Anchors away!

Well, hopefully not literally away but they are on the vehicles with ropes fastening them to the deck so that they actually anchor if needed! Its been a day of adding small parts but the Panzer Ferry is coming on . The boat hooks certainly add a splash of colour. A few more parts to add to the upper parts of the vehicles and then it is how to add the chains fastening the pontoon to the vehicles. It would also be good to add a suitable vehicle to the pontoon but I am jumping ahead of myself! In the meantime a pew pictures of where I have got to.

Boat hooks!

Further work on the Panzer Ferry kits which has seen the boat hooks painted up in the white and red suggested in the plans and shown on the kit box art work. Not necessarily a good choice of colours if you are trying to camouflage a vehicle from the enemy but then who am I to question! The decals have also been applied which totaled eight in total so not too much stress there. I think it will be time to mount the anchors next so I need to find some scale rope to tie to them. Strangely there is no mention or illustration in the instructions of anything that would connect the anchor to the vehicle. I cannot see much use in an anchor with no rope!

 

The Panzer Ferry back on the workbench!

It is back on the work bench and it has been some time since I last worked on the Panzer Ferry kits so it took me some time to re-establish in my mind and with the instructions and the models in front of me exactly where I am with them. As always it is the small items I need to finish. There are a few small parts that need to be painted and fitted as well as the transfers needing to be applied. 

With that in mind it was time to go through the sprues and find the parts I need. Not so easy as you may think as there are so many surplus parts to the kits that what I actually needed has taken some finding! I have located what I need, there are others but I will return later for those. 4 boat hooks, 4 hull rubbing strips, an anchor and a pully were prepared for painting.

Being cold in the Man Cave is not the best for paint application or drying but hopefully these parts will be ready tomorrow.

I also applied some gloss varnish to the vehicle hulls where the decals need to apply. This will make them easier to apply and they should also set better.

Just hoping it warms up tomorrow!

Tracks back on!

Well the tracks, suitably rusted and polished metalised where necessary, have been put back on the hull of the second amphibious vehicle.

Putting all three parts of the Panzer Ferry together now and it just gets more interesting - in my eyes anyway!

I still have a selection of smaller parts to add including the chains that fasten the two amphibious tanks to the pontoon. I fear getting those to fit may see the swear jar grow with a few contributions whilst I do that job!

Rusty tracks!

Having climbed all over the Rocks By Rail Museum's dragline excavator yesterday I was quite familiar with rusty tracks which was useful as today I had to make the tracks for the second amphibious vehicle rusty! Firstly though I had to finish assembling the second set for the other side. I followed the same method as the first and it went well - learning as I get older! The bits of card along the top of the track are there to induce the sag that the real track would have between the idle rollers. As I had used Tamiya Extra Thin glue the joints between the track links were still flexible some time after being glued allowing the sag to form

And this is how they set - nice!

With the tracks assembled on both sides they had to come off for painting. As I had not glued the drive wheels or rear idlers this was reasonably easy as the wheels came off with the tracks. Both sets of tracks went into the WMD HQ airbrushing booth (cardboard box!) where a mix of Vallejo Rust and Flat Earth was applied and rusty tracks appeared!

I just need to highlight the polished areas where the various wheels keep the track links free of rust and then they can be put back on the hull. Luckily these rusty tracks do not need to be greased unlike the dragline!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon by the Small Faces is a great song and if you need reminding it is on YouTube here. For me and the rest of the volunteers though it was no Lazy Sunday Afternoon as we were at the Rocks By Rail Museum welcoming guests to the Driver for a Fiver event. These have really taken off over the last two years with more people seeing it as a great value event and getting to drive a loco for £5 is a bargain! Last one for this year though so if anyone missed it they will have to put it on next years 'to do' list. Wish I could put Mrs. Woody's 'to do' list items on a list for next year rather than this year!

Panzer Ferry wise one set of tracks has been made and mounted over the wheels. I did this side in one session of gluing which made life interesting! 

Basically all 105 track links were glued with Tamiya thin cement which sets slowly. 

Using this to advantage I was able to put the completed but still flexible length of track over the wheels and because the cement had not fully set I could still get the required sags and bends in the track links.

Just the other side to do now - maybe I will wait for a lazy Sunday afternoon to do it!

Standing on its own wheels.

With the various wheels mounted to the hull, the amphibious tank can now stand on its own wheels! Because I try to anticipate what may go wrong, like in the future tracks breaking, I tend to glue tank wheels on to the hull using a glue like UHU. It provides a reasonably strong joint between parts but it is usually possible to separate parts in the future without major damage. Using a plastic cement would melt the two parts together bonding them into one piece. UHU on the other hand holds the two parts together without bonding them and given the flexible nature of the glue parts can be separated without damage in the future with some well placed but reasonable force 

Next thing is the tracks which will just about bring this model to the same level of completeness as its partner vehicle in this Panzer Ferry.

Despite having spent a fair amount of time on this model my mind has not been inactive in thinking about other projects. My 00 gauge layout has been developing at, for me at least, lightning speed and I am looking at the next stage. The photos below may show a white strip of card supported by a tub and a couple of bottles but this in my mind is the basis of a road bridge crossing the four railway tracks. 

Imagination is a great thing and I can already see in my mind a finished bridge with scenery crossing the railway and making a great scenic focus point. Now the difficult bit is transforming that imaginative image into reality! Will I produce what I imagine? I will let you know in due course - anything could actually happen!

Matching weathering!

With the second amphibious tank in its stark clean paint work it has been time to tone and weather it down to be sympathetic with its partner vehicles. I have done this using an airbrush and Vallejo Flat Earth paint.

Luckily I think I have managed to match the general level of weathering on the two models.

Next job is to get the wheels on and tracks built. Seems like only a few weeks ago I was doing just that on the other vehicle!

A stark contrast!

Back to the Panzer Ferry and the second amphibious tank is now in top coat! First off the hull was painted grey and then it was time to paint the deck light grey so some masking was required.

With masking in place the deck was painted.

Compared to the first vehicle that was painted in the same colours but has now been weathered there is a starkness but with weathering the two should look similar. However the photo does show how weathering can really tone down a model and make it look more realistic.

 

The various wheels have also been painted. To save having to repaint the tyres on the running wheels I cut a circle out of a handy piece of card using my circle cutter. Luckily the smallest circle that I could adjust it to was just small enough to match the wheels. It has certainly made painting the wheels much easier and quicker - just wish I had done it on the first vehicle!

Its a grey day!

I had got to the stage yesterday of being ready for some paint on the second of the amphibious tanks for the Panzer Ferry. As is common with most of my model painting the first step was a coat of Vallejo black primer. This covers well and gives a good base for the top coats.

You will have to excuse my makeshift spray booth!

I have even managed to get some grey top coat onto the underside. Things going well for me!

Ready for paint!

The second amphibious tank of the Panzer Ferry is ready for paint! I have left a few parts off to make painting easier and they will be added once paint has been applied but it is going well - unusually for me!

I have posed the two tans and pontoon together before but getting to this stage shows just what a large model it is.

It will be interesting to see how I pose this on a diorama base. However that is for later. In the meantime I still have a lot to do!

Right on track and even left on track!

Well the Panzer Ferry now has had its tracks dismounted from the hull. Knowing I had to do this I had glued the front drive and rear idler wheels on with some UHU glue which enabled them to be taken off fairly easily - thinking ahead for once!

They were the airbrushed with a custom mix of Vallejo Flat Earth, Rust and a few drops of black! Once allowed to dry they were dry brushed with Vallejo Aluminum over the areas where contact with the wheels or ground would in effect polish the surfaces keeping them free of rust. This is an area where I am making some guesses as to what would happen with an amphibious vehicle where the tracks would be immersed in water for much of their time. 

Getting the wheels and tracks back on was somewhat easier than I had envisaged!

Whilst I had been dry brushing aluminum paint I got the exhausts off the hull (not glued yet) and dry brushed them to give that impression of a relatively new part starting to rust.

With that done and the tracks back on, both left and right sides, the kit is looking like this.

With the rust paint in the airbrush various rust requiring parts were given a quick blast. These included the anchor for the Panzer Ferry, the buffer stop from my 00 gauge layout as well as the relay cabinets and some oil drums that will probably end up being 'dumped' somewhere.

The buffer stop looks a bit more at home on the layout although I still need to paint th actual cross bar white and red as in real life.

Better track off now and make Mrs. Woody some dinner!

Back on track!

After a couple of weeks working on my 00 gauge layout it was time to get back on track with some of my many, many outstanding projects! So the Panzer ferry has returned to the bench where the second track has now been assembled and added.

Assembly required the individual links to be glued together and then before they had set fed over the various drive and idler wheels. 

To make sure that the tracks have the necessary sag that they would have in real life between the top idler wheels, pieces of cardboard were added. The tracks should set in the right shape and stay that way when the cardboard is removed!

I also need to get back on track with some of Mrs. Woody's job list too!

Making tracks!

Apart from making tracks for the Panzer Ferry where I have started the other side....

I have been taking Mrs. Woody and making tracks for some interesting places.

First off The Priests House at Easton on the Hill. A National Trust Property where you have to go to a local house to pick up the key! 

There is not a great deal to it but a museum on the upper floor is one of the most eclectic collections of things I have ever seen including the history of Colleyweston slate, the tail plane off a WW2 bomb...

..and for those of a certain age the dispised IZAL toilet paper that was more like tracing paper then toilet tissue!

Second place was Rockingham Castle set near to the Northamptonshire/Leicestershire boarder. 

It may not look like the traditional castle but it dates back to the tenth century built by William the Conquer and altered over the years. You can understand why the site was choosen when you look over the countryside - views to die for - and many did over the castles long history! Wish I could build model countryside that good!

Nowadays things are much more tranquil with wonderful gardens to wander through.

Last off has been Bede House at Lyddington. 

Dating from the 1300s it is full of history and character but nothing prepares you for the attic!

It is big! It is impressive! It would make a great model railway room! Somehow I don't think that is going to happen!

Anyway making tracks back to WMD HQ!