A Christmas Jagdpanzer, Belgium 1944.
Typical lower hull Tamiya build. Spot the track joins.
I use a needle and (black) thread to join vinyl tracks together. I have Friulmodel tracks for this build but if the side skirts cover the majority of the upper track, well then....
The upper superstructure and lower hull fit nice and tight without gluing.
Vibe killer! The reason this build got put on hold for years. Part C57 has rifling visible, so that's cool but if any air gets trapped inside when you glue it on....not so much.
Plan "A", surgery. Carefully saw the end cap off, flatten and square-off the surfaces, and re-glue. (Plan "B" is to rip the plastic barrel off in its entirety and replace it with a metal barrel.
While the barrel dries, onto the photoetch. I dislike photoetch intensely. Simple good. Complex bad.... Eduard's set is for Dragon's L/48 JagdPanzer but it looks simple.
So far, so good.
Oh no, there are gaps! Whatever shall I do?
Oh look. One of the plates has fallen off. (No more gaps.) Moving on.
The Eduard side skirts fit well for not being designed for the Tamiya kit.
It's not perfect but I don't do perfect. Good enough for my shelves. I think I will tilt the second panel to hide the gaps on this side.
Plan "A" progresses.
Dead vibe transformed to good vibes.... The barrel cap surgery was successful.
The gaps in the side skirts I believe are due to small variations in the positioning of the mounting doo-hickies but it could be from the Tamiya kit being a little different than the Dragon kit as well.
Overall, I am satisfied with the look of the Eduard side skirts and would recommend them.
Ready for paint.
Komentarzy
10 25 June 2021, 17:21
James CTidy work so far, and the photo-etch skirts are a really nice addition 👍
Just a small note that the rubber tracks in these later Tamiya kits can be joined using ordinary liquid cement. No need to use thread or CA glue like in the past 😉
25 June 2021, 23:05
Michael HatchHi James. Yes, I have heard that about the newer vinyl tracks but I learned the needle and thread technique a zillion years ago and old habits die hard.
25 June 2021, 23:10
James CHehe, I know what you mean about old habits. I STILL rinse sprues in warm soapy water before starting assembly 😉
26 June 2021, 00:12
