Hey Rudi,
The chains are a form of twisted wire but nothing that I've twisted myself. I bought these at a craft store in the beading section. They are some sort of pre-twisted, pre-lengthened 'threading tool/device' or something and come in multi packs. The wire they've used is much more fine than anything I normally come across and give the impression of a very fine chain (to my tired eyes anyway
) and for a buck or two, this package will last for a long time.
Considering this, it isn't as fiddly as it may appear. I just cut to the length I want, quick bend with the tweezers and then attempt to glue on the model...
then repeat again and again as I launch them into the nether regions of the cosmos, until I finally get one to stick, only to have to repeat this three more times. B)
The stowage is a combination of the tissue/white glue technique mixed with some resin stuff from the spares box. I usually use the tissue method for shaping things to the vehicle and then I might press a resin bit into the tissue for a more natural sit, as I'm sure you know, sometimes resin bits tend to float on top if used by themselves.
K59 is a small resin manufacturer that has made some beautiful updates for a few kits, namely two sets on the Dragon half track suspension. They also have an absolutely gorgeous MG42 if you're into that sort of thing.
Don't let the hour it took for me to assemble this gun fool you into thinking I'm that fast, it is all due to the amazingly clean castings, lack of annoying pour blocks and removal and clean up. Most of their kits are small and simple but very well detailed. I'll give the link to their site but it's fairly useless IMO, it shows a few products and has a few links to nowhere. Look on PMMS as Terry has reviewed some of their stuff (including the MG42) as well as announcing their latest releases from time to time.
http://www.k59.hk/main.html
BTW, no worries on the blog banter. B)
Michael, thanks for the comments and encouragement and taking the time to post them.
MoonPup my brother, I mainly build the engine and install it so the exhaust has a place to attach to, otherwise it may sag/hang too low or just float around. If you look closely, you can tell I didn't really clean the parts up and left the air cleaner and other small parts off altogether (like the fan). I would just build it up quick and don't worry about cleaning the parts up, I think you have to attach the fan belt because the motor mount is part of that piece as well. It really makes a difference with the exhaust as there isn't really any other attachments up front.
