I guess 12 months isn't long enough for me to complete a Group Build.
I bought this last year as my entry but as you might have guessed I got distracted by a few automobile builds.
- 1 box top.jpg (80.88 KiB) Viewed 2967 times
Anyway, I thought I should post this now because I haven't built a tank for a while. The original plan was to build it OOB in a similar manner to Philipps great build. But, the more I looked at the kit and the more research I did, the more I thought about doing a battlefield wreck. Even though I started this build in October I waited until now to post it because, to be honest, I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. After looking at a walkaround of an original example of the StChamond I started with the front plate which would be plainly visible through the open door.
- 3 detail to front plate.jpg (74.08 KiB) Viewed 2967 times
Once I had that done I decided to add more to the inner hull including the framing with bolts.
- 2 basic hull.jpg (84.78 KiB) Viewed 2967 times
I wasted a lot of time making most of the interior fittings, ammo holders, seat for the driver, etc. Once I finished all that I realised that any explosion would demolish most of the delicate details I had painstakingly made.
The next big stumbling block was the engine. I had pics of the interior in the museum example but unfortunately, the engine is not original. Again I wasted a lot of time searching for a clear example and in the end, I just cobbled something together.
- 4 power pack.jpg (74.07 KiB) Viewed 2967 times
and here it is mounted in the hull.
- 5 in position.jpg (78.58 KiB) Viewed 2967 times
Once I had the basic interior done it was time to cut open the hull. Out with the Dremel and in quick time, I had this.
- 6 first cuts to hull.jpg (90.59 KiB) Viewed 2967 times
and a mock-up to see what would be visible.
- 7 close up.jpg (67.57 KiB) Viewed 2967 times
Then I started making up the damaged armour plates. One unique feature of the StChamond is the sandwich style armour on the side plates. I was determined to get that right. Then it was just a matter of adding all the bent armour plate to the hull. This is the result so far.
- 8 side view.jpg (97.85 KiB) Viewed 2967 times
- 9 side view into hull interior.jpg (69 KiB) Viewed 2967 times
- 10.jpg (68.91 KiB) Viewed 2967 times
- 11 side armour close up.jpg (58.27 KiB) Viewed 2967 times
- 12.jpg (70.83 KiB) Viewed 2967 times
Finally, these are the main subassemblies. I made sure I could paint everything separately.
- 13 main sub assemblies.jpg (104.23 KiB) Viewed 2967 times
I still have a lot of details to finish off but you can see where I'm headed.
Better get back to the bench.
Thanks for looking.
Vincent
