Bronco Marder II D

[wbill76]

Joe, thanks buddy!

Rob, KV's are fun little projects, not a lot of parts but a whole lot of potential for having fun with the paint and weathering!

[Leon]

Bill,good to see some paint flying.Marder is coming a long nicely.

[wbill76]

Thanks Leon! Now I just have to decide how best to tackle the mesh screen rear portion of the fighting compartment since it's all PE.

[Deleted]

Ahh yes Bill !!!

[wbill76]

Thanks Carl!

[armorguy]

MMM fully detailed interior...nice one Bill !

[wbill76]

Thanks AG! Bronco sure packed a lot into this one...I was even (briefly) tempted to pose the front hull hatches open to show the driver's area but ultimately decided against it for purely personal/time reasons and considerations!

[bbd468]

Hey Bill, great to see some color on the interior. The radio looks great and that seat looks like real freakin leather. How did you do the seat? Very nice updates Brother Bill.

[wbill76]

Jun 12, 2013 11:35:40 GMT -5 bbd468 said:

Hey Bill, great to see some color on the interior. The radio looks great and that seat looks like real freakin leather. How did you do the seat? Very nice updates Brother Bill.

Thanks Gary! For the seat I did a 'layered' approach. First a base coat of MM enamel Gunmetal, then I dry brushed some MM enamel Leather over that. Let it dry, then dry brushed (lightly) some of the 50/50 Light Gray/DY mix, then a second (light) dry-brush pass again with the Leather to round it out. Some of the passes were made vertical and some horizontal to give it some variation as well. It was a test run to see how it would work out since I've got two more seats to do for the rear of the fighting compartment that are much more visible so if it didn't work out great, no harm done! I'm happy with the way it turned out, so hopefully the other two will too!

[Deleted]

Gettin' there.

and in style.................

G

[wbill76]

Dicky, thanks as usual sir! The build/paint/build process is one forced on me by the kit design and vehicle layout...usually when I paint I try to paint as much as possible but that's just not practical this time around, so I must adapt and overcome!

G, thanks as well, glad you like it so far!

[bbd468]

Thanks for the info Bill.

[wbill76]

Got some time in today on the Marder and it was a 'fun with PE' day in more ways than one. The entire rear 'cage' of the fighting compartment is assembled out of PE and the frame consists of a single large piece of PE on the fret that requires multiple bends to get it formed properly. It's also necessary to remove a lot of other PE parts that are positioned on the fret inside the frame, creating lots of little nubs for cleanup in the process, so it's necessary to go slow and use a sharp knife to remove everything without damage.

All of the bends went smoothly right up until the last one involving the top portion of the frame that bends outward to from the top angle. I use different bending tools including an Etch Mate, a Fender Bender, and various flat pliers and tweezers when I work with PE and this complex piece required all of them in various places to get it shaped correctly. The last bend though resulted in some buckling of the middle frames and very nearly represented a disaster in the making and I halted the bend before it was at 90 degrees when I saw what was happening.



This very nearly derailed the entire effort but I resolved to try to salvage it and using the tweezers, pliers, and careful back and forth straightening, was able to get it back into shape and create the necessary bend. I used CA gel to install the base to the rear hull as well as attach the edges where they mate up with the solid plates of the fighting compartment sides.

It's worth noting at this point that the instruction diagram contains an error...the small tab on the far left side of the frame is meant to be a support for the fire extinguisher (now I know why the mount pin was left on it in the previous diagrams, that pin is supposed to go into the tab) and not attach to the compartment floor extension as the arrow indicates. It is also necessary to get the bend angle on the side 'wing' portions of the frame at the correct angle and remove one of the raised bolts on the rear fender to allow the frame to sit at the correct height and orientation to the compartment sides.



Next came the addition of the PE mesh to the frame. The attachment points of the mesh to the frame are tiny, so I decided to use Future as the glue of choice to secure the screens in place instead of CA to avoid potential mess and glue accumulations. Future was brushed on the frames and the mesh positioned and carefully held in place until the Future grabbed hold. Then I carefully rolled a wooden toothpick along the edges of the mesh to ensure they conformed to the frame and didn't produce any tension. Additional Future was used where needed along with direct pressure to tack down the screen edges.

This was the first time I'd used Future as a glue even though I'd read about other builders using it for small/delicate parts. Once it had dried, it held the mesh even when I tested it from the inside of the frame by pushing gently on it with a brush handle end. I needed to be sure the mesh wouldn't go flying when subjected to the air pressure from the airbrush during painting and the brush handle test showed it would stay put, so that's a technique I'll definitely be using again in the 'future'!

Last but not least, I added the exterior frame ribs over the mesh as directed in the instructions and placed the rear bracket for the crow bar mount to round things out for the day.



Next up will be laying down some paint on the interior so it can get ready for its finishing details and weathering.

[Leon]

Very nice work on the PE Bill.Looks great .(Future as glue,got to remember that trick.)

[wbill76]

Jun 15, 2013 17:59:36 GMT -5 Leon said:

Very nice work on the PE Bill.Looks great .(Future as glue,got to remember that trick.)

Thanks Leon! Just don't use it for anything that has to take any kind of weight or stress and it works fine!

[vlpbruce]

Really great work. Thanks for sharing.

[406 Silverado]

Slight hold up but you managed to get things straight and on track again. The rear frame and screen is freakin awesome. Mighty fine work Bill, and lots of patience of course. This will really make it all worth it once the paint is on her.

[deafpanzer]

Now you are doing PE too? Rear looks GREAT!

[Deleted]

Glad you were able to save the pe frame Bill . It all looks very well done .

[wbill76]

Kenny, sorry I couldn't save you sooner my friend! At least now you know it's there as a possibility for the future.

Bruce, my pleasure and thanks for following along and the comments.

Rob, it was a close one, but never give up, never surrender! Bronco provides some very nice depth/texture to the screen mesh on the outward side by varying just slightly the thickness of the cross mesh parts, some of the best PE mesh I've seen in a while in fact. Depending on how things go tomorrow, we may see paint!

Andy, PE makes its appearance where needed on builds depending, sometimes it's just tool clamps and such, sometimes more. This all came in the kit so no real need to get anything additional IMHO. Thanks for the comments as always!

Carl, thanks buddy, me too! It's a critical feature on the build and I've never had to deal with Bronco in terms of trying to get replacement parts and didn't want to start if I could help it. Made some progress after these shots were taken on the splinter shield...another fine piece of detailing done by Bronco, will post that up tomorrow once it's all done.

[afvfan]

Great work with the rear PE, Bill. It came out looking like a winner! If I had done it, I believe I'd be forced to make up all sorts of "battle damage" excuses!

[tonylee-Rest In Peace]

Proud of you Tex

The Eduard PE I used for my Alan kit was a simple affair since the screens were part of the frame but I had to use my entire arsenal of PE tools on it as well.
The Bronco piece is much more authentic looking by having the screens separate in my opinion.

Good Job
Tony lee

[wbill76]

Bob, LOL! You have no idea how close that came to being a reality in this case as well!

Tony, have to agree with you there regarding the realism of Bronco's approach. The one back screen is all one large piece but with the outer 'ribs' as an overlay piece to give it that sectioned look. It's very effective but tricky to work with, but nothing that a little patience, careful thinking, and a bit of luck can't pull off!

[wbill76]

Due to Father's Day stuff and other things going on, paint work on the interior was delayed so I made the most of what time I did have available yesterday and today to work on the remaining gun details and get it ready for paint along with the rest of the vehicle.

Steps 30-32 deal with the gun shield and Step 33 has you install the shield onto the gun mount. I can understand where this might have some appeal but because of the way the shield support arms are installed and configured, I opted to do things slightly differently. I assembled the front part of the shield as called for in Step 30 and also added the sliding portion of the shield that moves with the gun barrel when it is elevated, installing parts F9-F10 directly to the recoil tray first and then lining them up on the sliding shield piece. The front part of the shield was then fixed into permanent position with the top braces before moving on.

I also made a correction to the front gun travel lock's open position. After checking references, I realized that the lock halves have no visible means of support when the lock isn't engaged and would sit flat and not the way Bronco shows them in the diagram in Step 33. Back in Step 29 Bronco neglected to identify part A19 (the left hand trigger lever) and just shows it magically installed with no call-out, so once I figured out what part it was and on what sprue, I added it as well to the gun.

Last but not least I completed Step 25's assembly of the crew seats and the foul weather cover support, opting to install the support in the 'down' position.






Next came the sides of the splinter shield. Instead of adding the side support bars to the shields, I installed them first to the sides of the gun mounts and let them set while the sides were dry-fit and then glued the sides permanently in place. I used some small amounts of putty to recreate the weld seams on the front joins to complete its assembly.





Just to round things out, I did a test fit with the mount into the hull to ensure the shields would clear the compartment sides.





Now there's truly nothing left but to paint the interior!

[Leon]

Great job Bill,that is really looking sweet.

[wbill76]

Thanks Leon! I've been really impressed with the level of detail that Bronco has included on this kit but man does it make it hard to decide when to paint things and when to assemble! It's also made it a bit of challenge to handle things...can't tell you how many times I've knocked off the recoil guard on the right side of the gun tray for example.

[Deleted]

Bill , after reading yours and Tony's comments about the amount of detail in the Bronco kits I am convinced I must have one !

[wbill76]

Jun 16, 2013 19:19:33 GMT -5 @shellback said:

Bill , after reading yours and Tony's comments about the amount of detail in the Bronco kits I am convinced I must have one !

You won't be disappointed Carl! Just be prepared for LOTS of tiny parts to achieve that level of detail.

[bigjohn]

Great update Bill, wont be long and we'll be smelling paint fumes

[wbill76]

Thanks BJ! Paint is in the cards for sure now.