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Post by wbill76 on Apr 10, 2015 13:11:15 GMT -5
Sounds like you've got the battle plan all laid out BJ! Tough break on the delay due to mechanical failure but you won't be down for long by the sound of it. Having a metal-brake style bender will save you a lot of time/effort for sure. I have one that is slightly larger than 7" long that was produced for a while specifically for model-builders called a 'Fender Bender' because I knew the designer/builder and he very graciously provided me with one when he was just starting out with it as a review sample. Here's what it looks like and may give you some ideas for your own device! The clamping plate is reversible, allowing for long consistent bends/folds as well vs. the usual 'fingers' often seen on the standard bending tools for smaller stuff. Very handy although admittedly it's something I rarely use myself but always there if I need it!
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BJ
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Post by BJ on Apr 10, 2015 13:33:04 GMT -5
Cool.. Always interested in another contact. I use to have a model resin company myself YEARS ago. Hence the name Panzer Concepts. I was thinking of restarting it, but after building again I have decided not to. I am just really enjoying Building what I want and don't want to ruin my hobby again by making it a business. If someone wants to buy my patterns/designs when done then that's a possibility but I'm not going to try to be the "First to market" and all that crap that goes with a Model Business. I am probably going to cheat though on the bridge and have the Chain drive 3D printed. Not sure I feel like making and casting 500 links the size of a ant. But then again... Added.. OHH that break is exactly what I am/was building. Was making the hinges when it blew up. I was thinking of using an old blade from my Planer for the clamp and have it reversible like that.
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BJ
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Post by BJ on Apr 11, 2015 2:51:59 GMT -5
While waiting for parts for my mill, I decided to start the Lower Hull and interior. Got a little done, The Tristar Hull is a little challenging to assemble when you cut out all the supports and crossbraces. The Interior "Applique" is something I have been working on for awhile so I decided to try it out on the Tristar Kit.. The fit is off a little as I was designing it to work with the Dragon Kits and Dragons Plastic is much thicker so leaving the parts a little undersized, but an easy fix with a few filler strips as there is an angle bracket on the floor/sidewall seam anyway on the real tank.
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Post by Leon on Apr 11, 2015 4:00:58 GMT -5
Nice start on the lower hull and interior Billie Jean.
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Post by TRM on Apr 11, 2015 8:01:14 GMT -5
Looks like a decent upgrade in the interior BJ! I might have to get those tub sides off you for the next IV I rip open like a tin can!! LOL!! Looking forward to seeing the bass fly soon too!
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BJ
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Post by BJ on Apr 11, 2015 12:08:20 GMT -5
Thank You Leon Thank You TRM. My original intent for this interior is for my 1/4 scale Model but I ended up doing it in 35th also with the future idea for another "One Day" project of a Partial Krupp Factory Scene doing the Panzer IVD Upgrades with a few of them completely torn down and Parts all over the place along with selling it.(Selling it is on the back burner) Just Holler if you want some of the parts. I may sell a few kits here and there if there is interest maybe as a limited run kit or something. Here are a few test Shots of some of the other parts. I will Probably Have the Bridge layer in its natural environment once I get that point. Broken Down with all the hatches open to show off the interior..
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Post by kaytermarram on Apr 11, 2015 15:50:53 GMT -5
You mean, you do a complete interior from scratch? And you have done something before as I see on the pics, all those cast stuff. Thats all from you? You have told about the machines and tools you have, but hell, this is awesome!! I will watch this here with big interest, looks great!
Frank
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BJ
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Post by BJ on Apr 11, 2015 17:32:30 GMT -5
You mean, you do a complete interior from scratch? And you have done something before as I see on the pics, all those cast stuff. Thats all from you? You have told about the machines and tools you have, but hell, this is awesome!! I will watch this here with big interest, looks great! Frank LOL.. Thanks Frank, Without trying to toot my own horn too much as I would like to believe I have gotten past the egocentric stage of my life years ago. Back in the 80s and 90s when I had my Model Company "Panzer Concepts" (PZC for short) with a few Partners I feel we kinda started the whole interior market thing, before Verlinden started making interiors and CMK didn't even exist. We had about 8-10 interiors out for the Sherman, T-34, King Tiger, PZ IV to name a few. Along with a Full Resin Kit of the M-26 Dragon Wagon and a Few Train Rail Cars, snap together track links. (Now called Magic Tracks) When the Partnership dissolved Randy and Larry went off and Started Tank Workshop and Tank Maker and I Kept PZC and Started licensing my stuff to Kirin. (Sort of, Had no clue about REAL Licensing at that time as I was only 26 and didn't go so well and I paid for my Ignorance. Keeping it Simple never trust Korea or China companies ) I just ended up closing PZC for multiple reasons, (divorce, Ect.). In the end. Tank Workshop/Maker Sold of to Tiger Model Works some years ago and then sold that off again to the New Tank Workshop and so on. Kirin/DML/Dragon Kept producing a few kits I saw for awhile (King Tiger Interior Mainly) and still see them from time to time on Flea Bay. The Dragon Wagon copies (I still have the Master Patterns Under my Desk) went off to Tamiya and that was used for their mock up/reference for their Fantastic Plastic Kit as I was lucky enough to have unlimited access to an original M25/26 and I had well over a 1000 photos of all the details of this vehicle. Still have no clue where all those photos went. Those would be a gold mine of information now. ( I think my EX used them for a fire pit party) The Railcars ended up in the hands of a small company called Trumpeter and they copied them for their kits.(This I know as I can still see a few of my Machining Bloopers in their parts, no backside/underside details on their wheels or deck and Identical wood grain pattern I have to laugh a little as in a few reviews they were dinged for this. You have to understand that when these masters were made we didn't have the internet as we know it now. AOL was still cutting edge along with windows 3.1. So all our research back then was through the World Wide Fax Machine and whatever books we could find,(Mostly Spielberger and Hunnicut series) So there was a lot of Creative Educated Engineering, aka guessing. I ended up Starting a Sign Company in 95 and a lot of my Building disciplines followed suit from the mold and resin casting to various painting techniques and that put me in a Unique Position that I ended up being a Niche Signshop and has been very good to me and my family and is funny how everything has come full circle as I now use a lot of my Sign Techniques in my Model building. The rusting effect for example on the D7. Which is actually so easy once you see how its done, that I feel like I am cheating, to applying gold leaf or Alum Leaf for a true Alum finish on a Plane that not a sticker. (BMF) So that's why now, I still love to design my own stuff, and I can finally do it the way I always wanted to but never had the means or equipment do so, until now and It just stimulates my creative juices. When I recently started building/designing again about a year and 1/2 ago, I started out all Gung Ho and was going to open up PZC again and start producing all these new kits and tools I always wanted to do, Then It finally dawned on me. More like a brick hitting me in the head. DON'T.. This is what burned you out on Models the first time, So now I am just designing and building what I want at my own pace and don't care what the market or other say. This is my hobby and my release for me and if there is a by product that someone may want something I build or design then we'll discuss it at that time. Sorry for the long winded post once I start typing about something I love there is no shutting me up and I have no one near by to share it with except on the net as there is no other Model builders near me that I know of. I so want to share various techniques I have learned and/or developed but haven't wrote anything up yet as I don't want to come off as a "I know it all" and this is "MY WAY, so Buy my Products and be like me". I try to keep myself humble and chime in slowly. Maybe one day I'll write a book too. "FAQS of BJs" or the "Billdo's guide to Model Building"
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Scott Fraser
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Post by Scott Fraser on Apr 11, 2015 21:47:53 GMT -5
Billie Jean, we should have met a long time ago. I started carving masters and casting back when moulds were made from red latex and epoxy was the only game in town. I mentioned my buddy with the etching shop -- at the time we were strangers, but one day I was talking to Mike Bishop and he mentioned he couldn't get his etching done. I called on the guy with the etch shop and hooked them up. About two months later I stopped in and Jim, exclaimed "where the hell have you been? I have no clue what this guy wants!" so I took over his design work, bought a 386 and learned AutoCAD, learned about etching and never looked back. I've designed and produced maybe a hundred frets for my own company and for other aftermarket producers, for model ships, trains, planes, tanks and architectural models. This was in the early 1990s. Then it occurred to me that using an imagesetter for tooling was a lot like using an imagesetter for printing plates and began to design decal sheets for a small manufacturer and then for my own company, Tally Ho!. I was trying to do too much with too little and ended up burning out. My printer went belly up and I wasn't able to find another who would produce decals with an offset press, so I started working with a local printer at the bottom of the learning curve. I ran out of cash before we got the bugs worked out (we were messing with UV inks) and ended up broke, disgusted with modelling and I walked away for a few years. Then my kid got interested in model trains, which drew me back into modelling, and here I am, ten years later. Modelling has certainly changed.
The moral of the story is that turning your hobby into your business is a very slippery slope. That can easily suck the joy out of the hobby, leading to burnout, frustration and poverty. I don't recommend it. I have known many people who tried. Almost all of them ended up leaving the hobby, including myself.
Still, I'm a techno-junkie and love to mess with new technology. Stereolithography is so very cool...
Regards Scott Fraser
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Post by tobias5555 on Apr 12, 2015 0:23:13 GMT -5
Very cool project.
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Post by kaytermarram on Apr 12, 2015 6:41:11 GMT -5
Wow, BJ, this is very very interesting and it shows how important it is to know a bit about the background of a person, get answers for all the "why questions". Now I see what you do and why you have all this stuff and whats your background. And if you decide to do a book, count me in. I love reading such things, have my own little bibliotheque with stuff like this and am always on the lookout for "Making ofs" which fit in my interests. You have my absolute respect and are a person I would call Master. And, may I repeat myself, it is so absolute cool WHAT persons one gets to know here and make contact with! As for Scott, all those stories about what happened and what are you all were involved in, hell, this is so damn interesting...
Frank
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Post by wbill76 on Apr 12, 2015 18:12:45 GMT -5
Nice to hear that you've rekindled the joy of the hobby and not let the 'business' suck you back in BJ! It's always a slippery slope and my hat's off to those who are able to keep that balance! I'm in the 'been there and tried that' category although not at the same level you and Scott have been, but the burnout issue is the same nonetheless. Work is work and hobbies are for fun...when you turn the hobby into a job, it becomes very hard to keep the fun! Looking forward to seeing you bring that interior to life for sure.
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Post by wing_nut on Apr 12, 2015 20:43:48 GMT -5
Excellent work.
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threadbear
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Recovering my modelling enthusiasm!!'
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Post by threadbear on Apr 13, 2015 2:21:37 GMT -5
Modelling in another league. Amazing what some of you are capable of. Using plastic card and punch and dies is modelling at its classic best. I enjoy using plastic card and strip but nothing to this degree. Maybe I should give it a go?
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BJ
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Post by BJ on Apr 13, 2015 11:36:37 GMT -5
As NIKE would say.. Just Do it. Scratch building is easy, just a natural progression of model building. don't look it as some type of voodoo. Just envision what you want. Make a sketch of it. It doesn't have to fancy or elaborate, break it down into sub-assembles(if needed). Then start cutting plastic.
A little exercise on your current or next Model/Diorama, Take a look at a variation of your model whether it be a Sherman that had concrete armor added to the nose, T34 with Bed Springs or even an Outhouse and instead of buying a kit/conversion, just make it. It doesn't have to be perfect. They never were in real life.
Remember, This is your hobby and no one has to be happy with the outcome except you.
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vlpbruce
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Post by vlpbruce on Apr 14, 2015 18:06:30 GMT -5
Nice start. I love the subject too.
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Post by petros on Apr 16, 2015 7:51:14 GMT -5
Very nice progress, and some GREAT molds! I had to laugh about your passage about the Trumpeter replicating your defects on the railcars, but really got cautious about outsourcing etching etc to the east now... Was considering to send the etching for my next kit towards there...
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BJ
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Post by BJ on Apr 16, 2015 12:56:07 GMT -5
Thanks Petros, I have just resided to the point that if something is going to get Knocked off, well there really isn't much you can do about it.. You can get all paranoid about it, Try to sue, (The only one who wins there is the Lawyer)or just move on to the next project. If I do decide to release the interior, It would just be Limited Edition, Limited Release (100 -150)numbers with a stamped/embossed certificate of Authenticity. (Very Hard if not impossible to reproduce without the original file, The joys of owning a sign shop, I can make the embossing stamps in house) So I will just have the PE done outside. (I do my own Prototyping PE but not setup for a larger run) So if someone wants to go to all that effort to copy it then you know.. That's the Highest form of Flattery. That or I'll just license/sell the patterns and drawings and let someone else deal with it.
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Scott Fraser
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Post by Scott Fraser on Apr 16, 2015 14:55:17 GMT -5
Years ago, I worked with a fellow who had a small model company selling epoxy and resin models and vacuform kits of 1/72 aircraft. He decided to release a vacuform kit of the DHC-3 Otter. We gathered up our drawings, sent them off to Czechoslovakia, and when the masters came we put the kit into production. It sold very well, for the first six months, until Hobbycraft Canada announced an injection moulded kit and sales flatlined.
There was an inaccuracy in our kit stemming from my mistakes in the drawings. The pylon for the quarter-windows in the front doors was too fat and too far aft. Mea culpa. We addressed it in the instructions, pointing out that the windows needed to be cut out differently, an easy fix in a vacuform kit.
Lo and behold, when the Hobbycraft kit came out, the window pylons were too fat and too far aft. They had pantographed our model. There was nothing we could do about it. How do you sue? My friend never released another kit. Neither did another fellow in Ontario whose Avro Arrow they copied. Then Airfix spanked them soundly when they copied the Airfix Banshee and Hobbycraft stopped copying other people's models. Scumbags. Don't ever buy their kits.
Regards Scott Fraser
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BJ
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Post by BJ on Apr 19, 2015 12:30:26 GMT -5
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S e r z h
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Post by S e r z h on Apr 19, 2015 12:50:14 GMT -5
I was waiting for this step forward to! Watch as white, featureless plastic becomes premeditated form - this is something special! Good job. Very neat! billiejean - THANK you for the opportunity to see the construction site and for larger image - this is a must see in detail!
PS What the glue you use, building such a long and complex structures?
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Post by Leon on Apr 19, 2015 12:53:22 GMT -5
WOW!!! This is looking really fantastic Billie Jean.Awesome scratch work.
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BJ
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Post by BJ on Apr 19, 2015 14:07:45 GMT -5
Thanks, Serzh, I only use, Straight up MEK for plastic, SuperGlue and will add baking soda if I need a filler and maybe some epoxy once in a blue moon. I use Magic Sculpt for welds if I can't get the look I want from MEK/Plastic mix.
And Please excuse all the Cat Hair.. They think everything in the house is for them to lay on.
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Post by wing_nut on Apr 19, 2015 14:17:47 GMT -5
Nice bit of scratch work there. You've gotten a bit ahead of yourself with your up"dates"
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Post by kaytermarram on Apr 19, 2015 16:04:34 GMT -5
Top work so far! I love those in progress shots and scratchbuild things sometimes more than pics from the finished and painted model. And don´t make yourself crazy because of the cat hair! I know this because our cat does the same, so...
Frank
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Post by wbill76 on Apr 19, 2015 17:30:22 GMT -5
Solid foundation going here BJ, looking good!
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Post by deafpanzer on Apr 19, 2015 17:40:26 GMT -5
Holy cow! Great start on the bridge... can't wait to see more!
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afvfan
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Bob
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Post by afvfan on Apr 19, 2015 23:58:44 GMT -5
Great progress there. This is going to look soooo good!
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Post by petros on Apr 20, 2015 1:55:11 GMT -5
Very nice progress! And cat hair is ok - its actually nice for rigging 700 scale ships and the thicker hairs are perfect radio antennas for 35 and 72
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Post by kaytermarram on Apr 20, 2015 5:28:58 GMT -5
And think of the whiskers!! The best antennas I have ever seen!
Frank
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