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 Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Hello all,
A little more work done to this build.
In the previous update we ended with Stage 6 which involved the attaching of the completed bogies and sprockets to the left side of the tank.
Stage 7: – Involves the attaching of the bogies and sprockets to the right side of the tank. These will be attached later in the build as per the left side to make it easier to paint them. The only other thing to do in this stage was to attach two brackets to the rear of the lower hull. Photo #1 below.
Stage 8: – Involves the fitting of some of the upper track support rollers to the left and right suspension covers along with a couple of access plates for the front ‘jockey’ wheels. The parts needed before and after fitting can be seen in photos #2 and 3 below.
Stage 9 : – Involves the fitting of the Stage 8 assemblies to the sides of the lower hull, along with the front idler wheels and the rear sprockets. The wheels and sprockets will be fitted later in the build. Photos #4,5, and 6 show the parts fitted to the lower hull.
Stages 10 & 11: – Deal with the fitting of the tracks. Like the wheels and sprockets, these will be fitted nearer the end of the build for ease of painting.
Stage 12: – Deals with the fitting of various small parts and the drivers' hatch (from Stage 1) to the inside of the upper hull. When fitted, the drivers' hatch is operable. Several small holes needed to be drilled out from inside the hull ready for later fitting of things like the spare track links, retaining brackets and various tools that sit on top of the finished hull deck. The holes for the locating pins on the spare track retaining brackets weren’t drilled out as I will be replacing them with photo-etch parts at a later stage. The parts needed before and after fitting can be seen in photos #7 and 8 below.
Stage 13: - Deals with construction of the spare track links and the two light housings that will be fitted to the upper front hull. The light housings both have a headlamp to the front face and the bigger one also has a formation light to the rear face. Instead of painting the headlamps silver as suggested, I have burnished some kitchen foil onto the lenses using ‘Microscale Foil Adhesive’ (great product) which will then be masked and have some ‘Microscale Kristal Klear’ dropped into it after painting of the tank is completed. The rear facing red formation light will also be done at that stage. The light housings have also both had photo-etched parts fitted to their front and rear faces as can be seen in the photos below. The parts needed before and after construction can be seen below. I forgot to take a photo of the completed spare track links, but hey ho, you’ll see them later in the build
Stage 14: – Deals with the fitting of the light housings, spare track links and various hand tools to the upper deck plus the fitting of the various engine/radiator covers to the rear engine deck. The spare track links and all hand tools will be fitted later in the build, once the main construction of the tank is complete to avoid any accidental damage or the possibility of knocking them off. Photos below show the parts needed before and after fitting.
Stage 15: – Deals with the fitting of the rest of the engine/radiator covers plus more hand tools (which will also be fitted later) and a couple of towing brackets that fit to the rear of the hull and which also won’t be fitted at this stage, as I may need to fill and sand the area immediately next to where the brackets locate, ready for some photo-etch parts and I don’t want to damage them in the sanding process. Photos below show the parts needed before and after fitting.
Note - the upper deck is only loosely fitted to the lower hull in the last two photos above, to give an idea of how the model is developing.
That’s where we are up to so far in the build.
All comments and criticisms welcomed.
Kev  ModelMania attached the following image(s):
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Rank: Pro   Groups: Registered
Joined: 15/07/2014 Posts: 204 Points: 578 Location: Alabama, USA
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The tank is coming along really nice Kev. Great detail on the progress.  Building - DeAgostini HMS Victory, McLaren MP4-23, Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa, Harley Davidson Fat Boy, Lamborghini Countach
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Love your walk through of the build, excellent work!! 
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Looks like its coming together fast 
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 Rank: Super-Elite       Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Nice progress, will be keeping an eye on this Steve
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Nicely done Current builds:-C57,Zero, Lamborghini Countach, Caldercraft HMS Agamemnon,Robi,R2-D2, MFH Cobra .
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Rank: Pro Groups: Registered
Joined: 27/06/2011 Posts: 434 Points: 1,309 Location: milton keynes
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Great start Kev & good to see you back regards dan Built - MP4/23, Zero, Deagostini Falcon, Model Airways 1903 Wright Flyer, Senna Mp4/4.
Working - Mclaren M23 1/8th scale to complement the Deagostini MP4/23 & Mp4/4
on the bench, Model Airways Sopwith Camel.
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Blimey your cracking on with this  looking great Jase “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Thanks very much Barry, Daran, Tom, Steve, Andy, Dan and Jase for looking in on my build and your comments, very much appreciated one and all!!
Glad you like the 'walkthrough' format Daran, thought I would try doing the build that way in case anyone might fancy buying the kit and needed to know what it was like first?
Thanks for the welcome back Dan, much appreciated.
Kev
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Rapid progress Kev and coming along really nicely.... will be following.... Regards Alan
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 Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 06/06/2010 Posts: 566 Points: 1,657 Location: UK
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Cricky Kev, Where did you get the time to post all that? Great start & looking forward to your progress. Note to D. Bader, any chance you can sign a couple of copies of my 'Reach for the Sky' They'd do well on ebay. Wilfy
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Hello all,
I have managed to get some more work done to this build.
In the previous update we ended with Stage 15 in the build instructions, which took us up to completion of the main upper deck of the tank, although there are still lots of tools and other small and delicate bits to add later, just before painting begins. Stage 16 of the instructions deals with the fitting of the upper deck to the lower hull, but I haven’t done that yet for reasons which are detailed later in this update.
Stages 17, 18 & 19: – Deal with the construction of the Auxiliary Fuel Tank and the Exhaust Pipe/Silencer assembly.
The main components of the Auxiliary Fuel Tank can be seen in the first photo below (unfortunately I forgot to include the mounting brackets in the photo – too late now as I've built it!). I replaced the delicate handles with some plastic coated gardening wire and there was a need for a small amount of filler as the round end plates were slightly too small. There were some replacement straps for the fuel tank in my Eduard etch set but the thickness of them was only similar to the Tamiya moulded parts and the fixing bolts were way too thin and too flat and 2D looking, so I elected to save some work and stay with the kit parts as they were already good enough. There was also some etched mounting brackets, but again they were way too thin and just did not look right, so I didn’t use them and stayed with the kit parts even if they are a little inaccurate – each bracket should be made up of two separate plates, which fit either side of a mounting plate on the tank hull, but Tamiya in their wisdom (not!) have decided to cast them as one solid piece for some reason? - Heyho, I’ll live with it. I can’t find any reference photos that show whether there was a fuel pipe from the auxiliary tank to the engine bay, does anybody know whether this was the case, or was the auxiliary fuel tank just a fuel storage tank that could be used to drain fuel from to refill the main side mounted fuel tanks? Until I have an answer I am loathe to add a scratch-built pipe. The next two photos show the fuel tank fitted to the rear deck and also shows the two rear towing brackets just in front of the fuel tank that weren’t fitted at stage 15.
Next task was construction of the exhaust silencers and pipes. There were several etched parts for this on the Eduard sheet which included silencer end plates and some replacement straps, which unlike the fuel tank I decided to use this time as they looked more realistic. The only problem with the straps was that on the kit part, there is a retaining bolt on each strap between the two silencers which looks nice on the kit part but quite naff and 2D on the etch parts, so I just sanded off the plastic straps, leaving the moulded bolts in place, then cut the etched straps in two leaving the ends to butt up neatly to the plastic bolts – job done!! I also lost one of the exhaust exit pipes when it pinged off my bench into the wide blue yonder and try as I might I couldn't find it, so I had to set to and scratch build and drill a replacement from some stretched and bent sprue!! I think it looks pretty near perfect and it’s very hard to tell the difference (it’s the one on the left in the second photo below)?! The main silencer assembly before and after removal of the plastic straps can be seen below, then fitting of the etch parts and including the scratch-built exit pipe.
The exhaust pipes from the top of the rear deck to the silencers are wrapped in asbestos tape in reality and this is nicely replicated by Tamiya but it does have a seam line down each side which needs very carefully scraping away and then re-texturing with the end of a scalpel blade. The pipes are made up of several different parts in the kit which I haven’t shown here. The photos below show the pipes attached to the silencers and temporarily placed in situ on the rear of the Matilda tank to establish an accurate fit. In the third photo you can see that I have also fitted two small locking bars (with etch plates) for the engine cover, just in front of the fuel tank and a small hooked bracket in the middle of the engine cover. There should also be a rear light/number plate fitted to the offside rear deck at this stage but I have left it off for now to prevent damaging it.
Stage 20: - Deals with the fitting of the outer track support rollers to the inner face of the armoured side skirts and the outer track tensioning adjusters. The main parts are shown below before and after construction.
Stages 21, 22 & 23: – Deal with more detail fitting to the outside of the tank which I will show when the main construction of the tank is completed.
I noticed that when viewed from below, there are two glaring faults with this model (it is a re-release of an old moulding after all and does show its’ age in places!) There are open holes along each side of the tank where the upper deck meets the lower hull (you can see right through into the fighting compartment!) and the same at the rear between the exhaust silencers and the upper deck? You can see the gaps in the photos below.
I am fairly certain that the holes on the side can't be seen once the side skirts and tracks are in place but I can’t be absolutely sure and also I intend to have the turret hatches open whereby it may be possible to see the holes through those, so I decided to fill them in with some plastic strip and sheet anyway, just in case. Not an easy job with lots of complex measuring and dry fitting, but I got there in the end with quite a neat and tidy result even if I say so myself. The filling-in process can be seen in the photos below along with the end result. Much better than having gaping holes underneath and better to do it now than regret it later which means some peace of mind for me!!
Stages 24 & 25: - Stage 24 doesn’t apply to my chosen version of the model so is ignored.
Stage 25 deals with the construction of the main ‘40mm QF 2-pdr’ turret gun and mantlet. I have decided to replace the plastic kit barrel with an aftermarket machined aluminium part. The kit part was nice in that unusually it is moulded in one piece, instead of the normal two halves complete with annoying join line that needs to be carefully sanded!! The kit part is also pre-drilled which is nice, but the metal barrel is just that little bit more in scale and was only a couple of quid so why not?! All that was needed was to ream out the hole in the mantlet to accept the metal barrel, make sure it is all correctly aligned, then drop in some thin CA glue and job done. I also opened up the end of the machine gun muzzle to thin the edge of it a little more? The main parts before and after construction can be seen in the last two photos below.
So, that’s where I am up to so far with this build. The next update will see more construction of the turret and it’s fittings.
Please feel free to comment or criticise if you wish?
Kev ModelMania attached the following image(s):
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Looking good Kev, one of my favorite Brit tanks, love the work with the plastic sheet too . Steve
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Coming along nicely my friend, nice touch with the plasti-card and making the fillers. Having built one of these along while ago, with the hatches open you can see through. Metal barrels always make a big difference, and its a must on all my builds if they are available, as are metal tracks. Keep up the good work!
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Rank: Pro Groups: Registered
Joined: 27/06/2011 Posts: 434 Points: 1,309 Location: milton keynes
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id say that's a super job on filling in there Kev regards Dan Built - MP4/23, Zero, Deagostini Falcon, Model Airways 1903 Wright Flyer, Senna Mp4/4.
Working - Mclaren M23 1/8th scale to complement the Deagostini MP4/23 & Mp4/4
on the bench, Model Airways Sopwith Camel.
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enjoying the biuld looks great J “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
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She's looking fab Kev, excellent detail on show..... .. Pleasure to follow... Regards Alan
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 Rank: Semi-Pro Level 2  Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/11/2014 Posts: 86 Points: 267 Location: Vancouver, BC
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Really enjoying this build. Fantastic presentation and photos! Subscribed: Suzuki GSX 1300R Hayabusa In The Last Few Years Builds: DeAgostini Samurai Armour Kobayashi Kougei: 1/100 Horyuji Kondo, 1/100 Horyuji Inner Gate, 1/36 Muro-ji Five-Story Pagoda, Public Bath House of Showa, Model Shipyard: 1/72 Los Morrillos de Cabo Rojo Lighthouse. 1/72 Kermorvan Lighthouse Woody Joe: 1/150 Azuchi Castle. Building: Kobayashi Kougei: 1/100 Himeji Castle, 1/70 ji Kinkaku. Received but not started: Woody Joe 1/50 Ishiyamadera Pagoda
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