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CDW

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Everything posted by CDW

  1. CDW
    My current sprue nipper tool collection. soon to be joined by the God Hands. 😬
  2. CDW
    Thanks Edward
  3. CDW
    Of course, yes, that's exactly the way I normally do it with small parts with the small saw I photographed and posted in a previous post. However, this is not sufficient with these small parts, they still break even then. It's one of those things you can't get your mind wrapped around until you try to do it yourself. I've been doing these plastic model kits more than 60 years so there are very few techniques I have not tried. There is a very specific plastic nipper I have not yet tried due to the high cost of it, called "God Hands" nippers. The nippers are designed in a very specific way so that only one side of the nipper is the blade while the other side is a flat piece the blade comes down upon. These nippers are probably the most precise you can buy and are specifically made for very fine work. I will probably break down and order a pair this week. Amazon.com: GodHand Ultimate Nipper 5.0 GH-SPN-120 for Plastic Models : Arts, Crafts & Sewing
  4. CDW
    Thanks for the comments. As for a flat surface and a sharp blade I agree. Trouble is finding a small enough flat surface. It’s like dancing on the head of a pin. As for whittling, plastic too brittle for that.
  5. CDW
    Larger parts are fine, but some are cast so small they easily break apart so yes they are brittle.
  6. CDW
  7. CDW
    I kid you not, at least a half dozen of those delicate parts broke in 4 or more pieces and had to be reassembled/glued back together. What a pain in the butt. I guess you can say, I'm getting my money's worth with plenty of things to do. Guarantee you this is not a kit for the lighthearted.
  8. CDW
  9. CDW
    We were never allowed to cuss when I was growing up, but I learned the technique at Parris Island. Since then, I have had many years learning to perfect this skill but remain a novice compared to THE mentor, Senior Drill Instructor Lee Ermey.
  10. CDW
    The pedals and linkages shown in the previous photos go here. It took some extra cussin’ to get it to fit.
  11. CDW
    To remove the small fragile parts from the sprue trees a razor saw as shown is an invaluable tool. Even then some breakage may occur.
  12. CDW
    I reduce Mr Surfacer at a ratio of approximately 3 parts levelling thinner to 1 part paint.
  13. CDW
    A model like this one has so much detail, assembling and painting it in subassemblies is a necessity. Otherwise I could not get paint on the subject. In this case I am using a very well reduced Mr Surfacer dark primer that will be covered in a Caterpillar yellow in the end. The primer is highly reduced to prevent the paint pigment from obliterating detail.
  14. CDW
    Did they have a side boom? This D7N would be the basis for a side boom scratch build if I had a good set of drawings to reference.
  15. CDW
    First page of instruction manual completed. Look closely and you might see some of those small parts. All were used in the assembly shown.
  16. CDW
    What at first looks like a fly speck is part c36 after it’s cut off the sprue.
  17. CDW
    Talk about some small parts… See part number c36 in instructions Here’s that part on the sprue with a #11 scalpel blade for reference. Where the part ends and the sprue gate begins is up to interpretation.
  18. CDW
    Before there were Caterpillar dozers, there were Belgian work horses. As a tribute to the men who mentored me and influenced my life, I intend to write a couple of short stories to go along with this build as for one, I need to write these things down while I can still recall them, and secondly as the building of this model has brought a flood of memories to my mind.
  19. CDW
    Dad gum spell checker doesn’t like “sprues” and changes it to spruce by default. Apple employs technocrats. 😊
  20. CDW
    MiniArt does a spectacular job on tooling the parts. Detail is astounding. It’s a shame that equal attention was not given to the sprue gates. The large size of the gates leaves a lot of difficult cleanup to do after the parts are removed from the spruces. The cleanup time required is considerable for most every part. Some parts so small, only the most precise tools should be used for removal and otherwise, broken and damaged parts can be guaranteed. It’s all good and a trade off for a finely tooled, seldom modeled subject.
  21. CDW
    I saw that too
  22. CDW
    The biggest problem facing Ukraine is a decimated army with no replacements. Have you seen the video and photos of the older, middle-aged civilians they are putting out there to face the advancing Russian army? It's very sad to see. They have suffered heavy losses of their young men in this conflict.
  23. CDW
    Next up is a Caterpillar D7N Tow Cat in glorious 1:35 scale. Reminds me of my younger days as a steel worker in West Virginia working gas and oil pipeline construction. We had more than a few of these machines around, used to sit as an anchor on top of a mountain while the “train” of equipment tethered to it hung tenuously on the side slopes of mountains while clearing rights-of-ways, digging ditches, and laying steel pipelines.
  24. CDW
    Final photos Thanks for the comments, the likes, and for following along.
  25. CDW
    A little streaking

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