E-50 ausf B

[cploverby.]

E-50 ausf B

I am taking a short break on the E-79 to avoid "burn out".
So in the meantime I am working on my E-50 ausf B.
I needed a Upper Hull to start with.....
So Molded an Upper hull from MC and when I had a cast of that ,
I detailed it out by hanging the engine deck for mine,
removing the fenders, and opening the hatches.



I then wanted to replicate this engine deck



so I started by cutting out the engine deck, then the roof where the turret ring is.
I moved the turret ring forward, and started modifying the engine deck.
I made the cuts to the front vents, added strip styrene, and added sheet styrene to the back.
once this was all detailed, I glued it all together.





I then turned my attention to making the turret
I took a cast of my Teufels Amboss turret sand away the details and the sides to get the general shape.
Once this started to take shape I laid it on the upper hull to see how it looked.





I then began adding the details

















I then turned my attention to the choice of guns for it











after this I decided to give the turret a coat of primer to bring out any flaws before molding.











I decided that if I keep handling the "master part" of the turret, as I worked on the rest of the tank......
the chances grew each day that I could screw it up.
So I molded and cast the turret, this will stand up to the constant handling better than the master would.











now... the upper hull is also quite a fragile thing as well.....
so I decided to mate it up to a lower hull and make it solid.
first I built a box around the spot where the Driver and Radio Operator go,
then I plated over the turret ring.
glued in the rear plate, and glued them all together.
once that dried I cut a hole in the bottom and poured in resin.
This makes the whole thing "solid" and it can then stand up to the constant handling.



now the rear end needed some details



as well as the front



with this all done, I started on the tracks





I am still working out many of the finer details
but here is where I am for now.

[afvfan]

Impressive work there.

[cploverby.]

Apr 11, 2016 22:57:09 GMT -5 afvfan said:

Impressive work there.

Glad you like it

[panzerjager2]

VERY NICE.....just one silly question, What scale is this??

[cploverby.]

Apr 11, 2016 23:45:32 GMT -5 panzerjager2 said:

VERY NICE.....just one silly question, What scale is this??

ha ha ha ....it's 1/72

[dupes]

72nd? Wow. I suppose that makes casting the hull a good bit easier than in 35th!

[cploverby.]

Apr 12, 2016 5:41:54 GMT -5 dupes said:

72nd? Wow. I suppose that makes casting the hull a good bit easier than in 35th!

Just a "little"

[deafpanzer]

Looking REAL good!

[cploverby.]

Apr 12, 2016 8:54:38 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Looking REAL good!

Many Thanks

[cploverby.]

Doing the tracks is a Fail
when I tried to mold them......
I had to destroy the tracks (masters) pulling them from the rubber.
Even though that is an accepted outcome, it resulted in the same for any resin casts.



I reassembled one set to show how "Ideally" they should look when placed on the hull





so for the past 2 1/2 days I have been trying to "re-engineer" the masters,
to improve the casting and allow for easier pulling from a mold.

they will be molded in sections like this.



to easy assembly the bottom will will have holes for locking pins



and the bottom run of the track will have the "locking pins"



when assembled they will look like this



I pushed myself kinda hard doing this part......
was awake for 48 hours making them work.
Ended up sleeping for 12 hours after that.

[panzerjager2]

REALLY Nice work.......

How can you even see 1/72nd scale..... I mean that's teeny....LOL

[wbill76]

Looks like the pin solution is the best way to go. Sure beats casting them as Indy's!

[Leon]

Nice to see the track issue sorted out! That's a lot of dedication being up for 48 hours.

[deafpanzer]

Dig your avatar... wheels & tracks look lovely!

[cploverby.]

Apr 17, 2016 9:33:43 GMT -5 panzerjager2 said:

REALLY Nice work.......

How can you even see 1/72nd scale..... I mean that's teeny....LOL

Many Thanks,
I wear # 250 reading glasses, and an "optivizor" with a X 10 lens

[cploverby.]

Apr 17, 2016 10:17:38 GMT -5 wbill76 said:

Looks like the pin solution is the best way to go. Sure beats casting them as Indy's!

It seems to have worked, although I prefer to cast them as a single piece.
that saves me on mold rubber

[cploverby.]

Apr 17, 2016 10:42:20 GMT -5 Leon said:

Nice to see the track issue sorted out! That's a lot of dedication being up for 48 hours.

Sometimes I start working on something, and I skip meals, sleep,
anything that keeps me from getting the job done.

[cploverby.]

Apr 19, 2016 18:42:22 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Dig your avatar... wheels & tracks look lovely!

Yes I like it too......
took me forever to get it done to the right size.
you'll like the next post

[cploverby.]

have been working so hard on this.......
here is how the tracks have come out.

the top set (left side) are assembled,
the bottom set (right side)are not yet assembled.



here is how they look on the tank with the drive sprocket, idler sprocket and the "inner" wheel hubs.
i did this in two shades of resin so you can see the different parts.



I decided from the beginning that the front hatches would be open hatches,
So I made that area in the hull as an open space



I molded the plate with the hatch openings, and cast it.
here it is without the hatches



here it is with the hatches



here it is with a fig



I made it quite deep to allow different figs



now....for the front....
there are two different "schools of thought" as to weather or not there should be a bow / hull MG
so I added the parts for the model builder to exercise his options
here it is as a plain hull



here it is with the ball mount in place.



That's where I am for now.

[Leon]

Looking really good!

[deafpanzer]

Looking real good!

[cploverby.]

Apr 21, 2016 5:54:25 GMT -5 Leon said:

Looking really good!

Many Thanks
Happy you like it

[cploverby.]

Apr 23, 2016 17:06:21 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Looking real good!

So Glad you like it

[cploverby.]

OK....this is "finally" done...
it is currently in the Paint Booth
Once the painting is done I will post the finished model






















Boy this took a while

[Leon]

Awesome build! Looking forward to seeing paint.

[cploverby.]

Apr 29, 2016 5:49:40 GMT -5 Leon said:

Awesome build! Looking forward to seeing paint.

Well here you go

Here it is painted and finished























now ack to work on the E-79

[Tojo72]

Tiger on steroids,nice job.

[Leon]

Paint looks great! I like it.

[deafpanzer]

Great finish! Pretty cool camo scheme too.

[cploverby.]

Apr 29, 2016 6:46:23 GMT -5 Tojo72 said:

Tiger on steroids,nice job.

Glad you like it