streetsquid

MAUS45,
Once again you're right on track with my thinking. I too was planning on scratching the casemate, but ran into the engineering and manufacturing of the ball "mantlet". And if the shape wasn't challenging enough, to actually engineer it with the 10 degrees of traverse and 85 degrees of elevation like it's 1 to 1 scale big brother would be an another issue entirely.

In fact looking at the way this resin one has been cast I may end up ditching the 10 degrees of traverse and just focus on building a servo elevation unit. I'm not convinced all the work would be worth the small amount of side to side travel you would get and would net very minimal return on investment in terms of battling.

Thanks again!


StreetSquid

streetsquid

88 (Joseph)
Thanks man! Don't know how helpful this has been up to this point, but it certainly has tested my patience, creativity and skills thus far, and we havent even gotten to the fun part yet..................painting and weathering!


More to follow I promise!

Squid

streetsquid

Alright class please take your seats, (LOL)

Man oh man, progress on this project has been slow and anything but steady. Let me start this posting with my hats off to you tankers who actually have a "real winter". Now please try to keep this in context, I do live in Arizona, where the Big Orange Ball in the sky is usually shining for 310 plus days per year, and temperatures from June through September have seen us have 22 straight days of over 110 degree (F) temps, and December usually brings balmy temps somewhere in the mid 60's. A few years ago when it hit 122 degrees they had to shut our International Airport, because the charts didn't go above 120 and they weren't sure the planes would have enough lift to get off the ground.

Now I hazzard to say this in fear of being laughed right off of this forum, but it does get cold here as well. But then again cold is a relative term. Moday when I left for work is was 27 and dry, very dry which makes the cold a really biting cold, and it never got above 41 or 42, and it has stayed that way for the most of this week. Now like I said I realize, before you blast me, a lot of you live in climates where 42 is T-shirt weather, but not here!

Well where this project has required so much grinding filing and sanding on the resin parts I have been doing most of the major work at night in my garage with the door open. I've bundled up and braved the cold but nothing and I mean NOTHING wants to dry in those temps. Not glue, not putty, not Bondo, truthfully I never realized how rough you guys in colder climates have it. Thats a true handi-cap and has slowed my progress temendously.

But after 3 days of drying the bondo was hard enough to sand without gawling up the paper. and I was finally able to get some things engineered and the casemate mated to the lower hull. I started by cutting the rear deck section of the Tamiya top plate off, immediatly in front of the intake grills. With a lot of trial and error, grinding-test fitting, filing-test fitting, sanding-test fitting, grinding some more test fitting, thinning the resin, cutting away excess, filing, grinding and test fitting some more I finall got the casemate to sit down flush on the top plate of the front hull. I had to go so far as to change the angle of the bottom of the front edge of the casemate to get a cleaner line. I had already removed the stock Tamiya front glacis plate and permanently installed the top plate of the front hull. I then superglued the rear deck section to the back of the casemate.

I felt this joint was weak and needed serious reinforcing, so I grabbed some aluminum angle stock and fabricated a reinforcing "L" bracket that was epoxied to the inside edge of the back wall of the casemate and the underside of the rear deck. After roughing up the metal I used a combination of epoxy and JB weld and then clamped it into position to ensure a good bond and strong joint. Because of the height I did have to grind out a shallow area so the aluminum would clear the round crew escape hatch at th eback of the casemate, as it is operational and will have the main power switch installed behind it.

The front of the casemate with be held in position with a combination of brass pins to locate it, and rare earth magnets to hold it down. But more on that later

Squid

streetsquid

Guys,

I also fabricated the shot splash that will hide the seam between the casemate and the top plate of the front hull - oh I don't know 3 or 4 times. I tried different materials, different thicknesses and heights and changed the angle several time until I finally came up with something that looked right to me.

The final peice is blocked out and will require some finishing as it started out as a piece of 1/2" X 1/2" white pine, I added a 20 degree angle to the front face and 22 1/2 degree angles to each end using my band saw (yeah those were some tedious cuts with my fingers precariously close to the blade). I will also drill recesses in the top edge and then drop in hex bolt details. It will take several coats of primer and putty to smooth it out enough to disguise the wood and make it look like steel.


Craig

streetsquid

And finally for tonight,
Using a variety of tapered and riffler files I cleaned up the dovetail finger joints where the rolled steel sheets interlock on the casemate construction and then started to add some of the rough "torch cut" effects on the edges of exposed plate.

I had done this on my King Tiger and was very please with the outcome. Thankfully this resin is a little bit softer than the Tamiya styrene on my KT, so this is actually easier and quicker to achieve the same look. The idea here is to sell the idea that this solid hunk of resin is actually made up of rough cut undividual plates like the real Sturm was. After a few more details are added I will also be adding in all the weld detail with putty applied with a syringe and then worked with a small dental tool

Fedback, thoughts, criticism and idea welcome!

Street

Airbrushler

i'm liking it Streetsquid keep the pics coming not too many Sturms out there anymore

Ronan87

27 lol... It's been 15 here for weeks LOL

sollie

Let's talk weather first :-) This week it's been -18 to -20c + wind here ( that would be some -2f+ wind at you're place ) now even for us Norwegian dudes that's starting to get a bit on the cold side :-) Also taking it's toll on the car battery ..

It makes for some great cross country skiing though.

http://www.facebook.com/stian.sollie.9#!/photo.php?v=10151114668161582&set=vb.557041581&type=2&theater

But you do get snow from time to time , right ? It's darn funny to take the tank out for a spin in the snow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRbTOGLwY80


on to the Sturm. You say 'Fedback, thoughts, criticism and idea welcome! Well, we have seen you're builds before, seen the workaround problems that work, seen the paint job in the end
(I keep coming back to the elefant build for inspiration all the time :-) ) I dive in here as soon as I see there has been an udate :-) The resin work is top notch, I have a su76i resin kit I got as a gift last year. It seems so brittle and fragile, so I have put it on the shelf for the time, but this tread is giving me the urge to start on it. The groove for the weld lines is the same as I did on my JP build, so much easier to work with putty and hold it in place. Anyhow on with the class :-)



pic's included: Skiing and JP weld lines.

Panther F

Yeah... not too many actually built them. I used the Imperial Models kit with a Tamiya TI & WECOHE wheels on mine, some went all out with the $$$ WECOHE kit and then the later RTR, which didn't look too bad.


This one here is shaping up very nicely.














~ Jeff

MAUS45

Looks like you are on the down hill side of this build Craig!!! It looks great. Like the way you worked the shot splash and engine deck. When you start painting you will think you are o vacation after the physical building you had to do!!!

Ronan87

We are lucky for the past few weeks, only around -10 C. But right before the holidays it was a nice -15 to -25 C everyday.

I haven't cross country skied in YEARS... i miss it!

edoubleaz

My Feedback: (1)

Still cant wait to shoot holes in the rear with my tank destroyer while you try to get over a few dragons teeth or get stuck in the ditches.....

streetsquid

Airbrushler,
Thank you! I agree there arent many out there, they seem to be almost as rare as the real ones were. I'm pushing to get this one done, I have every intention of having this one ready to battle by our February battle. I'm hoping to be into paint within the next week!


Craig

streetsquid

Ronan87,
I completely understand and that's why I prefaced it with probably getting laughed right off this forum. I know the majority of the population doesn't get whether like we do, so when it gets cold we're whimps. But by the same token I've seen others in cooler regions complain in the summer when temps get close to the triple digits, and we usually say it's not really hot till you hit above 110 degrees.

Sadest part is I was actually born in Massechusetts, so we'll just say I've climatized (LOL)


Street

streetsquid

Sollie,
Glad to see you make the most of the white stuff. I guess if you didnt you would go outside but for a couple months of the year. I'm sure like anywhere else, you simply make do with the whether at hand. Putting a positive spin on it I like to look at it like this, at least I don't have to shovel sunshine

The welds on your JP look great, nice job. I used the same technique to great sucess on my KT (see below)

As far as your other comments, man thank you for the kind words!

I'm glad somebody gets something out of these threads. I've said it before, I know how to build models and paint them up to look pretty decent, at least I'm usually pretty happy with the results. But I can sit and build models for myself and have for years, but now I've finally found something I enjoy more - sharing! Truthfully, writing these build threads and sharing ideas and techniques really gives me the most satisfaction. I find even when I'm not feeling it, or motivated to work on a model, if I have a thread going the need to post and interact on this forum keeps me moving forward on the build. Thats why I like to include a lot of pictures and write in depth and as descriptive as I can. I just want others to find something useful or inspiring in my threads or to maybe take the fear out of trying something new.

Thank you again!

Streetsquid

streetsquid

Panther F,
Jeff thanx man! This one has been challenging but I'm pluggin away, gonna be a dark and menacing looking beats when all is said and done! Do you have some photos of your Sturm, or a link to the the original build thread, I would love to see it.

One thing I've noticed in this build, although I have not done a side by side comparison yet, this resin conversion looks like the casemate is significantly and noticeably shorter in silhouette than the Matorro RTR. One of my clubmates has a highly modified Matorro that gets the roadwheels driven off of it at almost every battle, so I look forward to seeing them next to each other. I think the resin looks more accurate to pictures I've seen of the real Sturms. Could be bad memory or an optical illusion, but the Matorro looked taller in my mind.

More on this to follow........


Squid

streetsquid

MAUS45,
Yes sir it has been a lot, but not quite in the home stretch yet, still quite a few things to fabricate and detail. I figure I have another solid week to week and a half of build time befre we get to the fun stuff. Painting and weathering always feels like a vaca, because I enjoy it so much, and its what breathes life into the tank and makes it interesting to look at and visually appealing!


Street

streetsquid

E Double,
Seriosuly dude? Your gonna shoot holes in my rear with your "tank destroyer", let me guess another green Sherman with some styrene sheet up armor and beefy gun that you'll want to call an Allied heavy - Palease!

The only way your even gonna get a single shot at my rear, let alone the 9 it will take to kill this is if you have a bunch of your little minions swarm me like locusts from all angles, and we both know that will only happen if you first kill ALL of the other Axis tanks, which happens rarely enough to be called a fluke on the DAK field!

BRING IT!
Little Sherman Boy!!! [&o]
Squidness

thecommander

Hi Squid,

Give them give them hell Craig. I love running I F A tanks in infra red tank battle. I have two JTs and an Elefant. The Elefant is a Hooben and I am not very happy with the way they are engineered. My Jagdtigers are Tamiya based customs with extended bodies. I battle with them very often but they love to throw tracks if you don't keep on top of the pins. I have converted one to metal tracks and that has eliminated that problem on the one JT. The Mato JT's are too short and look phony since they are the same size/length as the King Tigers.

I have been a big fan of the Jagdtiger ever since I first visited the Aberdeen Proving Ground Ordnance Museum as a child in the 70s. My dad said that tank weight more than our house. I remember putting my hands in the gouges that incoming rounds made and I couldn't even cover them up. This past spring during my European tour of the tank museums I was able to spend quite a bit of time with a Sturmtiger in Munster. I will attach some pics that you may find helpful. I put Steve in one of them just to show you guys how big that projectile truly is. The tank is huge and looks like a bunker on wheels. I have two Sturmis sitting on my shelf waiting to become full option battle tanks. I am not too thrilled about the excessively long 10 minute long loading time (give or take a few fingers...or minutes)so I will make mine a Sturmtiger II with the 88 mm gun. I would look forward to battling against your Sturm Tiger but I would have to see to it that you stick to at least a 8 minute reloading time.… LOL. Make sure you have plenty of medium tanks around you to protect your six.

What kind of camouflage do you think you will paint on this? I am very anxious to see how this turns out for you I wish you the best of luck. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will get a little more snow. We have just a little snow on the ground here now. It has gotten bitterly cold again. Now we just need some precipitation. The weather doesn't affect my building too much but Scott has his shop in his garage so he gets the full brunt of everything. The NEAD RC tank club is waiting for some decent snow so we can have a tank battle in the white stuff. We did it last year and all had a blast. We were throwing tracks, getting stuck, and having trouble with batteries just like the real tanks did. I'm sure we'll get some great pics and video when we finally get the cooperation of mother nature.

Please keep the pics and updates coming. This forum is like a mutual support group for all us tank builders since we keep each other motivated through the winter.

edoubleaz

My Feedback: (1)

[/quote]


E Double,
Seriosuly dude? Your gonna shoot holes in my rear with your ''tank destroyer'', let me guess another green Sherman with some styrene sheet up armor and beefy gun that you'll want to call an Allied heavy - Palease!

BRING IT!
Little Sherman Boy!!! [&o]
Squidness

[/quote]


To all that don't know, Squid and I are actually best buds and have to maintain the banter as we head the rival Axis/Allied factions at DAK. Rivalry is take as humor in our club and I can proudly say we never take our "combat" too seriously. To show how much we really treat the club as family, here is Squid with my kid at the last battle.


Untitled by edoubleaz, on Flickr

streetsquid

Wow!
Thanks Ethan! That is truly a flattering picture. Sure Lilly looks cute as always (what else has she got to do) but she wips off my Oakleys and her ol man starts fiendishly snapping away with the Nikon. I look like a real Dorkus Owens! (LOL)


Appreciate ya sharing that one buddy!

Street

Panther F

I thought this would be interesting:

http://www.tiif.de/board.php?boardid...56f3df541bcbd7


Forgive me if it has been discussed earlier... I mean, I only look at the pictures.














~ Jeff

streetsquid

Thecommander(Bob),
Thanks for the posting, info and pics. Looks like you were able to put together an RC tanker's dream vacation. The Sturm is a beast, and I have always loved the brute force and sheer power it possess just sitting still, I can't even begin to imagine the fear have having that thing parked 2000 meters outside my town and lofting shells at my home, had to be simply terrifying for those poor souls on the receiving end of this seige monster!

I would be more than willing to stick to the 10 minute reloading time with 2 provisions. Those minutes would also be scale minutes (1/16th) of real time and I also get to put 6 emitters in the barrel that all fire simeltaneously, to replicate the real damage this could inflict with a single shot! (HAHA)

I believe in, and practice the theory of scale color, so most of my tanks come out on the lighter side as I think this looks more accurate and I generally like that look. But for this project I am doing something different. I really want to capture the dark and sinister look of the Sturm so, although I have not let the cat out of the bag , so to speak, as far exactly what I'm planning for this paint scheme it will be a new look that I've never attempted and will use new techniques that I recently read about and have finally decided to bite the bullet and try. More to follow on that part I promise. I'm hoping that I only have about a week or so worth of actual building left now.


Looking forward to paint and weathering!

Squid

streetsquid

Panther F,
No apologies necessary, I too often only look at the pics, especially if someone is as long winded as me when they type (LOL)
I really appreciate the link, that looks to have some really good photos, some of which I had never seen before!

Thanks!

Craig

streetsquid

Hey guys,
Its been a couple of days and progress was pretty slow over this weekend, but as i've said several times i guess progress ir still progress and at least I'm not moving backward.

I got the front mounting system worked out, and I got kindda lucky. I added 2 reinforcing blocks made of 1/2"x1/2"x 0.60" styrene to the bottom side of the front hull top plate then drilled two 1/16th" diameter holes through the top plate and reinforcing block. I temporarily glued 1/16th dia. brsaa rod into the holes at a 90 degree angle to the top plate. Then using small pliers I bent the rod backwards to match the angle on the mating edge of the casemate. I then marked their locating and drilled to corresponding holes in the bottom edge of the front of the case mate and permanently glued the pins into the reson. Now all I have to do is "latch" the rear deck on the back wall of the of the lower hull (Tamiya's standard mounting for the T1) and then push the 2 brass pins that are afixed to the casemate into their corresponding hull on the front plate. Becasue the pins are bent at and accute angle they create a mechanical lock wchich holds the casemate on without needing magnets. I got lucky!

I also finished profiling all of the torch cut edge details, and fingerlock dovetails on the casemate. It's now ready for welds to be added with putty.

I completed the shot splash and it is now readt to be installed. After closer research I found there was no bolt detail in the recesses along the top of the shot splash. I didnt want to simply drill holes as the holes are shallow enough that bottom is visible and it is flat. A drill bit would have left a connnical impression. So using a peice of 0.30" styrene I drilled 8 - 1/16th" dia holes 1/2" apart. Then glued that new new "top plate" to the body of the shot splash. Becasue they were through holes the wooden block creates the flat bottom of the cavity. I added '030" radius to all edges and added a coat of spackle to hide the wood grain and ad texture. Once it was dry i lightly saned with 220 grit sandpaper to even things out



Streetsquid