KENNY X HAS A TANK

[KennyX]

Thanks for your kind words—I am glad you figured out what to do. There is definitely something sketchy with Dragon’s instructions. There should upgrade what they present as steps—leaving off a key piece is ridiculous.

Yes sir, that one is a little vexing. It stung a little bit. That said, I’m really glad I didn’t have to fabricate a solution. That at least, is a relief. I guess what happened was, is just as you say- after upgrading the bogies they didn’t bother to update the instruction sheet. Hell, that might explain why I’m finding so many lights and handles on sprue “V” instead of “C” where the instructions say they are.

Oh, here’s my Tip: Yessiree if it’s a handle or light and the instructions say “C”, check sprue “V” first.

[KennyX]

It wasn’t all troubleshooting today. I got some work done on the upper hull- hatches and lights and various other small things:



And I wanted to show where I’ll be filling stuff:



I spent quite a bit of time test-fitting that piece there on the front to the hull. That went okay. But those covers there that go on either side, they don’t fit very well.

Also, on the underside there was a slight fit issue I couldn’t overcome:



You can see there st the bottom. A gap. Small one.

I’ll be using Milliput to handle these (and any subsequent) fills. It’s not too bad. I think it’ll be fine once they’re filled.

[speedgraflex]

Yeah, you definitely got this. Just a couple of thoughts if you want, disregard if you don’t—If you are using Milliput follow the instructions and start with a really small ball. Right now I am using pea sized balls in 1/72. I have stopped working “super wet,” and instead concentrate on forming the first layer of fill just inside the fill line. Then I take fine grit sandpaper, wet it and use that to smooth out the putty. If the putty sticks to the sandpaper you need more water. I always keep a small amount of Milliput leftover as a timer and set it on my table. Don’t touch the join. Use the excess blob or ball of putty as a time check device. Once your putty is hardening, mix up the next layer and apply it. Same drill. Keep a bowl of clean water on hand and make sure your hands or gloves are clean. I don’t have a problem working “commando” with Milliput but there is a caution on the label that it may irritate skin. So be mindful. As I am sure you have used Milliput before the above may be redundant. Hopefully I added... at least a few ideas.

[KennyX]

Bruce,

THANK YOU! I was hoping you’d weigh-in, as I have never used Milliput before and I’m glad for your advice. You had great success filling the gaps in your Dornier, and I don’t think my Mr. Hobby/Tamiya is going to be the right choice here for this one. I was thinking of doing it the way you described. Start with a ball, work it in there, wet sand. But you added the fine details and that’s what I needed to round this plan all out. It’ll be here in a few weeks. In the meantime, I have PE and stuff to install, as well as *gulp* track building, and bogie/wheels painting so I’ve got plenty of time and plenty of work ahead of me.

That said, the turret sure looks nice!



Though it’ll need a fill here and there too.

I’ve been on a four hour long teleconference with a vendor, overseeing them fix an issue we’ve been having with their application. And gluing helps me think. And I’ve had plenty of time...

[speedgraflex]

The turret looks great! One other smallish idea with Milliput is when you roll it between your fingers into a thin rope... you see where this goes already, right? You run the rope of putty all along the edge to fill the gap, wet some superfine sandpaper and smooth that down. Also the Milliput instructions are great. I thought they were bonkers for 1-telling me to make a test ball and not use it but work with it until it hardens and 2-telling me to knead the components for five minutes, but those were both good lessons.

[KennyX]

That Milliput snake idea will probably do the trick along that gap there on the front! Just work it right in there.cant do that with a Tamiya Putty in the tube. It’s too colloidal and the stuff dries out incredibly fast. This stuff sounds like it’s going to be a way better solution.

[Duke Maddog]

Wow, every time I check this thread out there's always 3 or four pages to read through. All of it is amazing details and techniques being discussed too. Kenny, you are doing some amazing work here. Keep it coming man!

[KennyX]

Thank you, Duke!

I fell down a few rabbit holes with this one but I’ll get her done. Aside from a few issues it’s gone pretty good so far. I can almost get my head around what Dragon is doing here and hopefully building the tracks will go okay!

[Stuart]

That's looking great Kenny - and super progress. This is one of the advantages of not having to build an interior...

[KennyX]

That's looking great Kenny - and super progress. This is one of the advantages of not having to build an interior...

You ain’t kidding about that brother! When there’s no cockpit to build and paint you can really breeze through the project. Of course, there is still the specter of those tracks LOL. That’s going to slow me down considerably. But that’s okay. You know that I tend to slow to a crawl, or even stall out completely, when it comes to doing the stuff I don’t necessarily enjoy- canopy masking, wheels, etc. Well, with the forthcoming tracks I’m just gonna follow Mr. Carlos’ sage advice: Embrace The Suck

Fact about it- next week, Mon.-Thurs. will devoted to canopy masking/painting, and track-building. I’m going out of town next Friday. Apparently my wife made an Executive, Unilateral decision to fly us both back to Pittsburgh for an early birthday celebration with my pals back there. Only issue I have is, *gulp* I’m afraid to fly.

Heh. Ironic isn’t it? A man like me who builds model airplanes and venerates WWII pilots is afraid of flying and air-travel in-general.

Scared to death, my man. A living case-study in irony, scared to death.

Oh well.

Anyhow- all the heavy-lifting is done. Major construction is complete. I finished the stowage early this morning: