BA-10 on GAZ-AA chassis kitbash decals applied

[dierk]

Not usually a great fan of self-flaggelation, I'm going to make this rod for my back. Combining the Hobby Boss BA-10:



With the chassis from this Miniart kit:



To hopefully end up with this:





An RB metal barrel has been ordered to replace the kit 45mm gun, Martin is having the decals made and copious amounts of brass sheet will get mangled in the making of the fenders.

A quick, intense, stare at both instructions revealed that the - quite complex - Hobby Boss chassis looks like the proverbial piece of yellow bodily liquid compared to the Miniart offering. Time will tell if I'll end up using the Miniart wheels, or the ones from the Hobby Boss kit.

Not sure when the starting gun will fire on this one - summer has returned with a vengance, turning our place under the roof into an oven...

[armorguy]

I'm looking forward to this operation my friend, this should be quite spectacular !

[dierk]

Glad you like the project Guy! Although, it appears I've picked the wrong subject - doesn't seem to have piqued the interest of the great MSCers by the looks of it. I'll be keeping your seats warm for a short while, after that I'll sell 'em on evilbay

In 33 degrees heat (indoors!) I made a start on the Miniart chassis yesterday, skipping the first step in the instructions which is engine assembly. The parts are beautifully cast, very few EPMs and all in places that'll be invisible later, level of detail is astounding, but a lot of the parts are my newt. Despite some very small, and often shallow fitment points the parts go together perfectly. This is, however, a very complex kit - I understand now why you rarely see them blogged. Just the basic chassis frame with rear leaf-spings is made up of 20 parts - if I were to build the actual truck it would've been twice that. Early indications are that I'll have to shorten the chassis to make the BA body fit. Once the engine is in place I'll have an idea by how much.
Pictures later.

[Leon]

I'll be following along Dierk! You do some great stuff with Russian armor.

[dierk]

Welcome Leon, pull up a lazee boy.
The heat must've fried my brains - much easier way of getting the chassis to length: just cut it to the same length as the Hobby Boss frame spars

[vlpbruce]

I'm looking forward to seeing your take on this as well.

[panzerjager2]

OH cont-rare.....    This one has always been a love hate deal..... I like the vehicle, I have never seen one built showing the interior.... And no that's not a subliminal message, ( I'm old enough to remember when the only version of this vehicle was a vac-u-form"".

[dierk]

Ah, the place is slowly filling up. Welcome Bruce and PJ!

I am indending to build this with open doors, but how much of the interior will be visible remains to be seen (if that counts as a pun, it was fully intended) It will require filling in the numerous EPMs on the floor of the HB kit, though - most of them, of course, in the area of the seats, so they would be visible .

But first things first: I started with the Miniart chassis, as mentioned previously. Today I added the engine and rear axle. The detail on the parts really is breath-taking, but the payoff is numerous sprue-attachment points. Removing the parts for the rear axle needs particular care, as the attachments to the sprue are also where the locating points are, and it's all too easy to cut them off in the process of removing them from the sprue. Talking of removing parts: don't bother with sprue cutters or knives, IMO it's almost imperative to use a fine saw for this job. Lots of the parts are so tiny you can't hold them whilst sawing - not without drawing blood anyway. So I place an old t-shirt over my lap whilst sawing to stop parts ending up in the jaws of my carpet monster.
I also shortened the chassis to the same length as the HB frame spars, so it's now approx 15mm shorter.



Should've used my optivisor during clean-up - but I don't need a banging headache on top of the 30 degree heat:



The white bits are where I've filled the locating holes where the running board braces of the truck would've gone:



Mating the hull to the chassis will be a challenge, as HB designed the mudguards to be an integral part of the hull. Keeping the 'guards isn't an option, as the hull wouldn't fit with them in place. And they are designed in such a way that you have to fit the fuel tanks. The HB curse strikes again: the tanks are actually a feature of the BA-10M, so you couldn't even build the HB kit as a BA-10 OOB...
I'll post some pictures in one of the next updates to show you what I mean.
Brake linkages and front axle next.

Hope you like what you see, and ACW.

[Leon]

Of coarse i like it! Surgery looks like it's going well so far.

[armorguy]

A quick shaving with the scalpel knife should solve the problem Dierk, done within the blink of the eye.

I've used my visors today and I sweat like hell.

[S e r z h]

Dierk - hi!
A very interesting project - a success!

GAZ M1 will be the same, or only armored vehicle?

[dierk]

Aug 26, 2016 14:16:39 GMT -5 armorguy said:

A quick shaving with the scalpel knife should solve the problem Dierk, done within the blink of the eye.

I've used my visors today and I sweat like hell.

Yeah well, it's my blinking eyes that are the problem - haven't got a problem with getting older, it's just the deterioration of my body I find difficult to accept

Aug 26, 2016 23:56:07 GMT -5 S e r z h said:

Dierk - hi!
A very interesting project - a success!

GAZ M1 will be the same, or only armored vehicle?

Welcome to the party Serzh! As far as I know it only had the engine in common with the M1. The BA-10 was built using a shortened GAZ-AAA chassis. Due to shortages during the siege of Leningrad quite a few were built using the GAZ-AA chassis and even ZIS-5 chassis.

First of all, as promised, a picture of the BA-10 floor pan, with mudguards temporarily attached:



11(!) ejector pin marks and some deft cutting will be required on the mudguards.

Did some more work on the Miniart chassis, apart from the front axle it is now finished. Actually, I'm writing this because I'm waiting for the glue to cure on it so I can attach the hubs and steering linkage.
Personally I have never come across a more complex assembly! It certainly isn't for the faint-hearted - the rear brake linkages have 9 attachment points (each) to the sprue. Just the act of removing and cleaning them is tantamount to self-flaggelation, only topped by routing and attaching them. I mean, viewed in isolation the Hobby Boss parts look crisp and nicely detailed, but compared to the Miniart parts they are positively crude.



There was a bit of a problem with the braces running from the axle to the driveshaft housing: the bit they are supposed to be glued to is about 3mm too far forward, so I cut it off and relocated it so everything now lines up.





That's it for now, stay tuned.

[dierk]

No pics yet, but front axle is done. Some REALLY fiddly bits, and I managed to break the rod connecting the front wheels during removal (got it fixed though) Just hope all the wheels will touch the ground, preferably at the same time...
Started cutting up the rear Hobby Boss mudguards. One down, one to go.

[S e r z h]

Dierk - i was referring to the second car

[dierk]

Aug 28, 2016 1:00:28 GMT -5 S e r z h said:

Dierk - i was referring to the second car

sorry about that Serzh, I should have realised but it's so hot here that my brain is running on auxiliary power. We've been threatened with another day in the mid 30's after that it should get cooler...
Unfortunately, I haven't got an M1 in my stash, but I do have the ICM soviet trophy Opel Kapitän, so that might make an appearance. But what I really want is the YaG-6 in the background of the other picture (and a YaG-10, and a YaG-10 with 76mm AA gun )

Metal barrel arrived yesterday!

[S e r z h]

I recently saw the news - "hobbyplanet" will make the YaG-6, but only in 1/43

 

[dierk]

Quick vebal update: got the 'guards cut down to where I need them to be (might need a bit more chopping at the back) filled and sanded the worst of the EPMs on the floor pan.
Initial dry-fitting of hull to chassis looks promising, so I might be heading in he right direction. Unfortunately, I'll have to keep the turret hatch closed - there's not even a breech for the gun, never mind anything else and I don't fancy scratching it.
Making up some rear mudguards is going to be a challenge, as they also need to close the hull - pictures later to clarify what I mean.
Now I'll go and sit in a puddle of my own sweat and hope it'll cool down soon.

[dierk]

You know how I said I was hoping to use the HB wheels? Turns out it would've cause a shed-load of extra work to try and make them fit. If you've got nothing to compare them to, they do look nice, but the Miniart wheels are in another league alltogether. Also looks like HB got the size ever so slightly wrong, assuming Miniart got it right. The HB items are just a smidge smaller:





Due to not having an actual GAZ-AA as a donut kit, but the MM without front brakes instead things got a bit Lionel messy: if I'd used the HB front axle I could've used their set up, but then I'd have ended up with unevenly matched wheels. I couldn't use parts from one of my GAZ-AAA kits as the parts-breakdown is different, and I do intend to build them at some point. Thankfully there are a couple of spare drum brakes on the kit sprues, but they are rear ones, which are deeper and need opening up to fit on the front. A lot of sanding and carving later:





And fitted to the front wheel:



Still got to make up the linkeage to the front brakes, but I'm getting there, I think.

[S e r z h]

I do not know about the wheels for armored car
(they sometimes put the wheels without an air chamber, splinters and bullets do not cause them any harm)
but on ordinary cars were 2 types of rubber products:

32"=20"х6"=23.2х4.35

33"=20"х6.5"=23.94х4.7

[dierk]

Thanks Serzh! I think it's more likely that Miniart got it right - let's face it: if you look up 'accuracy' in the dictionary you won't find Hobby Boss/Tumpeter

[Leon]

Nice progress Dierk,your slowly getting there!

[wbill76]

Looks like you're beating this one into shape Dierk! I hear liquid refreshment is the key to beating the heat...

[dierk]

Cheers Leon

Aug 28, 2016 16:36:22 GMT -5 wbill76 said:

Looks like you're beating this one into shape Dierk! I hear liquid refreshment is the key to beating the heat...

Thankfully it's cooled off now, Bill - over 10 degrees C less than the last few days. Actually feels weird wearing more than just undercrackers (or 'boxers' as you may know them) But yeah, lots of tea and cool showers. If we're still here next year, I'm getting a portable AC unit!

Oh, and Serzh: the wheels are 6.5x20 - but I've no idea what that works out at in 1/35.

[dierk]

Quick verbal update:
According to a 1/35 drawing I found the Miniart wheels are spot on, it's the HB jobs that are too small.
Haven't got round to doing much due to RL interference, just some prep work like sanding off the spare wheel mounting brackets, getting rid of a seam on the back of the hull.
Just as well my version is a sort of Hot Rod, stripped down BA-10: found some interior shots and HB didn't bother with most of the fixtures and fittings...if I was any good I'd scratch the hell out of the interior, but I'm not, so there.

[dierk]

After finishing the HB firewall and combining it with the Miniart chassis (pictures at a later update) I thought I was due some relief from dealing with tiny parts and started on the turret. Here we encounter, what I like to call, one of HBs traditional problems: I don't think I have ever come across one of their 45mm barrels that is actually the correct length - the thinnest bit is invariably about 2mm too long. In anticipation of this (and because I like metal barrels) I'd already ordered an RB item. Despite being specifially listed as being suitable for the BA-10, imagine my dismay when it arrived and did not have the thickest bit of the barrel that slots into the turret. I'd already started looking for an alternative, when I had an idea: why not combine the correct part of the HB barrel with a shortened metal one? Quick comparison to a scale drawing and some sawing later I ended up with some detritus:



and an acceptable 45mm gun:



and there you have it, for now.

[Leon]

Nice work on the barrel surgery Dierk!

[dierk]

Cheers Leon!
You know what they I say: where there is a will there is a relative.

[dierk]

This is the first time I'll have to have a serious moan about the HB kit (OK, so there was an issue with the size of the wheels and the gun...) But is there really any need for this?



I thought I'd give you an idea of the direction this is going in:



But before I go any further construction-wise, I'll have to paint the interior and chassis. The change in the thread title was a bit premature - yes I've primed inside of the hull, the wheels and chassis as well as the floorpan, but I haven't taken any pics yet...writing this while the primer is drying.

On a walkaround of the BA-10 I found that the interior was painted in a greyish sort of colour, so I'll leave it in primer as that is light grey anyway.

Now, I'm faced with several codundrums (conindrii?): should I use embossing foil for the front mudguards, or lead foil? The lead foil I have is 0.3mm thick, so would need to be hammered thinner. Either way, they'll need very careful handling as both materials deform without much incentive.

The other one has to do with the hull/turret: the reference pictures don't show these braces, marked in red:



But, is that because of the poor quality of the pictures? Would the hull even have enough structural integrity without them to support the weight of the turret? Answers on a postcard, or preferably in a reply to this thread.

[Leon]

I'm really liking this conversion Dierk! Tough call on the braces.I would leave them on.

[dierk]

I tend to agree with you Leon - but it does mean I add to add the weld seams, which HB didn't consider important enough to represent...