From: Think Tank Subject: Think Tank Vol.0091 01/10/2001 Think.tank@tesco.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS' INDEX 1: RAF SdKfz 222 #2 2: Help with half-track tracks 3: WW2 diorama gallery 4: Resin casting -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Steve Hubbard [faasig@btinternet.com] Subject: RAF SdKfz 222 #2 I have just read with interest Paul Middleton's article on the RAF SdKfz 222. Having just completed the Tamiya SdKfz 223 I was looking for something to go alongside it on the table at shows. At last Sunday's (23/09) IPMS Farnborough model show I picked up Tamiya's SdKfz 222 at a reasonable price second hand along with an Elephant turned barrel. I had finished the 223 in grey camouflage and was looking for something a little different for the 222, the RAF captured 222 fits the bill perfectly! The desert scheme will make a nice alternative to the grey and the RAF markings will make it stand out just a little more. Perfect timing Paul! Any more information (a photo or two would be perfect!) on the RAF impressed vehicles would be of immense assistance. Steve Hubbard IPMS (UK) Fleet Air Arm SIG. http://www.ipmsuk-faasig.ic24.net/flightdeck.html faasig@btinternet.com Flights Of Fantasy Scale Aircraft Modelling Website. http://homepages.tesco.net/~hornisse/hanger.html hornet@ic24.net -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Daniel Taylor [d-taylor@dircon.co.uk] Subject: Help with half-track tracks Hello fellow thinkers, I'm in the process of finishing off an M5A1 in 1/35, converted from the Tamiya M3A2. Not a short task. But then, what is? My problem is the tracks. Does anyone have a cunning technique to make the tracks look a little better? All the photos and preserved vehicles I have seen show them to be pleasantly taut. The original Tamiya items balloon around the wheels, completely oblivious to scale gravity. Most upsetting. Why oh why don't I stick to braille scale? It's so much easier to cheat things. (This paragraph should be regarded as rhetorical, please don't answer, I'm in danger of finding out the truth.) I'm trying to complete for the London MAFVA Open on October 6th (small plug) (No, wait, big plug - St Mary's Church Hall, Edith Road, West Kensington - 10am onwards, comps traders and the opportunity to find out if I can do the tracks justice). Now, where was I? Oh yes - if you have an idea about the tracks, please mail me off list. If anyone comes up with a method that works, I'll post it on next week's list. Thanks Dan One of the aftermarket concerns (I think it is Tank Workshop) makes a set of tracks and sprockets/idlers in resin, The tracks come as a flat one piece strip, which is far from the original design (the real things are reinforced continuous rubber bands) but at least could be heated and made to fit without much sag. I have not examined them in detail but I do recall that the most difficult part is the guide horn in the centre, which is a series of overlapping plates. As I recall, the resin track does not actually deal with this problem. Robert -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: mike.mallett [mike.mallett@ntlworld.com] Subject: WW2 diorama gallery from alt.military.uk "r.wells2" wrote in message news: ... > This site consists of a selection of my dioramas portraying primarily German A.F.Vs (Armoured Fighting Vehicles), many set against carefully chosen panoramic backdrops. I have attempted to create appropriate atmospheres to each piece which I hoped would accurately portray specific theatres of war. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/r.wells2/Index.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: Listmaster Subject: Resin casting I am now considering embarking on some experiments in resin casting and would welcome suggestions from those who have tried it as to the suitable types of resin and rubber for the job and also sources. As I am in the UK and will doubtless be acquiring my supplies here, this may be better directed at UK subscribers. First source to come to mind is (obviously?) Tiranti but I looked at some stuff on Optum's stand at Trucks & Tracks last May - has anyone tried it? However, once I start going wrong and posting queries on techniques (although I currently have vast quantities of words on the theory of it all), everyone can feel free to chip in with suggestions ;-) Robert PS Chris - This means that your Sdkfz 250 bits are in danger of being done this year! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert Lockie (Think Tank Listmaster) Back issues of Think Tank (thanks to Shane Jenkins) can be found at: http://www.tac.com.au/~sljenkins/thinktank/thinktank.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume