M3A1 BY ILOVE KITS IN 1/35 SCALE LEND LEASE DIORAMA

[JR]

Evening all, spent the day tidying up ( No not that much Jim ) heavens above far to much excitement.

Had a quick look in the box, lots of parts, and some separate track links with outer links, that should be fun not looking fwd to that part at all, Friuls where are you !

Anyway seats available, just form an orderly queue , as normal Rick @Mini Me will be serving his Oaties ,along with tea and coffee.

A photo of the box.

 

[scottie3158]

Count me in John, seat at the front please.

 

[Jakko]

Nice, the M3A1 medium is another one on my to-build list, so I’ll contend myself with seeing you build it instead

As for the tracks: like I said before, if you want soft plastic tracks of the type appropriate for this model, let me know and I’ll mail them to you. I’ve got a set from an Asuka Sherman that I’m not going to use, and which should fit fine on this tank.

 

[stillp]

You got me at "Oaties"!
Pete

 

[Graeme C.]

I'm in for this one John!

 

[JR]

Count me in John, seat at the front please.

Do you really want to be that near ?

Nice, the M3A1 medium is another one on my to-build list, so I’ll contend myself with seeing you build it instead

As for the tracks: like I said before, if you want soft plastic tracks of the type appropriate for this model, let me know and I’ll mail them to you. I’ve got a set from an Asuka Sherman that I’m not going to use, and which should fit fine on this tank.

Very kind of you, I'll let you know asap , thanks .

You got me at "Oaties"!
Pete

Other makes my be available

I'm in for this one John!

Your welcome Graeme.

 

[Si Benson]

I’ll grab a seat and biscuit before they all go

 

[David Lovell]

Bring it on JR love the version with the cast hull ,got some pics of a 72nd one I did I'll ping them over to let you see. Dave

 

[Strenko J]

JR
I’ll be watching, just trying to finagle my way up to the front row.

 

[Jim R]

I'll join the gathering crowd. Oaties and one of your superb dios - definitely in for this.

 

[JR]

I’ll grab a seat and biscuit before they all go

Fight your way to the front Si, the mere word of fire clears the front row.

Bring it on JR love the version with the cast hull ,got some pics of a 72nd one I did I'll ping them over to let you see. Dave

Thanks Dave ,given me some clearer views .

JR
I’ll be watching, just trying to finagle my way up to the front row.

Seat to the left of center Joe reserved .

I'll join the gathering crowd. Oaties and one of your superb dios - definitely in for this.

Kind of you Jim, no decision in the actual base layout yet .

 

[JR]

Right here we go, I decided to get some Mini Tracks as the kit ones were hopeless for me to see let alone try to gule. The Mini Art ones fir numerous M3 versions.
PMMS showed a jig, but the thickness of the card to match half of the track plate was so thin I decided to use Jakko's @Jakko version. His method is to turn the joining part the other way up, giving a muck better depth. Copying his jig I've made good progress over the last two days. Leaving the length to dry over night.




I ve found it easier to use some double sided tape to hold the centre part as you can see.

Today I managed to remove the first track and reposion for the next section, with this done I m again leaving it over night.



Moving on with the hull section.


Slow but sure, thank goodness for Jakkos idea with the jig.

Comments welcome

 

[Jim R]

Good for Jakko - he does indeed have some clever ideas. Glad the tracks are going ok.

 

[JR]

Good for Jakko - he does indeed have some clever ideas. Glad the tracks are going ok.

Yes Jim, with out his idea the MiniArt tracks were a night mare.Some one on U Tube had a real struggle with them.

 

[Jakko]

Moving on with the hull section.View attachment 501514

Small thing: you seem to have sanded away the seam between the flanges with the bolt heads. On the real tank there was a seam running down the middle of that, because it’s where the left, middle and right parts of the transmission housing bolt together. Though it’s not a big deal, the joint is often hard to see in pictures.

Slow but sure, thank goodness for Jakkos idea with the jig.

You’re welcome

Good for Jakko - he does indeed have some clever ideas.

I try not to have them too often

But another small tip, then: count ten links from the start of the track and write a 1 on it, then count ten more and write a 2, etc. I do this every time I add a tenth link, as it saves a lot of wondering how far along you’ve gotten: you can just count from the last number.

 

[JR]

Small thing: you seem to have sanded away the seam between the flanges with the bolt heads. On the real tank there was a seam running down the middle of that, because it’s where the left, middle and right parts of the transmission housing bolt together. Though it’s not a big deal, the joint is often hard to see in pictures.


You’re welcome


I try not to have them too often

But another small tip, then: count ten links from the start of the track and write a 1 on it, then count ten more and write a 2, etc. I do this every time I add a tenth link, as it saves a lot of wondering how far along you’ve gotten: you can just count from the last number.

Damn, there's me thinking it was a moulding line !
Yes forever counting tracks as you go , that is some thing I will do tomorrow.

 

[Si Benson]

Good to see you have got the tracks thoroughly under control Mr Race

Hoping you get through the rest of the track build problem free, I’ll make a sacrifice to the god of plastic tracks for you in advance

 

[Scratchbuilder]

What's this???????????? Not Russian....... A veehicuule from across the pond.....
So to keep an eye on you I will sit at the back, not because I do not want to see the build or eat the Oaties, but because if things get out of hand and there is fire involved then I can get out the door first before the stampede starts....
Wish you had said about the tracks I could have sent you my track jig for Shermans, been sitting in the drawer for ages. But Jakko's has the build underway, which is good, once you get over the tracks then the rest is easy. And if you need advice Sherman wise then Jakko is your man.
So on with the build....

 

[Jakko]

Damn, there's me thinking it was a moulding line !

A raised line would be incorrect, so removing the moulding line was the right move

Here the equivalent area on my almost-local Sherman, before it was restored a few years ago:



The middle and left parts (the one on the right in the photo) are identical to those on the M3 medium tank, the right-hand part (left in the photo) only differs in a small area at the top, most of which isn’t in the picture here. As you can see, there is a seam between the parts, but it can be hard to see depending on the way light falls on it. The parts as you have them now look fine to me

 

[JR]

Good to see you have got the tracks thoroughly under control Mr Race

Hoping you get through the rest of the track build problem free, I’ll make a sacrifice to the god of plastic tracks for you in advance

How kind of you Mr Benson , yes at long last progress has been made .

What's this???????????? Not Russian....... A veehicuule from across the pond.....
So to keep an eye on you I will sit at the back, not because I do not want to see the build or eat the Oaties, but because if things get out of hand and there is fire involved then I can get out the door first before the stampede starts....
Wish you had said about the tracks I could have sent you my track jig for Shermans, been sitting in the drawer for ages. But Jakko's has the build underway, which is good, once you get over the tracks then the rest is easy. And if you need advice Sherman wise then Jakko is your man.
So on with the build....

Wibble I know , but its Lend Lease so it counts on 50%
.Sorry I didn't mention it but as you can see I'm being led in to the dark side (for me) .

A raised line would be incorrect, so removing the moulding line was the right move

Here the equivalent area on my almost-local Sherman, before it was restored a few years ago:

View attachment 501522

The middle and left parts (the one on the right in the photo) are identical to those on the M3 medium tank, the right-hand part (left in the photo) only differs in a small area at the top, most of which isn’t in the picture here. As you can see, there is a seam between the parts, but it can be hard to see depending on the way light falls on it. The parts as you have them now look fine to me

Think I need to look at a walk round ! Before I remove any more seams