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1/35 Tamiya German 8 Ton Halftrack Sd. kfz.7
- Thread starter Tankbuilder
- Start date
Tankbuilder
Active member
I was looking at the top deck of the cargo bay and I decided that I did not like the molded on strips.
So i scrounged around in my styrene strips box and found some styrene strips that I could use to scratch-build that item.
I cut 5 equal length strips from the styrene and used some carpenters glue to tack down a scrap plastic box. I laid the 5 strips down so that one end butted against the box. I then glue tacked a second box to the table at the opposite end of the 5 strips to keep them from shifting longitudinally. Next I cut 6 short strips for the supports, but left them a bit longer than needed. Next I cut 2 pieces of thicker styrene to use as spacers to locate the 2 outermost support strips. Finally I cut 8 pieces of styrene strip to use as spacers between each of the long strips. I laid everything out on the table. It looked like this.
Once I was satisfied with the spacing of everything I used a fine brush to carefully run thin liquid cement under each of the supports whilst holding them individually with a pin in a pin vice. Here's an overhead shot taken whilst the cement was setting up.
When the cement was cured I removed the assembly from the table top and removed all the spacers. Then I trimmed the support pieces so they were flush with the edges of the outside longer pieces.
Here's an image showing the kit part and the scratch-built assembly.
The next step is to carefully carve and sand off the kit part and then cement my assembly in place.
Once that's done I'll continue working on a rack for the rear underside of the body above the winch reel.
Comments are appreciated by me.
Cheers from Peter
So i scrounged around in my styrene strips box and found some styrene strips that I could use to scratch-build that item.
I cut 5 equal length strips from the styrene and used some carpenters glue to tack down a scrap plastic box. I laid the 5 strips down so that one end butted against the box. I then glue tacked a second box to the table at the opposite end of the 5 strips to keep them from shifting longitudinally. Next I cut 6 short strips for the supports, but left them a bit longer than needed. Next I cut 2 pieces of thicker styrene to use as spacers to locate the 2 outermost support strips. Finally I cut 8 pieces of styrene strip to use as spacers between each of the long strips. I laid everything out on the table. It looked like this.
Once I was satisfied with the spacing of everything I used a fine brush to carefully run thin liquid cement under each of the supports whilst holding them individually with a pin in a pin vice. Here's an overhead shot taken whilst the cement was setting up.
When the cement was cured I removed the assembly from the table top and removed all the spacers. Then I trimmed the support pieces so they were flush with the edges of the outside longer pieces.
Here's an image showing the kit part and the scratch-built assembly.
The next step is to carefully carve and sand off the kit part and then cement my assembly in place.
Once that's done I'll continue working on a rack for the rear underside of the body above the winch reel.
Comments are appreciated by me.
Cheers from Peter
Tankbuilder
Active member
I decided to work on the rack located under the rear body and above the winch reel today.
I made some styrene strips and then cut them to all the various lengths I needed. I wrapped 2 of them around a plastic block I made the width of the rack. Then I immersed the block with the strips clamped to it into boiling water for a bit and bent those strips to the required shape. I then did a third 'S' shaped one for the front of the rack. The 'S' shaped piece is deliberately placed off-center as that's how it is on the actual vehicle.
Here a 3 images of the completed rack. It is just set on the underside of the upper body and will be cemented in place later.
Sitting in position.
All measurements for these modifications are done with the Mark 1 Eyeball.
Comments are appreciated by me.
Cheers from Peter
I made some styrene strips and then cut them to all the various lengths I needed. I wrapped 2 of them around a plastic block I made the width of the rack. Then I immersed the block with the strips clamped to it into boiling water for a bit and bent those strips to the required shape. I then did a third 'S' shaped one for the front of the rack. The 'S' shaped piece is deliberately placed off-center as that's how it is on the actual vehicle.
Here a 3 images of the completed rack. It is just set on the underside of the upper body and will be cemented in place later.
Sitting in position.
All measurements for these modifications are done with the Mark 1 Eyeball.
Comments are appreciated by me.
Cheers from Peter
!
Excellent SBS Peter. Would pressing the foil with your finger not get a better definition of the treadplate?
Tankbuilder
Active member
Thanks Moon Puppy.
No, you need something fairly stiff in order to get the foil to conform to the edges of the raised treads on the treadplate. A good stiff eraser works quite well. You can also use a softwood stir stick if you round the edges a bit so they don't snag and tear the thin foil. I prefer to use a fine but stiff bristle paint brush and stipple downward onto the foil if I'm using kitchen foil - otherwise it's very easy to tear it.
Back in the days when Testor's had the thin outer foil on their cement tubes that foil was just about perfect to use. It was also great for making straps.
Cheers from Peter
Tankbuilder
Active member
Making L bracket cargo bay tray supports.
I finally decided what to do for the L shaped tray supports in the rear of the cargo bay.
I needed some L shaped angle bracket for the supports but didn't want to have to buy a package of 10 strips; I only needed 1 strip. What to do? Then I remembered that the Italeri Jerry cans set comes with L shaped angle strips on the ends that make up the Jerry can racks. I took six of those L shaped ends and sanded off all the raised details. Then I just cut off the cross pieces and voila, short lengths of L shaped angle supports. I cemented the lower L shaped tray supports first and then placed a tray in position on them and used that to position the next upper pairs of L shaped tray supports and then did it again for the top L shaped tray supports. These 3 images show the pieces laid out and in the middle column, starting at the top, you can see the Italeri Jerry can rack end and see the L shape I needed for the tray supports. The middle piece shows the details sanded off and the bottom piece shows to cross pieces cut off leaving just the L shaped pieces for the tray supports. You can see the L shaped tray supports in position on the right of the tray bay in the halftrack. The trays are a nice fit and can be moved in or out.
yy
It's always nice to be able to use parts from the spare parts bin to create some additional details.
Soon I'll clean up the opening there and then add the opened door. I'm going to put some details on tthe inside of those opened doors first though. Until next time.
Comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Cheers from Peter
I finally decided what to do for the L shaped tray supports in the rear of the cargo bay.
I needed some L shaped angle bracket for the supports but didn't want to have to buy a package of 10 strips; I only needed 1 strip. What to do? Then I remembered that the Italeri Jerry cans set comes with L shaped angle strips on the ends that make up the Jerry can racks. I took six of those L shaped ends and sanded off all the raised details. Then I just cut off the cross pieces and voila, short lengths of L shaped angle supports. I cemented the lower L shaped tray supports first and then placed a tray in position on them and used that to position the next upper pairs of L shaped tray supports and then did it again for the top L shaped tray supports. These 3 images show the pieces laid out and in the middle column, starting at the top, you can see the Italeri Jerry can rack end and see the L shape I needed for the tray supports. The middle piece shows the details sanded off and the bottom piece shows to cross pieces cut off leaving just the L shaped pieces for the tray supports. You can see the L shaped tray supports in position on the right of the tray bay in the halftrack. The trays are a nice fit and can be moved in or out.
yyIt's always nice to be able to use parts from the spare parts bin to create some additional details.
Soon I'll clean up the opening there and then add the opened door. I'm going to put some details on tthe inside of those opened doors first though. Until next time.
Comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Cheers from Peter
:dude
Tankbuilder
Active member
Making grab handles.
Tamiya didn't give any grab handles for the sides of the halftrack. They are quite prominent in images of the actual vehicles. Seeing as I'll need a fair number of them I decided to make a quick jig to bend some thin piano wire that I had here and that I decided to use instead of riding up to the local hobby shop which is about 30 km (@17 miles) from me.
I figured as long as I had the jig set up I'd share with you how I make these.
I have two small locking pliers that I bought to clamp things to my table top. I also happened to have the two grab handles that go above the doors on the Tamiya M-3 Lee/Grant models. They're a perfect size for the grab handles I need to make. I cut a thick piece of styrene to the width that I need the grab handles to be. I used one locking pliers to anchor this styrene jig to the work table. I used the second locking pliers to clamp the wire onto the styrene.
Next I used the flat side of a small side cutters to press against the exposed wire and bend it down.
Repeat for the other side.
Here are 12 of the grab handles I made. You can see the 2 styrene Tamiya M-3 Lee/Grant ones at the top of the image. All I need to do now is cut then the the length needed to fit the sides of the halftrack.
When cutting thin piano wire be VERY careful that the small cut off pieces don't fly at you and stick into you. Make sure they go somewhere safe. l place the end of mine against a piece of pine wood and then cut the wire. The cut off piece sticks into the wood where it can be retried and placed onto some masking tape before going into the garbage. These little pieces are VERY sharp and will fly like an arrow if you're not careful. So will the long piece you're cutting them from if you don't hold it firmly.
Thanks for watching.
Comments are welcomed and appreciated by me.
Cheers from Peter
Tamiya didn't give any grab handles for the sides of the halftrack. They are quite prominent in images of the actual vehicles. Seeing as I'll need a fair number of them I decided to make a quick jig to bend some thin piano wire that I had here and that I decided to use instead of riding up to the local hobby shop which is about 30 km (@17 miles) from me.
I figured as long as I had the jig set up I'd share with you how I make these.
I have two small locking pliers that I bought to clamp things to my table top. I also happened to have the two grab handles that go above the doors on the Tamiya M-3 Lee/Grant models. They're a perfect size for the grab handles I need to make. I cut a thick piece of styrene to the width that I need the grab handles to be. I used one locking pliers to anchor this styrene jig to the work table. I used the second locking pliers to clamp the wire onto the styrene.
Next I used the flat side of a small side cutters to press against the exposed wire and bend it down.
Repeat for the other side.
Here are 12 of the grab handles I made. You can see the 2 styrene Tamiya M-3 Lee/Grant ones at the top of the image. All I need to do now is cut then the the length needed to fit the sides of the halftrack.
When cutting thin piano wire be VERY careful that the small cut off pieces don't fly at you and stick into you. Make sure they go somewhere safe. l place the end of mine against a piece of pine wood and then cut the wire. The cut off piece sticks into the wood where it can be retried and placed onto some masking tape before going into the garbage. These little pieces are VERY sharp and will fly like an arrow if you're not careful. So will the long piece you're cutting them from if you don't hold it firmly.
Thanks for watching.
Comments are welcomed and appreciated by me.
Cheers from Peter
Tankbuilder
Active member
Thanks.
I thought I'd post how I actually make the bits and pieces so that others who might want to add a bit to a model don't have to buy aftermarket stuff. I can remember when there was virtually nothing in the line of vehicle accessories and wetted tissue paper was the norm for tarps and rolls and stiff brown paper was used to make ration boxes and then thin lines of paint were added to them to simulate the lettering. Tow cables were another thing that one pretty much had to make from scratch. Picture hanging wire was a popular material but you had to twist it tighter. I still use that for the heavier tank tow cables.
I'm working on the grab handles positioning template right now preparatory to drilling the sides for the installation of the grab handles. A styrene template that hooks onto the vehicle will insure that all handles are at the same height and distance from the openings.
Cheers from Peter
Tankbuilder
Active member
Cargo Bay door handles.
There are three doors at the rear of the cargo bay and they needed better looking handles than what Tamiya molded on them. many years ago I bought a Heller CORSAIR (ship) to modify and use as a small 1/35 scale sailboat. Thus I had a lot of left over parts. Some of those parts are small cleats. There are 8 of them in the kit. Seeing as they are very close in size to the needed handles I decided to use them. It only took a minute to file off the curved section to make 4 cleats look like T-handles. Here's what they look like still on the sprue. You can see the 4 modified ones and the 4 original ones. These will be set aside until I've added some inner details to the doors. No sense in putting them on only to break them whilst gluing thin strips of styrene to the inside of the doors.
Comments are welcomed and much appreciated by me.
Cheers from Peter
There are three doors at the rear of the cargo bay and they needed better looking handles than what Tamiya molded on them. many years ago I bought a Heller CORSAIR (ship) to modify and use as a small 1/35 scale sailboat. Thus I had a lot of left over parts. Some of those parts are small cleats. There are 8 of them in the kit. Seeing as they are very close in size to the needed handles I decided to use them. It only took a minute to file off the curved section to make 4 cleats look like T-handles. Here's what they look like still on the sprue. You can see the 4 modified ones and the 4 original ones. These will be set aside until I've added some inner details to the doors. No sense in putting them on only to break them whilst gluing thin strips of styrene to the inside of the doors.
Comments are welcomed and much appreciated by me.
Cheers from Peter
