UVS models: Salute 2021 11/12/2020

[ripley]

There would be a variety of track pieces to mold . I would like some of those 3 piece track racks seen on the glacis plate of  British tanks , some short ( 4 -6 piece )  track with the chevrons and teeth  facing up , a large amount of single pieces without teeth  to weld  ( glue  ) onto the hull front and side , and last but not least a few loose track teeth to hang on wire between the head lights . I think for the most part I'm going to have to cast my own .

[stevepalffy]

You guys should probably  move this over to general coments/discusuon......?
As there is bugger all on this thread as far as completed work ?

[ultravanillasmurf]

You guys should probably  move this over to general coments/discusuon......?
As there is bugger all on this thread as far as completed work ?

Well I am famous for my speedy production, I still have some third edition wombles still on their sprues and I am still using original Rogue Trader mark six womble helmets on figures.

[ultravanillasmurf]

So, some slight developments on the M5A1 front.

As mentioned I have added the armatures and the fixing posts.You can also see the filling piece I added to the hull where the glacis joins the deck. I had to remove and refit the glacis as it was too high.

A feature of the photographs I have been able to find was two parallel structures on the glacis in front of the driver. That was added using Slaters Micro Strip.

The first tarpaulin has been sculpted on the front right mud guard, with fixing straps aligned with the underlying features. A standard Bolt Action helmet has been "hung" from the turret lifting ring. It should be a proper "Tanker" helmet, but no one makes them (yet - hint).



The driver has his pack slung on the left front mud guard, an incentive not to drive through too many puddles. Another Bolt Action helmet is on the turret lifting ring on this side. Additional helmets will be added to the stowage on the glacis.

The first tarpaulin on the rear of the tank shows the fixing posts almost projecting through it. Additional stowage will be added on top. You can also see the handle of the bucket. Some filling of the sand shields will be needed.

I am not sure if I will try and scratch build the spare track on the right rear quarter, as you can see, I have added a post for some sculpted stowage on the left.

[ripley]

Nice work on this little tank . Your green stuff rear tarp looks ace , mine end up looking like old tea towels    .  I've seen a few picture of Stuarts with those strips in front of the driver , think they might be for the drivers wind shield supports , but no conclusive photos found . Any ideas anyone ? Pictures show the glacis plate does extend over the roof plate . Really can't see from your pictures  if you fixed a problem or mucked it up  . Been there, done that  Question , can't really tell from your pictures and Rubicon's plans on the forum  , but does the track on the Stuart ( & M4A3 Sherman ) have a tooth at the end of each track shoe or between each track shoe ?

[ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks.

The teeth appear to be on the shoes not between the shoes.

If you place the glacis against the mudguard supports, the glacis leaves a gap at the top (Pinky had a similar issue).

[ultravanillasmurf]

If you place the glacis against the mudguard supports, the glacis leaves a gap at the top (Pinky had a similar issue).

Just found a photograph of an M5 with sand shields, there should be a gap between the supports and the glacis, I have the glacis plate in the wrong place.

[ripley]

That's too bad . But that's what stowage is for , to cover up the little mistakes ( or in my case the thumb print in the paint ! ) Even with kit instructions , always good to check with photos of the real thing . I've been building kits for over 40 years and still get out my books when building a new kit .   If the teeth are on the end of the track shoes , then Rubicon  messed  up ( as Monogram did on their 1/32 scale kits 40 years ago ) . Stuart and Sherman track have teeth bolted in the middle of two track shoes . It looks like the Allied Stowage set has the correct tooth set up on the spare track sections . I wonder how many guys have missed this little mistake ? Well a dark wash and some mud and no ones the wiser 

[Pinky]

I do like UVS's stowage!  And I like the way each piece is carefully anchored by a peg. 

The M5A1 glacis has an odd gap along the inner side of the top edge.  I filled it with greenstuff, but it's awkward to get at.  The top of the glacis should sit above the hull roof.

The brackets UVS has added were for the driver's windshield, for when it was folded down.

I didn't notice the tracks are wrong.  I think Tamiya made the same mistake as well.  There are of course no inner guide teeth either, but it's not noticeable.  I wonder if the guide teeth were placed where they are for moulding reasons i.e. so Rubicon could mould the line between each track block?

[ripley]

It's probably to do with molding the tracks and wheel sets as one complete piece . The BA Sherman has the teeth in the correct place , but that track is molded as a separate piece from the wheels , and that kit has it's own problems  .  Really never gave much thought before on the complexities of molding plastic kits , it seems the less parts in a kit , the much harder it is to design .

[ultravanillasmurf]

Yup, should have looked harder.

The root of the problem was originally not fitting the sand shields, I had assembled the glacis in the correct location with a slight overhang on the top deck.

When I attached the sand shields (without reference to the instructions) the brackets looked wrong so I moved the glacis down, creating the gap at the top.

None of my books have pictures with sand shields, it was not until I looked on Preserved Tanks that I found the one at the Patton museum.

Ho hum.

Back to the Hetzer...

[Pinky]

We've all done this.  I'm sure you can fix it.  Depending on the cement you used you may be able to pull the glacis off and reposition it.

The Tankograd series is a great source of details like this.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Depending  on the cement you used you may be able to pull the glacis off and reposition it.

You know those pegs you were admiring....

[ultravanillasmurf]

Question , can't really tell from your pictures and Rubicon's plans on the forum  , but does the track on the Stuart ( & M4A3 Sherman ) have a tooth at the end of each track shoe or between each track shoe ?

Okay, as I was re-grabbing detail shots, here is the track.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Here are the before (probably correct):

And after (probably not correct):