M29C Weasel (take 2)

The two kits that will principally be used for this attempt.

Yep, two M29C kits from LZ, the top one is the one from the previous photo, the other is the one from the first attempt, with the model from that next to it. Nothing about that has changed since the last photo in the album for that build.

Deviating from Takom’s instructions right from the start, to hopefully make the kit easier to build than when you do follow the instructions.

These are the bogies from my other Weasel — I’m showing them here as well so you can see how wonky many of them are on the axles, which is because Takom wants you to glue two tiny wheels to each axle separately. There’s some play in them, and so they can push each other askew.

To solve this problem, I figure it’s better to first glue the wheels together and only then glue them to the axles. So I made a simple jig: a block of wood with a hole drilled all the way through, and widened on one side to 5.9 mm diameter (the wheels are about 5.7 mm) for about half a centimetre deep. That way, I can put in one wheel, put a bit of cement in the middle of it, drop the other wheel half on, and push the two together firmly. Then just push out the wheel with the cocktail stick (put your finger over the hole first!).

This way, the two wheels are lined up properly and should go on the axle straight.

The track links around the drive sprocket glued in place. These are the only ones with positive location (due to the teeth) so they had to go on first.

Next, I added the top run without glue so I could glue the three links around the idler as well. When the glue had dried, I removed the top run — it would get in the way for fitting the rest of the suspension, but in my case I don’t need it anyway because it will be covered by a plate later on.

I put the springs onto two bogies, without glue, and then glued them in the front and rear positions. I also put on the inner wheels of the outer pair on each axle trying to get them straight. Next, I added the rest of the track, by first glueing it together off the model (taking care to get the links in the correct order) and glued it to the idler and sprocket. Only then did I lower the bogies into position on the track, using them to get the track (mostly) in the correct position, after which i glued the bogies to the track and the springs to the bogies.

This ensures the track will be the right length, and it’s easier to fit the bogies to the track than the other way around like Takom would have you do it.

With the suspension on both sides finished (the missing upper track run and return rollers won’t be added because they would be out of sight on the finished model), I started on the upper hull. By leaving off the left side, you can fit the levers, pedals etc. without too much trouble — a lesson learned from my previous M29 🙂 I also painted the bits that will later be hard to reach with an airbrush, though the driver’s area still needs to be done here.

The left side and the decks are now on too. I closed the little hatch over the radiator, but replaced its brass handles (?) by plastic strip, as that’s simply easier all round.

Dry-fitting the floatation cells from the LZ kit onto the Takom hull.

The bow cell fits fine — better than on the LZ hull, in fact! To make it fit on the LZ kit, I had to cut off the extensions that wrap around the hull corners and add a piece of thin plastic card to each side of the cell, but here the extensions end up where they should.

At the back, though, the cell is about 2 mm too wide and it doesn’t overlap the hull corners like it should (it also doesn’t do that on the LZ hull, by the way).

The width problem was solved by milling off the sides using a router mounted in a lathe (with thanks to my father!). It couldn’t reach the bottom part but that was easy enough to do with a knife.

I cut away the thick beam left at the top and then added 0.25 mm plastic card to the top and sides, because on the real M29C, the stern floatation cell not only overlaps the sides but also overhangs the rear deck by the same amount.

I glued the etched upright parts to the bow cell and only then glued it to the hull, so it would automatically be at the right height (glueing the cell to the hull and only then adding the etched bits is asking for things to not fit). I did have to deepen a slot at the front of the splash guard around the radiator hatch for the bow cell to fit.

Stern floatation cell stuck to the hull, by mixing some two-part epoxy putty and pushing it into the hollow in the cell and then pushing the cell against the hull. The lid is from the LZ kit.

We’ve now reached the point where the last attempt stalled 🙂

Hatch and base for the capstan added/improved. The hatch lid was too thin, the capstan base far too big — the etched part from LZ is towards the front (and loose), with its scratchbuilt replacement in position,