TRUMPY STALINETZ WITH AN LZ MODELS RESIN ENGINE

[Teabone]

Like a bad penny I am back, kind of fell out with some painting disasters combined my shaky hands not wanting to participate like they should.  After MUCH thought and dragging of my big feet I decided that this needed to be finished in some fashion and to move on to something I can handle better thus avoiding a shelf queen.

Bones


The kit comes with some PE parts that fit under the fuel tank to brace and support the tank in order to avoid unneeded CA glue use I decided to make my own supports with part shown in white styrene in this photo.



Here the part is almost complete, the part on the photo right side is complete, the one on the left needs to be glued.
 

Wire loom for fuel lines and some other added plumbing.


Left side of the engine ready for paint.  This is a very nice kit by LZ and I would highly recommend it to anyone building the Trumpy Stalinetz.


I used the kit radiator housing rather than the resin one by LZ the reason for the resin replacement is the words in raised lettering on the sides of the housing was misspelled on the Trumpy housing.  Upon looking at the two I could see that the detail of the shroud and the radiator it self was much better using the Trumpy part and as Todd and Andy Fonin are probably the only ones how can read it I would go for the detail.  The PE grill comes with the kit.



Front view



Grill work in place with AM rivet heads ot round headed bolts at the corners.





Operators seat which needs a little more finish effort of the front metal panel which is still a little rough.

[TRM]

Nothing wrong with keeping the hands moving!! Sweet looking lump there!! That is going to look mighty fine once under some color!! Love the grill work too!!! Keep it rolling!!

[Teabone]

Todd

Thank you for stopping by, I can always count on your for some nice positive reinforcement and lately I need as much as I can get.

Bones

[deafpanzer]

GREAT UPDATE!!! PE looks awesome... can't wait to see more I am serious.

[bullardino]

It's great to see progress on this one, I really like the outcome Bones

[wbill76]

Nice to see you getting back around to this one Bones! Nice progress on that engine and radiator.

[Teabone]

Andy, Luigi and WildBill

Nice to see some of my favorite people following along, this sure makes a great build tough I might not really do it justice.  In any event Ill do my best and keep plugging along, these tracks may slow me down a little depending on how fiddly the assembly gets.  Thanks for stopping by.  

Bones

[Teabone]

Here is an example of how I keep breaking those fine little parts during the assembly of larger parts.


Fiddly track parts that need tedious clean up but look like they will make an outstanding example when finished.

[Teabone]

Nemo

Thank you for looking in on this project it has been an education and I have always maintained that is good even if it is learning ones limitations.  It seems like the kit makers often select the oddest part to make a PE part for, often something that styrene would be much better for.  I wouldn't want to accuse them of just throwing in some PE to impress the modeler and not to improve the build but ...........

Bones

[bullardino]

All those fiddly bits are a real PITA, I know it from my little russian tractor...

[Teabone]

Luigi

But they can really make your model look great so its kind of a love hate thing.  When you want a complex part of a model to be in fine detail it almost has the be fiddly.

Bones

[bullardino]

After the slide moulding technology has become more and more common, fiddly bits are getting smaller than my eye can bear...

[ogrejohn]

Fine looking work there Bones! Those tracks do look tedious and fiddly but awesome detail!

[Teabone]

Luigi

So far with 1/35 scale things have been doable but the are getting down to the point at which you have to wonder how much smaller can the get.  Thisning back to the Italeri and the old Airfix ones I think I appreciate this new stuff better.

Bones.

[Teabone]

ogrejohn

You are right but after building a resin D7 Caterpillar Tractor with the resin tracks these are a work of art.  Thank for looking and commenting.

Bones

[deafpanzer]

Looking forward to see how tracks come out... glad I am not alone. Fragile pieces and my fat fingers rarely get along... I wonder why.

[Teabone]

Sept 15, 2013 21:12:10 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Looking forward to see how tracks come out... glad I am not alone. Fragile pieces and my fat fingers rarely get along... I wonder why.

An excellent question, I would like to talk to someone who has built a set of these tracks.  I just started with two track pads and can not believe how hard it is to assemble them, there must be a secret that I do not understand. 

Bones

[Teabone]

For study and discussion I have found the below posted elsewhere.

by: Marc Blackburn, IPMS# 42892
Once the sponsons are attached, it’s time for the tracks. These tracks are what you will find in a modern bulldozer. There is a plate and two brackets. The brackets are glued onto the plate and the pins of the previous brackets can be squeezed on the pins, keeping them loose and malleable. The instructions say there are 34 links for each track. I am not the biggest fan of individual track links, but I am sure that these types of tracks could not have been successfully rendered any other way. It’s tedious, but the result is worth the effort. I made an effort to keep every link lose so they would go around the road wheels with ease.

I think the best info for discussion is Terry Ashley's comments below on the Tacks which seems to address all the issues and eases the assembly somewhat.  For more info see www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/trumpeter/tr05538.html

Tracks:
The real S-65 has 34 x 100mm wide links per side and the kits also has 34 links with correct 14.2mm scale width track links with each link having a separate metal “shoe” and two inner brackets to form the links. There is quite a bit of sprue attachment clean-up needed on the links parts but no other flash to contend with and after clean-up the links can be assembled.

Firstly glue two of the inner brackets to the shoe, the locating pins extend through the shoe to simulate the outer attachment bolts on the actual link, you then fit the next two brackets over the previous link and secure the shoe to hold the brackets together. Ensure to only use a small amount of glue and ensure the brackets don’t splay outwards as the glues dries as this will allow the links to come apart.

Simply repeat the process for each of the 34 links needed for each track run and when fitting to the tractor it’s easiest to fit the track around the drive sprockets as this will hold the links in place while you fit the final links together, these clip easily in place as there is a little flexing of the brackets possible during this process.
Track assembly as above

These piccies are from PMMS modified to show what I need to look for.




This one shows how tight the track joint can get when flat and pushed together to adjust the sag in the track.


This picture shows how the track becomes open when going around the idler.  The real tracks on a Caterpillar tractor do the same thing.  When the grousers, rails and pins are all new the tracks are tight and follow the rollers and idler closely and as the get worn the become loose and stretch to the point where the tractor will walk right out of them when worn enough.  The Styrene ones by Trumpy because of scale and manufacturing reasons are probably of such a tolerance that they are on the loose side.  Therefore Terry's advice on gluing some needs to be followed.


While the track links are the right size and there is the correct number of links the track was too loose when fitted to the suspension and this due to the movement of each track join which stretches out the track run when added around the suspension. To remedy this I glued the links forming the ground contact firmly together as tightly as possible and this reduced the noticeable sag on the top track run. You might want to this with the straight links under driver’s cab to tighten them even more should you wish.

Attachments:

[deafpanzer]

Looks like you will be in for FUN doing the tracks! Good luck... if you can deal with PE then this will be a breeze for you.

[Teabone]

Yea I can see now it is a matter of getting the rhythm of the assembly and just going for it after the lengthy clean up.

Bones

[bullardino]

Long and boring task... That's a part that I don't like, but it has a great impact on the overall result.

[Teabone]

Luigi

You are right but for me it is still ahead of painting.

Bones

[wbill76]

Only one way to tackle tracks like that, one link at a time until they are done! Hang in there Bones, will be worth it in the end.

[Teabone]

WildBill

Thanks for the encouragement I have found a better way of building them which I will post when I get to it. 

Bones

[Teabone]

Here we are back looking at the tracks which when all the smoke cleared really went together quite easily once I ignored everything else that I found. 
By taking the first part being a combination of a track link and pin and gluing it to the shoe and letting it set up firm the next shoe with its same part on iy can be slid up to the first shoe and the Second Part (track link) can be with a wiggle or two slid so the pins go in the shoe holes and snapped together and then just a very light drop of Tamiya ET can be applied to the show face where the two pins are sticking through.  By gluing the First Part to the shoe and letting it set no glue will get on the moving parts.  The only two places you want glue is on the pins that are in the holes on the track shoes which gives you workable tracks.  Once I worked this out I was able to glue up a complete set (after the First Part was set on all the shoes) in about 15 minutes.



Here we have both sets complete and painted black primer, some joints look miss aligned but the whole set is flexible and can be straightened as you wish.  I did discover after I painted the set with the color "Steel" that the tracks should be flexed once the paint has set sufficiently to handle with out hurting the surface.  If you apply this paint with an air brush this may not be needed but I brushed mine.

[wbill76]

Tracks are looking good Bones! Glad you figured out the secret handshake on how to get them together.

[Teabone]

WildBill

Thanks for looking, it does help to know the handshake for sure.

Bones

[shawngehling]

Nice,
I have this kit but don't know when I'll get around to working on it?
Great stuff.

[Teabone]

Shawn

It is a very good kit and I'm sure you will like it.

Bones

[tonylee-Rest In Peace]

Lookin good but will it run like a Deere?

Tony lee