Jhdumas

Hey All...

I just wanted to point out something I found on the Shapeways site.... its from a modder I have mentioned before ( https://www.shapeways.com/shops/zavod3d ). He has made a 1/16 set of Weld Beads with a couple of different backs for different situations..
I just ordered 3 of them... I believe it adds-up too 86 inches per set. The rear of the strips will obviously need to be sanded to fit before being applied... as I said, I have just ordered 3 sets so I am not 100% sure yet if Shapeways will even print such a thing...
but I thought I'd pass it along. We all hate to mod Weld Beads and the out-come, (in my case at least) is spotty at best .. so.. this may be be a great big help and a big time saver .. Just thought I'd pass it on...

Joe

P.S. Depending on how it works out..Maybe I'll ask him to do various widths for the various vehicle needs. Or a set of sloppy Russian Weld Beads.. I mean almost every WWII AFV had visible Welds.. so this could be really useful... Plus Eelke is a great guy and his work is
Spectacular! Extremely detailed... check out his Shapeways Shop (See link above)

Crius

He seems to have some really good products, I wonder if he could do those weld beads in 1/6 scale? I have to put a weld bead all along the muffler on the back and I've been trying to figure out how I'm going to do it. Some of these in 1/6 scale would be the perfect answer.

Jhdumas

Cirus...I am not sure if Shapeways can print 1/6 scale things as they are quite large... especially long things like a liner weld beam..maybe is shorter sections... I believe there is a size limit... but I am not sure...Joe

Panther F

Not that MY opinion matters much (lol) I really don't like it (and it's hard to tell 100% w/o it in my hands) but at least it's an option. I mean, I barely was sold on the resin zimm sheets for my Jagdpanther so this looks a bit strange.

I tried for the first time styrene strips and liquid cement for weld beads. .010" X .030" and it was satisfying to say the least. It lacks some detail but it does show something there.

Jhdumas

Fair enough... as I said I haven't seen it yet.. I'm not 100% sure Shapeways will even print it.. I just saw it on Zavod 3D's site and purchased 3 of them.. we will see...
Hopefully it will, at the very least and as you say, "show that some thing is there".

Personally, I hate modding weld beams...

Joe

Crius

That sounds interesting. What kind of tool did you use to create the marks? I was thinking about this tool from one of those fingernail trimmer kits because this one has a nice radius to it that should re-create the weld bead. The weld on the Hetzer muffler is kinda wide, maybe as much as 1 inch wide in real life, My LHS has evergreen and plastruct and I think the plastruct is marked both metric and standard and I think about 4mm x 1.5mm might be good for 1/6 scale. Where did you hear about the technique? FSM, maybe? I imagine FineScale Modeler might have a how to. I'll have to check it out. What cement did you use? I have both testors and tamiya extra thin, the latter may be better for this.

Panther F

Nothing groundbreaking. I used the flat blade from an eyeglass repair tool set. Since Plastruct is softer than the Tamiya plastic I just tacked it in place, waited a few hours then gently coated the strip with the liquid cement to start melting and carefully left a tool mark in the STRIP ONLY being careful not to touch the tank itself. Hey... works for me!

A friend once told me that since it's 1/16, all detail is reduced anyway so it's not as 'revealing' as the real thing. Kinda like a soft edge camo... it's way over reproduced.

So like on the roof of the tank the periscope guards have 'something' there and not just attached. The rest of THIS tank will be covered with zimm sheets.


BTW... doesn't someone already make a weld beads using resin? So it would be much thinner than a printed version? I don't know, just guessing.

Jhdumas

I once saw an Aber set but it looked awkward as it was nothing more than amorphic edged brass ... like all of the other Aber stuff.. I think the printed stuff will definitely have to be man-handled into shape if it is too work at all... I figure its worth a try.. I made those Zimmerit sheets work... it took a lot of work, but I did get them to work eventually.
I am assuming that these weld Beams will be similar.. anything to let me avoid hand modding all of those beads....

Joe

Panther F

Actually weld beads are very simple, depending on what type weld or seam it's filling. The way I described you can increase the effect by using a thicker strip or a round rod but you do make the start/stopping point harder to achieve. Most modelers just use 2 part milliput and roll it to the size they want, place it and use a tool to score it.

I've just never bothered with any of it until this Jagdpanther build where once you start detailing one area, you might as well go the distance since the styrene strip is so simple.

At least with printing we are starting to see much more outside the box.

Jhdumas

Yeah.. there is just so much of it...

Crius

I'll be attaching the styrene strip to an aluminum tube so I don't have to worry about touching the edges. I think I can use super glue to attach the strip, then use the cement to soften it. And since it's an aluminum tube, if i screw it up I can peel it off and sand it smooth to start again.

RichJohnson

I used red auto body spot glazing putty in a syringe with a brass tube at the end and squeezed slowly as I moved it along and then used an exacto to shape a bit. Wasn't fast but came out awesome.
Also did it with putting chuncks of styrene into a bottle of glue making a toothpaste consistency then using said method. Didn't really like the results.

Jhdumas

Very Interesting.. Thanks... Joe

Panther F

Remember... welding lines should be VERY uniform and in a straight line to be correct, even the real thing is. Not blotches of liquid metal forming a lumpy straight line.

I MIG welded several things during my career as a Certified Auto Tech and wanted to go to school for it too! Welding pays big bucks but I chose a family life, doing the easy thing working in dealerships as a specialist and never chased that dream.

Using milliput or body filler will create a lumpy, blotchy line... very messy. While using a material that is already straight like a piece of styrene and the results are much cleaner and straight. I wanted to replicate the weld lines in the roof of my Jagd that Tamiya had already there, so what I ended up with gave me those results. Any other way will look like crap. I tested the crap out of things so much it was comical and should have photographed it.

I'll try to snap a photo of how it ended up later this week when I get back on the build.

Panther F

Like this:

Okay, I'm not the worlds greatest photographer but you get the idea. Sorry... no videos. LOL!

I still need to go over them but it looks better than caulk from a syringe or gun and much better than a lumpy rolled out piece of putty.

Jhdumas

Kool!... very helpful indeed.... I really do not look forward to this part of any build.. my health makes this task more and more difficult to preform... As you know nearly every WWII AFV had Weld Beads.. and in most cases there is so just so much of it.... I have come to look at this very necessary mod as a giant burden and am always looking for anything that will help lighten the load.... I would love to see your pictures.. so, please by all means, upload them as they will not only be helpful for me, but for the many other builders who are interested in this process... Thank You again, Joe

by the way on a separate theme... I have arranged for a few really cool mods to be modeled and printed...

Coming up are:
1.) A mod for Ludwigs (Christian's) 1/16 Hetzer. It is a mod to convert his Hetzer into a Jagdpanzer 38t Hetzer sIG 33... I have Christians Hetzer Kit and already had a very detailed Hetzer upgrade set made by Eelke (Zavod 3D)... it really brings Christians kit into a
fully detailed kit... although Ludwigs Hetzer is much appreciated, it is seriously devoid of detail.. this upgrade solves this deficiency. Once that was accomplished I thought what would be a a cool and do(able) alternate conversion... thus the Jagdpanzer 38t sIG 33.

2.) The next is the Sd.Kfz. 251 ausf D / 22... same as above.. and the 75 pak 40 is now available through the Hungarian group and Asiatam. I have gathered some of this Conversion already... Am waiting for the Pak 40 mount and some of the rear gunner crew detailed parts.

3.) The next few are for German AA tanks based on the Heng Long Panther and Panzer IV. The first being the Flakpanther ausf D / 37mm.. this is a field-modification vehicle.. but most of the parts are available.. The Panthe Ausf D is a Profiline / Asiatam conversion... the schurtzen
hangers I had modeled by Eelke (Zavod 3D)...the 37mm Flak is from Verlinden and the base Berg Panther Turret Ring Cover and details as well as the Ammo and the drivers/ radio operators' extendable tarp cover frame were done by Warren... all very cool. I have about 95% of it already.

4.) and finally, the Flakpanzer IV Mobelwagen (late). this will be a mod for the Heng Long Panzer IV.. the flak 43 comes from the Hungarian group... the base Panzer IV comes from Heng Long and the Rest comes from Warren...

RichJohnson

You have not seen the welding jobs on the old US military vehicles then. Many cases they are not the nice stack of dimes a good welder tries to achieve. Many times I have even seen the tip of a rod sill sticking out of the weld.

Jhdumas

I have very similar results... all very painstakingly accomplished... Thank You .. It looks great!

Panther F

I only tried welds because THIS tank has zimm covering the majority of the tanks surface. I know there are weld lines EVERYWHERE!

In the factory, welding was done right.

afv aficionado

Hi Guys
Don't know if you're aware of it or not - https://www.armorama.com/modules.php...opic_id=248854 -

Mal

Panther F

Looks interesting but might be limited in application.

Jhdumas

Plus its 1/35 scale

Panther F

Read the whole story, it's for 1/16 and 1/24th too.

Jhdumas

Thanks.. I got it.. Joe

Jhdumas

update... well the welds came in and all I can say is that they are tiny.. I am surprised that Shapeways even printed them... .I'm going to try the Brass product that was introduced earlier in this thread..
I'll keep all whi is interested posted as I move forward... Thanks, Joe