Iron Mike's T-34/85 Berlin Build

[Iron Mike]

Holy crap, James! That's one heck of a pair of tweezers! My wife would appropriate those in a millesecond! So they work pretty well, eh?

 

[moon puppy]

Nice James, I'm down to one pair of tweezers I like now so I'll keep a look out for these somewhere.

 

[panzerace007]

MIKE,

WOW ! Where have I been. I'm coming in late to this. On th Heels of that Jagd-Panther !! Very Cool so far. I'm diggin' th P.E. as Ya'll know !!

ERIK

 

[Iron Mike]

Thanks, Erik! This PE may be my undoing, it is so soft, my fumble fingers make for slow going!
Working on the fuel tanks. This is what I'm going for...

Here's where I am....

I'm adding a "field modification" of extra styrene peg to mount the PE to, I just don't think the PE leg alone will hold to the hull thru the build!

More progress pix

No more for today! Off tomorrow, maybe I'll finish the second tank? Only three of them you know! :X

 

[moon puppy]

I like it, I like how you've dented up the tanks and added that peg, really taking it to the next level.

 

[Iron Mike]

Well, I only "enhanced" the dents that Dragon put in this set, to make them not so much like the next guy's. I used a half round file to change the shape of the molded in dents. :laugh: But thanks for giving me more credit than I was due!

 

[panzerace007]

MIKE,

Keep up th Good work !! It's lookin good. I'm surprised that Dragon molded something with Dents in it.

Yeah , You gotta trick it out & make it your own. That's how I feel about Dragon's Zimmerited Panzers. They're all so nice & tidy. Not all of 'em looked th same !!

Don't forget to rip some of th Fenders off too !!

ERIK

 

[MrT]

Looks good Mike! I like the fuel tanks.

Terry

 

[Sharkmouth]

jknaus wrote:

Another bending tool I use more than my hold and fold is a good set of tweezers.

Ah, Tweezerman sets... I bought them (mine were in different colors such as red, blue, etcetera) and the wife took all them for plucking. Expensive indeed!

Regards,

 

[modelguru]

Guys if you want strong flat tweezers go to www.modelmakerz.com we have them and other styles as well 5 bucks .

 

[moon puppy]

sharkmouth wrote:

jknaus wrote:

Another bending tool I use more than my hold and fold is a good set of tweezers.

Ah, Tweezerman sets... I bought them (mine were in different colors such as red, blue, etcetera) and the wife took all them for plucking. Expensive indeed!

Regards,

Tweezerman, think I got to check them out. Can't tell how many sets of tweezers I have and I have only one set that I reach for now, and I don't like them either.

 

[moon puppy]

My Bride just looked over my shoulder, strange look I got from her, I googled Tweezerman and checked out their website. I guess the look is warranted. The animal print would be cool to have on the work bench.

 

[Iron Mike]

Photo updates from Sunday, man, it's been hot here!

OK, the Gallery is beginning to make me crazy! The limit on the size of the image is understandable, but it would be nice if you didn't have to wait the full time, only for the dreaded ERROR message comes up. I uploaded the ENTIRE file of pix to that which shall not be named (P'bucket) in the time it took for the Gallery to tell me "tough luck"!

I have been trying to decide if this will be a vignette or stand alone build, but I think it will need to progress further before that decision is reached. Thanks for looking!

 

[dukwhunter]

Hi Mike,
Looking good !!! If you want to add a figure or two i would suggest maybe one of

the Alpine Miniatures Russian Tankers .

Here is a link to their website http://www.alpineminiatures.com/

They have some very nice figures . Well hate to post and run , but have to go run a few

places . Will talk to ou later today !!! B)



best regards
JOEY

 

[Iron Mike]

Thanks, Joey! Hello Friends!! I got a little spare time to work on the beast today, need to get it on tracks so I can finish the assembly. My friend, Chuck C.has been working on a King Tiger and has been reluctant to tackle Magic Tracks, so I thought I'd shoot some progress pix to share my preferred method of assembly. First, I need to determine how many links per side (I think it's 72). To do that, wrap a length of tape around the road wheels and mark where the tape intersects. I left the tensioner loose to take up the slack later.

Then I transfer the tape to my Binford 2000 Track Assembly Jig, sticky side up and tape the ends down. Russian tracks have two different links, assembled every other one and the number of links will always be equal. I start putting links together, using the edge of the board to keep them straight.

When you get to the mark, run a generous amount of Testors Liquid Cement over the links.

I let them dry about 20 minutes, then using an X-Acto knife, loosen the tracks from the tape by running the blade under the track, between the track and tape.
It should look like this

I then carefully wrap the assembled run over the wheels and around the sprockets, cementing the run together at the bottom middle.

Repeat on the other side, not so scary, eh?

The Magic Tracks in this kit are well made, with only two injector marks that need to be sanded off prior to assembly. I used a needle file to remove those marks and put the cleaned links into separate containers, although unlike German armor, it's not hard to tell these apart and there is no left/right to worry about. Until next time! :peace

 

[modelguru]

Mike That is the best track trick I have ever seen .... many thanks to you Tim and Al.

 

[Iron Mike]

I won't take credit for this trick, it's using bits from several other builders and combining them into something that works for me. Thanks again! By the way, it is 72 links per side.

 

[Kreighshoer]

way cool progress mike - keep going!

 

[moon puppy]

You must be kidding...no wonder armor folks are....Looks good though Mike!

 

[Iron Mike]

Thank you, Laura! MP, what are you trying to say??

Some other notable armor modelers?

:laugh:

Thanks!