Hey fellows! Manny’s thread on group builds and solo got me thinking. While I am not going back to repost all my work I will try to show some of the bigger projects. [tup]
This is a special vehicle to me as I went from Driver to Gunner to Squad Leader on Vulcans during my 1st ten years in the Army. This will be as picky a build as you will ever see out of me because it’s one of those personal ones.
The M163 Vulcan is quite a mess of a track. While Conversion kits from Verlinden, MB models and others were 1st out. They were ok but not really close enough for me. Italeri and Academy are swell kits but not near complete and miss out on some small stuff by just using their M113 APC Chassis. The Academy kit probably is the best oob 113 at the moment but the Italeri and older Tamiya molds have their good points too. No matter what kit or after market stuff I bought, I couldn’t find one that was good enough.
Now Enter the Hobby Fan Kit. Way Way expensive but it showed a lower turrent. So I took a chance and hit gold.
Unbelievable resin details. Down to tiny quick release pins and holddowns about half the size of your finger in real world. These pieces are tiny and very correct. How they even got them out the molds I have no idea. No kidding these are miniture replicas part by part, cable by cable. Almost like the real thing has just been shrunk.
I’m not new to resin and aftermarket parts but these are beyond description. Over enginneered? Absolutely! It builds just like putting the real thing together. Just nuts.
I believe it will never get the fame it deserves simply because the directions are your typical 1 page diagram type. Not going to be a lot of help so If you don’t know this track I don’t think the most experienced modeler would try to tackle it. ( The guy who did the box art made it wrong even) So while I can say this is the most accurate kit I have ever seen for anything it will be ignored due to poor directions. You really need a TM just because there are that many tiny parts.
So I set about getting every thing 1/35 I could think of that could be used to make a suitable chassis for this over engineered masterpiece. The cables even have the connectors and lableing sleeves molded on.
I got every APC Kit and Vulcan kit from the original Tamiya’s to the new Academy. Counting them I have bought 6 full Kits not counting the Hobby Fan. Along with this All the P-E upgrades for both APC and Vulcans for all 1/35. Every conversion kit you name it. Not all at once but over time so I even have the OOP stuff.
Now the tracks on any APC model seem to be the weakest point IMO. They just stink. The new Tamiya offerings still are using the same rotten old tracks from 30 years ago. The Academy ones ain’t a whole lot better. They have additional IP ones included that are a little better but still stink! Seems like some hidden force prevented good 113 tracks. So I broke it down to two options. The Rubber band tracks new and available separately from AFV are pretty good. Definately the best bang for the buck.
But I had so much invested in this already I went with the Fruill metal ones which are the best representation of what these tracks should be but also the most pricey.
Ok got every thing I can possibly think of. Figure if I mess it it will be cuz of me. Or I’ll blame some poor random Marine.[(-D]
Where to start? Lets try step 1.
The small gangle of tangled parts make it neccessary to paint as you go. The resin is not the usual stuff. Very strong smelling and oiley even after washed in sdish soap and windex. It is also flexable and not brittle. Haven’t broke anything …yet.
Looking at step 1 [:O]
Really being as A- Nile about the colors as every thing else. Even the Large Ni-cads Powering the turret came in 3 colors black, dk grn, and earth brown. These were a relatively new technology then and liked to explode. The hold downs were pretty sturdy but some made pretty big bangs and sent stuff flying.
Perched on a testers paint bottle to show size.)
This was a lot of work. Every cable was routed and connected like the real thing after some tedious painting. But here are some shots of the lower turret.
You can see all sides of the parts are detailed. I have found no errors or omissions in any of them. What’s next? Step 2 [banghead]
The turret top. As you can see the metal barrels are shaped and hollowed as the real ones. If my eyes were better I probably could see the rifling. The barrel and muzzle clamps also install as the real deal. With an extension marking the #4 firing barrel. Unreal.
Together and primed up. Used that Mr Surfacer trick and a fine dot brush to give a cast appearence to the main cannon casing.
Put together what I could before the need to paint took over. The elevation motor is there, complete with data plate. Joins right to the cradle with gears like the real one again. All separate parts that have to be cleaned up and washed like all resin parts. Luckily the flash and mold attachment blocks ( fill blocks) are all in the best possible places and a sharp knife and patience is doing the trick with some curved files and sanders.
Even the cannon assembly attaches to the cradle as the real thing did. There is an hour glass shaped stainless steel pin that fits into the cannon base. Then it falls between brakets on the front which then have securing pins pushed through. The holes and pins are there to be pushed through but are the diameter of a fruit fly leg. Get a magnifing glass and some sharp pointed tweezers. Crazy details!
Letting it dry for now. the control panel is not missing a single switch. Or cable and the grips are spot on as well. The Army mainrtence manual has been my best friend jogging my memory for details. This kit is just that crazy. Like they took the real piece 3d scanned it and created it with some computer replication. Had to as the details are beyond what any sculpter could do.
Please feel free to comment. Thanks for putting up with me guys. [bow] More to come.
