155mm M12 motor gun carriage (UM1/72)

[David Lovell]

Right then boring box top and sprues


After all the jumbo scale stuff thought I'd get back to some normality ,so UM probably not many's favorite but at least they always set you a challenge? The plastic is the usual green used on a lot of their kits not crisp not soft I'd describe as soapy ,not that I've built much yet but so far mr hobby liquid cement seems ok some times it takes two or three brands to find one best suited to the plastic ,ive got a jar of tamiya gloopy stuff but only really use liquid cement cant stand that revell contacta stuff messy and forever setting fire to the blocked tubey pipe bit ,that doesn't mean other people don't find it OK just my self opinionated view. So then back to the job(challenge) in hand no one piece hull tubs here got the bottom ,two sides and rear fitted when the first challenge presented itself the resin front hull bit was broken0
So removed casting blocks and glued it back together

The join looked good but at same time had to dry fit to make sure it was correctly aligned all seemed ok so cracked on with the wheel suspension unit thingy's wich have them rubber block damper things

Laugh I knew I had the correct sprue but who looks for the number I spent ages looking for the little round pieces in the end I found em

Next was the bit on top of the wheel units wich were supplied as etch no fold marks nothing but hey a exercise in geordie build (by eye man) wich was fine got all six done and fixed in place then realised they sat too high ,higher than the little return rollers so pinged them off and made them smaller another challenge sorted.

On with the link and lengths the individual links were death by spru gates so tight to each link you couldn't get your snips in any sense to cut them from the sprue so all done with a scalpel it was then I noticed this



Ten of then had to have the horns? tilted 15degrees this is where that soapy plastic payed dividends making it quite easy to twist them round without snapping them off

One side ready to go twisted indys in a heap will get it on tomorrow another day another challenge. Dave

 

[vizenz]

Great work David. And I like the way you write your construction report, it's very interesting to read.

 

[Deleted member 6598]

rubber block damper things

Rusted rubber

They’re not dampers but springs — made from a rolled-up sheet of steel. When the Sherman suspension is described as “volute spring suspension”, this type of spring is what that refers to.

I built one UM M10 tank destroyer kit, and like you, spent ages locating those springs on the sprue. Can they really not mould the gates a bit smaller? Or just mould the springs integrally with the inner part of the bogie, perhaps?

Next was the bit on top of the wheel units wich were supplied as etch no fold marks nothing but hey a exercise in geordie build (by eye man) wich was fine got all six done and fixed in place then realised they sat too high ,higher than the little return rollers so pinged them off

Depending on the exact era, the skids sitting higher than the return rollers is not wrong — but it’s by such a small amount that it would be hardly noticeable in 1:72 scale (something like 0.3 mm).

 

[Airborne01]

Whoops, sorry! Not Jakko's build but David's - sorry mate - credit where credit's due!
Steve

 

[Jim R]

Looks as if you're well into this already. The usual UM issues designed to trip up the unwary.
The late, great Simon T liked these UM kits, mind you he threw most of the bits away and scratched replacements. I'm sure you'll make a great model from this.

 

[David Lovell]

Great work David. And I like the way you write your construction report, it's very interesting to read.

Andreas many thanks i always try to be informative about the kit and its highs and lows but also try to keep it slightly humorous not stupid but enough to make you smile at the end of the day its ment to be a enjoyable pass time as it does sometimes go wrong I dont really care as long as ive had enjoyment going wrong who cares I dont ,please stay till the end good or bad. Dave

 

[David Lovell]

Looks as if you're well into this already. The usual UM issues designed to trip up the unwary.
The late, great Simon T liked these UM kits, mind you he threw most of the bits away and scratched replacements. I'm sure you'll make a great model from this.

Thanks Jim ,after the two 35ers wich were good fun but on the construction side a bit no brainer ,no stranger to the UMkits their not bad really just set a challenge wich if your prepared to go with are fun to build as you can see so far one at every turn but nothing even basic modeling skills couldn't surmount I suppose its down to what the individual wants to put in to get out.
Yes the late great im sure all thoes that knew him still sadly miss his help and encouragement. Dave

 

[David Lovell]

View attachment 514861
Rusted rubber

They’re not dampers but springs — made from a rolled-up sheet of steel. When the Sherman suspension is described as “volute spring suspension”, this type of spring is what that refers to.

I built one UM M10 tank destroyer kit, and like you, spent ages locating those springs on the sprue. Can they really not mould the gates a bit smaller? Or just mould the springs integrally with the inner part of the bogie, perhaps?


Depending on the exact era, the skids sitting higher than the return rollers is not wrong — but it’s by such a small amount that it would be hardly noticeable in 1:72 scale (something like 0.3 mm).

Thanks Jakko as always I'm sure all who look in will enjoy your input ive certainly learnt something new ,still think rubber damper thingy's sounds better though Dave

 

[JR]

Arg you love it, nothing better for you than a challenge building a UM kit. I'll sit back and be marvelled how you do the tracks Dave.

 

[David Lovell]

Evening all ,been a good ish morning got the tracks on both sides ,then at half two watched the bsn(British speedway network) live stream from the Workington comets speedway track where Poole pirates ran out comfortable winners great track some good racing well worth the price of a couple of pints any way thoes tracks ,this is my link+length method/routine the same for big 35th or 72nd this isn't a how to just my way of bungling through ,firstly I draw out a little sketch of how the parts lay out and add the parts to the sketch making sure all are facing the correct way ready for slotting together and fixing with tamiya extra thin my go to for this

The little bits of masking tape(first time I've done this)help give some visual guidance where the links and lengths are ,not easy to tell sometimes when all joined up

For the more anal amongst you I dont bother with all that jig making hope you can see from the pic I just put a ruler on the back of the horns and rub my finger nail backwards and forwards along the outside does a job

Then looking at the instructions the top length starts just behind the drive socket using the masking tape as a marker started there and wrapped round sprocket and down to front road wheelthen worked back the other way the same leaving just the bottom length to be fitted ,should have mentioned I do that length separately ,hey ho no ones perfect (strangely even me)I recon i was a link too close to the drive sprocket causing the need for a little surgery but its on the bottom so no one sees it and I dont care ,other side I got right but still needed a little surgery ,I'll put it down to a little bit me and some dodgy fitting parts from them.


Not good but not bad either be ok with a coat of paint dont think their worth getting my face of concern over.
This evening started putting a few bits together whilst waiting for a couple of sub assembly's to firm up I drilled out thoes loopy things on top of the shells

Then started to dry fit/fix few parts ,with these kits I also like to try and keep in touch with those section in front to make sure what your doing will fit into or over the next stage this is one of thoes hard lesson learnt things where all your hard work won't fit the next bit ,oh boy oh boy no sherlock suffice to say I've already had to carefully remove the resin part ,hack and fettle other pieces god this is a pig just as I thought I'd got on top , think I've sorted but walked away for now will go back tomorrow and have a look ,it won't beat me but best to know when to walk and when to stay hopefully next chapter should see us back on course. Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

Nice work Dave. You are making this one look easy, and I’m sure it really isn’t…..

 

[Deleted member 6598]

This shows nicely why I never built the second UM kit I bought long ago

 

[David Lovell]

This shows nicely why I never built the second UM kit I bought long ago

Thanks Jakko ,there's something radically wrong here the main hull seems too long length wise and barley wide enough with wise ,I know with the instructions that there a bit vague both illustration wise and part location wise but I'm pretty sure I've done as asked so far ,I dont consider my self stupid or out of my depth even but as I said I've started to chase what the problem is ,strangely I sat the upper hull on the chassis before I started to do the tracks and felt something was amiss but put it down to the fact there were more parts to be fitted first. As I said I'm on it and will keep the build going on here even if in the end it finishes in the recycling bin . Dave

 

[Deleted member 6598]

If I read you correctly, the upper hull doesn’t fit as it should? But the lower hull looks fine in your photos, so it doesn’t seem like you made a mistake anywhere. I mean, if you had done something like fit the sides on top of the floor plate instead of trapping the floor between the sides, you would never have gotten that lower hull together properly. I would for now chalk this up to UM making a mistake somewhere in the dimensions.

 

[David Lovell]

OK firstly thanks go to Jakko for his thoughts on this ,right then as you can see from this pic the repaired resin part fits pretty bag on so why the upper hull won't is a unknown factor
So I carefully removed the resin part ,the two pointy bits level with the top edge of resin piece in the picture I removed straight across and hacked the out of the structural parts that were supposed to let the upper hull sit correctly on the lower tub after much hacking it weren't fettleing it were hacking I ended up with this


The upper hull now sits in the correct place according to the slots provided looks a little weird but haven't fixed it down yet all OK till you turn it over
Still don't care cant be seen ,tow chat thingys might not quite be in the right place (screws up face and shakes head opens eyes)but nope I still don't care.
This evening I checked the on the way web site the build on there was a eye opener seems the original moulding had a five part front gear box drive front bit and he couldn't get the top and bottom halfs to match up I dont think they messed up with the resin part personally I recon they got the upper hull dimensions wrong ,there's still the front fenders and loads of bits lights brush guards and stuff yet so were see what it looks like then. Dave

 

[JR]

Hells bells Dave rather you than me. You make those tracks look somewhat easy . Regardless of which glue I use mine fall apart as soon as I attempt to fit. I've left them as instructed for the glue to make a hold , either way I end up becoming frustrated.

 

[David Lovell]

Hells bells Dave rather you than me. You make those tracks look somewhat easy . Regardless of which glue I use mine fall apart as soon as I attempt to fit. I've left them as instructed for the glue to make a hold , either way I end up becoming frustrated.

Morning buddy with the l+l and indy links I must admit I only ever use tet (tamiya) and I'm not stingy with it my habit of building over a sheet(s) of printer paper helps there's no fear of them sticking to the work surface ,I do think that the tamiya stuff is more aggressive and will weld the parts just that little bit better than say my usual go to Mr hobby extra thin though I find the mr hobby stuff vapes off quicker than tamiya. Dave

 

[Deleted member 6598]

I dont think they messed up with the resin part personally I recon they got the upper hull dimensions wrong

That’s the impression I have as well, because the final drive housing looks wrong now — the angle is completely off from how it should be, which is to say, you had it correctly at first but you clearly needed to put it on incorrectly to make it fit the upper hull.



Comparing your model to the photo above, it looks like the front and rear of the superstructure are in the right places (above the middle of the front bogie and just in front of the idler wheel hub), which must mean that the sloping front deck is too long, but it’s hard to tell from this photo. However, here’s a Cargo Carrier M30, which is basically an M12 without the gun but more ammo racks:



And from that it looks like the kit’s front slope is definitely much longer than it should be. I would cut off the slope and rebuild it so it does fit, myself.

 

[Jim R]

You're winning, Dave. I reckon Jakko is right, it's a fault with the kit. You have too much experience to cock up the lower hull and it looks correct anyway.
This is making me rather worried about my choice of kit for the upcoming rocket GB
That SBS about the tracks is useful. Noted for future reference

 

[David Lovell]

That’s the impression I have as well, because the final drive housing looks wrong now — the angle is completely off from how it should be, which is to say, you had it correctly at first but you clearly needed to put it on incorrectly to make it fit the upper hull.

View attachment 515023

Comparing your model to the photo above, it looks like the front and rear of the superstructure are in the right places (above the middle of the front bogie and just in front of the idler wheel hub), which must mean that the sloping front deck is too long, but it’s hard to tell from this photo. However, here’s a Cargo Carrier M30, which is basically an M12 without the gun but more ammo racks:

View attachment 515024

And from that it looks like the kit’s front slope is definitely much longer than it should be. I would cut off the slope and rebuild it so it does fit, myself.

You're winning, Dave. I reckon Jakko is right, it's a fault with the kit. You have too much experience to cock up the lower hull and it looks correct anyway.
This is making me rather worried about my choice of kit for the upcoming rocket GB
That SBS about the tracks is useful. Noted for future reference

Thanks to Jakko and Jim for their thoughts and support with this one so its kinda come to make it or break it literally, come on Jakko cut it off and rebuild you should know me better than that I dont even own any plastic card ,tell a lie ive a few quater inch wide strips I bought about fifteen or so years ago even then they brought me a chair to sit on after I nearly passed out at having to pay some extortionate price.
So went through the whole thing again as you can see from the next couple of pictures the mud guardy bits for want of a better description line up with the upper hull bang on


So sod it in for a penny I glued the upper hull in place

So the next hour or so was spent pushing and pulling the resin piece about in the end deciding to take some drastic measure and took a razor saw to the part

Sorry forgot to take a pic pulled this out of one of the other pictures ,now I know the upper hull has come a little bit too far forward BUT the resin piece will now fit and follow the downward slope of the front of the hull tub meaning the angle is correct as long as the hull tub was correct in the first place and the round bits fitted perfectly around the circular bits on the hull tub ,struth hope some of this makes sense


Even the towing chat thing is in a better position

As you can see I have since been plodding on fitting a few more parts ,I know its not 100% but when it comes to correctness you know what I'm going to tell you strangely end product right or incorrect I have had a enjoyable time sorting the problem at the end of the day not worth losing it over a few bits of plastic worse things happen like the government robbing me of the winter fuel allowance (bastards).
Still this will make you smile or not as the case may be ,I dry fitted the cut off piece of resin half a dozen times yep all good put some CA on it put it in place and it fell through the hole the CA grabbed and that was that its stuck on the inside somewhere

Even used some of my valuable stock of plastic card to stop this from happening so yep you've guessed it it can bloody stay like it. Dave