Good Afternoon/Evening (depending on which planet you live on) Rocketeers,
I know it's been a while and once again I must apologise for my absence and lack of updates. I am 95% healthy again and can finally hold parts and tools in my fingers without dropping or shooting them off into space. I have been a good boy
Si and
Fernando and have not imbibed in alcoholic beverages during the bad time... As for you
Paul, I wish I was further along and almost finished, but it will still be a while I'm afraid... Hi
Scott, here in the Fatherland we call it a Parkplatz...??? Hey
Joe, no worries brother as you got a lot on your plate too and you never need to apologise buddy... That's the only prob I still have
Rick, I can't get rid of this cough either... Thanks
Andy, life is back to normal Sir and I hope that you are finally settled and have the house back to where you and the misses want it... Now I want to know where you got the picture of my Ex
Mike??? I thought I had erased all of them from the web....Hi
Brad, that makes two of us Sir and I will try and keep going on this... Ok
Dude 2, You of all people know I have been a good boy and following the medical branches' word as well as Christines too!!! Yes Sir's
Greg and
Jim, it does feel good to be almost normal and now it is time to get back to the table...
Stevie, I tried to take a week off and be like you, but I have to wait till the end of the month to do so. Sucks to be me!!! So anyway,
I still have a little problem with the lungs and resin (even with a mask) was out of the question. I put the launch ramp aside for now and moved on to an Italeri kit,
For this build we need two of these to fuel the V2. I grabbed one as I didn't want to do a twin build like the Hanomags. Typical Italeri kit with lots of extras in the box and good/bad details and fit. I'll build one to see how it goes and then the other, improving on the bad points of the first kit. I don't plan on getting into too much super detailing with these (sorry diehards), but there are a few things that have to be fixed/improved on them...
So far the fit is ok, but you have to trim most of the pins to line the two pieces up for a good fit and make lots of dry fits too. A few pieces put together,
Note the lack of Opel Blitz emblem on the grill. The inside of the back of the tank has a lot of soft detail and looks busy (bad photo). You must remember that this tanker didn't have a pump on it. This is why we need a pump trailer for them. The chassis is next up and finding a way to mount the resin tires was time consuming,
I didn't have any tubing in the stash that would work. I had cleaned these up a few months ago and now realized they were for the
Tamiya Opel Blitz, not the Italeri one. I butchered the kit rims and made the rear mounts. The front mounts were made from Dragon panther outer wheels that I sawed off the spacer. It worked out pretty good as they were long enough and fit into the resin rims,
Tire spacing is good and the wheels will look correct under the body. I have already made the 8 bolts for the differential to correct it as it doesn't have any. The back of the diff will be visible on the finished vehicle. The ladder on the tank will need a scratched fold up extension and a few other mods must be made. It feels good to be moggelling again and the Mojovation is also back up on top...…..
Tomorrow, I have to take a drive up to Werther, in Thüringen, to a dealer to pick up a quad. Werther is next to Nordhausen and Nordhausen is where Camp Dora was. Camp Dora was a prison camp where the people who worked in the Mittelwerk lived. The Mittelwerk was an underground complex where the V2 was built along with other things. I wish I had the time to visit the museum there, but I don't. One day though...
Thanks again for following this, stay healthy and have a wonderful week. As Arnie said "I'll be back"........................…...............
Prost
Allen
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