BertUS
Senior Airman
That would be a Day to remember, great they given you all acces, I read the report with a lot of interest
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Whoever you work for ain't paying you enough.Well... your reaction is exactly why I post all this stuff. Thanks!
Had a brief trip to Michigan to attend a memorial for the wife of the great fellow who played drums in my epic R & B band at Michigan State in the mid 60s. I have two very close friends from that era living there and was able to see both. Wish it could have been a happier occasion. They're both suffering the effects of age, and that's upsetting to see also, but what can you do. Just be there and support them.
When I got back I got into action again processing more changes, creating print files and starting to print the vast quantity of work still needing production. I'm also beginning the design process for the display and have enlisted the help of another band member. My bass player lives in Albuquerque and is an exceptional wood worker. He's offered to make the base for the model.
What you see here is a smattering of the parts count needed to build this beast. I have successfully printed the lowest level of the double powder trunk with the control booth. I lost a couple of the door latching dogs and may replace them with wire. They measure about 0.010" and I have both wire and drills of that size. I printed more powder scuttles so I now have enough good ones for both the inner and outer powder flat rings. I have enough doors now. And reprinted successfully the gun rear compartments with the changes in the rammer operator's seat and removed those clunky steps that I had placed in version 1.0.
Overnight, I printed the separate pinion gear and carriers for the traversing gear. This way I was able to better control the attachment points of the supports. Right now, as I've designed the cutaways, the traverse pinions are not visible. I may add more cutouts to display them. Slowly but surely I will get the stuff printed. I believe I have enough resin to finish the job. If not, Amazon delivers in one day with Prime.
In this image you'll aslo see Chobani Yogurt cut upside down. I use these for everything and found that putting a glob of Bondic (CA, PSA, etc.) on it and using a toothpick applicator I get a very clean job. The cups are polypropylene and are impervious to solvent glues and CA.
Note: that I printed the powder bag sets separately. They were causing print failures in the powder trunk prints. This way I can add them more randomly.
View attachment 679561
As I've noted before, but I think it's worth repeating, the biggest challenge for me in scratch-building complex models is there are no instructions. No instructions means you have to develop the build sequence entirely in your head. I don't have difficulty doing this, but I imagine that it's a talent more than a skill. It's very hard to teach it to someone else. Jack Nicklaus used to play the entire golf course in his mind before a tournament. He'd walk the course and play each hole in his head. I do the same in modeling, usually as I'm going to sleep or just when arising.
The build sequence in this model is daunting. There are plenty of parts that must go on in the right order or you will be snookered.
Here's my first rendering of the display. I wil be adding numbers to each major component and have a key on the back or flat surface under the guns explaining what they're looking at. The back will be mirror and possibly the base so the rear can be viewed too. I started adding the numbers in SketchUp, but it wasn't worth the effort since they aren't being created integrated with the parts, but will laser cut and added afterwards. For the details that are in the gun house and viewed from the top, I'm thinking of using some stiff wire to have the number suspended above the part in question. Examples: ramming machines, charging cradle, gun slides and breach, etc.
View attachment 679562
The central tube is 5/8" o.d. copper tubing that I will solder to a screwed flange. The flange will be solidly attached to the base board for a rigid connection. Right now I don't have the outer shell touching the base, but I suppose I could lengthen it to add more support. Since the parts are created exactly from the drawings you see here, the finished model will look pretty much what you see here. There are pieces missing on the gun house, but that doesn't matter to convey what I'm designing here. I'm really itching to reach a point to start building and painting.
Speaking of painting. Interior walls are white. Exterior I'm making haze gray since this is the WW2 configuration. Decks in the gun house were linoleum. Decks in the projectile flats was greased steel so I'm going with burnt iron color. Decks in the powder flat I'm assuming were linoleum also. Guns were haze gray and I have good color pictures of them at least, although it's their refit 1980s color.