Over the weekend I decided to focus on the lower hull of this kit. That way I could start playing about with the electronics and get the thing moving.
The first thing to do was to start masking areas that should not be painted. These are areas where the wheels will be attached Continue reading Tamiya 1:35 King Tiger Radio Electronics and Lower Hull
When building my first metal earth model I soon realised the hard part of these models is when you need to create circular shapes. This put me off of tackling the rest of my t34 model for a while.
I decided to get on a finish this model so it was time to tackle the road wheels on this kit.
The road wheels consist of a metal sheet rolled into a tube with a circular cap attached to the front of them. A final metal piece goes on top to hold it all together. These were very fiddly and some took several attempts to put together.
Although smaller the gears at each end of the tank were easier to attach as these were only made of two pieces.
The tracks went on pretty easy as these were just wrapped around the wheels and held onto the back plate that the wheels are attached to. The complete set of wheels with tracks were then attached to each side of the hull.
One thing I could of got better was the road wheels. They do not sit on the track properly because of the metal tabs sticking out of the bottom of them.
Given that this kit only cost around £6 I am very impressed with the outcome and detail. These are a nice alternative to plastic models as they require a different skill set and can be built pretty quickly.
Next up I am building the himeji castle for my girlfriend.
The problem I find with R/C vehicles is they take up a lot of space considering how often I use them. I stumbled across (and won) one of these great kits on eBay the other day. I did not even know these kits existed!
They are Tamiya 1:35 static kits modified to take R/C components giving you a highly detailed R/C model. This one is from 2001 and they seem pretty rare. There are some pre-built 1:35 models around abroad but these seem to have some ugly ir sensor on top of them.
This is what you get in the R/C box alongside the kit. There are motors and gears for the drive and turret rotation along with some extra parts to convert the static model to R/C.
This is the model kit itself. I looks like it comes with stronger tracks that you would get with the static model.
I purchased some after market options for my build. The first is a zimmerit sheet. This give the surfaces a texture representing the paste that was put on some armour to prevent magnetic mines from sticking to the hull.
The second upgrade I went for was the photo etched grills. I did no realise at first but you also get a sight for the turret gun as well.
I started the kit by glueing the photo etched parts into place.
Next I started adding the zimmerit. I had to cut out areas on the sheet with a modelling knife where any parts would stick out from. First up was the rear hull.
Next I added zimmerit to the front lower hull.
Finally I added the zimmerit sheets to the turret sides. On each side a large square is cut out for the unit markings to sit in.
That’s all for now, more on this build soon!
I felt like doing a bit of hand painting this week and decided to give the Flames of War Tiger tank I built a go.
I thought it would be nice to go for a simple camouflage pattern and decided on green and brown stripes over the yellow base coat. The green looked pretty horrific Continue reading Flames of War Tiger Tank
I decided to have a go at making a basic 3D humanoid in blender. After a little research I gave it ago and I am rather pleased with my initial results.
Here I am using a mirror modifier Continue reading Poseable 3D Models & First Blender Creations Printed
Again this is a very basic model and I am already playing around with better ways of doing this using physics and motors.
The animation was made by moving the y coordinates of the duplicated track piece forwards or backwards by the width of the track piece.
The video demonstrates one track going forward and the other going backwards.
Sorry if you were expecting Brad Pitt…
After a year off of Tank Fest I decided to go again this year. My main goals this year were to see the Fury tank, visit the conservation centre and check out Continue reading Got A Nice Photo Of The Star Of Fury At Tank Fest
I decided to attempt to add some tracks to my tank model I am working on in blender. From what I have read making good tank tracks is a kind of rights of passage in 3D Modelling. The detail some people have gone into is Continue reading 3D Modelling Making Tracks
I have finished my first Metal Earth kit and all things considered it turned out well.
I learned a lot from this first kit which will improve my future builds.
The main thing I learned was that using screw drivers of different diameters is a great way of creating the cylinder Continue reading Some more Metal Earth building
I recently stumbled across one of these kits and decided to give one a go.
They come as flat packed steel sheets with parts you bend and lock into place using metal tabs.
I thought it was a great idea so I decided to give the X wing kit a go from the Star Wars series.
Being a bit eager to get started I did not get a shot of the packaging but here are the steel sheets.
As this is my first metal earth build I knew it would not be perfect. There is a lot I have learned already which will help me on the next one. The hull of the ship was pretty easy to put together.
It started to become challenging when I started working on the cylindrical engine parts. I tried to wrap the sheets around a few things to get a nice curve but could not find something the right size. I later annoyingly found out screwdrivers were ideal so have used these for the next part. (Adding the lasers)
Although not perfect the engines still look OK. There is an impressive amount of detail on these laser cut kits I especially like the droid. All that there is left to do as add the lasers.
I already have my second kit ready to build!
Shane's Shed 