The gun is fitted!

 Like the tortoise this beast of a machine is named after my progress building the kit of it is slow! I have to admit that upon opening the box I did not think there were too many parts but there are more than I first thought! However, with the running gear constructed I can begin the perhaps speedier in terms of visual changes, build of the upper hull. With respect to the running gear, I have decided to leave it unattached to the lower hull for the moment which will make painting the eight running and return wheel structures along with the drive and idle wheels a much easier task. Careful masking of the lower hull where the running gear structures attach should mean a strong paint free gluing surface as I intend to paint that too before any gluing takes place. The irony is that most of the detail will be covered by the side skirts that attach to the hull! However, not being too sure at this stage as to how much these skirts will cover or not means that I am playing safe and painting everything!

Progress so far sees the front plate of the upper hull detailed with various lifting points and the gun has been constructed and fitted to the body.

I just need to fit the muzzle to the gun barrel but I need the glue to set that joins the two parts together before I can sand them smooth. A job for tomorrow!

I do believe that if you saw that coming in anger towards you a clean change of underwear would be advisable!

Moving on from the running gear of the MENG A39 Tortoise kit, I find myself taken aback by the sheer size of this beast of a machine. 

In real life 78 tons of weight, 32 feet of length, 12 feet of width and 10 feet of height meant that this was not an easy item to transport! Originally the 25 ordered were due to come into service in September 1945 and be used to destroy enemy fortified defences. However the end of the war reduced the order to 6 with one being sent to Germany were successful trials showed that the design was manufacturing matched expectations. Never the less the end of the war and the difficulty in transporting it resulted in no further vehicles being constructed. One remains at Bovington Tank Museum where it was overhauled in 2011 and now runs under its own power. Here is video on YouTube of it running at one of the Museums Tankfest events.

I do believe that if you saw that coming in anger towards you a clean change of underwear would be advisable! 

In the meantime I will carry on bullding this beast!

Sandwich Artist???

Now whilst I do not see myself as an artist there have been occasions when I have been referred to being one by others but not necessarily with reference to anything creative that I have done! Whilst this may demonstrate that the term 'artist' can have a wide meaning I was still somewhat taken aback to see this sign in a local SubWay (usual disclaimer - other sandwich making establishments are available!) where Mrs. Woody and myself were treating ourselves to the culinary delights of a footlong!

Sandwich Artist? Well I guess it is an artistic way to describe the job. Which then got me to thinking (always a dangerous activity as Mrs. Woody will tell you) about what do you term someone who professionally makes sandwiches? Google tells me that: -

A professional sandwich maker can refer to either a person who prepares sandwiches or the heavy-duty commercial equipment used in restaurants.

The Person

Sandwich Maker or Sandwich Hand: The general culinary title for a kitchen worker focused on prepping and assembling sandwiches.

Garde Manger: A traditional French kitchen brigade station (and the chef running it) responsible for cold food items, including salads, appetizers, and cold sandwiches.

Delicatessen/Deliman: A person who works in or runs a deli specializing in sliced meats and classic stacked sandwiches.

Sandwich Artist: A corporate term popularized by chains like Subway. 

The Equipment

Commercial Panini Press / Panini Grill: A heavy-duty, restaurant-grade electrical appliance featuring ridged or flat cast-iron/aluminum plates designed to press and toast sandwiches rapidly.

Commercial Sandwich Press or Contact Grill: A high-wattage professional unit used to heat sandwiches evenly from top and bottom. You can explore options and details in guides like the Commercial Panini Press Guide. 

So there you have it - as many terms as I have had sandwiches! My favourite though is Delicatessen as it implies a gentleness to the art of sandwich making. Did someone mention art? Then maybe we need an artist!

Meanwhile back to the artistry of model making and the Tortoise Assault Gun moves on well almost as the wheel and tracks are not yet mounted to the hull but they are now just about complete.

There are nearly 250 parts just to make the running gear! That does not include the tracks which in this kit are individual links which probably means another 200 parts! And I though that this would be a quick, non etched brass build!

Wednesday Wonderment!

If you have followed this blog for some time you may know that I have highlighted with wonderment the high price of fuel at a local service station. A few days ago it was as the picture below which is the highest price for diesel that I and no doubt most people have ever seen. Petrol may be slightly cheaper then in June 2022 when the last peak price was recorded but only just!

And just to prove that here is the picture from the 22 June 2022 when I was also in wonderment!

I may have to persuade Mrs. Woody to get her bike out instead of the car to cut costs! 

Now armed with my new metrology, the other side should be quicker to build!

 Now its coming together! Having developed my own method for putting the running wheel assemblies together they suddenly come together.

There were still more parts to add!

Return rollers and suspension dampers make up the rest of the parts. So far, what you see in the above picture is made up of 123 parts! And that is only one side of the running gear! However, now armed with my new metrology, the other side should be quicker to build!

Instructions are there for when you can't get the thing to go together or work!

 

I thought about it! That is, following on from yesterdays post, I have found a better way of putting the running wheel assembly together than the instructions instruct! 

I have, in this blog before, berated myself for not following the instructions but in this case I initially did but found an alternative better way! As I have carefully explained to Mrs. Woody on many occasions, instructions are there for when you can't get the thing to go together or work and then they are only for guidance!

Tortoise by name, tortoise progress!

I have started gluing and my initial impressions are: -

1. The plastic that MENG have used is like nothing I have come across before. A seemingly hard plastic that sands easily! not the easiest to cut cleanly either.

2. The tank is a Tortoise and I am guessing my progress will, as I previously joked, be tortoise like given the complexity of the running wheel s and their carriers!

Having tried to put one of the set of eight together I am not convinced that the instructions actually show the best way to do this so as so far I have spent about two hours trying to get the part of the first carrier together. One to put down and have a think about!

Well the box is open so time to start gluing!

After several months of railway modelling I have a need to do something different and glue some plastic together in the form of building a kit and this is it!

Tortoise is probably apt in that I will no doubt build it at a rate comparable with the progress a tortoise makes in traversing a garden or similar!

There are not as many parts as in some of the kits I have built and no etched brass! Fantastic! Just look at the size of the hull and upper body. This is a beast and one of these assault gun tanks is in full working order at the Bovington Tank Museum. Well the box is open so time to start gluing!

OBOE - Open Box October Experience - The video!

I talked yesterday about OBOE - Open Box October Experience - and how I had opened some boxes up to reveal their contents and more importantly get them on the tracks. Well the WMD film crew have been busy and there is a YouTube video about my experience and a challenge I set to other modellers.

OBOE - Open Box October Experience!

 Being that it is October I thought that I would talk about OBOE! Not the musical instrument but my challenge to actually get some of my models out of their boxes and on the layout or as I have put it - OBOE - Open Box October Experience!

I dug out these three boxes with a Class 31 that was bought two years ago and never been out of the box, five Dapol cement wagons that remain in their cardboard since purchased six years ago and finally the Queen Mary brake van that I am ashamed to say remained unopened for over 20 years!

This is the first time that these have been on the rails and they look superb! Why have I left it so long? No idea but I am now enjoying them as they were intended!

The Class 31 is a really stunning model especially in RailFreight livery.

No doubt I am not the only one to have models still in their boxes and unopened and more on that tomorrow!