More fine workmanship here.
Didn’t know you were a rivet counter - intended as a pun. [;)]
regards,
Jack
A simple, but clever way to mark out the screw hole locations… Nicely done [;)]
Very nice solution to the screw heads Ernest, even if you did initially add too many! [:D] Love the progress, keep it up!
Jack, Phil, Bill, thanks for the kind words! Its much appreciated!
Moving along guys, its TOOL TIME!
But the kit tools are pretty lame! The detail is soft, some tools are downright overly simplistic and the jack has sink marks that will be tough to remove:
Tamiya to the rescue with their nice Panzer IV Tool Set! I’ve had these for years and it was time to use them. However some parts like the fire extinguisher and wrenches are too big to fit on the fenders properly so I used spares from Dragon Pz. IV kits.
I lost the handle for the jack so I scratchbuilt a new one. The kit tow mounts aren’t totally accurate, but they assembled pretty well and look decent so I kept them. The kit only includes 4 of the lifting hooks which were used on the turret and I need two more for the hull. The only spares I had that are a close match are some resin ones…not sure where they came from!
The kit’s fold down step and track tool are way too thick so I simply sanded them to a more scale thickness.
As I was looking for the kit’s tow cable, I remembered that years ago I stole the tow cable ends for that old Pz. III kit that Phil mentioned earlier! No probs…that Tamiya Pz. IV Tool Set includes the ends. The only problem is that they’re not solid all around, they’re molded with a groove on one side. To correct I glued in some styrene and then sanded the excess down flush. I already did one so the photo shows the other one still on the sprue awaiting detachment and sanding.
And this is how she looks now.
Some closeups:
I have a whole set of unused Dragon Pz. IV Ausf.G Magic Tracks, so I used some for the spares just too see how they looked. I’m not sure I’ll keep them though. I also had quite a few leftover half-wing nuts from that same kit so I drilled out some holes in the fenders and used them for the vent covers. The rear fender flap springs are also extras from that kit as well as the hull MG34! Gotta love Dragon for all the extras they include in their kits!
On the rear I scratchbuilt the tow cable holders from Evergreen strip and rod styrene, and twisted some 28 ga. copper wire to create the tow cables.
Here’s little trick I learned from one of our very own forum members. I didn’t want to break the styrene rod when forming the loops for the tow cable, so I simply made a quick jig from a block of wood and some brass rod. Then I could bend, pull and adjust the wire to the correct length and loop size with no fear! When I was happy I removed the rods and transferred the pre-bent tow cable to the kit…with just a couple of adjustments made due to the muffler. Gosh, but I can’t remember which member it was! [:$]
Just a little more and I think it will be ready for the paint booth!
Oh my god–are you my long-lost brother?!? Either that, or we’ve been infected by the same bug! [proplr]
Yup–I know THAT feeling! [:)]
You’re doing a fine job here, Ernst! Those tools and the screw details look perfect. And I have to say, that’s a GORGEOUS cable! I’m shamelessly going to steal your idea!!! [:D]
Ernest!!!
Hate to tell you, man…but this thing left “OOB” status a loooooong time ago. 
Looks great!
Karl, Yep, we’ve definitely been bitten by the detailing bug!! Its a nasty virus that can turn a 3 day OOB build into a 6 week quest for perfection!! [:P] I"ve got it bad!!
Yo dupes!! Nice to hear from you buddy, thanks for stopping in for a look! I"m still lovin that Panther Flakvierling you built for Eric’s Steel Cats GB! OOB…yep, that was wishful thinking! [;)] I’m having a good time with the kit though, so its all good! BTW, what projects have you been working on lately? Planning on joining any of the upcoming GBs?
I really like this one, superb modeling!
Very nice work on the tools and spares bin scrounging Ernest! It’s one of the reasons I don’t throw out left-over parts, never know when they might come in handy. [:)]
Russ, Bill, thanks for stopping by! For an old kit, this one has been quite enjoyable!
BTW, more spares bin scrounging coming up!!
Hey I’m finally back with another update! I had to slow things down because I’m back to working 6 days a week, 10-12 hrs a day [:XX]. Though slow, progress was made on the kit over the last two weeks, focusing solely on the tracks:
As I mentioned earlier, the kit’s vinyl tracks are inappropriate for an Ausf.D. These represent the 40cm wide tracks with the sold guide horn and chevron pattern ice cleats that weren’t used until the Ausf.H, mid to late production IIRC. It makes sense why Tamiya did this as their old Ausf.H has the same tracks. The Ausf.D tracks should actually be 36cm wide with hollow guide horns and smooth track faces.
Digging around my stash I found some old Model Kasten indy links that I thought might work as a replacement. Here’s a comparison photo of the kit tracks and the sprue with various Pz. III/IV track links. Included are the same mid/late Ausf. H links, Ausf, H early 40cm links without the ice cleats and 36cm links that are correct for Ausf.Ds.
But the kit sprockets will not work for the 36cm links as the sprockets are waaay too wide! Scrounging around a Dragon Ausf.D Vorpanzer kit I found that it has an extra set of sprockets (??) so I put one together and compared it to the kit sprocket…big difference!
Checked the Dragon sprocket with the MK 36cm links:
Looks like I had a winner!! UNTIL…I counted the MK 36cm links and realized that there are only about 100 links included with the set!! HUH?? Pz IVs usually had 90-100 links PER SIDE!! DOH!! [8o|] So the MK links were ruled out along with the Dragon sprocket!
Back to square one! I decided to take a look at that entire set of leftover Dragon Ausf.G Magic Tracks that I used a few for the spares; there are easily enough links for both sides. Here’s a look at the links (taped to a piece of wood) compared to the kit tracks:
They’re the same width as the kit tracks, but the holes for the sprocket teeth look too small…I’ll probably have to modify the sprocket a bit. They have the hollow guide horns, which are a plus. And the raised cleat can be sanded down to make it look more like the 36cm links! OK, NOT perfect, but I think they’ll work pretty good in improving the look of the kit.
First step: Sanding down the raised cleats. To do this I laid some double sided tape onto a wood jig I used for T-34 tracks and arranged 10-12 links cleat side up and used a medium grit sanding stick to sand down the cleats.
And after they’re done, cleaned up and compared to a MK 36cm link.
Here’s the modification I had to make on the kit sprockets. I had to thin out about 10 rows of teeth so that the Dragon Links would fit.
A few links dryfitted onto the modified sprocket and compared to the vinyl tracks. I think its a big improvement! Not only will the track faces look more appropriate, they hollow guide horns are more accurate and I can put some sag on the track runs which I would have a hard time doing with the vinyl tracks!
With my limited bench time, modifying 200 links and the sprockets took an entire week. When ready I used the “doog method” of installing the indy links. For each run I layed down 102 links onto a stretch of double sided tape with a metal ruler to keep the run straight. Then I brushed on Testors liquid cement for the entire run, let it sit for an hour and then gently removed the track run from the tape and wrapped the still pliant track run around the suspension. Balls of tissue paper held the upper run in place and helped form the sag.
Here’s how she looks now with the tracks finally done and installed (to be removed before painting)
Yeehaw! Assembly done and now on to the paint booth!
Geez, great work there Ernest. Nice save on the tracks.
lot of effort going into this,looks good.
Hey, that “doog method” looks pretty keen there, Ernest,…lol. [;)] I’m impressed with the time and research you’ve pit into the tracks, Ernest. That’s something that honestly, I wouldn’t have even known or thought about. [Y]
Very nice work, Ernest. Very persistent,… I think that I would have just bailed out, opened the wallet and purchased a set of Friul ATL-02. [:)]
Don
Ernest, very dedicated work on this one, particularly the tracks.
Are they still somewhat pliable after the glue is set? I’m assuming both idler and sprocket are just in position for now, so you call remove the tracks for painting, but what about the guide horns in between the road wheels and behind the return rollers?
regards,
Jack
Nice job on the track adjustments/modifications Ernest! Will definitely up the accuracy level to go with the rest of the detail you’re putting into this one. [Y]
It is coming along nicely! Can’t wait to see her get a coat of paint on! [Y]
Brian
Eric - thanks buddy! Those tracks turned out to be more of a pain that I anticipated! [blkeye]
Tojo - I’m glad you like it so far! Thanks for stopping by and checking it out!
Karl - Yesiree, you taught me that track technique some years ago! Actually I had a problem that perhaps you could shed some light on: For the first time with this technique the Testors liquid cement didn’t “bite” very well and several sections broke loose on the first track run. At first I thought I just didn’t apply enough cement and on the second run I was quite liberal with the cement and could definitely see the cement running down between the links, but the same thing happened with the second run. I had to use Tenax liquid cement between most of the links and Tamiya Extra Thin on the sections with sag. Everything turned out fine in the end, but I was quite surprised that I had to do this. Never had that problem before and I’ve used your technique (and the same bottle of cement) several times. Could the cement be getting “old”? Is there something different about Dragon’s Magic Tracks that requires a different cement? Just curious. I love your track technique and will continue to use it!
Don - LOL!! I thought the same thing, but frugality won out! (is frugality a word? [^o)])
Jack - Thanks for the comments! Yes, the tracks still remain pliable for at least an hour (probably more) after being removed from the tape because Testors liquid cement dries quite slowly. All the suspension components are removable (Tamiya poly caps!) and each track run is just taped together at one end under one of the roadwheels. Although now dry, the track runs still remain flexible enough to lift up to install the return rollers when the time comes.
Bill - Always a pleasure to hear from you, the Master of the Armor Forum Blog! [:D]
Brian - You and me both! I’m itching to try out a couple new painting techniques on this one!
Well, I’d like to post a painting update, but I haven’t had a chance to get the AB out with all the extra time I’m putting in at work (I’m actually at work typing this up!). Looks like the earliest I’ll get some paint on is Sunday.
Have a great weekend all!!
Awesome build Ernest, Loved the OOB build…lol Does anybody really build em straight from the box anymore? anyway awesome work, loved the pics and Thanks for the few tips I picked up along the way. Every time I see someone doing a build like this I want to pull something out of the stash and build it…no wonder I have so many “started” kits. Excellent work, Dave