Andy's 1/35 Tamiya Stug B

[scottie3158]

Andy,
Looking good mate. only 30 you will have it done in 20mins

 

[Bortig the Viking]

I wish I only had 30 rivets to look forward to ....

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Haha, it took me longer than that to do this one Paul!

But then it was a fair bit of trial & error, in a place that'll ultimately be hidden by an open hatch anyway. Now that I've settled on a method and worked out the size of drill & punch that I need it should go more quickly.

 

[Jakko]

Those replacement screws look very convincing, so I’d say you’re on to a winner

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Cheers Jakko. I might end up burying the detail under layers of paint but at least I'll know I've tried.

 

[Steve Jones]

After sticking 990 rivets onto my Bison shield I'm feeling your pain Andy LOL

It will be worth it in the end. At least that was what I kept telling myself LOL

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Yes Steve, I reached that point in your video and thought "yep, definitely crackers" lol

 

[Deleted member 7181]

All done.

Bob kindly supplied a picture so I knew I was getting the right look, and as Paul suggested it didn't actually take too long once I got going.



I also tried my hand at a weld bead using styrene. A bit messy, like the apprentice did it, but I'm fairly happy for a first effort. Might try the putty method and see if that suits me any better.



Still a mountain of etch to add, although I'm not bothering with the hatch hinges now as the kit ones are fairly nice, and I value my sanity! It's at a stage where I could just throw all the sub assemblies together if I wanted, splash some paint about and call it done, but I've started so I'll finish

 

[Jim R]

Hi Andy
It's a learning curve for sure. You are doing a great job. Love the screw heads.
Jim

 

[scottie3158]

Andy,
Nice work the weld beads look good.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks Jim and Paul. Bead needs a bit of a clean up underneath (where I started) but definitely a job where I could have done with 3 hands!

I may have to invent a TET applicator than can be used with ones teeth

 

[Deleted member 7181]

I just showed this picture to Zoe to give her an ideal of scale and she almost fainted so thought I'd add it here. You can just see a left over screw hiding in the milk carton top. I know many of you are used to working at this scale but I sometimes find it hard to figure out just how small the details are that people are manipulating without something to reference to.

 

[Steve Jones]

Stunning work Andy. I would be well pleased with that result. Well done sir!

 

[Jakko]

Even worse is when you start thinking: “This tiny little rivet is overscale, now how do I make a smaller one when I already used the smallest punch in my punch and die set?”

 

[BattleshipBob]

Excellent job Andy!!

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks Steve & Bob, really appreciate the feedback.

Jakko, I don't even want to think about using the smaller sizes just yet! Maybe I'll get there in the future but this is about as small as I'm ready to deal with right now. Anything smaller and I might as well use a blob of glue

 

[Jakko]

That is actually a good way to make small rivets However, getting them of consistent size is usually a bit of a problem.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

I've made the call to abandon most of the etch work on this. I was finding it far too taxing, physically and mentally, which isn't what this should be all about.

So I've finished most of the construction now, leaving the tools and stuff off until later, and started adding some paint. I'm trying out building it up in different layers, with slightly different shades & intensities, chipping in between. Looks a bit of a mess close up right now but should hopefully come good as I add more layers.





Wheels, hatches, tools and various other bits are getting the same treatment



And I've made a start on Tommy Cooper

 

[Steve Jones]

Great work on the layering Andy. Really does add depth to your build - just like that!

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks Steve. I'm totally winging it with no idea what I'm doing or if it'll look alright when finished, but I'm back to having fun with this one at least.