Newsfeed-

Michael Kohl
We all love a good fight and this kit fought you hard. But - man you came out the winner - with flying colors I´d say.
Great overall look. IMHO you nailed it.

gorby
WOW! Considering the decal nightmare you've managed to bring this one across the line a winner. Fabulous result.

Neuling
A winner indeed!

nikfrost
Very impressive, well done!

Nicolas
Great. If the kit dosn't want to end up like you want just do something else with it. 👍

Ant Ricco
Thanks so so much for the comments everyone really appreciate the encouraging comments.

Spanjaard
great recovery indeed, it looks really good

Skyhiker
What a story. Well played. I'm glad you won that one. Excellent work. What did you use to do the dust coating?

Ant Ricco
Hey @Skyhiker - thanks so much - the dust was Tamiya XF-57 Buff - very thinned and airbrushed lightly over.

gorby
I think you win this weeks prize for most heavy duty modelling tool. 😄
Looks a very interesting conversion.

Lenny Li
I think that kind of set up can tool a real bogie!!

Neuling
Watching .....................

Jakko ‌
> I think you win this weeks prize for most heavy duty modelling tool. 😄

Probably, yeah 🙂 It's a metalworking lathe, so a bit overkill for just turning down the seam on those wheels, but I didn't feel like aching fingers from scraping them down with a knife — I get those even when I hold them in a modelling vice, never mind just between my fingers.

> that kind of set up can tool a real bogie!!

Having seen a disassembled Sherman bogie up close, I must say I think this one is a size too small for that 😉

Ben M
👀 fascinating vehicle.

Mr D
Looking good, weld's coming on nice 👍

Ben M
How did you hold the wheels in the lathe?

Jakko ‌
@Mr D: that's not the welds yet, it's just the filler needed to plug the gaps 🙁 I'm still debating how to add all the weld seams.

@Ben M: An M2 screw, about 2 cm long, through the hole in the wheel, with a nut to tighten it. It needs to be fairly tight else chances are the wheel will stop as soon as the chisel hits it. On Asuka two-piece wheels, you need to do this before assembling the parts, because the hole on the piece to be glued in is smaller than on the part that has the tyre moulded on it.

Ben M
Thank you, I can envision the setup. I have a small lathe and arthritis in my hands, this technique could help me a lot. Thanks!

Mr D
Regarding weld's l have seen super glue used through a fine tip, you need steady hand n move in pattern to create weld.
Sorry l was looking at the resin 🤔🤣.
Good stuff be keeping eye
On progress 👍👍

Jakko ‌
@Ben M: What also works is a modeller's vice. Clamp the wheel in that, scrape down the seam with a straight knife over a third or so of the wheel, then unclamp and turn it, and repeat. If I scrape more than about two or three wheels by hand, my fingers ache enough that I have to stop, so the vice helps a lot. But you also get a lot of plastic scrapings all over your modelling area, so this time, I figured I'd put those in someone else's hobby room instead for a change 😉

@Mr D: Hahaha! The ones on the resin were put there by Resicast 🙂 But I'll now have to make ones that look similar, or at least not out of place next to them. I'm thinking a thin string of two-part epoxy, textured with a sharp tool.

gorby
I've just seen an Uncle Nightshift vid on adding weld seams:
Youtube Video

Jakko ‌
Thanks for that.

Mr D
Good video 👍, the finish on the flat plate work looks authentic, l think it's had better rough cast look from the brush stippling before he added the putty coat.
Good idea on the weld , epoxy putty best as regular epoxy levels out again.

Jakko ‌
I've begun to add the weld seams now — see photo 23 🙂 Basically, Magic Sculp two-part epoxy putty that I mixed up a very small amount of, then took even smaller amounts from that and rolled it as thin as I could in my hand before pressing it into the join between the parts. Getting it to stick there is tricky, especially once I began texturing it with the tip of a knife — it wants to adhere to skin and steel much better than to plastic, unfortunately 🙁 But with a bit of perseverance it does eventually stick.

Pietro De Angelis
Fantastic work, congrats!

David Taylor
really coming along.

Jakko ‌
Thanks 🙂

Villiers de Vos
Very nice work. I like the subtle chipping.

Neuling
I agree with Villiers! 👍

Nicolas
Great result, Congrats. 👍

Jonathan Read-Bone
Many thanks @Nicolas 👍

William Joel
Wonderful job. That will make a nice addition to your display shelf.
Thanks for sharing.

Neuling
Looks very good indeed!