Brummbar Mid Production

[wbill76]

Thanks gents for all the comments, much appreciated!

Rob, have to agree that the squiggle patterns or just the green or brown disrputive patterns over DY offer the most visual interest IMHO...although three tone schemes have their place as well of course.

Dicky, I try to avoid the "hand of god" patterns and visualize what a crewman with a hose would achieve while still getting the disruption of the vehicle lines that was needed out of the pattern. It can be tough, as it's very easy to fall into a repetitive pattern accidentally or get carried away in terms of visualization and sometimes what starts out looking ok doesn't end up that way and then some adjustments are in order but that's the fun of the creative process!

[bigjohn]

Yeah, Dicky hit the nail on the head. I was thinking that, (looks to scale). Great Job Bill!

[eastrock]

The Camo looks great, Bill!!! the SBS is cool, thanks for sharing also

[wouter]

Mr. Bill, that's some mighty fine paintwork chap, love it, totally! Lookin' forward for more!!!!

Cheers

[multicam]

Camo's looking Good, Wild Bill!

[bbd468]

Hey Bill,

Thats a sweet camo job! Well done man.

Gary

[wbill76]

John, ER, Rick, Nate, and Gary, thanks gents appreciate the comments and support!

Wouter, hopefully I can get some more progress in this weekend but I may not be able to due to the perfect storm of assignments for my MBA class coming due, Father's Day, and preparation for depositions in a lawsuit that I unfortunately might have to do next week. Hopefully the model gods will smile on me and allow some bench time at least!

[wbill76]

The model gods smiled on me somewhat this weekend...I was afraid I would get no time at all but managed to squeeze some in yesterday and a bit today.

Spent some time working on the exterior details and getting them installed. First order of business was assembling and installing the road wheels into position on either side and the spare road wheels for the racks at the rear. Then came the tools and tow cables. The left side received the idler tensioning wrench and jack block and it's important to note here that there are 2 holes that need to be opened up on the fender to accept the block but the instructions don't call this out at any point in the assembly. I modified the block somewhat, adding in the missing woodgrain texture on the sides by scribing in some lines with the tip of a sharp #11 blade. The block was given a foundation application of the 50-50 dunkelgelb/light gray mix used for the hull followed by a thinned wash application of MM enamel Leather. Once the wash had dried, I added some Burnt Umber pastels for a bit more variation. The wrench was detailed with MM non-buffing metalizer Gunmetal and lightly dry-brushed with MM enamel Steel.

I also detailed the gunner's scope and installed the "rabbit ears" scope for the commander at this stage.



The right side didn't have much to install, just the track changing tool and the tow cables. The tool was painted the same as the wrench on the other side as were the tow cable ends. For the cables themselves, I replaced the kit-supplied steel wire since it was too stiff with crochet rope thread of a similar diameter. To prevent "fuzzing" of the thread, I dipped it in Future and let it air-dry before painting it with the MM non-buffing metalizer Gunmetal and attaching to the cable ends with CA gel. The result is a more flexible cable that could be positioned as needed. The instructions-recommended length of 115mm is about right and DOES NOT include the length of the cable ends in that calculation.



The rear hull details got some attention as well. I used Tamiya Clear Green for the Notek convoy light lenses and Clear Red for the reflector. The exhaust was detailed with a base coat of MM non-buffing metalizer Gunmetal followed by a thinned wash application of enamel Rust. I used black artist pastels on the domed pipe cover to simulate exhaust accumulation. The starter crank was detailed and installed with CA gel, the only slight modification coming in the form of removing the molded on clamp handles and replacing them with PE handles from a Griffon tool set for added detail.



I still need to work on the spare track runs for the front hull but will take care of that when I finalize the main track runs for consistency. Then it will be on to the decals and weathering stages.

[spud]

She has feet!! looking good Bill

[bigjohn]

Once again nice update bill. I'm replying on my new iPhone and I think I just deleted one my earlier post on accident. This touch screen takes a little getting used to. Looking forward to another great update soon.

[tonylee-Rest In Peace]

Yeeeeaaa Sunday update

One question Bil, should the the antenna base,the little crown looking part be rubber black?

Tony

[deafpanzer]

Always looking good! Now go and get dirt on it. Nice work on the muffler I just noticed.

[wbill76]

Thanks spud, now she just needs some shoes!

John, got to love technology, it can be dangerous! Thanks as always for the support.

Tony, the antenna bases are made of rubber and you can go either way in painting them in terms of rubber black or the base hull color, I've seen them both ways in reference photos so it's dealer's choice. I will be detailing mine a little bit later on, just didn't get to them in this round.

[406 Silverado]

Figured since it's sunday there would be an update....and lookie here, an update. Still loving how this is coming along Bill. yep the camo rocks, and yes the three tone has it's good points as well.

[danb.]

As what dicky said theres nothing more to say AWESOME!!!!

Dan B

[wbill76]

Rob, Dicky, and Dan, thanks for the comments much appreciated! I would've preferred spending my Sunday at the bench instead of reading 80 pages of Economics text material but the sacrifice had to be made. Definitely looking forward to next weekend to keep this one moving.

[406 Silverado]

If it makes you feel better Bill, I haven't been at the bench since last week, and won't be there until the middle of July. Everything will be on hold due to guests staying with us for a couple of weeks. That means two weeks of " honey do" before they get here.

[TRM]

I for one am taking advantage of Rob being indisposed and will build my butt off!! LOL!!

Looking great Bill!!! No surprise there!! Keep it coming.....get some legs on that girls!! ;D

[wbill76]

I hear you Rob, seems like this time of year is when things suddenly "have" to get done and steal away your bench time in the process. I am thankful for the time I'm able to get in lately but the build is getting to the stage where blocks of time are needed to do various things so it's getting harder.

T, sounds like a great plan! Thanks for the comments as always.

[wouter]

some nice detail painting Bill, love how the StuPa looks, look forward to the weathering part!

Cheers

[bullardino]

Another great update

[WigWag Workshop]

Great start, will be watching this build

-Steven

[wbill76]

Thanks wouter, Luigi, and Steven! I survived a brutal 7 hours giving/listening to depositions today and am glad to have that behind me...and looking forward to some model time this weekend for sure!

[wbill76]

The model gods have not been kind to me this weekend...a crushing reading load (7 chapters!) for my Econ class and other things needing tending to this weekend have conspired to deprive me of any bench time. That means no weekly update this round, but perhaps I can make up some ground later in the week depending. <sigh>

[bigjohn]

Ah, Don't worry about it to much Bill. I havn't had any bench time in two weeks. Sometimes it's like that.

[wbill76]

John, yep it happens...fortunately I don't get too many of them happening and that usually means I can get a steady dose of time in and keep a build project moving. I'm not on a "schedule" so there's no stress, just disappointment, if I can't get time in on a given week. Classes are always the priority since they only last 6 weeks each and often pack a lot in as a result.

Dicky, I've learned more than I ever thought possible about foreign exchange rates and the banking systems and, of course, the beautiful caveat of "all things being equal" that they throw in to explain why theory models fall apart in the real world! Now I know why modelers in the UK suffer such high prices relative to the rest of us at least.

[wbill76]

Time to get this project back on schedule!

Managed to get in a good bit of work on the Brummbar this weekend and have some solid progress to report as a result. First up, some "pre-weathering" attention was given to the lower hull and running gear. I stippled some MM enamel Burnt Umber to simulate scuffs and scrapes and also applied some MM metalizer non-buffing Steel to the contact surfaces on the return rollers, idlers, and sprocket teeth. I used blue-tack to dry-fit the sprockets and did a test fit of the MK track runs to see how many links I needed to add to get the sag I wanted. 99 links in total did the trick and the idlers are still movable to allow for final adjustments when the tracks are permanently installed later on.





I also worked on the hull front spare track runs. I used the kit-supplied Magic tracks for these to add some visual variety since the solid-horn type of tracks were a later type than the main track runs with their hollow guide horns. I used a #76 finger drill to open up the track pin holes on the first and last links of the larger run on the hull nose for some added detail there and the small cleat faces needed to be trimmed off to allow them to fit into the holder due to the zim pattern reducing the clearance a bit. Both track runs were given a base coat of MM non-buffing metalizer Gunmetal, lightly dry-brushed with enamel Steel, and followed by a couple of applications of a Rust wash. I added some dry-brushed enamel Burnt Umber for variety and installed them into position. I also detailed the driver's periscope while I was at it.



Those were the last remaining details needing attention, so the entire vehicle was airbrushed with Future acrylic floor polish straight out of the bottle to seal in the paint work and prep for the coming weathering stages. I applied the simple decal markings consisting of a single-digit hull number and crosses using Walther's Solvaset to get them to lay down over the zim surface. A 2nd coat of Future to seal in the decals and she's all set for the next stage of the finishing process.

[spud]

she is looking fantastic bill.

[bigjohn]

Making good prgress Bill, not long now, it's all down hill.

[bbd468]

Bring it on Bill!!! Looking fine man!

Gary