Trumpeter 1/35 BTM-3 High Speed Trench Digger

[Gern]

Looking good Dave. I can see what you mean about how difficult it would be to fabricate and fit those chains - it would have to be done before the buckets are fitted to the wheel, certainly not at this stage of the build. Be interesting to see if ever anyone does decide to have a go at them.

 

[adt70hk]

Dave, that's looking very, very good indeed. A real testament to your patience on a very complicated build.

Very well done!!

Andrew

 

[JR]

What a build, good modelling to get to this stage Dave .

 

[Dave Ward]

It helps that the engineering of the model is first class - I was expecting to have trouble in fitting the bucket wheel between the frames - either too wide, or too narrow - but it was spot on. The difficulty was in lining up 6 points of contact simultaneously. It took a bit of trial & error to find the right way, and a bit of luck!.
I went round and put CA on the joints, I think it's always gong to be fragile & vulnerable, by it's very nature, but it is what it is. Almost at the finishing line, but I'm still looking forward to the addition of the final bits..........................
Dave
ps. I only found one comment from another masochist who had made this - " it's no cakewalk"

 

[Graeme C.]

Looks like a fiddly job to assemble Dave, but you seem to be getting the better of it.

 

[outrunner]

You are making an excellent job of this Dave, makes me worry about building mine. I found a few pictures of one build where the guy fitted the chains, 7 bits of chain on each bucket.

Andy.

 

[Valeron]

Looks amazing. Looks like a mass of complexity to me but for a man of your skills, its coming on nicely.

Mike

 

[Airborne01]

This is superb Dave - you've definitely got masochistic tendencies!
Steve

 

[Dave Ward]

Coming onto the final straight now....................

Windscreen masked for the wipers - I've done a general dirty wash & and picked out metallic bits on bearing surfaces. Next will be an overall thin coat of varnish, clear at first, then a dust tinted graded coat & finally local areas of heavier dust.
No more pictures in this thread - They will be appearing in the ( finally ) completed section.........
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

I wasn't intending to post another picture here, but I couldn't resist this

From Trumpeter (1/35 ) - Using a similar chassis as the BTM-3 ( but with more wheels ) - The Long Track S-band Acquisition Radar. This has 880 parts ( and some of the largest pieces of PE I've seen ), but comes in at around the £120+ mark - not something you see every day!
Dave

 

[Airborne01]

Not my part of ship but, nevertheless, an incredible model! Beyond my PE capabilities that's for sure!
Steve

 

[adt70hk]

Coming on very, very nicely indeed Dave.

As for that other kit, Hauler do a 1/72 kit of one of those massive WÜRZBURG-RIESE radar stations. The PE is on a very similar level to that.

Keep up the great work.

ATB.

Andrew

 

[Jakko]

As for that other kit, Hauler do a 1/72 kit of one of those massive WÜRZBURG-RIESE radar stations.

Only €91.65 … but best of all, you don’t even need to make that one military. If you prefer astronomy as your subject of choice in modelling, it’ll work for that fine as well.

 

[adt70hk]

Only €91.65 … but best of all, you don’t even need to make that one military. If you prefer astronomy as your subject of choice in modelling, it’ll work for that fine as well.

Errrrr.... NOPE!

 

[Gern]

You are making an excellent job of this Dave, makes me worry about building mine. I found a few pictures of one build where the guy fitted the chains, 7 bits of chain on each bucket.

Andy.

Any chance you could post a link to that site Andy?

PS No disrespect intended towards your excellent build Dave!

 

[outrunner]

Here you go Dave, I made a mistake in my post as there are actually 8 bits of chain per bucket!
https://imodeler.com/2020/06/бтм-3м/

Andy.

 

[Gern]

Here you go Dave, I made a mistake in my post as there are actually 8 bits of chain per bucket!
https://imodeler.com/2020/06/бтм-3м/

Andy.

Ouch! I can't see me being able to cope with all that fiddly stuff even though it looks easy enough to count the number of links per chain and fit with CA.

 

[Allen Dewire]

I've been quietly sitting back and watching you do your magic Dave. I must say this thing is wonderful and you have made a fantastic job of it. May I ask what paint you used for the Russian green? AK 3G? It's so matt and looks really good...

Prost
Allen

 

[Dave Ward]

PS No disrespect intended towards your excellent build Dave!

None taken!!

Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

May I ask what paint you used for the Russian green?

I used AK - 4135 Base Green ( protective ) - it was a part of an AK set for Cold War Soviet Tanks - It is very little different from 4BO, or Russian Green - by the time you add weathering, you can't tell the difference! It was in my paint box & came to hand first!
Dave