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!
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!
There is not really much to say other than the deck of the second Panzer Ferry is getting near to being finished! The pictures say more then I can so I will stay relatively silent this Sunday - now that is unusual for Woody! Just don't tell Mrs. Woody o she will want silent all week!
Moving up top the amphibious tank I have started the various superstructure parts. It is beginning to take shape!
Doing it again is what it feels like building the second Panzer Ferry Amphibious tank. It is basically the same kit as the first with a few differences in the superstructure and no pontoon. Whilst build a second near identical kit may seem boring it does have its advantages in that the process is a repeat so it becomes easier second time. Therefore whilst I took about a week to get the wheels and suspension components complete first time around it had only taken three days this time working about the same times as the first time - if all that makes sense?
Anyway here is where this kit has got to.
I need to add some hoops and the propeller then the hull is more or less done and it will then be time to do it again with the superstructure!
Learn to operate the drag line excavator was a suggestion made to me and that was one I liked! So todays visit to the Rocks by Rail Museum saw some of my usual vegetational butchery in the morning and then a working lunch learning how to operate the machine.
This is the luxurious seat you operate from and the three leavers in front and the two brake pedals on the floor are the basic controls that allow the cab to slew and the bucket to lift and be hauled in.
Sounds simple but it takes a clear mind to know which way to use the levers and brakes in coordination. After a while I felt I was getting the hang of it and Rob my tutor seemed happy. Then......SNAP! You can see the frayed cable hanging off the jib about one third the way down. It was obviously rusty to begin with and therefore weak - that is my excuse anyway!
Even with Rob's skills it looks like it will take a lot of work to repair it! So at the moment it looks like this with the bucket lying away from the boom!
A day of sheltering from the continued rain and what better place then the Man Cave! Of course I had already done some jobs on Mrs. Woody's never ending list just in case she is reading this!
I took the opportunity to finish off a few small projects and then commence a large one!
Small projects were related to my 00 gauge layout and consisted of painting the cross beam on the buffer stop and then weathering it and the lamp hut and accessories. My usual washes of dilute black and brown were applied which gives that well worn look.
Once dry the washes had done there job well.
Big project time is the other amphibious tank to go on the other side of the Panzer Ferry.
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.
Better track off now and make Mrs. Woody some dinner!
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.
I also need to get back on track with some of Mrs. Woody's job list too!
An operating day at the Rocks By Rail Museum today with a theme of the closure of the Oxford Ironstone Quarries. This is where the Museum's three Sentinel locomotives from that company were coupled together to commemorate the closure. It was an impressive site to see them running!
Not much time for any model making but despite being up against the stops I did manage to make something involving just three parts!
My videoing yesterday now graces YouTube and can be found here....
