Airmodels 10.5 cm Feldhaubitze 18M

[spongya77]

Hello
This is my first blog... and my first resin kit. The reason I started it is that I'll be needing help along the way, I think :)
So here are the parts.

http://thumb3.webshots.net/t/30/466/6/54/45/2131654450044245243YtZnhf_th.jpg (http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2131654450044245243YtZnhf)

http://thumb3.webshots.net/t/58/458/7/90/14/2715790140044245243pGfMYi_th.jpg (http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2715790140044245243pGfMYi)

http://thumb3.webshots.net/t/64/464/7/17/25/2254717250044245243fVmacy_th.jpg (http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2254717250044245243fVmacy)

There are some bubbles (especially in the wheels), the support beams will need tremendous amount of fillers. The cleaning went surprisingly fast. I only broke 2 small parts. :yell:
It'll go slow, as I have other projects going, AND I take the health hazards working with resin seriously (probably too seriously). Since it's a small kit, and I have no jobs presently, I'm hoping the construction will be done in a few weeks.
Thanks for looking.
Andras

[schlichtr]

Andras, I had this same kit and never did finish it. It was very rough with lots of airholes. The flash cleaned up very easily though. Also had quite a few warped parts which were not too hard to straighten out. Good luck and I will be watching to see how yours turns out.

Roy

[DOJO]

wonder where you got the kit from 80)
What happen to the Panzer?

[spongya77]

Roy,
It doesn't really have bubbles - I guess I was lucky to get one from a good batch.
I do have questions though. What glue should I use? CA seems to be the first choice, but it's not really strong -and can snap apart easy given the right amount of force from the right direction. I was thinking about drilling little pieces of wires to the mating surfaces to hold them together, and use expoxy? (Though it's a pain in the neck. You have to mix it well, it's not very healthy.)
The other thing is the filler. I read someone uses Elmer Wood filler for this. I think I'll give it a try. The assembly seems straightforward, but the holes and other imperfections will need a good amount of filling and sanding. So please, stick around: your insight is well appreciated.

Rus,
Well, I dunno. Let's see: it was a generous present from... that's right. From Mike and you. The tank will be the other project. Babysteps. First, a resin gun, then a resin tank.

[lquah]

Andras

Welcome to PA and good to see your first vBench :)

I personally use 5min 2 part epoxy glue. Using wire to reinforce the join is a good idea and will be the way to go for large heavy parts.

Btw, if you post the pics about 800 x 600, it would be very helpful on my deteriorating eyesight ;) :D

Lawrence

[tamigawa]

looking forward to seeing your work :)

[spongya77]

http://thumb3.webshots.net/t/28/28/9/2/91/2089902910044245243DfXdXN_th.jpg (http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2089902910044245243DfXdXN)

http://thumb3.webshots.net/t/56/156/7/18/90/2438718900044245243tdZsej_th.jpg (http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2438718900044245243tdZsej)

After much filling and sanding, and filling and sanding, and... (well, you can guess), I could not resist to finally glue a few things together.
The bigger parts were drilled, and a little wire inserted to hold them together - I hope it'll make a stronger joint than CA glue alone.
It'll need some -you guessed- filling and sanding, before I can proceed.

[spongya77]

http://thumb3.webshots.net/t/55/55/6/97/80/2269697800044245243nPHbdR_th.jpg (http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2269697800044245243nPHbdR)

http://thumb3.webshots.net/t/34/35/6/22/13/2949622130044245243vBWznq_th.jpg (http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2949622130044245243vBWznq)

What do you know? I started this blog, because I was scared of full resin kits, and though it's far from perfect, it's getting ready!
How long does CA last? I'm kind of worried that the whole thing will fall apart in a few years...
Does anybody know of a good artillery crew set? I'd like to put it in a small dio. Maybe try forced perspective on a dio, too, with a tank in the background.

[Panzergrenadier]

It is one cool beast!:thumb: Resin kits are the thing I still need to try myself one day.

I think CA will last for a good long time. As for the crew, I think DML's kit for the ''Karl'' will fit this one too?

[krisha]

What is it in a resin kit, that makes it better than normal plastic? better details or..?

[spongya77]

Lawrence,
Sorry for the low resolution... I just read your post. I'll try to upload them later on Webshots in higher res. (The software rescales them this small.) Maybe the finished piece.

I wanted to use epoxy, but was lazy to get gloved up, mix the stuff, and all... it was easier with CA.

As for resin... many of the stuff produced in resin is simply not available. It's cheaper to make a resin kit, so "garage companies" usually chose this form. But the detail can surpass that of the plastic kits. I do not know why, but resin sets usually have incredible details. (Cockpits, equipment, interiors, etc.) The only real drawback (apart from the price) is that resin dust is toxic. So all sawing, and sanding has to be done wet.

How does one weather a gun? I built 2 Flak88s, and a BS-3, and left them relatively clean. All the chipping and rusting is usually overdone on tanks -and tanks do move around, bump into things, and go into inhospitable places. But how about guns? They are probably well-maintained, cleaned, and usually towed on roads. They're not really battered, are they?


Thank you all for your comments. :)

[Fledermaus]

Andras, good job so far :thumb: I love and have many resin kits, like you said the detail level is better than many plastic kits, keep it up :D

[spongya77]

Don't be afraid of the model,it's you the one holding the knife

This actually does apply to me. Big, 1000+ part models do make me nervous :D

[spongya77]

http://thumb3.webshots.net/t/58/558/0/80/79/2190080790044245243tSLwer_th.jpg (http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2190080790044245243tSLwer)

http://thumb3.webshots.net/t/69/69/7/35/29/2271735290044245243OaXYid_th.jpg (http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2271735290044245243OaXYid)

The wheels were wooden, right? I can't find a color photo.

Now, how do you weather a gun? :)
Obviously, it needs to look like something that's made of metal. But most models of guns I have seen are weathered like tanks with heavy chipping, mud, and scratches. I'm a Biologist (so that we establish I'm no expert), who never handled anything resembling a weapon in 1:1 scale, and I'd think an artillery piece is much more taken care of than a tank. It's mainly transported on roads, and it should be cleaned after deployment -after all, artillery units weren't constantly on the move. (Especially deployed in defensive positions.)
But it's only my -possibly faulty- reasoning. (By the way, as I read memoirs, most of the tanks were regularly cleaned up and painted, as well.)

Suggestions, as always, welcome. (After all, I'm in a learning curve here.)

[Panzergrenadier]

It is cool! Looking forward to the next painting steps!:thumb:

About weathering a gun....I think it has to have some signs of wear on certain places, but I agree that big chips in the center of the shield are not realistic. I would go for a solid base coat and the optional camo. then give it a standard, even a bit heavy wash as the transporting would mean getting road dirt on it. Then some metallic wear on the areas where the gun movement happens and empty shell casings hit it. Crew wear should also be considered. Well, the sum it up in a way, you have to use your common sense in weathering. :)

[FAUST]

Ola Andras.

You really did a good job on this gun my friend.. Should look really good when painted. Looking forward to how you will finish it. Are you leaving it sandcolored or will it be a camo-ed gun?

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

[spongya77]

Thank you for the suggestions -the next steps are actually the ones I really like. I'll try to put it into a small base -another first. (Mainly because the two legs are not perfectly aligned...) Maybe put the 11/1 halftrack next to it.
What kind of camo pattern do you think I should use? The color is pretty faded and dull right now. Some filters and oils should take care of it, though. I only went with the yellow because however important this gun was in the German army, I can't really find too many color schemes and references on it online. (It even was used in the Hungarian army, but information, of course, is nonexistent.) Yellow seemed a safe choice :)