V2 - Vengeance From Above

[scottie3158]

Allen,
Lovely work good to see you have found some bench time. Really enjoying your work.

 

[Allen Dewire]

So here we go Rocketeers,

I have managed to dry out and now the damn sun is shining again. Thank you all for waiting. You are correct Mick and if I get any slower, you can call me pond water. How many gold medals do you have???
Dude 2 is also correct as we have a huge urban renewal project going on outside my front door across the street and NO, I didn't dump nothing out. My mat is always like that.
Thanks Paul, I'm trying like hell to move forward my friend...
As for the Napper twins Stevie and Si, they will be ok. After all, a nap is a nap and as we get older we need them....

Without further ado,
We hairy sticked wheels and tires using Mission Models late dark yellow and AK rubber tires,

Sorry for the blurry pic. Before that, we modified and shortened up the spare tire holder. We also spent time hairy sticking a lot of other crap fine quality parts,

I'm not entirely happy with Italeri's roof canvas parts and door parts. I think a new tissue piece needs to be made for the roof. I'll have to think more about the upper door pieces. Next was a test fit of the tank and parts of the cab on the frame with the wheels on,


Not too bad really. The tank itself needs some filler in a few places and the 3 storage lockers on the passenger side need to be added along with other stuff. The wheels and tires look good and the body sits at the right height above them,

The biggest heartburn is the fit of the cab. It's going to be a bear to get glued together and fit properly on the frame. When I build the second one, I will assemble the cab different way than I did this time. Live and learn by doing. The last shot is a front view to put you all to sleep,

The warning triangle on the top of the tank with stay there as these vehicles did tow trailers to the launch site. The pump trailer for one and others too. Just some more parts to add, a bit of masking and it will be ready for the hissy stick. With luck (a lot of luck) this could be done by the weekend……...Don't hold your breath though!!!

Thanks again for looking and all C, C and C welcome. Have a happy!!!

Prost
Allen

 

[scottie3158]

Allen,
Great work my friend.

 

[Mini Me]

Allen, nice job on the Blitz I look forward to further developments and finally the wet stuff!
Cheers, Rick H.

 

[Steve Jones]

Nice to see this one come together. I have lost count now so how many vehicles will be in the dio mate??

 

[Fernando N]

Nice work on the Tankwagen Allen, love the resin wheels, think they’re perfect for weathering.

Good luck with filling the seams and the paintjob.

 

[JR]

Pity about that canvas moulding, not easy for the manufacturer to emulate canvas from plastic.
You will be able with out doubt to do the roof justice with tissue Dude 1.
Certainly not holding my breath !
Dude 2

 

[Allen Dewire]

Evening Rocketeers,

Late as usual, but you all knew that anyway….Thank you all for the fine comments and I have gotten further along Paul, but not without a few quirks Buddy. I didn't get to hissy stick anything Rick and we had perfect weather this past weekend for it. Maybe this weekend. Stevie, in total there will be 3 trailers, 5 vehicles and a rocket sitting upright on a launch pad my man. Filling the seams was too hard Fernando, so I didn't go crazy on them, just a little 500 Mr. Surfacer. The resin wheels are sweet and the whole thing should weather up nicely when the time comes. Thanks Bro! I haven't played with tissue in many years Dude 2, so it will be fun to try it again as the scene will be set in late '44, so a convertible is not going to cut it.

Over the weekend, I did manage a little table time and finally got the Tankwagen cab together. That was not as hard as I had thought it would be……….but, it wasn't easy either. I also added a lot of the last little crap and only hope I don't bust some of them off handling and prepping it for paint. I don't know why my iPad makes the interior color so green. It's Tamiya XF-60. The Blitz looks like this,

You can see the different colored plastic from the original Blitz sprue and the Tankwagen sprue. some more shots,



This tanker will be waiting for the other tanker to finish loading the V2 with B-Stoff. That's why the back doors are closed. You can also see from the pics where I filled a few rough spots with Mr. Surfacer 500. There is only 2 pieces of etch on this kit so far,

The headlight covers of course. The only real parts, besides the roof and upper doors, that are left look like this.

Missing in the pic is the tow pintle pin. Hell, I even managed to drill out the exhaust pipe with out drilling into my finger. Things are really looking up people. Still gotta make those 2 locks though...…......

Thanks again for looking in and I wish you all a great week and spring weather. C, C, and C is always welcome!!!

Prost
Allen

 

[BigGreg]

Stunning work Allen... i can't wait to see more of this fantastic Diorama

 

[Steve Jones]

Another great update mate. I really like the subject. The windscreen is so clear as well. You can see right through it

 

[MikeC]

Hello young man,
Tis I, just having a look around your build. I would ignore that Steve Jones fellow and his comment about how clear the windscreen is, anyone can see there a dead flies all over it.
Right serious time now - canvas tilts and in your case doors. Suggestion - working on glass cut a piece of tissue oversize, then with a thin mix of liquid cement and a bit of sprue dissoved in it 'paint' the canvas and allow to dry. Once dry cut out the window opening and add flexible frame from cut paper strip. And if you feel really brave you could add a 'window' from cling film. The roof is basically the same proceddure, and with the tissue impregnated - don't you just love that word, rolls straight of the tongue - with plastic it can be formed by adding more liquid cement to soften and shape. Now if you are still concious after getting this far I and can see the pc from the floor, I shaould add - open a window......
Cheers, Mike.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Allen
Impressive work on the tanker. This was a huge project so all credit to you for keeping at it. The quality of the research and your modelling is first rate.
Jim

 

[BigGreg]

it's really improving..well done...i'm sure this diorama will be something else

 

[JR]

We are waiting, I can't hold my breath much longer Dude 1

 

[Mickc1440]

More top work Allen, like the others I can't wait to see the dio start to come together.

 

[Si Benson]

Hi Allen,
Hope your well? Missed your last update...fuel truck looking good
It’s about time we had an update!!

 

[Allen Dewire]

Hi Allen,
Hope your well? Missed your last update...fuel truck looking good
It’s about time we had an update!!

Mr. Benson, You are 100% correct in this matter even though you have drifted over to the other side with your wing thingy!!!

Good Evening Rocketeers around the world!!!

It has been way too long and I can only apologise for my lack of responses to you fine folks. I thank you all for your patience and Mike for the tip on the canvas making. I actually have been quite busy with this project. I have often forgotten to take pictures to post too. I can say that the second F 404 B-Stoff tankwagen is almost finished and I hope to post a few pics of them both together soon as (I remember to take the pics) possible. I have also started the F 405 T-Stoff Tankwagen that is a mixed kit of plastic and resin parts from Azimut...

The F 405 Tankwagen was built on both 2WD and 4WD Opel Blitz chassis'. The Azimut kit uses the age old basic Italeri Blitz parts and a resin cast tank conversion for the rest and is the 2WD version. The F 405 looks like this,

(For discussion purposes only)
This is a pic of the 4WD F 405. It looks a bit different than the normal 2WD Blitz, being a little more bull like in appearance.

I got a wild hair up my butt and decided to make a 4WD conversion out of the 2WD kit. I won a Mercedes 4WD conversion kit from evilbay and due to my dumb ass not looking correctly at it, I found the Opel 4WD was the exact opposite set-up as the Mercedes was. Ok, things like this happen. I could have bought the PlusModel conversion for the Blitz, but it is a horrible resin kit, hence my scratchy project to achieve the result I wanted. I should have been slapped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...…...…...……….

Ok, enough bla bla and on to the pics. First up is the difference between the two Opels. First. the 2WD model,

(For discussion purposes only)
The motor side panels are curved on the bottom and the bumper is open on both sides between the fenders. Now for the 4WD,

(For discussion purposes only)
Here the motor panels are deeper and not curved on the bottom. The fenders are moved to the rear to accommodate the front axle differential that was moved 15cm back from the normal front axle mount of the 2WD model also shortening the wheelbase. The running boards were also shorter...

So in a fit of madness, I started hacking up the Blitz with my saw and scribe,

I corrected the grill as best as possible as it is normally straight and not like the one below it. Next up was the motor side panels as they had to be extended too,

Two pieces of plastic sheet were also made to correct the nonsense. Here you can get the general idea of how it should look,

A little nip and snip brought us to this point,

The scored lines are the extended hood. I will add the latches after it is all fixed up nice and pretty. The grill came out ok, but not 100% original in it's shape. Wanting to use some of the parts from the Mercedes conversion, I had to modify the transfer case to adapt it to the Opel layout. I just sawed off the one input for the engine's transmission driveshaft and the cover on the other side of it,

I then CA'd them back on, reversed and it now could be used for the Blitz. It was time to make a suitable front diff and after searching through the spares for 3 hours, I came up empty handed. Ok, make your own I said...The only thing I could use was (purists, please close your eyes now) a diff from an Opel Maultier. I broke out the tubing and again started sawing things up,

I used a small nail to ensure the one side of the axle would be straight when it dried. After it set, I made the other side,

A drill bit kept the whole axle straight while it dried. The Blitz had different front rims too. The 2WD drive rim on the left and the 4WD rim on the right. Here, you can also see the difference in size of the wheels. Every resin company has their own idea of what 1/35 scale is in wheels. Now moving along we came to the frame and the rear springs,

The rear springs, spring mounts and diff are resin from the Azimut kit. You have to shim the rear axle mounts so it tips a bit forward as it sits higher than the normal Blitz. The front diff axle (purists, close your eyes again) was pimped with bolts, axle stubs for the resin wheels and mount plates for the front springs. Here's the whole frame as of right now,

Don't mind the wobbly looking front brake drums as they were used for weight on the axle and will be glued straight on when the time comes. Remember all the gray parts are resin. The white parts are sheet and tube plastic and the tan parts are Italeri parts. Last up was the attachment of the motor side panels to the cab,

These will be modified and cleaned up when I re-attach the fenders, but first, the interior has to be added for strength as well as the front grill. Another view,

You have to remember that I once again used the Gusgogo Guesstimation System while creating this total mess fine quality work! I am moving forward, but not at the speed I want to. Life and work are just beating the hell out of me lately. I will try and make regular updates, but the progress is slow and a lot of times not worthy of posting. It sucks to be old and slow...

Thank you all again for the wonderful support and I will do my best to keep on going with this. All C, C, and C are most welcome. If all else fails, Please throw cash!!!!!! Have a great week........

Prost auf Euch
Allen

 

[Si Benson]

Evening Allen,

Crickey mate...looks like you’ve been elbow deep in moggeling!! Interesting stuff on the blitz versions, I had no idea there was any difference between the 2 and 4wd types! Glad someone knows what they are doing.

Certainly loads of progress, thanks for letting us into your crazy world of rocketry

Oh and ref the wingy thing. Just fancied something out the old comfort zone and was very much an impulse purchase, like 99% of my stash
You may of seen a couple of 110’s enter the stash that may pique your interest ?

Anyway....hope your working week goes well, see you at the weekend for a cold one!

Prost

 

[Allen Dewire]

Hey Si,

I started out in this hobby doing wing thingys and then moved on to armor. It doesn't matter what a man builds as long as he is having fun. Thanks my friend, but the progress is slow. I love a 110 too!!! I have a few wing thingys in the stash and one day I might just surprise the hell out of everybody……..And build one!!!! Have a good week too and a cold one my friend!!!

Prost
Allen

 

[JR]

Dude1.
Now having seen some of the photos earlier the end results are even more superb, I note you include the nemisus of my modelling, a damed.chassis. You know what I'm referring too !

Most impressive scratchery.