Beute T-34/76

[wbill76]

Rob Depending on how things shake out this next weekend (and whether the leaves drop from my huge front yard tree or not) I might have all the major construction work done. Definitely a fast build in that regard so far!

Luigi, DML's sneaky with their instructions...they even went so far as to mold in little locater braces on the underside for the PE screen to fit into...but there's no way for the screen to physically 'bulge up' and fill the necessary space so not sure what their thought pattern was there exactly. Thanks for the comments as always!

T, the T-34 certainly has its own visual appeal...you shouldn't let yours languish too long, would love to see what you've got cooking!

Marc, yep nothing like having a set of handy fingers laying around! ;D That's why I always save all my used PE frets, never know when something can be put to good use at just the right time.

Andy, I've been able to get in some good chunks of bench time consistently the past couple of months so that's helped. My current MBA class isn't nearly as demanding as Stats was but it's coming to an end a week from Thursday so who knows what things will be like in that 6 week cycle. Have to see as always!

Tony, I'm planning a white wash finish for this one so not much need for custom mixing this time around but will be playing with different color and detail combinations when the time comes. Stay tuned!

[bullardino]

Oct 29, 2012 16:38:43 GMT -5 wbill76 said:

Luigi, DML's sneaky with their instructions...they even went so far as to mold in little locater braces on the underside for the PE screen to fit into...but there's no way for the screen to physically 'bulge up' and fill the necessary space so not sure what their thought pattern was there exactly.

Yes, that's what fooled me. I had to remove it and glue it back on top.

I suppose your instructions are those "pictorial" ones, like mine. They made me crazy, trying to find all the pieces you're supposed to place at each stage...

[wouter]

I totally missed the start! Well, it looks great! Some nice additions you are doing there Bill, and those welds on the kit look amazing. Really looking forward to see what you are going to do further with this great subject!

Cheers

[madairbrush]

Very nice kit. I am looking forward to see more of this baby...😉

[panzerman75.]

Looking great as usual Bill another fantastic build can't wait to see some more.

Phil

[wbill76]

Luigi, yep it's got the awful 'actual photos of the model' instruction layout...a short-lived experiment that thankfully DML abandoned as it makes it easier to miss pieces since many are shown already installed in place, have to be watchful in every step!

Wouts, glad you got caught up on this one and thanks for the comments!

Madairbrush, glad to have you along for the ride as well.

Phil, thanks and hopefully will have the next installment ready to go for this weekend unless something spooky happens tomorrow! ;D

[bbd468]

Build looks to be goin' smoothly Bill! Very clean very nice as usual. Keep on rock'n!!!

Gary

[wbill76]

Thanks Gary! It's an older DML kit and it shows a little in the moldings and fit but nothing too out of the ordinary.

[wbill76]

Healthy dose of progress to report this time around so will dive right in. I finished up the remaining details from Step 12 that dealt with the hull side details. I replaced the molded-on clamps on the tools with Griffon PE clamps and left them so the tools could be removed. The jack is dry-fit only for the purposes of insuring the correct positioning of the tools since the jack handle needs a good bit of clearance against the hull to fit properly. I will also be adding a fire extinguisher from the spares bin and it too is dry-fit only and will be installed later after painting.



I also added the front headlights as called for in this step along with the front Notek light that is mentioned in Step 21. 0.5mm diameter solder was used to create the wiring conduit for all three lights for added detail.



That shifted attention over to the turret and Step 13 which assembles the exterior and interior portions of the gun as two sub-assemblies. The kit includes a nice turned aluminum barrel that fits perfectly and was secured in place with CA gel at its base. The fit of the recoil housing to the mantlet is not so great and had some gaps between it and the molded-on weld seam. To fill that delicate area and preserve the weld detail, I thinned some Squadron Green putty with Testors liquid glue and used a detail brush to flow the putty into the area and fill the gap. I used a #78 finger drill to drill out the coaxial MG since it's molded solid



Step 14 combines the two gun halves along with the traverse mounts and the fit here is very loose. Combined with the weight of the aluminum barrel, that means that the gun will always be pointed at its lowest elevation if not corrected. Rather than glue the mantlet into a fixed position, I opted to add some brass weights with CA gel in the spent shell basket that provided the perfect counter-balance and allows the gun to be positioned at any angle. More thinned green putty was needed to address small gaps at the base of the upper curved mantlet shield that is also added in this step.



Step 15 assembles the welded turret halves together along with the mantlet and while the fit was generally good, I wasn't happy with the join and weld seam detail at the front as the fit had some small gaps and the weld seam was not very prominent. To correct that, I sanded down the join and used flexible 0.6mm diameter styrene rod curved to shape and glued down with liquid glue to take the weld seam's place. This was allowed to dry thoroughly for a couple of hours before working on it further.



After the glue had set, I sanded the curved rods down flat to the desired height and then created the rough weld texture using the tip of a sharp #11 blade under a magnifier. While it doesn't show up so well here because of the white styrene, it passed what I call the 'finger' test for roughness and texture and will look the part once painted and weathered.



The next steps in the instructions branch depending on whether you fit the standard T-34 roof or go with the Pz III/IV style German cupola. I went with the cupola of course and that meant following Steps 18 and 19 instead of 16 and 17. I installed the turret roof plate into the turret first and then added all the various details second. Thinned green putty was used where needed to ensure solid joins at all the weld seams. I opted for the open shutters choices on the cupola and will add the clear blocks later as the cupola is not permanently installed yet to make it easier to paint and detail it later since it will get a base coat of panzer gray vs. russian green in the painting process.



A test fit with the rest of the hull to make sure everything plays nice together before painting.



I also noticed that the little sprue nubs on the cupola parts had just the right shape and curve to them to simulate light bulbs. So a pair of them were cut down and added to the front headlights for a little added detail.



Rest of the day will be spent beginning the MK track assembly and watching football to help pass the time doing a repetitive task. Paint is scheduled to fly next weekend if things hold.

[406 Silverado]

Did I read painting !! VERY clean as always Bill. Love how these T-34 kits just fall together.

[wbill76]

Yes indeed Rob, you heard correctly! I was tempted to start paint today but the reality of the time still available to me doesn't make that quite so feasible and I'd rather wait until I've got a nice block of undisturbed time available and not rush it...so it's MK track assembly instead for the rest of the afternoon! ;D

[bigjohn]

You about got it whipped now Bill! Like Rob said, good clean building, looks great! I really like your replacement welds.

Seams to be track week end, I'm loosing my mind working with the Panda tracks for Cobra King.

[bullardino]

Great job, bill

Those boxes on the side give it a strange shape, I'm curious to see how it'll look after painting

[deafpanzer]

Holy cow! You are few hours too early but I like it!!! Great clean build. The tool clasps look GREAT too! Smart move using AM clasps because they are pretty visible on the T34.

Try not to have too much fun with those MK tracks. At least there are good football games going on right now...

[brembo--Rest In Peace]

Great looking T34 and great pictures. i like the fact that its a jerry-ised version ;D

[wing_nut]

Sniff sniff.... Do I smell paint?

[TRM]

I heard Paint...where....oh wait...next weekend!! Got it!! ;D Great building Bill!!! Went to town on this one!! Can't wait to see the color fly!!!

[wbill76]

BJ, thanks as always! This one built up fairly quickly and I hope to make the most of the time available next weekend as my current class winds down and before the next one starts. Every 6 weeks it's a new adventure in terms of time for reading and work assignments so never know what will be!

Luigi, I agree, the boxes make for a strange profile and all the stuff added by the German makes it even wierder. Definitely not the 'normal' T-34 lines we know and recognize.

Andy, have to keep you on your toes...chalk up the 'early' to DST! Griffon clamps are the ones I've found work the best for my purposes so I have a large fret of their 'generic' clamps handy for use when needed. The kit provides zero guidance on their locations other than the already-installed-pics in the instructions so some trial and error was necessary along with a pencil to mark their locations in relation to each other carefully. As for the tracks, got nearly an entire run done while watching the Steelers-Giants game and should get even more progress with the upcoming Cowboys-Falcons game on next.

Dicky, definitely have to agree with you there on the T-34 family, lots of variants to play around with and the Germans made it even more interesting with their own mods.

brembo, the jerry-izing certainly alters the look...as soon as I added the cupola my thought was leave it to the Germans to add another few feet to a vehicle's profile like that!

Marc and T, if you can smell paint it's because you left a jar open on your bench! Next weekend if all goes well...front yard tree hasn't lost its leaves yet so still a good shot that I'll have the full time available for another strong run!

[tonylee-Rest In Peace]

Sounds to me like the main event is about to get underway.

Know him out Tex
Tony

[eastrock]

paint is coming? lol

Cheers!!
ER

[bbd468]

Paint??? Let me get my respirator on and im ready to watch Bill!

Gary

[wbill76]

Will do my best Tony!

ER...yes but the polls are evenly divided as to exactly when and at what % levels. ;D

Gary, that sounds like a plan! You can also practice your Darth Vader impersonations at the same time...I do that with my dog Brenda and it's always amazing to watch her reactions to the 'voice change'!

[brembo--Rest In Peace]

actually WB, i really like the way the german add ons change the profile of the T-34.....i'm so used to seeing the sleek look of the russian set up that i find the busier look of the beute is more visually interesting.

works for me any way.....i think i saw on face book, a conversion where some one had grafted a Pzkfw III turret onto the T-34 chassis...now that was interesting as a further adaptation of the beute principal.

[wbill76]

Very true...the Germans were masters at taking 'found' gear and adapting it for their use in a myriad number of ways! Definitely created some distinctive vehicles which of course makes life even more interesting for us modelers all these years later.

[wbill76]

Sunday NFL Football games + Tuesday Election Night Results = Track Completion and a small mid-week update as a result.

Got the MK workable tracks assembled. The T-34 track system uses a paired-link design with the guide-horn links requiring 6 sprue clean up points and the flat links 4 clean up points per, so repetitive work there but worth it. Pins insert using the handy jig and then twist off once the glue had set. Worked 8 links at a time until the runs were fully assembled.



The MK instructions say 70 links are needed per side for the DML kits but I found that 72 were actually called for. Test fits with the suspension and tensioned idler produced the ideal sag at that length on both sides.



That clears the decks for painting to begin this weekend!

[Thom]

Bill, the build is looking great, looking forward to the paint.

Cheers,
Thom

[wbill76]

Thanks Thom!

ICP, appreciate the comments as well. Scheme will be essentially the same as the box-art but with a couple little different twists for some of the German gear. Considering that the vehicle itself remained in Russian Green, the German add-ons wouldn't match so they will get a Panzer Gray treatment before the white wash is applied over it all.

[bigjohn]

Tracks look good and really sets that kit off Bill

[wouter]

indeed this is some serious eye candy you are showing here Bill. She looks very good with her shoes on! Love the welds which you added to the turret btw

Cheers

[bullardino]

Clean and stunning build, Bill

BTW, I had to use 72 links per side, exactly like yours