Cheers G …. Appreciate it mate … those references from your books were invaluable 
Got all the bogies made up and put aside until I need to place them.
Going a bit off piste with the instructions and following Donald’s @oldwarloke recommendation about fitting the sponson boards first then the rear panel before the drive axle….
I removed some moulded on cabling that was to the right of the driver on the sidewall, and added the mounting and guide plate, then the cable ….this will eventually go up to the drivers panel, and other end goes through the rear cab bulkhead.
Spare PE added for the base plate with some MENG bolt heads.
Oh and forgot…. Added the rear hull panel. And went in the order Donald @oldwarloke recommended.. plate, then drive shaft union and then the drive axle ( yet to be fitted)
Simply glued the bottom first, let that set, then one side, then the other to make sure it all lined up, then the upper sections down onto the sponson… nice and straightforward.
Just a few more bits and pieces done ….
Got some parts added to the rear hull plate, namely the exhaust system ( not fitting the down pipes yet) and the mechanism that connect to the inner side of the drive sprockets.
Got some primer down on the build as it is, and will do a base coat tomorrow….
Along with the rough built up air box and pipe work. Just stuff from spares box cobbled together. Looks half decent, but you won’t really see it when engine casing is on.
That’s all coming together very nicely John, especially liking the finer detail you’re adding, it really adds to the whole build,
.
Will the carrier be getting any crew?
Cheers,
.
G
Thanks G … ref the crew, most likely not …. Figures are my nemesis usually, and I don’t want to put a Frankenstein figure in there and spoil it all…
Only viable ones are from FC model trend, and they are around the £30 area for 2 seated ones, not a bank breaker, but after having spoken with Andy about it, we are content with adding storage : there’s a set from FC Model T again which is ok and comes with a helmet, and I can mould some more webbing/ bags using those as templates… also looking at some jerrycans for mounting on the rear as per a great many images I’ve seen.
The article Ryan @Tank_1812 included in an above post looked good, but I don’t think it’s on production yet, plus looking at similar items from them, I think the cost of it will be easily around the £150 to £200 mark…. Far to much.
I got some more bits added and have done a basic coat of SCC15 OD on some areas inside …
Engine compartment cover
Found the next part that needs some attention… a housing to the right of the driver protects cables going up onto the driver’s instrument panel.
The kit part is to thick and has to way to have cables coming from it so I will need to cut away the end, and make up that area with thin sheet and it also has a lip to one side.
Shaded area on kit part where the knife is, is what needs to be cut away and replaced….
Shows the thickness of kit part and the plastic strip it will be replaced with.
Should be fairly straightforward and once done, can add some more cables for detailing .
Removed the offending section and joined the 2 thinner plastic strips together then cut them to size.
I will try and find a 1 to 1 real image of the area so it becomes a bit clearer as to what I’m aiming for
And as mention, this is the area of the cable guard I am aiming on replicating.
Ringed area in red. Images from open source online and for ref/discussion only.
I know it’s a long shot but never say never … does anyone have any 1/16th British stowage bits they don’t need ? Ideally a helmet or backpack etc…. I can make the tarps etc quite easily, but the niche items are either out of stock, or apparently worth their weight in gold !! I am getting some jerry cans and decals but would really like a helmet as stowage if possible ??
Got the cable guard finished just needs fitting. Was definitely worth the time and effort to rebuild this over the kits solid offering .
And the overall piece.
So, stowage and extra bits for the kit are in my opinion priced to a crazy level, ….. I have got a few of the cheaper bits available to add some visual draw to areas, but I will be attempting a scratch build of the bren mount for the front plate ….
It is available as a 3D / resin print but the price is just stupid, compared to the cost of the kit, however, I will put on a link to it so you can see what I’m aiming for .. I won’t put an image up in case it goes against copyright.
Link.
16217 1:16 Bren gun MkII with pintle mount for Universal Carrier - AFV modeller
And this is the assembled bits of scrap I intend to use to try and make it.
Luckily, I have the images downloaded and the kit plate and Bren and with those, I can judge dimensions etc to a pretty exact level.
Have also fully secured the engine cover / compartment in place.
Mate I’ve found you something you could adapt to be a 1/16 helmet!
Bizarrely you probably could do that !!
