Thanks Tony! It was a good weekend for building and I got further than I thought I might when I started, that’s always a good thing as I tend to overestimate where the progress will get to begin with! [:D]
Andy, you knew you couldn’t get away without buying something, right? [;)] Appreciate the comments as always. [B]
Looks great Bill. had that kit in my hands several times in the past. Not quite sure why I don’t have one[:S]
I’ve never used the Atak zim, only Cavalier. have you used both? One better than the other?
Thanks Marc! Yes, I’ve used both and I’ve found the Atak sets to be slightly better in terms of their design and engineering. That and the fact that Atak seems to stay more current with their sets in relation to the latest kits being produced. HTH! [B]
Looking good Bill! That Atak zim really looks like good stuff, I’ll have to try it some day!
Hey Bill , glad i found this one , the zim looks perfect .[Y]
Thanks Ernest! Atak is great stuff, highly recommended. [;)]
Carl, thanks for dropping by as well, glad to have you along for the ride.
Lookin mighty fine, but from you I’d expect no less. This zimmerit you’re using, never heard of it, does it come with a self adhesive backing? I recall when I first discovered this was put on German armor, back in the seventies it was. I chose to ignore the fact as the thought of sitting there with a tube of putty and a mustache comb upset my digestion.
As I lived in New England at the time, I took a road trip to West Haven , CT and visited War and Pieces, the hobby shop’s hobby shop. Had everything one could imagine and then some. I was complaining about putty zimmerit and an older guy said to me “Why don’t you just use a hot knife and scribe it in?” I did not tell him that I was too dumb to think of it on my own.
So that’s how I’ve been modeling zimmerit for the past thirty years. Very labor intensive (but much better than putty) and time consuming. I like the looks of the product you are using, guess I need some.
Regards,
Mark
Mark,
Atak zimmerit is produced by a company in Poland. Here’s their website: http://atakmodel.istore.pl/en/authorization/index
The zim they produce is resin and the panels are ultra-thin and usually come on a large single sheet that you then have to remove the panels from and attach to the model in the appropriate spot. Some type of glue is required to attach them as they are not self-adhesive. I use a combination of Gator Grip glue, Testors liquid glue, and CA gel to attach mine depending on the size of the panel and how much work time is needed to get it in place. HTH!
The hull looks amazing ,Bill : ) … Tracks on yet ? … LOL
tread[H]
Well…off to a clean start…look like a good study aid for your classes [^o)]
Rounds Complete!!
Mike, yes indeed! It’s my reward for good behavior during the week!
Tread, not yet…tracks are still a good way down the road but will get there eventually!
My wife had a school event this evening so I was left home alone…and decided to sneak in a little extra bench time to take advantage of the situation!
Step 8 is a prep step that assembles the side air intakes and the rear engine deck top as well as the rear plate…and then puts them all off to the side until Step 17. There’s no real reason to wait that long so I went ahead and assembled the rear hull and installed it into the lower hull. The Atak set includes a replacement rear hull plate but it doesn’t have the spare wheel holder parts attached to it, so those will have to be transplanted from the DML kit part later on. It’s also important to note that in Step 8 the diagram isn’t very clear in how the step plate over the muffler/exhaust installs…it has three L-shaped support arms that install to the back of the plate and support the plate over the exhaust. The Atak side panels were added as well at this point.
The installation into the hull in Step 17 includes the install of the rear bulkhead, the tread plate floor for the fighting compartment, and the gun mount base. The base is a 4 part affair that has to be assembled just so or it won’t be possible to fit it into the hull in the correct position. You cannot assemble it outside the hull as the diagrams indicate and then install it as one piece into the hull. This is due to the way the two side supports interact with the hull…they have slots in their sides to fit into the angled “ribs” molded into the lower hull and also slots on their feet that match up with tabs on the hull floor. You have to install these first, then position the top part, D7, within the hull at a slight angle to clear the fender edges, then turn D7 to sit properly and flush on the side feet. The front support should be glued to D7 prior to doing this. It took me a couple of different attempts to figure this out, hence the glue marks on the hull floor you see in the photo.
The interior tread plate part, D6, should then install into position between the rear bulkhead and the gun mount. A test fit showed this was no problem and while my back was turned to take the photo above, my beloved boxer Brenda somehow managed to get hold of the plate. She only had it for a few seconds but the damage was done as she’s a “power chewer”!
It’s not a big loss as I wasn’t planning to display the hatches open for the interior and this sealed it for sure if I did have any doubts otherwise!
Next up will be working on the 15cm gun assembly.
WOW! I never thought about using dogs to create perfect battle damages like you did. Thanks for the excellent tip!
Great process there… [Y]
Battle damage made by your dog ? I had a cat do that to a B-24 prop once …[8o|]
Andy, yes indeed…her teeth approximate shell damage quite nicely but the method is a bit, shall we say, uncontrollable? [:D]
Carl, cat’s are evil…they bide their time, hatch their schemes, and then strike!
Might want to submit that to the forum tips. LOL Perfect for schurzen.
LOL Eric! Brenda does have the nickname of “trash compactor” as she will pick up and chew on just about anything that catches her attention. Thank goodness for rawhide bones! [;)]
Wild Bill:
I plan in the future to do some Tamiya tanks that require zimmerit and I was wondering about your use of Atak Zimmerit. What is it exactly and where can I order it online if it is something I can use?
Ian
Ian,
Atak zimmerit is produced by a company in Poland. Here’s their website: http://atakmodel.istore.pl/en/authorization/index , you can order directly from them or look for their products with various online retailers depending on your country/location if needed. It’s a resin product and they don’t come with specific instructions so you do need to be a little knowledgeable about the vehicle you’re working on. They produce sets that are specific for certain kits so make sure you get one that’s right for the kit you’re looking to work on to avoid potential issues. HTH!
Also consider what upgrade parts you’re using. I picked up Dragon’s StuG IV Early kit, and the Atak Zimmerit. My Dragon kit did not come with suspension mounts (the instructions showed them integral with the lower hull, but my kit had the newer lower hull … without the associated correct suspension parts!). I chose at this time to use the Tasca Pz. IV suspension, and the Atak set did not fit correctly anymore. …
Damon.
This weekend’s round of bench time was very productive and work continued on the gun and superstructure. I decided to build the gun first as it’s designed to go into a static mount in the fighting compartment and everything else revolves around it as a result in terms of fit and placement.
That meant skipping to Step 11 which assembles the gun and breech as well as the collar and recoil cylinders. The breech block can be left movable if you so desire and some sanding is necessary on the join halves of the breech but otherwise it’s a straightforward step.
Step 12 combines the elements from the previous step and adds the recoil guards. Step 13 assembles part of the gunner’s side of the gun mount by adding a choice of two different styles of traverse gears. I chose the simpler type for expediency.
Step 14 completes the gunner’s side of the mount with the addition of the gunner’s seat, the gun sight, and the elevation wheel. There’s also a toothed gear that is added that the instructions indicate shouldn’t be glued…I tried this out and found it to be unnecessary to allow the gun to elevate and omitted it since I’m closing up the interior anyhow. I suppose if you were really really careful with the glue you could find a way to make the gear actually “turn” with the gun as it elevates but it’s not essential to the gun assembly in the long run.
Step 15 is the moment of truth, it adds all of the previous components together along with the base and ball mantlet to create the full gun assembly. The fit on E19, the ball mantlet, was too tight for the gun barrel to slide through so I had to trim and sand it with a round needle file on it’s inside diameter to get the gun barrel to fit. Even then it was an extremely tight friction fit and a challenge to get it to slide all the way down. It also has to fit tightly over the side hinge points of the gun mount and the fit has to be just so for it all to work. I got it as far down onto the mount as I could make it go but I suspect that it needed to go about another 1mm or so to actually fit correctly. Unfortunately the friction fit made it impossible for me to remove it and try again…and this in turn resulted in some issues down the road in the following steps.
I added the interior plate from Step 9 and did a test fit with the gun mount dry-fit in place and sure enough, the mantlet interfered with the fit, causing the rear of the superstructure to not align properly with the fenders and engine deck…a major problem. This meant that the interior ring around the ball mount needed to be trimmed back to allow the mantlet to clear it. This was done with careful trial-and-error and much trimming and sanding.
This led me to wonder if the same issue might be encountered with the exterior circular plate, so I added the Atak zim panels and resin plate and did a test fit. It too had the same issue, so same trimming and sanding treatment was called for. I also used some Squadron White putty thinned with liquid cement to fill small gaps around the circular plate and create a unified look with the rest of the zim panels.
I decided to go ahead and zim the rest of the superstructure before installing it to the hull to make sure I didn’t run into any more fit issues. I decided that I would not mount the schurzen rails and opted instead for just the small mount tabs as called out in Step 21. The tabs were installed first and the zim panels added after followed by the lifting hooks and pistol ports from Step 9. Small amounts of trimming were needed here and there and lots of test fits with the lower hull, so I’m glad I decided to zim first. I also opted for the command version “adler’s nest” 2nd antenna mount and added that from Step 18.
With all that out of the way, it was time to install the superstructure to the lower hull. I used a combination of regular glue, liquid glue, rubber bands, and finger pressure to get a good join all around.
Next up will be the roof and small details and then I’ll start in on the tracks.