Ruben Lopez
Active member
Hello fellow modelers. I needed a rest from the regular modeling so I decided to embark in some scratch building just for the fun of it. And what more fun than building a tank? So taking hold of my stash of Plastruct pieces I proceeded. Here are some photos of the process and the almost completed result. Hope you enjoy it!
First the hull...it is composed of .5mm plastic sheets and some square and round tubing. The hatch is from a Sherman.
Then I heat formed a sheet of plastic to a tubular shape to make the engine compartment. The rearmost piece is a resin copy of the hatch of Darth Vader's Tie Fighter. I also did the walls of the hull at this time.
the front end.
Checking the size.
Then it was time for the running gear but instead of wheels this one got legs. Here is the basic assembly.
Checking the overall view. Also the legs have their hydraulics in place but not glued yet. (In fact, I'm not going to glue them as I want the legs to be fully posable.)
Next I did the gun emplacement. This will be an internal gun so I made the bolt heads to represent the access plates to service and change it.
I also added the support for the engine shields.
Then I started adding details to the hull. The lights and light guards are from an old M41 that I never did and the rest from a Sherman.
The rear also received it share of details. Most notably the exhausts.
Here's an overall view.
Here withb shields in place. (They are not glued just held in place with tape.)
These are the main components of the legs. They will be held in place using plastic rod which will be held in place with plastic nuts cut from hexagonal rod.
The assembled leg.
And here is how it stands at the moment with everything in place. The legs received some shields, the hull tools and a caliber 50 in the roof to shoot down those flying thingies that come to bother you in combat. I also added a caliber 30 to the front of the hull to encourage the enemy infantry to step out of the way. The hull and shield received a coat of Mr Surfacer to give them the texture of cast armor.
And the classic bird's eye view
Here's a close up of the tools. I made the straps form lead foil and wire.
There are still some details to add but its almost there!
Thank for viewing.
Ruben
First the hull...it is composed of .5mm plastic sheets and some square and round tubing. The hatch is from a Sherman.
Then I heat formed a sheet of plastic to a tubular shape to make the engine compartment. The rearmost piece is a resin copy of the hatch of Darth Vader's Tie Fighter. I also did the walls of the hull at this time.
the front end.
Checking the size.
Then it was time for the running gear but instead of wheels this one got legs. Here is the basic assembly.
Checking the overall view. Also the legs have their hydraulics in place but not glued yet. (In fact, I'm not going to glue them as I want the legs to be fully posable.)
Next I did the gun emplacement. This will be an internal gun so I made the bolt heads to represent the access plates to service and change it.
I also added the support for the engine shields.
Then I started adding details to the hull. The lights and light guards are from an old M41 that I never did and the rest from a Sherman.
The rear also received it share of details. Most notably the exhausts.
Here's an overall view.
Here withb shields in place. (They are not glued just held in place with tape.)
These are the main components of the legs. They will be held in place using plastic rod which will be held in place with plastic nuts cut from hexagonal rod.
The assembled leg.
And here is how it stands at the moment with everything in place. The legs received some shields, the hull tools and a caliber 50 in the roof to shoot down those flying thingies that come to bother you in combat. I also added a caliber 30 to the front of the hull to encourage the enemy infantry to step out of the way. The hull and shield received a coat of Mr Surfacer to give them the texture of cast armor.
And the classic bird's eye view
Here's a close up of the tools. I made the straps form lead foil and wire.
There are still some details to add but its almost there!
Thank for viewing.
Ruben
