Hi Everyone
Mr T - I wrote a feature on captured vehicles during WWII and it was amazing how many spare parts were scrounged and swapped around especially by the end of the campaign.
Wouter -
There is always someone worse off than yourself
Si -
Your killing me mate
JR - Not as bad as the language when I realised the barrel was the wrong length
(See below)
Scottie - I have had enough of detailing so have taken a bit of a break (See below)
The Lord of the Dark Side was kind enough to watch my back as always and pointed out that the barrel looked a little long
I consulted the PMMS site and indeed I had not cut the kit part back far enough. Here is the link for those who are interested
https://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/flak38/flak38barrels.htm
The next section has a Government Health Warning!! Pictures of surgical procedures and grotesque amputation to follow. If you are of a nervous disposition then turn away now.
So I scrubbed up for surgery and got my surgical instruments ready
Firstly the shield was taken off and then the barrel was taken away for prep for it's transplant. Then the kit barrel was cut away leaving a solid base for the transplant
The area was sanded down and after a few dry fits. the transplant was completed with copious amounts of CA. The barrel was left in the recovery position overnight for the CA to set fully
In the morning the barrel had recovered fully enough so that the shield could be refitted
I have decided to give my eyes a rest from all this detailing and make a start on the base. For those of you who follow my builds, you will know I am not a great one for bases. However last year I built a PAK 40 but during the painting process my lamp toppled over and scythed through the model
So I decided this would be an ideal opportunity to use the bits as a wreck in the base. I brought a frame from the car boot for 50p and set out the models the way I wanted them
I took out the picture and glass and sealed the gap with UPVA
Then using a new packet of DAS clay I started to add the clay to the base
Once the edges had been done I filled in the rest of the base. Clay is very porous and liable to crack when it dry's so I applied a liquid coat of UPVA all over the clay
While still wet the PAK 40 was added and covered with further clay to represent sand drift
Then various sands and gravels were added along with several wheel tracks. This was all left to dry overnight
Today the excess was taken off and touch ups on the bare patches were done. This will be left again to dry before an undercoat is applied tomorrow
I have no idea how this is going to turn out. This is primarily an opportunity for me to paint my first ever "wreck". So if nothing else I will learn a lot during the process.
Thanks for watching
Steve