Oh wow, that's interesting. I probably should go and find some source material on the D51 anyway. I'm neglecting that badly.

You should definitely do so.

The quality of this kit is like nothing I've ever seen. Everything is clean and shiny and fits absolutely perfectly.

Also the feeling of building a full metal kit is.... i don't know... every part has weight and robustness to it. It's just THERE. BAM. In your face. There's no flimsyness or lightness to it. It's gonna charge along like a steam train running. Oh wait.

Oh my, god, they are so so so so so fiddly.

I absolutely love it.

Stage 11: Riveting rivets

A plate of salad and grilled chicken - the healthy choice



With stage 11 we receive the parts for the front frame which will be mounted under the front deck.

This involves putting 16 extremely tiny black rivets into extremely tiny holes on the black frame component. Which is very very fiddly.

The best way I found to do this is to dispense with tweezers altogether, you won't be able to see where you're aiming what with the whole "put the black thing into the black thing" going on.

Instead drop the rivet next to your intended hole and then veeeery carefully and slowly nudge the rivet into position with a toothpick. This works really well after a bit of practice.

After fitting one side with rivets apply adhesive tape over the frame, turn around and cement the rivets into place with CA glue. Repeat for the other side. Get the adhesive tape into the right position on the first try, you won't be able to correct the position anymore as you'll pull out all the rivets you placed and will melt down into an angry cave troll. Or so I hear.

The longer rivets are best placed into the smoke box support only at first. Then mask with adhesive tape, which will allow you to easily place all rivets into the frame in one go.



The support brackets themselves seem rather loose in my build, not sure if this is correct. We'll see.

Total parts count: 58 parts, 56 fasteners

Unrecoverably lost parts count: 1 extremely tiny black extra rivet.

That's a great tip. I'll sure it'll come in handy, as i have the added "bonus" of not really being able to see in 3 dimensions.

Nice. Thank you.

I found an amazing looking book on the D51 at http://www.books-wasabi.com/product/539

Now if only I spoke Japanese

Hai. So desu yo.

Due to the extension of the contest deadline, this diary is now entered into the Build of the Year 2015 contest. Vote for me and get a free hug.

I would shake my fists in fake anger, but I can't really as I just spent 3 hours drilling and filing the gun barrel of Hachettes Tiger Tank so it FINALLY fits together right and my arms hurt like a [word i can't use on these forums].



As I do yours. Regarding your block, I'd try building something totally unrelated for a while, like bashing together a 5 dollar tank just for fun and giggles. That usually gets me out of a slump.