|
IDF M50
Apr 9, 2013 17:33:25 GMT -5
Post by rbaer on Apr 9, 2013 17:33:25 GMT -5
Everybody needs an M113. When I was much younger, my dad worked for FMC in San Jose, and he would take me to watch the engineers testing them on the facility's test track. Very neat for a kid, may be partly why I build tanks now. Well. I did get some modeling done yesterday and this morning, if you call assembling Dragon HVSS bogies modeling. I AM whining here, no doubt. I also have a rather large and deep cut on my thumb, so I'm squealing a bit too. Shaddup and post the pics, Russ. Above is the beginning of the engine deck and bustle rail that I'm finally happy with. The MP engine cover has the late louvers, not used on 1st pattern M50s, and it's for the long hull M4A4, so.... This is the fix for Dragon's too-narrow front hull. I added spacers on either side of the trans housing, installed the final drive covers, then my very good friend Mr.Surfacer to finish. There's also some bolt heads in there... Belos, as it sits right now, with the blood wiped off.... I was trying to catch a bogie part that went sproing, and forgot I had an X-Acto in one hand. I went with the 47 degree welded hull for two reasons: One, I'll do another one later, and two, I've got a pic of one like this on the assembly line, same turret as I've already modeled. And, looking up her butt: I had to fudge a little bit on the radiator exhaust, as the MP kit had a blank plate and I the Acad piece I had was in rough shape. This is Dragon's M4A2 part and some card stock. Add a couple of welds and it looks the part. More turret and rear deck: Resolution: I will think twice, no THREE times, before I use a Dragon HVSS suspension and lower hull again. Now I gotta go look at what Dicky's done in the last four days.
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 9, 2013 19:29:26 GMT -5
Post by wbill76 on Apr 9, 2013 19:29:26 GMT -5
Your persistence is paying off Russ! Bleeding for a build like this is just a sign of determination.
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 9, 2013 19:35:24 GMT -5
Post by deafpanzer on Apr 9, 2013 19:35:24 GMT -5
I agree!!! It is really looking great... texture on hull looks spot on too!
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 10, 2013 13:45:11 GMT -5
Post by rbaer on Apr 10, 2013 13:45:11 GMT -5
Blood, MEK and a beer; that's modeling around my house..... Andy, that's one reason I liked the Dragon upper hull: the (few) cast surfaces have good testure and the welds are well done, except the few they missed entirely. Welds are easy enough to do, but when you have to do them ALL, it can get tedious. Okay, the engine deck is coming along nicely. I've used the major portion od the MP part, only having to add the rear-most half of it, which was all made from plate steel anyway. Pics so far: The plastic rod at the base of the outboard intake splash shields will be weld bead soon. And FYI, I have cryo glue holding my thumb together. Interesting factoid: cryo glue's original design purpose was a quick-bonding agent for human skin. Imagine that.
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 10, 2013 13:57:32 GMT -5
Post by bbd468 on Apr 10, 2013 13:57:32 GMT -5
Hiya Russ, Man, your really bringin your "A" game on this bro....lookin awesome!!! Gary
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 10, 2013 14:22:54 GMT -5
Post by rbaer on Apr 10, 2013 14:22:54 GMT -5
Thanks, Gary. This is the kind of stuff I really like doing. I'm already planning the next two M50s, hoping to score a couple of the Dragon M50 kits for parts and a couple of the Tamiya M51s at the upcoming ScaleFest, my usual once a year shopping spree. Life for the Shermaniac is good!
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 10, 2013 19:58:54 GMT -5
Post by wbill76 on Apr 10, 2013 19:58:54 GMT -5
Yep, CA works wonders as a tissue glue. Bonds quick and eventually gets reabsorbed as the wound heals. Used it all the time when I worked in a veterinary clinic doing de-claw procedures on cats. Glad to see you're able to continue with this one Russ.
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 11, 2013 16:32:58 GMT -5
Post by rbaer on Apr 11, 2013 16:32:58 GMT -5
Rusco's quote of the day: Lookit me mama, I'm goin' FAST now! It seems like it anyway. I started on the hull detail parts today, and got a bag-full of tracks from Joel (many, may thanks!) so I now have all my parts except a barrel, if I decide the MP kit part is too rough. More pics: And, thaks to Joel, I'm in tall cotton now! I've got tomorrow morning off too, so I hope to get the hull pretty close to finished, (actually highly doubtful) then it's back to the turret.
|
|
|
Post by bbd468 on Apr 11, 2013 17:09:45 GMT -5
Thanks, Gary. This is the kind of stuff I really like doing. I'm already planning the next two M50s, hoping to score a couple of the Dragon M50 kits for parts and a couple of the Tamiya M51s at the upcoming ScaleFest, my usual once a year shopping spree. Life for the Shermaniac is good! Hey Russ, you gonna be at scalefest May 11th in Mesquite? Ill be there as well. Dude we got to meet and shake hands. You up for that? PM me and we'll discuss...if ya want of course. Not gonna ask you to dinner and a movie so dont get your hopes up! Gary
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 11, 2013 17:11:21 GMT -5
Post by Leon on Apr 11, 2013 17:11:21 GMT -5
Nice update Russ,looking really good.
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 11, 2013 18:38:34 GMT -5
Post by rbaer on Apr 11, 2013 18:38:34 GMT -5
Gary, you have mail. Lots of things come to mind...... Leon, thanks, buddy. I'm havin' a good time now. I'll be okay till I have to put paint on it.
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 11, 2013 18:42:47 GMT -5
Post by dupes on Apr 11, 2013 18:42:47 GMT -5
Kitbash heaven! Looking real good, man.
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 11, 2013 19:18:11 GMT -5
Post by rbaer on Apr 11, 2013 19:18:11 GMT -5
Thanks dupes. I keep telling myself I'm going to do something totally OOB, but I lie.
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 11, 2013 19:19:27 GMT -5
Post by wbill76 on Apr 11, 2013 19:19:27 GMT -5
Nice progress Russ! I'm sure tomorrow will bring even more adventures.
|
|
ironhand6
Full Member
Member since: March 2013
Posts: 280
Mar 17, 2013 20:54:02 GMT -5
Mar 17, 2013 20:54:02 GMT -5
|
IDF M50
Apr 11, 2013 23:56:19 GMT -5
Post by ironhand6 on Apr 11, 2013 23:56:19 GMT -5
nice work so far. i love IDF stuff,just about everything in their inventory is cool from every angle. i cnat wait to see this come together.
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 12, 2013 16:50:44 GMT -5
Post by rbaer on Apr 12, 2013 16:50:44 GMT -5
Thanks gents. I've been an IDF junkie since I was a kid, something about the Six Day War caught my attention back then and it stuck. Funny story: I was riding around with a tour group in Israel about 17 years ago and the group leader heard me talking tanks to my father-in-law. Next thing I know he hands me a mic and I'm telling the bus people all about the how and why there are pink SU 100s in the town parks and the thing that just went the other way on the transporter is one of ours but you'd never recognize it if you met it on the street.... We saw a parking lot the size of WalMart chock full of half tracks for Pete's sake. All ready to go. And that gray-green color Merks are? It works. There was a troop of three conducting exercises on the Syrian border that I totally didn't see until one driver goosed the engine and the diesel smoke caught me eye, 100 yards away. Okay, I nutted up and did fenders. My tools: The fenders: This is a good point to take a break, and I go on days next week, so modeling time is pretty scarce. But I'm happy happy happy. Quack.
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 13, 2013 18:02:12 GMT -5
Post by wbill76 on Apr 13, 2013 18:02:12 GMT -5
Got this one to a great point Russ, looks like the extra time the past couple of days was put to good use! Paint and camo are funny things...especially when viewed outside their intended environment. Neat story about seeing stuff in its 'native' environment. Take AC splinter schemes for example...make perfect sense if you look top down over the fields/farms of Europe and need to break up an outline in flight.
|
|
ironhand6
Full Member
Member since: March 2013
Posts: 280
Mar 17, 2013 20:54:02 GMT -5
Mar 17, 2013 20:54:02 GMT -5
|
IDF M50
Apr 14, 2013 10:21:06 GMT -5
Post by ironhand6 on Apr 14, 2013 10:21:06 GMT -5
whats a good color for the m50/m51 russ? ive got two in the stash and i want to do em right.
|
|
Deleted
Member since: January 1970
Posts: 0
Apr 29, 2024 3:41:21 GMT -5
Apr 29, 2024 3:41:21 GMT -5
|
IDF M50
Apr 14, 2013 10:36:24 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2013 10:36:24 GMT -5
Looking good Russ. I love the fenders.
You're rotating to days and I have been told I'm headed to nights. This will actually give me more bench time. I'll build in the mornings before I go to bed.
G
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 15, 2013 11:00:50 GMT -5
Post by rbaer on Apr 15, 2013 11:00:50 GMT -5
Yeah, Bill, it took me a while to make that connection. I couldn't get past why someone would camo-paint a plane in green and brown when it was on a concrete runway..... Ironhand, the M51 I just finished and this M50 will be in a light-ish tan. Tamiya's TS-46 works very nicely. I used gray primer on the M51, this one will probably get a darker color, maybe green. Krylon's "camo" rattle cans go on graet, cover well, and dry really tight, so I'll probably use their green as a primer. I want to give a hint of the OD green that was probably under there.
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 15, 2013 11:10:05 GMT -5
Post by bbd468 on Apr 15, 2013 11:10:05 GMT -5
Hiya Russ, You really have a fine build here. All your extra efforts are paying off big time fella. More please! Gary
|
|
ironhand6
Full Member
Member since: March 2013
Posts: 280
Mar 17, 2013 20:54:02 GMT -5
Mar 17, 2013 20:54:02 GMT -5
|
IDF M50
Apr 15, 2013 11:10:59 GMT -5
Post by ironhand6 on Apr 15, 2013 11:10:59 GMT -5
thanks russ, i do love the tammy rattle cans. i think youre on the right track using dark green as a base to get that gray-tan-green that gives me fits to match.
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 15, 2013 14:50:15 GMT -5
Post by rbaer on Apr 15, 2013 14:50:15 GMT -5
Thanks,Gary. working days this week, so probably not much going on modeling-wise. Ironhand, these Shermans were pretty much light tan. I'll be using a green primer on the M50 since I'm speculating the they were converted from older, in-service hulls that would have been some version of OD. As near as I can tell, the M51s were done more thoroughly, involving stripping the paint completely, and a tan re-paint, hance the difference in my primer colors. I do have a different preferred color for my later IDF stuff, like Magachs and Merkavas, that is more gray-green. And then there's the M50s that ended up in Lebanon......
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 16, 2013 11:17:53 GMT -5
Post by hasenpfeffer on Apr 16, 2013 11:17:53 GMT -5
Very nice work indeed, Russ. I'm learning a lot in this thread. Great story about the Merkavas too.
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 16, 2013 13:23:48 GMT -5
Post by rbaer on Apr 16, 2013 13:23:48 GMT -5
Thanks Dave. I was more than a little bit awed that a Merkava, let alone three of them, could "hide" on a flat field, but I would have totally missed the show had it not been for the large cloud of black exhaust smoke. I realize that once the throttle is stabilized the smoke greatly lessens, but wow it was a BIG blast of smoke. It made a difference in how much black soot I show on my models' exhaust areas, when the real examples are diesel powered. G, I'm about to go psycho with the schedule changes, but at least I have three or so days of modeling every other week. It could be worse. And Clint, I'm a cheap-o when it comes to paint. There's a whole bunch of good rattle can stuff in hardware stores and automotive stores too, dries tight and half the price for twice as much as "model paint". Sometimes there's no substitute for the color I need, but there are quite a few models in my case that are painted with Krylon or Ace colors.
|
|
|
Post by rbaer on Apr 19, 2013 11:21:54 GMT -5
My precious had a hair appointment the other night, so guess who went straight to the model closet? I started a few thingies on the hull, and did some smoke guns on the turret. I had an old Acad M51 that I "parted-out" recently, so I figured to use the smoke dischargers from it. Well, part of the reason I parted out the M51 was the paint: lots of it, and not a color I liked. It was also totally OOB, and I had Tamiya's very nice kit in progress, so......anyway, I began the process of "sharpening" the detail, launched one into the ozone, broke one, and decided the MP parts were junk, all in a few short minutes. Hmm. So the brass tube came out. Three of my example's smoke guns will be shown fired. I also started some of the hull-side junk, working with parts from MP, Acad, AFV Club and some card stock. I've even managed to finally use and old brass shovel that's been in the stash for a very long time. Onward through the fog!
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 19, 2013 16:22:40 GMT -5
Post by rbaer on Apr 19, 2013 16:22:40 GMT -5
Honestly Dicky, if I'd been sharp, I would have bought another Tamiya kit and used the one-piece cans and holders, cuz these things are just a wee bit more flimsy than I'm comfortable with. I wanted to leave most of them empty, but I'll probably have to put cans in them for some kind of strength, or I'll smash 'em all when I'm weathering.... 'Preciate it, tho'. I'm going through my leftover brass frets for pieces to do the rest of the can holders......
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 20, 2013 8:21:58 GMT -5
Post by deafpanzer on Apr 20, 2013 8:21:58 GMT -5
WOW! So much details... you haven't spared any. Great looking... it will be one fine looking once completed!!! Catching up here...
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 21, 2013 16:55:41 GMT -5
Post by wbill76 on Apr 21, 2013 16:55:41 GMT -5
I'd say you should have your precious go to the hair stylist more often Russ! Very productive use of the time available, nice!
|
|
|
IDF M50
Apr 22, 2013 11:05:01 GMT -5
Post by rbaer on Apr 22, 2013 11:05:01 GMT -5
Gotta love the hair..... Thanks, Andy, I'm having enough fun to keep it moving but I'm also starting to look forward to getting some paint on. So speaking of hair, or not, Saturday morning I snagged Dragon's original M51 at a HobbyTown, just for parts, and it had a nearly complete M50 turret in there. Score! So I now have a very nice gun tube for this one, empty jerry can holders for another one, and a bunch of other junk for this one. Plus two complete late engine decks, one long, one short Pow! I have a little more done but didn't get a chance to get some pics, hopefully soon.
|
|