Academy Magach 6B

This is Part 6 which covers steps #4 thru #8.

A) I have completed the lower and upper hull assemblies. As you can see I have primed and painted them. I mixed the Israeli color from Dark Gull Grey and Olive Drab Model Master enamel paints. This will get darker after applying the oil washes.

B) I have already weathered and pigmented the lower hull and wheel areas in advance of attaching the upper hull. 

C) This would have been difficult or incomplete since I had attached the side armor to the upper hull. I believe that the best practice would be to leave off the side armor until later after attaching the upper hull and weathering the wheel area and tracks. 

Next will be to complete the turret assembly and final bits. 

Vince B.  3-29-20

Israeli M51 Super Sherman

While the oil wash was drying on my Magach 6B, I was able to complete work on my other Israeli subject.

Tamiya is the best.  Of course everything on this kit fit exactly as it should. Even the decals seemed to slide right into place without a lot of fiddling. No Photo Etch to be seen. The tracks were glue-able and fit with just enough slack to not bind the drive sprockets.

I used stowage from Legend, mixing the resin bits from both the IDF series stowage and the designated set for the M51.

Vince B.  3-28-20

Academy Magach 6B

This will be Part 5 for the Academy build. I am making good progress and have begun priming and painting assemblies.

A)  Per my previous discussion, I have primed and painted the lower hull, wheels and tracks so that I can secure the upper hull and complete the project.  Below is the upper hull with the fidley bits added after the initial prime paint.  I will re-prime these bits before base color painting.

 B) Below are the road wheels and drive sprockets already painted. These will get glossed and oil washed before adding to the suspension arms. 

C) I am also working on step #9 which is the turret assembly. Be careful to note that there are OPTIONS on which mantlet to use. Werner's research turned up that the 6B had several visible differences within the same designation. So choose wisely. Everything here fit well without surprises.

Vince B.  3-27-20

MENG MAGACH 6B 3rd Part

MAGACH 6B BUILD

PART 3

The next few step involved attaching the torsion bars to the swing arms. After getting the first swing arm/torsion bar assembly completed, I decided to test fit them in the lower hull and I am glad I did. The glue was not fully cured so the swing arm nearly came lose. It was at this point that I decided to complete all of the swing arm/torsion bar assemblies and let them cure overnight. Seeing as the assemblies are composed of different parts as they have to mount to different sides of the hull, they each have a letter designator. In order to prevent myself from getting them confused, I arranged the assemblies as they were completed, by placing them next to the appropriately labeled tape.

The next day, I slid each assembly into its correct position into the lower hull.

Once the torsion bar assemblies were installed I tested their ability to move, and they worked as advertised.

The next step was to install the forward and rear linkages. These linkages are also workable. They were a little fiddly but not too difficult. Note that the linkage assembly includes a shock absorber that snaps onto the swing arm. It is import to NOT use glue on the movable parts of this linkage, otherwise it will not move.

Moving on, the next step was to install the shocks on the remaining swing arms that require shocks. The rods on the swing arms needed to be inserted into the shocks BEFORE gluing the shocks to the hull. This process was a little fiddly, but nothing that a pair of tweezers and a little patience couldn't handle.

Once the assemblies were done, I checked them all to see if they would move, and they all functioned as designed. Now all I had to do was to add the pintle mount and hooks on the rear of the lower hull. Then just attach the previously completed road wheels and sprockets.

One thing I found interesting was that the instructions said not to apply glue to the return rollers, but I found out that I did in fact need to use glue to attach them.

All in all, I didn't run into any real issues here and the lower hull is mostly complete. She is starting to look like a tank. The next steps will be on assembling the upper hull.

Cheers,

WL

Academy Magach 6B

This will be Part 4 of my review and advice on this Academy kit.

A) I completed the adjustments needed to correct my errors. I was able to insert an appropriate piece of Evergreen channel to fill the gap between the armor assemblies on the front of the hull.

 I also managed to make the connections of the side armor supports to get the assemblies in place. Again, I urge you to do the side armor assemblies and attach the supports to them before attaching to the upper hull. It will be much easier to align the parts.

B) I do not have the upper and lower hulls permanently connected at this time. There is a polycap on the lower hull to hold the upper hull in place for now. First I will prime, paint and weather the lower chassis, add the pigments etc before installing the road wheels and tracks.  All of those need to be panted and weathered separately. Once those are completed and in place, I can attach the two hull halves permanently and complete the build. You cant easily install the wheels and tracks if you have the upper hull (with side armor) already in place.

Next will be the tracks, lower hull and wheels primed painted and weathered.

Vince B. 3-25-20

Academy Magach 6B

Well, this is what makes this all worth while.  Finding something to really help out the next guy.
Part 3: How NOT to F*^&K up your model. Better me than you.  I can fix the issues I found. Mostly this is about better sequencing the assembly of certain items.

The wheel assemblies are simple 2 piece with a polycap in the middle. No problems there, but on to step #5. Need to be careful to follow all of the small  notes of details to be trimmed off of the upper hull before continuing. Also I always leave off the fidley bits which could break off during handling such as the stowage bin handles parts C21. These can be added later before painting.

Issue A) Note that there are several small details which need to be cut off and sanded down to allow replacement parts to fit properly. I recommend NOT installing L35, L14, L40 etc. in step #5.  I thought these were additional Fender supports.  They are actually the side armor supports and should be put on later in step #8 to help align them on the upper hull. Best to attach them to the side armor frame first. This will also delay the installation of Boxes M12, M13,  M15 which should be carefully considered how they fit differently.
For M13, you would need to trim down the engine hatch frame. For M12, you would only need to remove the molded in bolts of that engine hatch frame.

Issue B) Frontal Armor for top and lower hull. Recommend Not installing lower hull armor assembly for this until you have mounted upper hull and are ready to match to upper hull plate. I thought I had the lower assembly aligned correctly according to step #4, Once I tried to align the upper plate in step #6, I found ~ 1/32" gap which I can fill with evergreen strip.


I hope this all helps. I will continue with the fixes and remainder of step #7 tonight.

Vince B. 3-24-20

Morser - Loki

This is a project which is consolidating parts from the old and older Hasegawa kits of this subject in 1/72 scale. I had used the rail components of the carrier on another project so decided to use up as much of the remaining kits as possible. Yes there are lots more for sci fi work later.

There were really a lot of fidley bits on this requiring tweezers. It was difficult to find relevant photos of the in action type.  I decided not to use figures on this display, didnt want another diorama.  I used a combination of Humbrol, Floquil and Modelmaster laquers and enamels on this. Washed with oils and did some drybrushing for details. These old Hasegawa kits had hard vynil tracks. Had to heat squeeze and stapel the connections. 

I put on the few decals available with the kit and did some minor weathering as these units were well kept. I did some basic groundwork, sinking the tracks into the earth with heavy trails behind them.

This one was to challenge myself with an OLD kit to see what I could do with it.

Vince B  3-24-20

MENG MAGACH6B 2nd Part

MAGACH 6B BUILD

PART 2

Upon opening the box, I counted 17 sprues. I also noted that the upper hull/engine deck is in 13 pieces. The wheels have separate tires with rims molded in that fit over the hubs. Not sure why this is done, but there it is.

First build step is assembling the sprockets and wheels.

 Each road wheel set consists of a tire, inner hub, polycap, outer hub and tire. That's right folks, five pieces per set for fourteen sets of road wheels. The sprockets were just an inner piece, polycap and outer piece.

Here are the completed sprockets and road wheels.

The next step will be inserting the mounts for the torsion bars in the lower hull.

With the torsion bar mounts installed, the next step is to put on much of the attaching hardware to the lower hull.

So far, things are going about as I expected. Assembling the wheels was tedious, but they are nicely detailed and I encountered no fit problems. There are a fair amount of small parts associated with steps 3 and 4 but nothing that I would consider unmanageable. Be careful not to trim off the tips of the bump stops for the swing arms as they are trimmed from the sprue. I failed to note this until it was too late., but these parts will be hidden by the road wheels so I am not concerned about them being seen.

As Vince pointed out, there are some differences in the way the kits have been designed and subsequently how they are meant to go together. What I find interesting is that we both completed up to step 4 and are at similar points along the build. One of the things that we noted while examining the lower hull is that there are additional details molded into the lower hull on the Meng kit that are not present on the Academy version. I expect to continue to see more of this as we proceed through the build.

Look for more posts as the days pass by. Everyone be safe.

Academy Magach 6B

We are well on our way to compare the Meng and Academy kits. There is a definite difference in philosophy between the manufacturers. Academy has fewer parts for each assembly and less detail where it isnt seen. Thus the lesser expense of the kit. The build sequencing of the instructions differ between manufacturers.

Part 2: Initial Build.
Our first build session was very productive.  5 solid hours brought me through the steps of the lower hull. In comparing instruction steps and details, Werner and I found several differences between MENG and Academy kits. Note the lack of detail around the Torsion housings on the hull. Look at most M-60 kits to see a much different design in this area.

Thus far, I have not had any fit issues or mis identified parts. Everything has been as the instructions indicated. Note that there are 3 types of torsion arms.  The 4 middle ones are identical on each side. The 1st and 6th of each side are a little different so dont get them mixed. All other parts were easily identified and assembled.

Next I will be working on the road wheels and drive sprockets.

Vince B.  3-22-20.

MENG MAGACH 6B GAL BATASH

This Meng Magach 6B Gal Batash will be part of the same multipart review that Vince is doing of the Academy version of this subject. Given the amount of smaller parts included in both kits it is likely that these builds will take some time.

Part 1. In box review of the Meng kit. I have built three Meng kits to date making this kit my fourth. I have had good experiences with Meng kits, they go together well and are nicely detailed. Their molding is superb with no flash, but they have a tendency to contain a fair amount of unnecessarily small parts (heretofore known as 'fiddly bits'). The detail is crisp and there are no issues with part fits.

Notable features include:

• Lower Hull is a one piece tub
• No figures included so I have ordered some resin figures
• Crisply molded sprues with no flash
• Mold lines are imperceptible
• This kit contains a working torsion bar suspension system for all road wheels
• The tracks are workable individual links with pins and an assembly jig
• The barrel is in two halves with a third piece as the muzzle tip
• The turret basket is for individual pieces, but I will be replacing it with an after market basket
• The add on armor is nicely molded and textured
• There is a metal tow cable included as well as plastic tow cables that drape across the front of the lower hull
• There are 10 pieces of photo etch consisting of 8 brackets, on plate cover, and one screen for the floor of the turret basket
• There is a very nice semi-gloss color guide included

Sunday begins the first build session. I am very much looking forward to completing this model to add to my IDF collection.

Werner

Academy Magach 6B, Gal Batash

The Magach 6B is the subject of a multi part series. I am reviewing the Academy kit while Werner will be reviewing the MENG kit of the same subject.

Part 1 is an in box review pointing out important features. In general, I find Academy kits to be near equal to Tamiya, so I expect this will be a smooth build. Here is what I see in the Academy box.

A) Lower Hull is a 3 piece bathtub style.
B) Includes 1 comander and 1 gunner figure.
C) General Sprues are clean with no flash, minimal mold lines.
D) Upper Hull has excellent M-60 detailing.
E) Barrel is 3 part: halves plus Muzzle Break.
F) Road Wheels along with the ideler and drive sprokets include Polycaps.
G) Turret Basket is 4 large rectangular pieces, not the rounded individual tubular shapes of the M-60.
H) Reactive Armor is all well detailed, which has lots of add on parts for the 6B upgrade.
I) Tracks are Vinyl and do NOT glue, need to heat crimp and staple.
J) Details include nylon rope for tow cables and simple water slide decals.
K)  NO PHOTO ETCH, which is why I bought it.

Sunday, we will open the packages and begin the builds.

Vince B.  3-20-20
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T-55 BTU 55 w/dozer blade

This is the Dragon kit in 1/72nd scale, built straight out of the box. It is painted as suggested on the box art and instructions.  It is painted in the multi-color Finnish Army camo. The T-55 has 3 shades of green followed by black. In order of lightest to darkest, the greens are: Polly Scale Soviet Green, Gunze Sangyo H-303, FS-34102 and then Vallejo 086, Luft Camo Green.

This is my first attempt at airbrushing Vallejo, and I am impressed and will use them again!

The dozer blade was weathered with 2 different shades of  MIG European dirt pigments.

You can see the Polly Scale lightest green best here on the back of the turret.

Panzer IV Ausf H with 88mm Flak.

This is a Dragon kit, very typical mix of parts from various other Panzer IV kits combined with parts from 88mm Flak gun. Yes, when it wascomplete I still had half a box of parts left.  Goodies for my scrap building.

 This is a Jon Baker build. Unique, hard to get photos of. The few I found were in a scrap yard.  I included some ammo, stowage and a figure. I was pretty happy with my figure result.

 I did add copper wire for the tow cable. Since the upper hull was cut down, there wasnt enough support to add the armor skirts.  Thats why the instructions indicated to cut off the lower fender supports that were molded on.

 I did have fun with the camo pattern. I suspected that this was a late war cobbled piece of equipment, so used the tan, green, rust combo. Heavily worn and oil washed. I added washes and mud pigments to the lower hull.

Vince B.  Mar 4, 2020

Springtime Distraction

Another Rail subject in 1/72. This diorama features the Hobby Boss Russian armored Train called a Drasine. I wont explain the scene as I have left it somewhat suggestive and subjective.

 I was impressed with how well the Hobby Boss kit went together in just a few hours. It took longer to do the painting and weathering layers with the  chipping, washing and drybrushing.

 I tried some newly learned techniques regarding the groundwork, trees, schrubs etc.
I am happy with this new concept of layering several features. 
It took a few extra days to allow drying in between layers, but worth it.

 The figures and accessories are all Preiser 1/72 from various sets.

The scenery was a combination of various products including some home made items I experimented with. The flowering shruberies were made from untwisted rope pieces and superglue.

Vince B. 3-1-20

AAVP7 A-1 Ram/RS

This is Dragon's AAVP7 A-1 Ram/RS.  It is 1/72nd scale.  I had built and painted it some time ago, but never finished it.  So here we go:

The first step I used in the finishing process began with artist oil washes, then dry brushing, followed by weathering with powders, and finally slight coloring with artist pencils mostly on the stowage.  Then headlights, tail lights and vision ports were painted and hit with a dab of Future to simulate lenses.  And of course, in the end, the AAVP7 gets a flat coat of Dullcote.

All done with Tamiya and Gunze Sangyo paints.

Modeled after a picture I saw of an AAVP7 of the 1st Marine Division, Baghdad, 2003

Antennas added

Enjoy!!

"Snooze" or ""To The Front"

In this case if you Snooze you definately Lose.  This guy is on his way to the Russian Front. 

 The Ferdinand is a 1/72 scale Dragon kit.  The Flatcar is a Modelcollect kit.  Both were very nice fitting.  The only isse was the styrene tracks for the Ferdinand were way too long.  I did cut and re-glue, still having enough slack to mount on the travel blocks. I cut these from chunks of bass wood.

               
The Modelcollect Rails are NOT exactly the same as the HobbyBoss rails in 1/72.  There is maybe 2mm difference in spaceing, just enough to screw up when combining kits from both manufacturers.
In this case I did use the Modelcollect rails and the wheels fit perfectly.

 I added a few resin tent rolls from Black Dog.  The other bits and pieces with the figure on the rail car are from Preiser and Armand Bayardi.

OK.  This is my last completion for Feb, but the next one will be posted on Mar 1, which is also a 1/72 rail diorama.

Vince B. 2-25-20