Brummbar Mid Production

[deafpanzer]

Always looking good! Those four spare wheels in the rear made it look like headlights of a big car. Bet you are looking forward to extra bench time this week because of the holiday?

[wbill76]

Thanks Spud, John, and Gary!

Andy, I wish! Unfortunately my Econ class finishes up on Thursday and no break is given for the 4th since it's on a Wed, so it's just another regular week for me in that respect.

[eastrock]

Awesome update, Bill!!!

[wbill76]

Thanks ER and Dicky, appreciate the nods, felt good to build again after having put stuff on hold last week. ;D

[tonylee]

Sorry Tex but i've been kinda busy today with painting wheels and all.

Nice touch you've added there buddy
Tony

[wouter]

Nice one Bill! Looks great and those decals have set well. I have a stalled initial Tiger II build at the moment, and I couldn't get the decals to sit properly on the zimmerit, no matter how much Sol I used. But you seem to deal with the zimm well. Love it!

Cheers

[wbill76]

Thanks Tony, I feel your pain when it comes to wheel painting!

Wouter, I discovered Solvaset some time back and don't use anything else when it comes to decal setting solution. I've yet to come across a decal set it couldn't handle, although sometimes it does take multiple applications and come coaxing to get everything settled. For zimmeritt patterns the trick I've found that works best is to gently "prod" the decal once it's started to soften from the solution to settle into the crevices using either a wooden toothpick or a soft detail brush (depending on the decal, it's size/fragility, and the surface in question). One bottle of the Walther's Solvaset solution lasts a very long time...I'm still on my first bottle that was purchased in 2006! An alternative if you can't get decals to behave on zim is to use templates and airbrush the markings yourself but that can also be a tricky proposition.

[wouter]

yes indeed. I'll sure try to score that stuff, and thanks for the tip on that! For now I'm going to try to remove the decals and handpaint the turretnumbers...
you can see a bit here how it looked


btw: what's up next for the StuPa?

Cheers

[tonylee]

Wouter I take a Q tip (cotton bud I think you guys call them) dampened with solvent and gently roll it back and forth over the decal. That will force the air bubbles out from under the decal and pushes the decal down in the grooves of the zimm.

Tony

[wouter]

thanks for the tip mate, sure will come in handy as well I guess (we call them 'wattenstaafje' or 'oorstokje' btw ;D ;D ;D)

the Tiger II is sitting there with the decal on for a couple of months, some of it allready removed. But do you think it would still help to use the Qtip dampened with solvent?

Cheers

[tonylee]

If the decal hasn't been sealed up yet you might soften it back up with solvent and try it buddy, what have you got to lose?

Tony

[modelfreak72]

Moving right along Bill! Tracks are looking good and the weathering is sweet! More please?!

[wbill76]

Wouter Tony's got you covered, so long as you haven't sealed the decals with anything, they should still be treatable. One additional thought, don't freak out/panic when you see the solvent start to work as it may cause the decal to wrinkle a bit and your first instinct will be to try to "fix" it...don't do it! The solution softens the decal to the point that it will easily tear or come apart if you try to adjust it while in that condition.

MF, bench time has been scheduled for this weekend so hope to have another update soon. Thanks for the comments!

[wouter]

yup, I won't panic, it seems like it works out the same way as Microset Sol. I'll give it a try soon, luckily I didn't seal the decals yet (in fact, I removed some of the decal and handpainted it, but still some residue which I'll give a try to set)

Thanks again fellas!

Cheers

[wbill76]

The latest round of effort focused on the tracks and beginning the weathering process for the exterior. First step with the tracks involved airbrushing a base coat of MM enamel Burnt Umber and letting that thoroughly set up and cure before proceeding with the next steps. This is something I had done last week, so they had a full week to sit before work began with them.

Next step involved dry-brushing MM enamel Steel with a 00 round sable brush. This adds a metallic look to the links and replicates the contact wear from the idlers, return rollers, and sprocket teeth.



Track on the left has been fully dry-brushed, track on the right is in the base coat only to show the contrast.



Next step involves applying a wash of enamel Raw Umber using the same 00 brush. The wash isn't applied too heavily but is used to blend in the Steel from the previous step and provide a more subtle look/feel to the track.



Track on left after wash, track on right pending wash application to show the contrast.



This gets the tracks ready for pigment weathering in later steps, I also dry-brushed Steel on the track faces but didn't apply the Raw Umber wash there as there's no real point to that and it runs the risk of getting thinner into the pins, which can make the runs brittle potentially.

I turned to the exterior and started the weathering process with the application of an enamel Raw Umber wash. This is only a foundation for the later dot filtering steps and will get blended in with that process.



In the course of applying the wash I noticed something strange going on around the barrel sleeve. At first I thought a small hair had gotten left behind by one of the brushes but closer examination revealed it was a series of hairline cracks.



I hadn't dropped the vehicle and it hadn't taken any damage, so I can only assume this is a legacy from the fit issues I had earlier with the ball mantlet. A quick check on the other side revealed similar cracks appearing there also. These didn't show up during the assembly process or during painting, but we have had a lot of rain lately and perhaps the increased humidity caused it to flex and reveal the cracks.



I had to give this some thought as to how best to repair and settled on liquid glue to fill the cracks and restore some integrity to the sleeve. I used finger pressure to help seal the cracks but that alone wasn't enough, so some added putty work was necessary. I used small amounts of Squadron White putty rolled over the cracks with a round toothpick and carefully sanded down with a sanding twig. The liquid glue application revealed the extent of the damage was greater than I had originally thought.





Some careful work with a detail brush and some light dry-brushing restored the finish.





I'm going to let that sit and fully cure and then will have to re-seal the barrel sleeve with Future before the weathering can proceed. Didn't get as far as I wanted to as a result of the repairs but glad they surfaced now instead of later on when it would've been much harder to fix!

[wbill76]

Thanks Dicky!

The cracks were creeping their way towards the ball portion and that would've really made things tough had they gotten that far, the model gods weren't that cruel though...I must now go offer up some spare sprue in the back yard in thanksgiving! ;D Will definitely keep the SBS on the tracks going when the pigment weathering starts, thank you kindly for the high praise.

[bigjohn]

Sorry the hear about the splits in the gun tube sleeve Bill. I have never seen that happen before. It could have been the tight fit with temperature changes to.

Nice clean save though, Looks like you have it well under control.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. The washes really make the Zimmerit stand out. Looks good!

[danb]

Nice job Bill the B Bar is looking awesome keep it up.

Dan B

[tonylee]

I don't really understand those cracks Bill. Mine is the same kit and its been built much longer than yours and no cracks have developed.

While trying to get the barrel to fit I must have removed much more material that relieved the internal stress.

Sometimes a bigger hammer is not the answer.

It's a good idea to drill a small hole at the end of a crack to keep it from progressing too.

Fingers crossed
Tony

[robbo]

Nice job Bill and a good fix on the barrel.

I love these Brumbars and will have to do one in the near future

[spud]

oh that's nasty bill but it looks like you saved the day

[wouter]

Nice work on the tracks Bill, really like how they look! And nice fixing work on the cracks mate, well done!

Cheers

[wbill76]

John, first time I've encountered that sort of thing in the 10 years I've been building armor...but fortunately putty and patience seem to have fixed it. I checked again this morning and no new cracks, so the liquid glue treatment seems to have worked.

Mike, at first I was tempted to just leave them be but once i saw that the split was on both sides AND had gone all the way through to the front, I had to address it. Good thing too as I think if I'd left it alone the additional weathering stages to come would likely have accelerated the cracking. I will admit to my eyes getting a little wide when I applied the first bit of liquid glue and saw MORE cracks appear as if by magic when I applied some pressure to close it up! ;D

Tony, if I really had to chalk it up to a cause, I would bet money on the stresses created when I made the first attempt at installation and discovered the fit was too tight for the barrel to pass through. The 2nd attempt was still too snug and probably accelerated the stress. I've never seen styrene react that way to enamel thinner, so there must have been some internal splits that resulted that I couldn't see on the exterior...just think of it as a California Brummbar with its very own fault lines! Good tip on the hole drilling, will have to file that one away for future use.

Dan, robbo, spud, wouter, and Chris, appreciate the comments and support!

[multicam]

Nice save Bill. The tracks look the business and I dig the sbs and would appreciate more regarding the tracks as you progress just as Dicky suggested:)

[deafpanzer]

GREAT save once again! Talking about humidity? It was 107 and very humid here in Indiana last weekend... its a good thing I have a very cool basement with dehumidifier running at high speed all day and night.

[406 Silverado]

ouch, good to see you fixed the crack Bill. The wash is the secret mix right !! Looking great now that the weathering is starting

[johnt]

Hi Bill, she's looking real handsome! Damn those cracks were a test, which you passed with distinction! I doubt if I would do so well.

Cheers
JT

[wbill76]

Andy, sounds like we've traded places weather-wise! It's only getting up to around 90 and raining every day since the 4th!

Rob, yep...so secret I can never remember it! ;D When I run out I just mix up some more with thinner until it looks right.

JT, thanks for the kind words as well. If we didn't encounter trials every now and then life would be pretty boring eh? I've let it sit for a couple of days to make sure no more cracks surfaced and it's held...so I'll be moving on with this one as planned this weekend hopefullly.

[406 Silverado]

I think you'll never stop getting asked what the mix is.....LOL. Been a few years already eh. I do the same Bill and can never remember what mix I used. Just mix til it looks right.

[bullardino]

Oh, I had missed the nice progresses. Great job on those cracks, really neat.

And the result is turning better each step