Army_Air_Force

Wednesday is my daughter's modelling day, so I did a little preparation while she was at school to allow things to move a little faster once she was home. The twigs that we collected on the way home from school a few weeks ago were cut to length and the ends chamfered to simulate being axed. They were then glued together in sets of three so they had time to dry. /media/tinymce_upload/c78d73b2739b146e11568c8426b5d8f0.jpg Kevin and Dave were painted, also so they would be dry for late afternoon. Dave also had the base drilled and a piece of wire glued in. The wire formed a handle to allow him to be fed in theough the hole in the hull and then positioned in his driver's hatch. Kevin's backside and thighs were trimmed into a groove to allow him to sit better over the turret hatch rim. /media/tinymce_upload/e75971413e8f65efebec9a26b39cb31c.jpg The first job my daughter did tonight was to start assembling the bombed out house, so parts could start drying while we worked on the Sherman. After that, she turned to the logs, now glued into one piece. We used cotton to represent rope to tie the logs on to the tank. She tied one knot at the top of the stack, adding a tiny drop of PVA glue to hold the first knot. Both ends of each set of logs was roped. They were all left to dry. /media/tinymce_upload/9404aeaba7b4a3c694162791b7fcb634.jpg The rubber tracks were flipped inside out and taped down to a piece of wood for joining. The hot knife method was used for joining them. /media/tinymce_upload/491559de036bc4574ef0caec897edb99.jpg The holes for the sprckets were too small to allow the sprocket to fit, so I gave her a needle file to slowly open up the holes, test fitting as she went. /media/tinymce_upload/a809a9a62a0c9a6febf283708b808151.jpg Once both sides were a snug fit and the paint was cleaned from the hull and sprocket, I gave her some tube glue to brush onto the mounting points. We then fitted the sprocket into the track, which was already looped over the rest of the wheels, and slotted the sprocket into its hole. /media/tinymce_upload/da0a3d161e19af31c926897e8397ff66.jpg With the tracks attached, the logs were next. One piece of the cotton thread was wrapped around a couple more times and then glued on the back, before the logs were then glued to the side of the hull. Both sides were done and weighted down while they dried. /media/tinymce_upload/e3bc082385c710e10b5746f51a5f2567.jpg While they were drying, Kevin was glued to the top of the turret. /media/tinymce_upload/d354e3d1bfbb483d6b9d7765ff336baf.jpg As mentioned earlier, the house was started first this afternoon. We hopped on and off the house, leaving each wall to dry a while before coming back to add the next one. /media/tinymce_upload/776cfd4237de8298e094dd6befa6d479.jpg I had a couple of metal 'V' blocks which made it a little easier for my daughter to position and hold the parts while she ran the solvent glue into the joints with a brush. /media/tinymce_upload/d11edd26b139e136c8fd7d948f2804d2.jpg With all the walls assembled, the floor was glued in. The roof was cut from the sprue and cleaned up, but left off for now to allow easier painting of both the floor and roof parts. /media/tinymce_upload/b926b6fe87882160c728b7f12419782a.jpg With a bit of heat from a hair dryer, the logs were dry enough for a few quick pictures. The cotton thread still needs cutting to a suitable length, so for now was just draped over the hull. /media/tinymce_upload/aa1266e7bb334e091a67522b8dcac51d.jpg Time to see the bigger picture. My daughter is very pleased with how it is all looking. She should be pleased, she's doing a fantastic job - still with lots of guidance and a couple of extra hands from me here and there, but in general, mostly her own work. /media/tinymce_upload/a15a85f5f97de806dc621bc06d897699.jpg The tracks on the Sherman are a fraction on the long side. To help to keep them in place, the last job of the day was to add some PVA glue to the lower track and wheels. The tank was then weighted down to keep the wheels in contact with the track while the glue dried. /media/tinymce_upload/5c435a200af07ab98c8cb8aaff191333.jpg

Easy for me perhaps, but this is my 9 year old daughter's build, and she wants log armour on the side.

We had a little time spare this morning, so gave the Sherman a couple of washes. The first was a black wash all over. We used the Airfix acrylics, diluted with car screen wash. It was then force dried with a hair dryer. /media/tinymce_upload/3e0d9a368621fec5af08a571e5a8c08d.jpg Next came an earth brown wash over the suspension units, wheels and front of the tank. When you ride around in a Sherman on a dusty day, you soon realise how much dust and dirt is thrown forwards from the front of the track as it goes around the sprocket. This immediately blows back in your face! /media/tinymce_upload/a5216403dff9bc2f040510ae4b4d12b3.jpg The tracks were given an earth wash too, but we'll add some clumps of mud later, once they are fitted. /media/tinymce_upload/e8914c53b2b0807c1816b9d0028247f7.jpg We're both rather pleased with the way the weathering has come out. It's not far away now. Tracks, mud, hatches, logs, crew and possibly an aerial, although that might wait until the final assembly of the diorama. /media/tinymce_upload/5961756d4049d7a848171d6d6c32af6a.jpg

Yesterday, I gave the Sherman a few thin sprayed coats of clear gloss so that it would be dry for today. Today after school, my daughter and I did the decalling. She started by applying the division badge on the front. The hull was then put to one side to allow that to dry a little while and moved to the first star on the side of the turret. It took her a little while of sliding it around until we were happy about its location. I try not to interfere too much, asking "does that look parallel", "is that the same height as the other side" until she pushes the decal into the correct position. Sometimes she's still a little heavy handed and I give it a micro nudge into place, but generally, she's quite accurate. /media/tinymce_upload/088c976aa0d43aeca749e97afd9bbf3d.jpg The turret was then put to one side to dry and the hull brought back to add the registration on the side. I told her to look at the plans and see where the letters lined up with on the tank, such as the last letter directly over the last wheel. That helped with deciding the correct location. /media/tinymce_upload/4437281a0432e01f7408eaceb477a219.jpg That was left to dry and the turret came back out for the star on the second side. Once both turret stars and both registrations were added, the star on the top of the turret was applied. It was a little more tricky being partially under the commander's hatch. /media/tinymce_upload/3c2919a81873d726ae6f75e687ec860c.jpg A little Microsol was added to the decals to help them sit down and after that dried, Kevin the Commander and Dave the Driver came to check on the progress. Both were pleased with their new ride! /media/tinymce_upload/eb0a3c2f0744a10fa09856ca14c5e107.jpg Time for a few more photos. Both the tank crew and my daughter were impressed with how it was looking. /media/tinymce_upload/3344a1e0d3ebe35db2db92bbeb65d15d.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/4acdb593fc096a1ff45fa7e16fdb21e7.jpg The afternoon was almost over, so we put the tank in a box out of the way for the decals to fully harden and moved on. So in the last few minutes of the afternoon, she started butting out parts of the bombed out house. /media/tinymce_upload/c0996c4d3316b97e6c3594d0ec7c14a6.jpg

Just because it's the D-Day set, doesn't mean it's D-Day.

I've had a nice Christmas cold, starting on Christmas day, which has knocked me out for ten days so far, so have managed no modelling over the holiday. I started to feel a little more human today, so took my daughter out to the workshop to do some more of the Sherman. So the next job was to get some olive drab on the tank in preparation for the decals and final assembly. We decided to used the kit acrylics, which up until now, I've hardly ever used except for canopy frames and small touch ups. /media/tinymce_upload/f9db78c785df30224ad3c384500e3510.jpg All round the wheels and suspension units were first to be painted, getting all the small fiddly areas done. /media/tinymce_upload/db06827a668dd3ef136c7b3cf8201e4c.jpg As well as the suspension, the two separate sprockets were painted. /media/tinymce_upload/87817a68ea2b9abe4bafd40569529faa.jpg While the suspension was left to dry for a while, we moved on to the turret. /media/tinymce_upload/9684c922740dd61ac36e231a9647c0f1.jpg The turret was completed and then we moved back to the hull. /media/tinymce_upload/73426c88d778020c8237b1e31b371757.jpg While the wheels were still a little tacky, they were dry enough to hold to allow the painting of the rest of the hull. /media/tinymce_upload/8e49c4facc9c77c7db145d5ac474db16.jpg The hull almost done. /media/tinymce_upload/a29d6d91c890ce3ffc23eead0eba3ac6.jpg The hull is now done with one coat. It may need another coat, but will have a check once it is fully dry. By the time it has been decalled, some additional tree trunk armour added on the side it could be ok. I also want my daughter to have a go at some weathering, perhaps with some washes and some mud added to the wheels and tracks. /media/tinymce_upload/8ce43a4ced5edd5153c1174f4f43b530.jpg

Further progress on Saturday morning. As an afterthought, we thought it would be nice to have a couple of crew in the tank. A search through my spares box found a few GI's, a couple of which would do. The driver was trimmed a bit to fit in next to the hull, and he was also mounted on a block of acrylic to lift him up to hatch height. /media/tinymce_upload/0063ee1bfdd9d61b35dda3e77dcec3c7.jpg We wanted to add him after the tank was painted, so needed a way to get him inside the assembled hull. To do this, I chain drilled a hole under the turret which would hopefully be big enough to get him in. It took a few goes with some tweezers and a piece of wire to poke him into the correct location,. While it was difficult, it was possible. Both hatches were opened up a bit and also carved out on the inside to give a little more shoulder room. It's a tight fit on both the model and 1/1 scale Sherman, with the edge of the hatch, just at nose height, so you have to be careful if the driver steps on the brakes a bit hard!! Only one hatch has been opened up at this point. /media/tinymce_upload/36cd988d5afc2a8ee076e3e093e4a9f5.jpg The turret assembly was next. /media/tinymce_upload/c4561a7efd12f2b2cd5d6290ab172355.jpg Idler wheels fitted. /media/tinymce_upload/1e3614d3fbbd530cc52a9f2528716036.jpg The barrel was the last job of the morning, which was then supported and left to set. /media/tinymce_upload/e594dfa8835e5abcfb0e4ff92dda47fd.jpg Later in the afternoon, once the glue had time to harden, I popped "Kevin" and "Dave" ( as they have come to be known ) into the tank for a picture. Dave needs a tiny packing piece to lift him a little further up, but I may need to either trim his shoulders or the inside of the hatch to do this. /media/tinymce_upload/785e94bac67b5602d3e14dbe693eea6d.jpg

I'm waiting for the next batch to be moderated.

At my daughter's request, we had another modelling session after school today. A trial fit showed a reasonable amount of room to get a paint brush in and around the suspension units for painting. The drive sprocket looked fragile and as it projected forwards from the hull, we would leave it off for now. The rest of the wheels and suspension units would be glued. The first side was done and left to dry for a few minutes while we cut and trimmed the drive sprocket parts. The second side was done next After a few minutes for the solvent to stiffen the joints, the tank was turned and weighted slightly to ensure all the wheels lay flat. Two steel rulers, held in place by weights, prevented the wheels from spreading outwards under the weight. Everything was then left to dry. A few of the photos I'd taken were blurred as the camera wasn't on macro, so I went back out to the workshop tonight and took a few more with the tank out of the jig. Finally, a feel good picture with the aid of a bit of Blu-Tac to hold the barrel and mantlet in place.

Yesterday afternoon, after school, we made a start on the Sherman. Wheels and suspension first. Assembling the suspension units was a bit fiddly. All the wheels needed their centre holes enlarging or centering as the moulding wasn't great, so my daughter did that with a needle file while I looked at the suspension arms. The rear arms wouldn't fit over the axles and the shallow hole in them was quite close to the edge of the moulding, leaving little plastic to drill out. So each axle had to be tapered slightly so that it would fit the shallow hole in the rear arms. The kit instructions call for them to be assembled and fitted to the hull, but I think we'll leave them off at least until the wheels and chassis area have been painted. While those were drying, we turned out attention to the hull. Sometimes I have to assist with the parts cutting, as on some of the thicker sprues, my daughter just doesn't have the strength to cut through them, and often the part size, shape and position on the sprue wont allow cutters to fit the space. Once the bits were cleaned up, the lower hull was assembled. The turret parts were cut out while the hull dried for a bit and then the upper hull was attached to the lower hull and that was the end of the first day.

That was a set I always wanted as a kid and never got!

My daughter and I won one of the Airfix Christmas competitions in 2017 and the prize was the D-Day Battlefront set. Due to other modelling projects, it's taken until now to get it on the bench. A few days ago, we were thinking about the layout and considered it unrealistic to have a Sherman and Tiger that close together, without one being blown into a thousand pieces! So we decided to save the Tiger for another diorama and replace it with a Willys MB, which were being sold cheap at Aldi. Here's the contents of the basic D-Day set. The two tanks, house kit, vac-formed base and those horrible rubbery plastic figures. Still, she's made a good job on all her previous models, with a lot of guidance, so I have high hopes for this one. EDIT - all the pictures were lost when Airfix changed the forum software. I've tried to edit this post to see if I can add the pictures back in. In time, I hope to repair the whole thread.