lancfans' 8th Army Grant Command Tank *** Finished ***

[lancfan]

Did you know that it is said that that was the same mindset that caused Cessna to abandon the light aircraft market!

David.

[ShaunW]

Did you know that it is said that that was the same mindset that caused Cessna to abandon the light aircraft market!

No I didn't and that is a sad state of affairs.

[lancfan]

In many ways Shaun this is a very sad and sorry world.

David.

[MerlinJones]

A knife!?! I would've sworn it was a screwdriver tip.
Knives involved "getting a grown-up to help you".

Regards,
Bruce

[lancfan]

The tip of a small modelling knife can be easily, safely and sufficiently heated with a tea light candle to surgically melt a track join but a screwdriver will need a more powerful heat source such as a gas ring or blow lamp and a screwdriver would also radiate so much heat that you risk ruining the tracks.

David.

[Molly-new]

Good luck with the track joining. I have just used this technique on an old Airfix Tiger 1 to quite good effect. The problem I had is that I put the join on the top and is quite prominent now, I wish I had put it at the bottom and it could then be hidden under a road-wheel.

[lancfan]

The tracks are now ready to go on and the top picture shows that one track is in position ready for the rear idler to be glued in place on the hull with the track wrapped around it so as not to damage the suspension. The lower picture shows both tracks in place and in the event they weren't tight so would probably not have caused any harm if the complete suspension was glued down before they were fitted- better safe than sorry!. The idler will now be left for the glue to dry and then the track will be glued to the wheels before fitting the dust skirts.


David.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Back in the old days, when tracks, wheels, and other things all required heat, I thought it was natural for all hobby knives to have a singed blade ....

That's one approach for track, but it works best when the track isn't tight so there is not undue stress placed on the idler while the glue is setting. Sometimes a "wedge" is needed to hold the idler in place. For those with sand skirts, I'm happy to just glue the track onto the sponson and not even worry about joining it.

[ShaunW]

These olde worlde tracks can indeed cause some real issues, I'm sure a lot of us have been there with bowstring tight tracks pulling idler wheels off, or having to shorten tracks at the other end of the spectrum Quite often I also don't bother joining the tracks if there are deep enough side skirts to hide the fact and will simply glue the tracks to the wheels out of sight. For that reason, IMHO, vehicles that feature prominent side skirts are a blessing because not having to join the tracks inevitably takes a lot of hassle out of making them fit properly. The tracks on your model look pretty good to me David and at least aren't threatening to pull your suspension to bits!

[lancfan]

Since the last picture the sand skirts have been fitted and removed to be redone. I was unhappy with the way I had made the carrier bin on the front sand skirt so I have removed the old one and re-done it in a more realistic manner. The view on the left is the front of the tank after I have cleaned it up again and the right hand picture is of the reworked details.


David.

[lancfan]

When checking photographs of 8th Army Grant tanks including montgomerys' Command Tank I realised that the rear storage bins are not as moulded by Airfix, the offside bin is smaller so to correct this I sawed the top off it and sanded it down to form a new lid as seen here. all that remains to be done now is to add the final details tomorrow and the tank can be painted and weathered, hopefully finishing this model tomorrow evening.


David.

[lancfan]

With the main details now in place the Grant Tank is now ready for painting, decals, stowage & weathering later today.


David.

[ShaunW]

That is looking really nice David and I have to say that the Grant is a curiously handsome tank, quite stately looking.

[lancfan]

The Grant is the most involved build I will do for this GB and it is now nearing completion, this build has been more involved than intended as working from available and anonymous pictures of both of montgomerys' tanks to work this out some details and about a third of the camouflage have been guesswork, the basic colour scheme (as near as I can get to it) is now down. The decals have been applied starting with the identification roundel but exactly how large it was and where it was sited on Montgomerys' command tank I do not know so its position on my model is a guess. Although I do know the serial number for the petrol machine (my chosen subject) I do not have the correct serial as a decal and do not have any clear decal sheet at the moment in order to make my own so will substitute it for another number and weather these markings down to obscure the figures. For those not familiar with this, the tank I am modelling is one of the two Grant tanks used by Montgomery in north Africa and Italy, one was petrol engined and the other was a diesel, this diesel tank is the one brought back to Britain and is now on display at IWM Lambeth.
This is how the model looked after being painted overall in Light Stone.

The petrol engined tank I am modelling does not appear to have survived to the present day and will be modelled as it appears to have looked in North Africa, 1942.
The model is now as it stood before the stowage was fitted this is now being done followed by weathering and then final detailing to complete the model.


David.

[lancfan]

The Grant wil be finished tonight after I have watched 'Doctor Who'. With two GBs to lead in the new year I will have to abandon my plans for a 'pair of braces' and limit this to the one model, it is unfortunate that I have not been able maintain the build numbers of the Sea Fury GB but the modification on the Grant and my other GB obligations have meant that to try to build any more models here would mean that I would fail to complete my Saro SRA-1 for the Flying Boat GB. THe missing builds will not be lost as they meet existing personal build themes and will appear in my workbench Window in due course.

David.