BA-10 on GAZ-AA chassis kitbash decals applied

[armorguy]

You make this work my friend, the more issues you have to deal with the greater you'll feel after the build.

[dierk]

Sept 4, 2016 3:11:11 GMT -5 armorguy said:

You make this work my friend, the more issues you have to deal with the greater you'll feel after the build.

Been reading a bit too much Nietzsche recently, have you Guy? Sounds a bit like 'what doesn't kill us makes us stronger'

[reserve]

Big chunk to bite off brother but I have faith you can chew it! Lookin fine so far

Regards,
Mark

[wbill76]

Well it is an HB kit after all Dierk...has to keep you on your toes!

[adt70hk]

Hi mate

As promised managing to get a bit more time on here. This really is an interesting project and has got my curiosity piqued. What you've done so far looks great. Keep it up!

Andrew

[dierk]

Cheers gents, glad you're liking what you see.
Now, slight change of plans: I know I said I wanted to leave at least one door open - it's now not going to happen (sorry PJ): there's just so little interior (seats levers and steering wheel pretty much sums it up) it's just not worth the extra effort of adding hinges to leave doors open. The thing that made my mind up is that the HB steering wheel just looks wrong to me...really chunky, not truck-like at all. The Miniart one is much better - but I've got plans for that. I've given it a basic paintjob nonetheless in case some of it is visible through the driver's visor.
Chassis is pretty much painted up. And I'm in the process of adding welds to the braces on the hull and turret. Normally I use putty, but thought I'd try stretched sprue instead - should've stuck with what I know, the welds look a bit chunky to me...

[wouter]

Quite the original subject there mate, and then even combining kits? Chapeau as we tend to say! That chassis looks like a scary muthaf* to assemble btw.

Cheers

[dierk]

Thanks Wouter! You know me: I like the weird and wonderful and yes, that Miniart chassis is not for the feint-hearted...I am so looking forward to tackling the others in my stash
I'm going to get myself a nice cheap Zvezda GAZ-AA so I can use up the majority of the left-over parts.

Pictures later, but I removed all the stretched sprue and am redoing the welds using Vallejo putty - and I've glued the doors on as well.

[dierk]

Small update:
Painted the chassis (I'd masked the contact area for the later placement of the floorpan) The engine just got some Burnt Iron and black - no point going too detailed as it's going to be virtually invisible:



See what I mean about the steering wheel being very un-truck like?

Floorpan, again just rudimentary paint - same reason as for the engine:



And with the hull dry-fitted with new welds on the reinforcement strips:



More in the next installment. Thanks for taking the time to have a look and hope you like what you see.

[armorguy]

I do like what I see Dierk. It gives the modeler a good feeling when he knows that the interior was done too, rudimentary or not. This is going to be a stunning kitbash with a special model as a result !

Keep'm coming, with a lot of pics please.

Best regards ! AG.

[wouter]

Have to agree with my fellow countryman. Good heavens, that's good looking. And we got paint

Cheers

[martslay]

Very good, Dierk!

[TRM]

Well done so far my friend!

[Leon]

I like what i'm seeing Dierk! Keep on rockin.

[dierk]

Thanks gents!!!
Got the hull mated to the chassis last night and the lower hull sides fitted. Didn't quite go without a hitch: the HB radiator sat a bit higher on the Miniart chassis than was good for it, so the top had to be sanded down. The hull was also off to one side by such a small fraction of a mm that it only became noticable once I tried to fit the lower panel, but a bit of sanding and some gentle force got it sorted out to such a degree that it shouldn't be too noticable once the front mudguards are in place. Unfortunately the rods for the front brake had to go - with the lower hull sides in place there was no space for them.
I'll get some more done and then post some pictures to keep Guy happy

[wbill76]

Got to keep Guy happy! Looking good Dierk.

[dierk]

Bloody scorchio here again, so just some pictures, text some other time...
Enjoy:







Cheers,
Dierk

[armorguy]

You know I like photos Dierk, thanks. It looks niiiiiiiiice !

[Leon]

Nice work on the fenders Dierk!

[dierk]

Cheers Guy and Leon.
I'd have liked to have been able to show you some more progress, but it's over 30 degrees in our flat - so modelling isn't top of my priority list as I'm sure you'll understand.

[S e r z h--Rest In Peace]

Dierk - good job!
And a rare prototype, making the model even more interesting!

Good luck!

[dierk]

Thanks Serzh - I just can't resist the weird and unusual

Now that summer has shot its last bolt and temperatures have come down to a level where wearing clothes has become an option again, my mojo has also decided it's time to come out from under its nice cool rock.
After the third version I was happy with the rough and ready look of the front mudguards. I used the kit 'guards as a template to bend the embossing foil (basically thick aluminium foil) over.
HB does provide PE braces for the rear guards, but the brass is so thick and unwieldy that it's difficult to bend even with the aid of a dedicated bending tool. The upper parts of the braces were made using styrene strip and Masterclub rivets.







Slapped some metal primer on and once I've modified the periscope into a bracket to hold the sign seen on the ref pics it's time for primer and paint.

Hope you like what you see and thanks for taking the time to have a look.

[Leon]

I'm really liking what i'm seeing Dierk! Nice work on the front fenders.

[reserve]

Splendid effort sir I've never had the courage to make fenders out of foil


Regards,
Mark

[dierk]

Sept 22, 2016 10:07:53 GMT -5 reserve said:

Splendid effort sir I've never had the courage to make fenders out of foil


Regards,
Mark

It was a cherry-popping moment for me too Mark

[panzerjager2]

Looking good..............

Really like the weld seams

[dierk]

Glad you like 'em PJ - having tried various different methods, I think this is my favourite one. Tube of Vallejo putty, put on a bead, wait a few minutes (this is the dodgy bit - it depends on temperature and humdidity when the time for perfect workability has been reached: the lower the humidity the faster the putty hardens) and then work it with the back of a #11 blade. The putty will spread a bit at this point, but once you're happy with the texture of the weld just use the cutting edge of the blade to cut the weld down to the desired width.

Since the last update primerage has occured - I'm hoping to get some 4BO laid down tomorrow.

[armorguy]

This looks so good, 11/10 build, once painted the weld seams will look even more impressive.

[dierk]

So, finally paint flew: after slapping some metal primer on the 'guards a couple of thin layers of primer followed:



then the darkest shade of the Vallejo 4BO CM set:



Then the actual 4BO:



And finally - for now - first and second highlight shades:





next some more highlighting using the lightest shade applied by brush, followed by a misting of heavily diluted highlight.

Thanks for taking the time to have a look and ACW

[Leon]

Nice to see the paint flying Dierk! Looking really good.