The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 11/22/11

[Duke Maddog]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress

Now that I finished those other five armor models; I have managed to get two models ready for paint and started four more during yesterday's St. Crispin's Irregulars Hobby Monday. Here they are, starting with the closest ones to being finished:

This is my 1/72 scale Dragon AAVP7R I'm building for my Marine Corps. I got all the photo-etch on it so now it is ready for the rest of the basecoat and the camo pattern:

While I was at it, I went ahead and started this other model of an AAVP7 that I'm doing for my Italian Forces since I already have two other ones in my Marine Corps. I got it all assembled and added the photo-etch as well. Now this one is ready for it's basecoat of paint:

And now for the rest of the models I started.

Two more trucks have been started for my British and German Forces. This first one is the Revell of Germany 1/72 scale MAN 7-ton cargo truck. I had hesitated to start this for awhile now because of the complexity of the over-engineered suspension, but finally decided to dive right in:

I wanted to start his bigger brother, the MAN 10-ton truck, but one look at all the suspension I had to build made me put it all back in the box for another day. The 7-tonner burned me out on Revell of Germany suspensions for the day.

The other truck is this 1/72 scale IBG British Bedford QLT Troop Carrier. It has it's own issues, not least of which is ELEVEN sprue attachment points for an inch-and-a-half-long muffler and exhaust pipe, to give one example! Still, it was much simpler to assemble than the MAN:

Wow, after all that, I was ready for a simple throw-down easy kit to build. Found this in my box and got it started. This is the Gran Models 1/72 scale SA-2 Guideline SAM Missile and Launcher:

I already have one of these built. Four more after this one, a Fan Song radar set and a command truck and I'll be able to complete my SAM battery! Anyone got a spare 1/72 scale Fan Song radar laying about? :huh:


Well, that's all for now. I have also started another Russian helicopter that is being shown in my Aircraft in Progress thread at Wesendorf Field. I hope to have more to show later on this week. Meanwhile keep checking in; and as always, comments are welcome.

 

[Plastik Smurff]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/27/11

Do you sleep at all Duke,or do you run on coffee and glue fumes :side:
You do great work but man, it's hard to keep up with ya build's.

.Kurt.

 

[Duke Maddog]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/27/11

Do you sleep at all Duke,or do you run on coffee and glue fumes :side:
You do great work but man, it's hard to keep up with ya build's.

.Kurt.

Thanks Kurt!

As for sleep, yes. I sleep my eight hours a night. I have to: I work with power tools repairing houses so I need my sleep to keep all my digits. Had a close call once on five hours of sleep and since then; I never miss a full night's sleep.

I got a little more done yesterday; if I can get some more done today I'll get it posted.

Thanks again for the compliment.

 

[Duke Maddog]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/27/11

Okay, so I'm a couple days late. My apologies. After doing a couple jobs out there, I managed to squeeze in some time to get more progress done on my latest models. I also buckled down and started the Revell of Germany 1/72 scale MAN 10 ton Truck to go with my MAN 7 ton truck.

Anyway, here's the Dragon 1/72 scale Italian AAVP 7 finally painted with the basecoat. The next time you see this one, it'll be finished:

Here's my other 1/72 scale Dragon model, the AAV7R; this one is the recovery variant for my Marine Corps:

This one will most likely be done next time you see it too.

Next is the 1/72 scale IBG Bedford QLT Troop Carrier. I got the internal cab painted, the windows installed and the cab assembled. I also painted the chassis below, which isn't too visible here:

While that was drying, I painted up the camo pattern on my Revell of Germany 1/72 scale MAN 7-ton truck, as well as painted the lower chassis:

Now I figured, as long as I am building this; I may as well buckle down and build the Revell of Germany MAN 10-ton truck as well. So, I got it all assembled to this point:

After that, I needed to paint the interior of the cabin before closing it up. So, I painted the interior cabin; closed it up and proceeded to shoot a basecoat of paint on it. Later on, I added the camo pattern at the same time I was painting the camo pattern on the 7-ton truck. Here is where it stands now:

Depending on how things go, I may have these two German trucks fully completed by the time I post again, along with the two AAV7's. Here's hoping.

That's all I managed to get done in the last couple days. Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

 

[Duke Maddog]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

This past Monday i was able to take some time to work on my armored train. I felt it was about time that I got some more progress done on it.

First off, I added all the walkway shields between the cars on three of them that didn't have them. I even added some detail and patched the one painted car; I was a bit hasty on painting that one. Here they are:

The command car doesn't have the full set; this model left those parts out. I'll have to scratch-build them with plasticard.


Most of the rest of the day was spent adding all the wire steps and grab handles to the train cars. I used a slightly thinner gauge of wire for the handles than I did for the steps. Here they are:

The locomotive and one tender:

The other side:

The second tender:

The artillerywagen:

And finally the command car:

I had a bit of help from a friend of mine named Sean who advised me on the best way to do this command car. Now to do the other one.

All those cars you see above are now ready for paint. I'll be putting the basecoat of Dunklegelb on them as soon as I have the chance. Then the other cars I painted too soon will get all their wire handles and steps done too. After that, I need to finish another Panzer 38t, the other Panzer IV turret and get a couple of quad 20 AA guns and I'll be able to call this one close to done!

Meanwhile, I took the occasional break on all that 'wiring' to work on my Mi-4 helicopter. I finally got all the clear parts on, filled and sanded the gaps and seams, and added the landing gear. This helicopter is almost ready for paint:

Well, that's all I have for now. More work will be done on Monday. Looking forward to it. Meanwhile, comments are welcome; thanks to all who stop by to post!

 

[moon puppy]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

Just a modeling machine...the brass work looks good!

 

[kryptosdaddy]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

I'm really liking that train- what scale is that? HO? or 1/72?

And its really nice to see somebody still hand painting camo schemes.

 

[jknaus]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

Very cool stuff Duke. Fantastic work with the steps, that must have been monotonous. Looking forward to how this will look painted. Very very nice work
James

 

[MrT]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

Cool stuff Duke!! I like the train with all those wire handles. Yeah baby!

 

[Duke Maddog]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

Wow, thanks for the great replies everyone!

Yeah James, that was very monotonous doing all those steps and handles. Good thing I had that helicopter to refresh myself between train cars!

I'm really liking that train- what scale is that? HO? or 1/72?

And its really nice to see somebody still hand painting camo schemes.

This train is in 1/72 scale. It's the only 1/72 scale German armored train model kit in existence. That is too bad considering how incredibly awful the molding is on this! I have ordered a Russian armored train which isn't nearly as long; I'm waiting for delivery now.

And yes, I'm still hand painting camo schemes because I haven't got a fine enough tip for my airbrush to airbrush one onto anything in this scale.

I'm hoping to shoot some basecoats on these today.

 

[Duke Maddog]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

Moving right along here gentlemen (and ladies, you know who you are!) we come to the latest progress on this train.

I completed all this work about a week ago; but I've been out of town on a job all this week so have had no access to the computer till now.

Okay, here is the first part of the work I did. I had lost some pieces to the Panzer IV turret so a friend of mine gave me one that he had as a spare. I used the parts I could to complete this turret and I also re-filled some of the seams:

This car just needed wire attachments and sanding and it was ready for paint. That happened later as you shall see.

Next, I added scratch built and added the flaps at the end of the command car. This is the first command car. Later, I got the antenna added to the second command car, but I didn't get pics of it afterward. Here is the first one with the scratchbuilt flaps:

This next one is the artillery wagon that needed scratchbuilt flaps as well. I also completed the turret for it:

This next car is the flatcar that carries the Panzer 38(t) and was one of my biggest challenges. You can see why here in this pic, the warp was so bad I couldn't get the pieces to go on, much less make the wheels sit right on the track:

So, what to do? I put a pot of water on the stove and brought it to a rolling boil. While that was coming to a boil, I removed the wheels and other parts from one end of the car. I then dipped the flatcar in the boiling water, stirring it around a bit until I felt it was soft enough. Then I clamped it in between two boards to get it to cool into a more flattened state so it could sit right:

Then I went back to work on the rest of the train praying that it would work....

Prayers were answered:

It isn't completely perfect, but close enough that when it sits on the rails, it looks right! I moved on, adding all the parts I had left for this car until it was also just about ready for paint:

Onward and upward....

I continued on by adding more wire to the rest of the train cars, trying to get all wire grab handles and steps installed on all the remaining cars that needed them. here is the other artillery wagon showing the wires I added to it:

I added the other wires to the first artillery wagon as well. Meanwhile, a friend of mine came in and brought a whole bunch of model kits he'd scored; one of which was the ancient ESCI artillery set with the quad-20 AA guns. He have me his Quad gun which I built and added to the first artillery wagon. Here it is sporting it's wires and a new quad gun:

One down, one to go.....

Finally, I had this train so completed that I felt I could go ahead and paint it. I decided that with all the brass and copper wire on it, it would be best to prime it first. So here it is, all primed and ready for paint. This view shows the train coming at you:

Here it is after it has passed you by:

And finally, here is the best overhead shot I could get:

Want a good laugh? Just as I was finishing posting this pic, I heard a train in the distance, blowing it's horn as it passed through my part of town. Usually, I don't hear that, but it is a quiet early Saturday morning, so it was quite noticeable.

Anyway, there it is. Next up, I will be adding the remaining missing parts that were shorted in the kit as I get them. I also have another UM Panzer38(t) on order to replace the kit one that is missing too many parts to build. My friend Dave is getting me another Quad 20 AA gun, and another friend named Neil is sending more bumpers and other parts. As I wait for those other parts and kits, I'll be adding a basecoat of dunklegelb on select cars and then painting the pattern on it. Hopefully, this will be done by Christmas!

Meanwhile, thanks all for looking in, comments are always welcome.

 

[reconron]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

Long train running,....

I love it ,Duke!!!

Greetings,Ron.

 

[Duke Maddog]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

Thanks Ron! I think I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it IS a train!

 

[jknaus]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

Thats Epic. Very cool stuff Duke
James

 

[Adam]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

WOW! That is such a cool kit.

 

[Duke Maddog]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

Thanks guys! It is starting to look good now that it has primer on it!

 

[Dusan]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

I agree with James and Adam very very cool stuff!


All the best!
Dusan.

 

[moon puppy]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

Crazy train is running in my head...

 

[Duke Maddog]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 9/30/11

Thanks Dusan! More coming soon...

Moon Puppy, That song has been in mine for a long while yet. I think mostly because this IS one crazy train! It sure feels like one given all I've had to do to it.

 

[Duke Maddog]

Re: The Dukes Armor in Progress: Updated 10/28/11

Today I got more progress done, so here it is.

First off, I got the dunklegelb basecoat on almost all my train. Only one car is still not painted; I have too much to add to it yet. I'm just waiting for parts to come in.

Now I didn't have room to set it all up in a line, so I'm going to show them all two by two, except for the engine and tenders. They are all in this pic here:

Next are the Geschutzwagens:

Then the Kommandowagens:

Followed by the Artilleriewagens:

Then the TR cars holding the panzer 38(t)'s. I only have one Panzer 38(t) right now. Waiting for the pother to come in, as well as the parts to finish the unpainted TR wagon:

And finally, the turreted cars:

Wow, now to wait for the last parts I need to come in. Meanwhile, I can start to camouflage this train.

Moving along, I wasn't only working on this train. I also started a project I've been wanting to do. I entered this in the Sherman Group Build going on here, but I'm going to show you the progress I made on this thread too.

This is my Israeli M-50 Sherman I'm building using parts from a Dragon M-4 105mm with HVSS suspension and adding them to the conversion kit from Corporal Overby's Motor Pool.

First off, the HVSS suspension bogies were real fiddly to build when all parts were removed from the sprue. So, I decided to build them mostly on the sprue:

Next I had to install them all on the chassis of the M-50. This is a late model M-50 by the way. I set the thing on it's side to line up all the bogies; and then to make sure all wheels would touch the ground, I used a straight edge off one of the pour blocks to tap them all in a line:

While they were drying, I worked on the turret. I cleaned up the main gun and then added it to the turret, making sure it was all lined up right:

Here it is, all assembled with the basics so far. I still have hatches and other things to add to it:

Now I'm a bit puzzled. This kit gives me the following options for the engine deck:

As there are no instructions with this kit; I'm wondering which one should I use? This is the M-50 Late according to the box, but I've no idea what that would have as an engine deck. The box top image doesn't show which one to use, so I'll take any and all suggestions.

Meanwhile, I haven't been focusing solely on armor; I've also been working on my C-160 Transall just to keep my hand in aircraft. You can see that over on Wesendorf Field in my Duke's Aircraft in Progress Thread. Meanwhile, thanks all for looking in, comments are always welcome.