I bought one of these:

Heng Long Sherman 1/16th scale and pretty much ready to trundle round my garden, and lob BBs around.

A friend of mine owed me a favour or two and he started work on the Sherman to turn it into one of my favourite WW2 tanks the Sherman VC Firefly. This went well:

With a new barrel and lots of nice bits scratch built or cast in resin, or 3d printed,


Until...
Someone pointed out that the Vc Sherman has a longer chassis and larger gaps between the bogies than the Heng Long model.
Oh well, some more work (which I didn't have to do for a change) and it became a Ic Firefly.

The work was mainly changing the stowage boxes, and some other details but now I have a 1/16th Sherman iC that is ready for painting.

And that brings me to the new project.
This

is 1/72nd scale.
And this

is 1/16th scale.

You can buy r/c LCM 3s but despite the box art of Airfix version, the Landing Craft Mechanical wasn't really that good with a Sherman (they preferred an LCM 6, which was 6ft longer), and I was tempted to have a go at an LCT Mk4 such as this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJa6oPgCaH8- which used to be a few miles from me until they raised it and took it away for refurbishment.
However that would be massive, and I did still have the plans for the LCT Mk5.

So the plan is to
a) Get the Sherman painted and weathered as a troop tank from 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry from the 11th Armoured Division.
b) Build a 1/16th scale LCT Mk5 - working ramp and anchor winch, four sections, three motors and rudders, and paint as the 1/72nd version.

This will be a long - and a BIG job. This puppy is has a 2ft beam and is 7ft long (84 inches) with a draught of a couple of inches. The construction is pretty simple but there are things to think about - bracing the joints and sides, how to join the hull sections and make them water-tight, and how to brace the hull so that the bow and the stern don't sag under their own weight.

I will keep this post updated.
Some more pictures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJa6oPgCaH8



This is the Vc version but it does show that lovely turret

[Peter]

Two interesting projects! And I love that boat!

[steve_pickstock]

In line with my interest in 1/16th vehicles my wife agreed that it was okay for me to get myself a Christmas present - something that I have wanted for a while.
The WPL R/c truck range are cheap(ish) models often with lots of good features but they have one main aspect that really attracted me - a common and very modifiable chassis. I bought one but it never made it to our house, so as soon as I knew the refund had been sorted out I went on e-bay and picked up one that stood a better chance of arriving.

Arrive it did, and I began the process of turning it into a WW2 Bedford QL truck.

This is the basic WPL B14 truck


These pictures show the chassis that's common to many of the WPL early models, and what makes them easy to convert.



The Bedford QL.
The wheel base of the Bedford is about half the diameter of a wheel longer that the C14 model's.



I have a couple of IBM 1/35th scale models to work from a QLD (the troop carrier) and a QL the all purpose work horse.
A friend is building me some parts on his 3D printer, but I'm building the bulk of it from styrene sheet and Evergreen plastic strips (the price of which has gone stupid due to recent political announcements from the US).
I will probably need to move the rear axle and spring assembly towards the back of the chassis (and extend the prop shaft) but I won't know by how much until I have the cab floor and can work out how much space I have on the chassis.

All the figures are on hold at the moment while I get this done, more pictures when I have them.

[PaulRPetri]

Christmas present Steve? It's April 14!! Boy you are burning up the wish list early!!

[steve_pickstock]

Christmas present Steve? It's April 14!! Boy you are burning up the wish list early!!

Oh no - this year's Christmas list is simple - the second edition of Dragon Rampant is released in the Autumn, that'll be this year sorted.

The C14 was ordered for Christmas last year, though it was due to arrive mid-January, which of course, it didn't. The refund took another month, but once that was sorted the one of e-bay arrived four days after that.

With other projects to finish first, there has been a lot of research and much cogitation around this. I looked at as many pictures as I can I've looked at other people's models, made a rough version in cardboard, just getting my ideas together.
One plan is to have the tailgate of the load bed hinged. My dad used to make model farm carts and caravans in 1/12 scale, usually working in wood and brass. Now he had skills I can only dream of - for one model of a cart for transporting bulls had to have pins made so that you could move the shafts from one end to the other (Bulls, apparently cannot be made to back up, so the wagon was double ended. You led the bull in, closed the door, took it to where it was wanted, took the shafts off and led the bull out). The pins for these shafts on dad's model were about 8 or 10mm long but articulated, so that once they were in place they folded
down locking the pin in place.
So it was as a kind of tribute to dad that I wanted to do this. Except that unbeknownst to me - the model shop that I usually get the hinges I use had shut down last October (much to everyone's surprise). It's little things like that that have delayed the start of this project.

The friend with the 3d printer initially volunteered to do the cab roof, and complicated domed shaped affair, and I was glad he offered.
There were several options for doing this, the first was do it solid, carve the shape out of laminated styrene but leave the inside. The second option was to do the same but dremel out the underneath. The third was to make a plug and heat form the roof. I didn't want to ask my friend to do it on the printer but when he volunteered to do it, I thought 'go for it'. But then he also said 'I've done the cab floor and the back of the cab', (which will save me a lot of work) but then he said 'I've put all of this interior detail in' (because that is the kind of modeller that he is), tow which I had to say that I only needed the basic forms.

This was never planned as a show piece model - I want it to look good but I do intend to run it as an r/c model.

Sorry, this post was much longer than I intended to write, but I do hope it informs people of what I want to do and how I achieve it.

[steve_pickstock]

Just a few pictures to show the progress so far.

The tailgate so far - with hinges cut down from nylon model aircraft hinges, the pins need to be shortened. These fit into pockets laminated into the plastic of the tailgate and the load bed.
The outer face

The inner face

I cut the two faces out of one piece of plastic - having used a scribing tool to mark out the planks (so that I would get them matched on both sides), then placed a third piece of styrene between the two.
There are locations marked for the numerous rivet or coach bolt heads that are prominent - I will do those from slices of plastic rod - it will be a case of sit down one day and just take the whole day of swearing and dropping little tiny pieces and having to cut new ones to replace those that have pinged off into the distance.

This is the bulkhead that sits at the cab end of the load bed, once again this will get bags of rivets.
The forward facing part - this will be hidden behind the fuel tank and the spare tyre.

This faces into the load bed.


The underneath of the load bed I cut this from a single sheet of styrene and made it too long on purpose, to give me working room. Once again scribed to show the planking detail.


This shows the actual length - blue line with the arrows pointing towards the cab end, and the two cut outs for the wheel wells. I'm still not certain exactly where these will be depending on the size of the cab.
.

[steve_pickstock]

Bit of a frustrating week. The sheet work has gone well - the relatively simple white styrene. The load bed is made, the hinge pockets made and the hinges work. I've started laying out the sides.
My friend with the 3D printer has said he's made an STL file for most of the cab but it's not printed yet.
This is the first frustration in that I need the cab to know where it sits on the chassis, with the spare wheel and fuel tank to know the precise location for the load bed - I'll come back to this in a minute.
The second frustration was that I started to dismantle the model to get at the chassis. For some reason none of the cross-head screw drivers I have would fit the WPL screws precisely enough. I spent an hour and a half on it and got quite dispirited, though that may have been my blood sugar running low.
I left it for the night and this morning picked up a cheap knock-off Swiss Army knife I've had for donkey's years. The cross-head on that fitted exactly and in about twenty minutes I had the chassis down to where I wanted it.
So back to the location of the load bed.
While talking to my neighbour about it (he let me have some scraps of stuff) and I while I was looking at it, I noticed that the cross members were moveable in the the frame of the chassis. So this morning I did some measuring and discovered the following:-



So actually mounting the load bed is going to be relatively simple - I need to drill the chassis to move the cross-members, trim down the part B, fabricate the end of the chassis and fit a tow bar. Then I will screw through the holes in A & B into the load bed supports and that's it. I may add more supports but that's a minor job.

And that's where the third frustration comes in - Easter.

Happy Easter by the way, if you're a believer, happy chocolate day if you're not.

But we don't have any visitors this weekend as we normally would but despite this Mrs P wants the dining room table cleared, so production has had to come to a halt for a few days. Oh well, that's life.

[steve_pickstock]

So! An update on progress on my model
The side panels have been roughed out, the length is okay, height fits nicely and the basic detail is done. The L shaped supports need rivets adding.

Rivets are the next big thing to be done with the body work. The easiest method I have found is to slice lengths off a piece of plastic rod and glue them on using Tamiya Thin polystyrene cement. It’s very much a zen type of thing. Clear the mind, calm music, no disturbances and then get on with it. It’s actually quite relaxing, it’s just that there are so many to do – there are hundreds of them - and the positioning need to be quite precise.

The tailgate is pretty much done. This has had the rivets done. Some are a bit long/tall and I will knock them down a bit with an emery board, but overall I’m quite happy with this.



The load bed from the underneath. Still haven’t cut the wheel wells out, I’m saving that job until I know the precise layout of the chassis. But the nice thing is that the dimensions of the WPL chassis are very similar to the real life Bedford chassis, and the only major adaptation was notching one of the cross members to accommodate the motor housing.


I will be waiting until I have done all of the rivets before I glue everything together, mainly because it’s easier to mark out where they are going to go when I work with the pieces flat.

These pictures show the load bed and tailgate fitted together. The nylon hinges have been cut down and fitted into pockets in the bed and the tailgate. I still have to cut the pins in the hinges down, but I’m really happy with the positioning and the fit, in the upright/closed position the tailgate sits just right.





To close the tailgate, I’m going to cut some brass rod and fit it so that it protrudes through the gate, and I can put a pin down through it to lock it. This was done in real life, so it’s an authentic mechanism. The pin will be on a short piece of chain.

The base of the cab was printed in three parts for me by my friend. Originally he had said that he would do just the roof – a complicated shape with curves in multiple directions. Then he announced that he’d do the back of the cab as well. That was after we had discussed the various options for doing it the old school way. Then he told me that he would do the floor, and later that he was working on the front and the doors as well.

The parts were joined together using superglue, which held them fairly well, but then I ran another bead of glue down the joints and reinforced it with baking soda. That made them rock solid in seconds. Once that was done I hit them with Vallejo liquid putty.

The prints are rough because of the number of supports that the software added so they’ll need a good sanding, with the rotary drum sander.





Now, I don’t want to sound like I’m being ungrateful, after all I am paying him for the resin and the electricity he uses for these prints, but it does make me wonder what his opinion of my model making skills is. I was planning to do most of this myself - after all that was what the whole exercise was about - going back to making a model, rather than just painting something.

Now it may be that he wanted to save me having to do the complicated stuff, or he genuinely wanted to help but it has brought about a whole new set of issues.

My friend is working from a 1/35 scale model of a Bedford QLD (a long bodied troop carrier) and reproducing the kit parts but scaled up. I use the other version of the model – a Bedford QL general workhorse, but I adapt the scaled up parts to fit the chassis as I am scaling them up.

The issue is that the 3D printed parts need to be adapted to allow for the fit of the r/c board and the working headlights and the battery storage. So although I AM grateful for him doing these things, I wonder whether it would have been easier with less printed parts.

It’s all an interesting journey to be sure, and I am quite a way out of my comfort zone with this. The basic fabrication I’m okay with (that’s just sheet styrene) but the r/c side of things is new territory for me.

[steve_pickstock]

Quick update - I'm going off travelling for a couple of days.
Sat down with my friend last night and pointed out that the floor of the cab is an issue, and that the longitudinal supports under the cab floor need moving outwards to match the chassis. I could have done this by carving the cab floor up and rebuilding it but rather than do that with all of the nasty toxic resin dust, he said okay, he'll go back to the .stl file and make the changes and reprint it.



The yellow details are the parts as they currently are, and the red where things need to match the chassis.

[steve_pickstock]

This week's Bedford QL update.
Last week I assembled the back of the truck, but because I was off to a wedding in Nottingham (and incidentally fitting in a visit to Games Workshop's Warhammer World as well) I didn't photograph it.
So this week I have been pottering about trying to understand the relationship between the cab and the load bed, and making the changes to the chassis so that they'd fit.

So the first job was to build the 1/35th scale kit chassis and measure that up and also place the cab and the load bed so I could see how they fit.

The line A-A is the distance between the axles in 1/35th that I needed to replicate in 1/16th, in actual fact it works out at about 17mm extra in length.

Next I sat the cab and the load bed on the chassis and looked at the gap between the two where the spare wheel and the fuel tank goes.

As I was going to use a spare WPL wheel instead of a Bedford wheel, I had to make a bit more room, a couple of mm.

I made a gauge block to sit on the chassis so all the new holes would be in the right places.

The outer face (1) has two holes in it A and B. A takes a screw in fits into the existing hole on the steel chassis and the screw holds it in place. Hole B shows where I need to make my pilot hole. The distance A-B is 20mm.
The inner face (2) shows the two cheek pieces that sit on the top and bottom of the chassis, holding the gauge in place. C is the height of the chassis.

Comparison views of the underside of the load bed to show the changes I have made to accommodate the differences in the chassis.

The second cross member from the front had to be carved away because of the motor, and the two cross members where the wheel wells are had to be replaced to be able to take a screw without falling apart (it still isn't 100% right and will need some adjusting.

I adjusted the length of the tailgate hinge pins

Much happier with these now.

For these photos I put the chassis together complete with wheels.

You can see the original holes in the chassis for the rear suspension assembly which has been relocated to it's new position.
The rear prop shaft is going to need extending somehow, though after market parts for WPL fittings are available and I may look at one of the extended propshafts that are available (or I may scratch build something).

With the load bed fitted - this still isn't finished - though I am very happy with it so far - it needs a load of hooks making and fitting for the ropes that secure the canvas tilt.

You can also see the electronic board that needs to be fitted into the cab somehow.
I went back to my friend who printed the cab - below - for me, and we talked about the changes needed. He has redesigned it and I hope I will have it this week.


The tail gate will be secured by two stubs that protrude through holes in the gate. Two pins on chains will make sure the gate doesn't fall open. Cheap dress jewellery chain, so brass and yeah.


Last of all, this little device - officially a match cutter, I use it for cutting Evergreen rod, strips,and angles etc. A couple of quid and I wouldn't want to be without one.

[steve_pickstock]

The parts for the new cab arrived tonight.

From top to bottom - cab roof, inside of left door, cab front, inside of right door, the two parts of the combined cab floor and back.

Note the large slot in the floor to accommodate the radio gear. This was the biggest change that was needed from the previous version as the motherboard had nowhere to go otherwise.

The two parts of the cab floor/back. There are issues with this version - warping and misaligned printing, never mind a large part of the left hand mudguard that will need making using the part of the previous version - but beggars cannot be choosers, still it'll give me something to do.


Better view of the large slot in the floor.

[steve_pickstock]

If this was a real life build it would involve pictures of a draughty garage and oily overalls, fortunately it's the dining room table and not a shed and there's no dirty motor oil involved.

So I did spend some time looking at the cab parts and wondering about assembling them and decided - not yet.
instead I set about assembling some of the other parts associated with the load bed.

First up, one of two stowage boxes that fit under the bed, probably for storing tools or ropes. This fits under the driver's side - right hand side - of the bed.


This one fits under the bed on the other side.

I simply took the kit parts, scaled them up using a simple spread sheet - put the measurement in mm into box A, times by 35, divide by 16, display the measurement (in mm) in box D. I still manage to get stuff wrong but it works.
I also remembered how much I hate fine scale work like this - probably because I am so out of practice.

This is a jerry can rack that goes under the left hand side of the bed. I decided that unlike the doors of the stowage boxes, I had to make this one open, which also meant fitting a locking mechanism. The 1/16th scale jerry can shows the size of it.


TWO DAYS OF WORK! Actually two days and most of the night in between!
Built most of the frame work on the first day - laying it out on masking tape, then glueing it together and assembling it. Then spent the next day fitting the door and hinges and making the catch mechanism. The night between was spent thinking about what needed to be done.
The biggest problem was that the hinges - being nylon - refused to adhere to the styrene. In the end I pinned them in place using brass rod, which did the trick, and after some fettling made a stub to fit onto the frame, and protrude through the door where a pin will hold it shut. (This is the same method I intend to use on the tailgate, so it was a useful exercise.). I'll fit a chain to the pin to stop it getting lost.

I put them in place on the chassis so you can see where they go.


Thanks for looking in.

[steve_pickstock]

After I had photographed and uploaded the images of the rack and the stowage boxes I went back to the model and decided I was going to do the chains for the latch pins.

I really shouldn't do stuff like that when my blood sugar gets low.

Anyway a lot of very fiddly mucking about later ...



The stubs are brass, superglued to Evergreen, so that they protrude through the tail gate. The latch pins are attached to chains which themselves attach to the bodywork of the load bed.
I figured that this thing is going to go bouncing over rough terrain, so I wanted the pins attached somehow so that they don't get lost, and this kind of latch is something I have seen elsewhere on real vehicles.
I also attached the tail gate super glueing the nylon tabs in place and then pinning them from underneath - the only problem is that when you drop the gate it doesn't hang vertically - it will need some 'adjustment'.

[steve_pickstock]

I sat down this morning and looked at the chains on the tail gate and wasn't happy with them. I also went and looked at some pictures of a restored vehicle. The loops on the pins were too big, the chains looked too short and they were anchored in the wrong place - I want to fit a frame and 'canvas' tilt later, and tilt frame would go where the anchors were.

So this afternoon I sat down and redid them. I'd had an idea about forming the loops on the pins, and it worked quite well, I also formed new anchors and measured up the chains.

Then I sat down for an hour fiddling with the chains, but eventually it was done.


The anchors were moved onto the tail gate (yellow arrows) and lengthened.


the tailgate closed.


The chains supporting the lowered tail gate, one of the reasons for lengthening - I saw this on a real vehicle.
the chains will be painted with white vinegar, that will oxidise them and make them look like iron, rather than bright silver

[steve_pickstock]

The next job is cleats - lots and lots and lots of cleats!



Each yellow mark on the picture shows the location of a hook or cleat for the ropes that secure the canvas tilt of the lorry.

There are 38 of these.

I'm in the process of making them at the moment. I cut a 16mm length of brass wire. Then I fold that in half, and then fold that in half again. As I make this second fold I bend it round a thicker piece of wire to make sure I can get a scale rope under it.

I think I'm actually making about 40+ of these in case I lose some of they don't fit the profile.
These are fiddly as anything but they're absolutely crucial to the 'look' of the thing so, as the great Norm Abram (The New Yankee Workshop) once said, 'Your thoughts and prayers will be appreciated'.

I'm still not certain about the cloth for the tilt. WPL actually sell add on tilts for their models but they are all in a digital camouflage style, so not suitable. I know you can get cloth for doll's houses, or I buy cotton cloth and dye, maybe an old shirt. Then it will need to be hemmed and have grommets (eyelets) fitted so I can pass a rope through it to secure it.

[steve_pickstock]

Started to apply some paint today to the QL - no pictures though it didn't turn out so well. I used a Ammo Mig paint SCC15 British Olive Drab.
I cannot say that I'm impressed - it didn't like being brush painted at all, even over an undercoat it wasn't impressive.
So I set about looking at alternatives - I really like Vallejo Model Colour so That was one area to look, and I am okay with Humbrol, now they're doing dropper bottles.
I found this website which is really useful

https://www.modelshade.com/

Click on 'Get Started' > Select the make of paint you're comparing - in this case Ammo Mig > Enter the serial code for the paint you want alternatives to > choose the paint range you want to explore (you can even select whether you want 'Matt' or not > Humbrol - and it offered me '155 Matt Olive Drab'.

After looking through the alternatives I think the Humbrol is a good option. It's slightly greener than the Mig and brighter, and less grey than some of the alternate suggestions. Either way I think this is a really useful comparison chart.

[steve_pickstock]

In an effort to do anything else except bend little pieces of brass wire, I added the spare wheel holder. Basically I glued an M2 bolt to a piece of Evergreen using superglue beefed up by baking soda and then attached it to the front end of the load bed.

Originally the bar was much thicker, me over-engineering things but there isn't a lot of room to play with between the load bed and the cab so I removed the original and used a thinner piece instead and saved myself four mm.

This is the process I go through to make the cleats.

It's not fool proof and it won't make every cleat exactly the same, but if you have spent any time around working vehicles then you'll know that things get bent out of shape, so I'm cool with that.

[steve_pickstock]

So the load bed is pretty much complete - there are some gubbins and a fuel tank to go between it and the cab, but they're attached to the chassis so they're different.

Spent yesterday attaching the cleats first to the small pieces of styrene and then to the sides of the bed.

Yeah.

I would say never again ... but ... I was looking at the load bed that I took off the original model and thought that with not too much work I can make that into a large GS trailer - and of course, GS trailers could be fitted with a tilt and that means that they have - cleats!

Later, I'll do that later, much later.

Anyway in all of its styrene glory ...





The cleats aren't as pretty - or as uniform - as I would have liked them, but hey ho! I just know they're going to pop off in the future despite being glued down with Tamiya Thin, Revell Contacta and superglue/baking soda but that's in the future.

The boards at the cab end of the bed look like they're uneven but they aren't - I've measured them.
Anyway this is going to the paint shop this week, and next I will start on the cab.
Thanks to all that have looked in see you soon.

[steve_pickstock]

I did a run to the model shop - yes we do have a real, bricks and mortar model shop locally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxbLtDdJzww

Took the pictures in to show the chaps there, he was quite impressed.
Came out with some bottles of Humbrol 155 Olive Drab.
Put a coat on the underside of the load bed before I went to bed last night and it's like chalk and cheese. The Mig just wouldn't brush on at all, it was like painting on a silicone sheet. The Humbrol needs two coats but it's a much better cover and a little lighter in tone, but, all in all, much more satisfactory.

Also sat down with my friend the other night and talked about headlights.
he had printed me some solid headlights for the front of the truck, I asked him if he could make them hollow so I could use the LEDs from the original model - because they flash to show you've got a lock on the r/c - and the plan is now to drill through the front of the truck and make a 5mm hole all the way through, this will be counter sunk from the back to give a slightly large hole from inside and allow the LEDs to protrude through the bodywork and into the back of the headlights, shining out through the black out slits in the front covers.
but that's all in the future.

Thanks for looking in.

[steve_pickstock]

Update on the painting so far.

Process is thus:
1. 1st coat of Humbrol 155 Olive Drab (OD). It's thick and the bottles are really stiff, but it's a decent colour.
2. 2nd coat of Humbrol, this gives a decent cover but these two coats are a bit fragile and easily scratched.
3. Coat of Vallejo Gloss Varnish, to seal and protect the base coats.
4. 3rd coat of Humbrol (thinned with Vallejo Airbrush Thinner) to flatten the varnish.
5. Wash with Games Workshop Nuln Oil - edges, rivets, angle iron, crevices and planking.
6. General light coat of Humbrol (4th) to knock the Nuln Oil back but allow it to still define the details.
7. Last coat of Humbrol - 5th coat - mixed 70/30 with Vallejo Desert Sand, dry-brushed over all.



This looks more yellow than the other images - it's not really - honest!


An issue in this picture is the little chip, down on the right hand side, above the tailgate. It's a side effect of how big job this is. I'm painting it in sections and sometimes overpainting stuff. I think it will be fine.

Still to do - mud guards, fuel tank and a funny sort of rack for the spare tyre that goes between the load bed and the cab.
Then there's the cab to build and paint, and work out how to get the r/c gear in. I have worked out how to get the lights fitted.

So loads more to do - I hope you are enjoying this because there's still a way to go yet.
thanks for looking in.