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1/35 Panzerjaegerwagen (Tank Hunting Railcar)

Started by marc_reusser, October 16, 2008, 02:38:14 AM

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marc_reusser

Since Conditions are not ideal here this week for painting my Gas Mech, I decided to haul out one of my stocked kits that I figured would make for a relatively quick and simple build till then......I should have known better. :-\

The kit is from Trumpeter (Kit #00368):



I started some of the basic sub assemblies for the lower hull portion, like the wheels and wheel wells....then moved on to the hull itself.......looking at it wit the upper hull set in place, I just got the feeling something was not right with this kit. So I hauled out a couple of refernce Books I had:

 



....and found one clear image of the version of car which is supposed to be represented by the kit:



I also found another view on the web:



The arrows in the reference image are where the most immediate,worst, and most obvious, problems occur on the kit.

This then is the the side view and the bottom view of the kit lower hull. The arrowed area is the major error that need so be adressed. The whole area needs to be cut out and rebuilt :-\ :-X ::)






....so, since my mill has not yet arrived, I made a couple of set-up jigs and went to work using the X/Y table of my drill press.
(The initial rough cuts were made using a PE razor saw, ....final cuts were made using the drill press....it took about 10 times as long to make the jigs as it did to make the finished cuts)




And thats where we are as of tonight.


Marc




I am an unreliable witness to my own existence.

In the corners of my mind there is a circus....

M-Works

jacq01


    I thought you are building mainly on your own. Now it appears you have a little helper, named Murphy.  ;D ;D

    You'll do the Br 52 too in the time you are waiting for the conditions to improve so you can paint your GasMech?
    Affected by the fires??

    Jacq
put brain in gear before putting mouth in action.
never underestimate the stupidity of idiots
I am what I remember.

marc_reusser

Quote from: jacq01 on October 16, 2008, 06:44:22 AM

    I thought you are building mainly on your own. Now it appears you have a little helper, named Murphy.  ;D ;D

    Jacq

...more like "Mr Pain In The A--"....GRRRRRRRRRRR   ;)


QuoteYou'll do the Br 52 too in the time you are waiting for the conditions to improve so you can paint your GasMech?

Oh yea sure!



Not affected so much by the fires....just a little bit worse on the air quality, so it is keeping me off the bike a few days.....the problem is the almost complete lack of any humidity...causes the paint to dry almost as it comes out of the airbrush...even highly thinned and with retarder it can happen.......... and the "Santa Ana Winds" don't help, as I paint outside in my open garage.


Marc
I am an unreliable witness to my own existence.

In the corners of my mind there is a circus....

M-Works

Belg

Marc, looks like your off to another project with many changes from the original kit, I wonder if you tell us about this "X/Y table of my drill press"
like where you got it and what functions it performs. I wonder why kit manufacturer design stuff the way they do when they must have referance material when they build them, is it just so they work better in the mold making process, less undercuts and things like that? Thanks Pat

marc_reusser

Pat,

The X/Y table I have is this one from Micro-Mark.

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=82389

I use it with their drill Press (the one in the x/y photo).....one is not really supposed to use a drill press for milling......but  I was basically only using it on soft material, and when I had to do harder woods or resin I just tried not to go too fast, or cut too deep in one pass.......and up until yesterday I really did not have a choice, it was an easy and somewhat inexpensive solution for the last couple of years.  With the arrival of the mill, I will still keep the x/y table on the drill press, as it is the best way I know to drill accurate holes, and even rows, or evenly spaced holes.


Why mfrs don't make their kits accurate is open to all sorts of speculation or reasoning.......on this one I think the designer was just a blind moron, or lazy at best.....but what do I know....maybe he didn't have the two images I have available to him....or if he did, he did not understand what he was looking at. Even with the two images I have, I am still needing to speculate as to the underside layout/construction/design....I am having to walk the line between what the images show, what some of the "common practices" were for armor construction at the various times, and what I can learn and extrapolate from other armored railcars....but at least the profile of the car will be correct (or at the very least, closer than the kit was)....even with what I am doing, I know there are still inconsistancies/errors in the car.....but in the end it really comes down to the fact of how much can, and do I want to do, within  a reasonable amount of time, and is this particular model/project really worth expending that much additional time...and will it make that much more of a difference.


Marc
I am an unreliable witness to my own existence.

In the corners of my mind there is a circus....

M-Works

John McGuyer

Looking out the window, at least you have a good day to paint here in the LA Basin. Yesterday was so windy, I went out to photograph a 1/20.3 gondola and while I was setting up the camera, the wind would blow the car down the track.

John

marc_reusser

As I have to wait till I get around to doing the final set-up and tuning of my milling machine, before I can continue with my Panzerjaegerwagen, I have started something else (and more interesting) in the interim



So far I have most of the basic "Omm" flat car kit from Dragon built (thought there is a lot of missing underside detail on this kit that I will have to come in and scratch-build later)...and I am starting on the hull of the Pz IV.....on which a good amount of work will also be needed.

BTW: This is Panzerzug 350, which was Built in Berlin in April of 45. A couple of these improvised cars were constructed toward the wars end, as a last ditch effort for rail protection. They were intended to serve the same/sim purpose as the Panzerjaegerwagen.



Marc
I am an unreliable witness to my own existence.

In the corners of my mind there is a circus....

M-Works

marc_reusser

#7
Nothing really exciting to see...but just to prove that I am working on it, here is the progress so far.

This is what you get after de-sprueing,trimming, cleaning and fitting some 200+ parts......still about the same number of kit parts more to go ....then it will finally be on to the fun detailing part. ::)






Marc
I am an unreliable witness to my own existence.

In the corners of my mind there is a circus....

M-Works

lab-dad

Kool, neat shot!
At least this one didnt have to make a trip to the mill!
BTW, did you get your Sherline and set it up?
-Marty

marc_reusser

Thanks Marty.

I did get my mill, but I opted not to get the Sherline, and got the MM instead. Partially due to cost and all the accesories that I could get with it for the price, but in large part due to the feel/comfort of it. I had a chance to look at a Sherline in person, and it just felt "small" and "toy-like" to me....sure it ran smooth and was probably great....but coming from working on full size mills like a Bridgeport, it just really felt uncomfortable...especially in the size of the crank wheels, and in the "heft" of the bed.

I am sure that the Sherline is a more precision instrument, than the MM...but I think with my past experience, and the help of/tips from guys like Mike Musal and Jerry kitts, I can get the thing dialed in to tolerances that are acceptable to me and for my needs.

It is a heavy sucker though....about 135 lbs, plus the rotary table...another 20 or so lbs, and the adjuastble milling vice...probably another 10.  It stands about 30" tall. Spent the first couple of days after I got it building/reinforcing a a cabinet to set it on.

I still need to finish the assembly (electrical & control box mounting), and trimming the head.  I need to PU some cast acrylic sheet this weekend to make the level milling/mounting surface (also need to get the fly cutters for this step)...but it should be all ready to go sometime in the next week or so.


Marc
I am an unreliable witness to my own existence.

In the corners of my mind there is a circus....

M-Works

marc_reusser

Was fortunate to find another photo of a sim improvised car in another of my books. This one is great, because it shows me the rear of the tank hull, so I can see what changes were made, and items removed.



Photo From: Armor Battles On The Eastern Front byRobert Michulec


marc
I am an unreliable witness to my own existence.

In the corners of my mind there is a circus....

M-Works

finescalerr

Did you ever wonder why people find war machinery somehow more interesting to model than, say, tractors or bulldozers or big trucks? -- Russ

marc_reusser

Well I know that there are a number of guys that like modeling trucks and construction equipment.... ;)

For me the interest in modeling armor is in some ways akin to why I like industrial and logging subjects for rail modeling......I think there is a great amount of diversity of adaptations of the subject, and dramatic "scenes" in which they can be staged. In real life, they also all have, and allow for, a certain sense and amount of improvisation ....sort of, man needing to overcome and survive his surroundings or the task at hand. ...and to top it off.....they all have plenty of reference photos of all this in use/action, to help spur the creative juices/imagination.  All sorts of opportunities for the modeler.

I mean really....how can you compare that to a bulldozer in a construction site, a shiny sports car model, an 18 wheeler,  or a UP/SP diesel en route to Bakersfield, or even a D&RGW  train on the same route for the 100th time....[SNORE]....where's the modeling challenge? Where's the creativity? Where are the Oddities?

[Note: I am not including the kind, and level of car/auto models that Hector does in my comments about car modeling....his kind are a whole different world from plastic/resin models].

Marc
I am an unreliable witness to my own existence.

In the corners of my mind there is a circus....

M-Works

John McGuyer

Marc,
Just a few thoughts for you when setting up your mill. While I have an angle vise and a rotary table plus regular mill vises, what I normally use and is dialed into my mill, is a toolmakers vise. Why? Most of our stuff is small and limited in quantity. Toolmakers vises are ground square and are very accurate. You can measure off all their sides. Just a thought as our stuff is different from normal machining techniques.
John

marc_reusser

I am an unreliable witness to my own existence.

In the corners of my mind there is a circus....

M-Works