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Half a Year for a Half Track
iakarch
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Louisiana, United States
Joined: May 19, 2007
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Posted: Saturday, January 14, 2017 - 08:51 PM UTC
Got some paint down in the interior.



69mudbone
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California, United States
Joined: April 26, 2016
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Posted: Monday, January 16, 2017 - 12:41 AM UTC
image upload

Hey guys ,WIP update everything falling together enjoying the build

photo uploader
ClaytonFromEllijay
#454
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Georgia, United States
Joined: July 10, 2016
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Posted: Monday, January 16, 2017 - 04:42 AM UTC
Looking good, I'll be jumping into my build next week...
Dragline
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Massachusetts, United States
Joined: November 25, 2016
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Posted: Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - 07:06 AM UTC
I'll be on mine in a week or two. These builds are looking great guys.
petbat
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Queensland, Australia
Joined: August 06, 2005
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Posted: Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - 01:35 PM UTC
Coming along nicely Guys.

I've cleaned up the road wheels and done the drive sprockets and started the turret. Not worth pics yet
tatbaqui
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ARMORAMA
#040
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Metro Manila, Philippines
Joined: May 06, 2007
KitMaker: 2,713 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - 07:37 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Tat, if you're after a set of the Tamiya decals for the Greif 250/3 I've got some you can have. I've just checked through my decals box and I've got some. I only used some number plate's and crosses off them as I did a straightforward half track when I built it 20 odd years ago so all the Greif and Adler markings are still there. The letters are red with a white border. Let me know if you want me to send them.



Sorry to have missed your post Karl. Does it also have "Greif" outlined in white only? Cheers, Tat


Quoted Text

I picked up an ancient Gunze-Sangyo kit of Greif awhile ago and it also had red on both sides. I had to carefully cut the red part out of the outline, and of course the old decals disintegrated anyway. had to do a LOT of chipping to hide that mess, but in the end it turned out not half bad.



I remember responding to your old thread Mark saying there was one available that had the white outlined letters. That was the first thing I checked back after I bought the Dragon kit -- only to find out it was 1/24!
Namabiiru
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MODEL SHIPWRIGHTS
#399
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Rhode Island, United States
Joined: March 05, 2014
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Posted: Saturday, January 21, 2017 - 05:06 PM UTC
Dragon strikes again!



The front wheel contacts the ground perfectly--until I add the tracks. Anyone have any ideas on how to deal with that? Short of getting out my razor saw and cutting DML's parts all to pieces (each fork is molded as a single piece), I'm not sure how I'm going to get that wheel on the ground. The front fork is assembled, but luckily not yet glued to the body.

ClaytonFromEllijay
#454
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Georgia, United States
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Posted: Saturday, January 21, 2017 - 08:40 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Dragon strikes again!



The front wheel contacts the ground perfectly--until I add the tracks. Anyone have any ideas on how to deal with that? Short of getting out my razor saw and cutting DML's parts all to pieces (each fork is molded as a single piece), I'm not sure how I'm going to get that wheel on the ground. The front fork is assembled, but luckily not yet glued to the body.



That's a real bugger, Mark..from here all I can suggest is cutting the forks right above where the fender is and add a section of styrene there...if you can, post a front-on view...
Namabiiru
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MODEL SHIPWRIGHTS
#399
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Rhode Island, United States
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Posted: Saturday, January 21, 2017 - 09:59 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Dragon strikes again!



The front wheel contacts the ground perfectly--until I add the tracks. Anyone have any ideas on how to deal with that? Short of getting out my razor saw and cutting DML's parts all to pieces (each fork is molded as a single piece), I'm not sure how I'm going to get that wheel on the ground. The front fork is assembled, but luckily not yet glued to the body.



That's a real bugger, Mark..from here all I can suggest is cutting the forks right above where the fender is and add a section of styrene there...if you can, post a front-on view...



I'll have to take that under advisement. Going to be tricky, but may be able to make it work.

I went back to look at my reference photos and noticed that the support arms linking the forks to the pivot are angled from the forks as opposed to being a right angle, as DML molded it, so they tend to be more parallel to the ground:


So I went and surgically deconstructed the entire thing to drop the fork a bit, and here's what I came up with:


Closer, but still way off. As requested, here's a front-end shot as it stands now:


I'm thinking maybe instead of cutting the forks above the fender, perhaps cutting them at attachment for the fender stabilizer where the fork is smallest. That will also allow me to replace the stabilizers that look too thick for scale.

ClaytonFromEllijay
#454
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Posted: Sunday, January 22, 2017 - 12:56 AM UTC
I agree, seems there's little else you could do with it
justsendit
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Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
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Posted: Sunday, January 22, 2017 - 01:16 AM UTC
Hey Mark,
I just had a look at the Kettenkrad I built several years ago and it has the very same issue. However, I weathered mine for a muddy environment dio base which I believe would have solved the problem, but that hasn't happened yet. If I get a chance, I might just see the doctor about doing a little nip-and-tuck. ... Or maybe I should just get motivated and make that base for it!

Good luck!🍺
—mike
iakarch
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Louisiana, United States
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Posted: Sunday, January 22, 2017 - 02:33 AM UTC
Mark

Seems the only solution is to get out a really sharp razor saw and take your time. Think about making new pins for the suspension arms to attache them back to the body.
Namabiiru
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MODEL SHIPWRIGHTS
#399
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Rhode Island, United States
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Posted: Sunday, January 22, 2017 - 05:47 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Mark

Seems the only solution is to get out a really sharp razor saw and take your time. Think about making new pins for the suspension arms to attache them back to the body.



I do need to get some more detail on the scratched bits, true; however, after going over reference photos again and again I think I have the final solution. The main reason I didn't want to just drop the whole assembly down where it attaches to the body because it would have had the handle bars sitting too low, but Dragon has simplified the whole arrangement so much that the handlebars are lower than they are supposed to be anyway. So by dropping the whole assembly and mounting the handlebars on an extension on top I think I will have something fairly close. Looks like rubbish at the moment, but hopefully once everything is in place it will all come together.

Word to the wise: if you ever feel like building a Kettenkrad, stick with Tamiya.

justsendit
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Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
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Posted: Monday, January 23, 2017 - 01:53 AM UTC
Small M21 update. ... Mines! ☠️
💥        💥💥    💥

    💥   💥 💥💥        💥

💥 💥   💥       💥💥        💥
      💥       💥💥💥        💥

                    💥
💥

—mike💥
iakarch
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Louisiana, United States
Joined: May 19, 2007
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Posted: Monday, January 23, 2017 - 02:21 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Mark

Seems the only solution is to get out a really sharp razor saw and take your time. Think about making new pins for the suspension arms to attache them back to the body.



I do need to get some more detail on the scratched bits, true; however, after going over reference photos again and again I think I have the final solution. The main reason I didn't want to just drop the whole assembly down where it attaches to the body because it would have had the handle bars sitting too low, but Dragon has simplified the whole arrangement so much that the handlebars are lower than they are supposed to be anyway. So by dropping the whole assembly and mounting the handlebars on an extension on top I think I will have something fairly close. Looks like rubbish at the moment, but hopefully once everything is in place it will all come together.

Word to the wise: if you ever feel like building a Kettenkrad, stick with Tamiya.




Mark

I meant to go at it from the other end, raise the wheels by cutting the arms and swinging them up the required amount.
Namabiiru
Staff MemberAssociate Editor
MODEL SHIPWRIGHTS
#399
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Rhode Island, United States
Joined: March 05, 2014
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Posted: Monday, January 23, 2017 - 05:06 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Mark

Seems the only solution is to get out a really sharp razor saw and take your time. Think about making new pins for the suspension arms to attache them back to the body.



I do need to get some more detail on the scratched bits, true; however, after going over reference photos again and again I think I have the final solution. The main reason I didn't want to just drop the whole assembly down where it attaches to the body because it would have had the handle bars sitting too low, but Dragon has simplified the whole arrangement so much that the handlebars are lower than they are supposed to be anyway. So by dropping the whole assembly and mounting the handlebars on an extension on top I think I will have something fairly close. Looks like rubbish at the moment, but hopefully once everything is in place it will all come together.

Word to the wise: if you ever feel like building a Kettenkrad, stick with Tamiya.




Mark

I meant to go at it from the other end, raise the wheels by cutting the arms and swinging them up the required amount.



Oh, Okay. I follow you now. Had actually considered that idea, but had to discard it outright. The swing arms are so petit there wouldn't be enough mating surface to get a strong enough bond, but more importantly raising the road wheels enough would make the whole thing look like it was carrying an elephant unless I raised all the wheels, in which case there wouldn't bee enough room to fit the tracks.

Appreciate the inputs and suggestions!

justsendit
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Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
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Posted: Monday, January 23, 2017 - 06:15 AM UTC
Hi guys,

Here’s another installment on the M21.

I revised the instruction sheet's assembly sequence quite a bit ... leaving the track suspension off, several large panels, and the fighting compartment items unglued. The kit practically snap-fits together at this stage!




The driver ... no snap-fit here! It took quite a bit of effort to seat him into the cab properly — didn't look believable; he seemed a little tall in the saddle, even with the optional sunken seat cushion (K8). With a little fancy Ginsu blade action to the torso, butt, driver seat, he sits just fine now.





Cheers!🍺
—mike
ClaytonFromEllijay
#454
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Georgia, United States
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Posted: Monday, January 23, 2017 - 06:21 AM UTC
Looks like a perfect custom fit, Mike!
justsendit
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Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
KitMaker: 3,033 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, January 24, 2017 - 04:18 AM UTC
@ Irvin and Ken, Looks like you guys are in paint or close to it already.

@ Mark, Hope the Kettenkrad stops misbehaving like das 'Katzenjammer Kids!'

@ Clayton, Thanks!

I went back and had a look a the mines — realized I forgot the handles. Good lord those things are tiny! ... No wonder! 🔎

Cheers!🍺
—mike
Namabiiru
Staff MemberAssociate Editor
MODEL SHIPWRIGHTS
#399
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Rhode Island, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, January 24, 2017 - 05:40 PM UTC
Thanks, Mike. I actually got the final assembly done last night and it's just about ready for primer. I think the heavily modified front end came out not-too-bad in the end, but if definitely killed my idea of a quick build.

justsendit
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Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
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Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 - 02:30 AM UTC
Here’s another small M21 scratch modification.

Plan A: Lots of fun last night … almost 6 ft. of wire stripping was needed to make only two runs of cable! 😅
Plan B: Buildup the drum diameter with Tamiya 10mm Masking Tape. 😋
Plan C: Revisit my winding work and do a better, more uniform job? ... TBD. 🤔

Cable is a 0.24mm strand pulled from an unknown wire gauge. Chain is LZ Models (35602) Precision Medium Chain.

Not perfect …

… but better than the kit version???


Waiting for some nuts and bolts to arrive for the mortar base 🔩 ... no rivet counting though! 😄

Thanks for having a look!🍺
—mike
Namabiiru
Staff MemberAssociate Editor
MODEL SHIPWRIGHTS
#399
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Rhode Island, United States
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Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 - 04:01 AM UTC
Looks better to me, Mike!

ClaytonFromEllijay
#454
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Georgia, United States
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Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 - 04:37 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Looks better to me, Mike!




I concur, that winch is a gem.
69mudbone
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California, United States
Joined: April 26, 2016
KitMaker: 362 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 - 05:03 AM UTC
Hi Mike, I like what your doing with the M-21 it is much nicer than the Tamiya that I am working on. I would like to build a dragon however I am waiting for the right stuff for IDF version. I just saw a group of figures in the process of being Sculpted they look really sharp how long I need to wait who knows
justsendit
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Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
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Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 - 06:13 AM UTC
Many thanks guys, I really appreciate the comments!

@ Ken, You prompted me to go on one of my Google search tangents (half-track, half track, halftrack) when I happened to come across this kit version — never knew of it until now: Dragon (6359) IDF M3 Halftrack. Maybe you were already aware?

Curious … Which figure sculpts are you referring to?

Cheers!🍺
—mike