Landships II

Excellent - the mgs you built are far better than those supplied in the kit.

I've tried something similar some time ago but failed  ---- Two questions

 - how did you cut the hypo needles without squashing them? I've got some steel and brass tubes of the same diameter but can't find a saw with teeth fine enough. I thought of puting something solid down the tube while I cut with some ultra small clippers (so as not to squash) but cannot find anything fine enough. How did you do it?

- I take it by bb pellet you mean one of those plastic ones that come with some plastic replica bb guns and not the lead things I used to rabbiting with when younger? The plasic pellets we get here in the UK are very shiney plastic and are impossible to stick withany adhesives I have in my cupboard (they are also very difficult just to hold while cutting or drilling). I wanted to use some (not for mg mounts) and gave up. Again how did you do it?

A beautiful model, Joseph, with very subtle and effective weathering. Hopefully Emhar will start to offer "link-and-length" tracks with its' future offerings. (Anyone heard anything about the Schneider?).

Centurion wrote:

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Excellent - the mgs you built are far better than those supplied in the kit.

I've tried something similar some time ago but failed  ---- Two questions

 - how did you cut the hypo needles without squashing them? I've got some steel and brass tubes of the same diameter but can't find a saw with teeth fine enough. I thought of puting something solid down the tube while I cut with some ultra small clippers (so as not to squash) but cannot find anything fine enough. How did you do it?

- I take it by bb pellet you mean one of those plastic ones that come with some plastic replica bb guns and not the lead things I used to rabbiting with when younger? The plasic pellets we get here in the UK are very shiney plastic and are impossible to stick withany adhesives I have in my cupboard (they are also very difficult just to hold while cutting or drilling). I wanted to use some (not for mg mounts) and gave up. Again how did you do it?

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Thanks for the kind comments.
I've learned through the experience of my fellow modellers that cutting hypo needles using a sprue cutter wouldn't work as the metal alloy used is too ductile. A fine saw is also hard to control. I took the needle, clamped it in a vise-grip and carefully cut it with a motor tool with the cutting disk head. Jagged edges can then be removed using fine-grit sandpaper. I suggest investing on a variable-speed motor tool such as Dremel or Black and Decker as it really has a lot uses for modelling such as sanding, cutting, polishing or even for twisting wires to make tow cables.

As for the bb, I made a small dent using a nail so the drill would not slip all over the round surface. I then put it in the vise-grip (with a thin cloth so as not to damage the plastic) and drilled it with a pin-vise. Motorized drills would be difficult to control with something this small. I finished to hole with the motor tool at low speed and used superglue to attach the hypo needles.

Here is a photo of the scratchbuilt MG before painting


Oh, and only the MGs were replaced. I cut slits on the tracks where the links were supposed to be so they would have a much better fit around the idler and sprocket. Looks more realistic, too. I also weathered the tracks using mig pigments, real rust and pencil graphite.

Hope this helps


-- Edited by Bubbles at 06:54, 2006-10-23

Very nice model! I particularly like the metal effect on the tracks. The weathering is also well done.

Hello Mr. Carunungan

  Thank you for sharing your excellent Whippet, like the others have also committed on, awesome scratch building job on the mgs.

ATB

Tim R