popeye the sailor

so........at this point, the burning question is....how were they to be coupled. Hasegawa isn't very detailed in this respect......there is some detail on the forward rail car, but for the trailing rail car, they only show a circle with a pin in the center. the height of the gondola was another concern......sitting on the rail car, the gondola is around 5/8ths of an inch off the ground. not only that, but it appears to be a tad lower in the rear, than the front. the adaption to the tank chassis might lift the gondola higher off the ground, but it might be necessary, since it will now be able to navigate over uneven terrain. in thinking of the pivot points and how it would have to turn, I thought to go with a simple 5th wheel design. cutting them from the thinner plastic, they were cut to shape and sanded. keeping with the Hasegawa kit design, the rear 5th wheel needs to have the pin added. to get a better idea of how much height will be needed, I had to set up the chassis the same as well {but without the pin for the rear}. the gondola need to be high enough off the chassis to clear the detail on the decks, as well as the exhaust pipes {I haven't dry fitted them yet to see how much that will be}. the chassis are shorter than the rail cars......the cars being about 5 inches long. .......but it can be seen that the gondola will also be higher off the ground, than on the rail cars. the height might be unavoidable, since I'm not going to modify the gondola. I {at this point} am either tempted to buy a second kit, or scratch build the gondola, for this new variant. we'll see the 5th wheels sit on a bracket fitted with a pivot pin. in thinking of my dealings with tractor trailers, trailers need to be a certain height off the ground, so that the tractor can slide under them, hooking up to the king pin located under the nose of the trailer. the rear suspension of the tractor is fitted with air bags that will lift the trailer off the ground enough for the driver to be able to crank up the landing leg {tubes}. the landing legs are the support for the front of the trailer......the legs are telescopic....the lower portion of the legs retract into the housing of the upper section and allow enough clearance from the ground for transport. ...just the principle of how these two parts work together to play it safe, I gave them a height of around 1/4 inch. fitted in place....they now look like this....... more on this soon, when I get the tracks on and paint.

well thanks Bug.......and thanks to all who have joined in I like models that have some 'expanse' to them...I think they give the modeler more freedom to build them the way they like. they make you think.......what would they have looked like, if they pulled it off? I would say that the Germans thought about this after losing Leopold and Richard in Italy. they were sent there to lay siege to the town of Anzio, later nicknamed "Anzio Annie" and "Anzio Express". I think that being limited to rail hampered them........they did do some damage, but were not as effective as they were hoped to have been. if these two were mechanized, they could have been positioned better in more strategic locations, thus making a larger impact. it might have also changed the use of the K5, more versatile, like the mortars that were built as all terrain pieces. I haven't had the time to devote to Leopold.....save for a bit of time here and there. I'm officially on vacation......won't see the shop now till the 29th...and I wish it was longer I took a different approach to the pair of Tiger II tanks.......wondering if adding the tracks would be easier. one, I added the track sides to the body, the other I didn't. ultimately, I ended up assembling the chassis the same, due to how I wanted to paint them. the bottoms of the chassis were painted in the Dunkelbrau gray, and then will be 'shadowed' with the sand yellow, just like the gondola was done. to fill in the holes for the turrets, I changed over to the thinner plastic to make the plugs. the plastic used is the same thickness as the thickness of the model, so this made for a better choice. I used filler to get rid of any gaps around the plugs......trimming off the excess with a razor and sanding the decks smooth. I also reinforced the plugs in case I needed to do any 'manhandling' along the way. what I ended up with, was a rather smooth looking deck. this is the one that I didn't add the tread sides to.......a plate that has all the pins for the wheels and bogies. once both were assembled, I started with the paint. I did the tracks with the gray as well, later to be dry brushed with flat steel and rusty color. there is still one bit of detail to be hashed out, but that will be another session.. it needs to be done though for the second round of paint.

more has been done on this project.........mainly with the mechanization though. I just got told we have to run.......but I will be back

awesome piece Grant...well deserved for such high praise! a case would definitely be in order. it's a real work of art! perhaps another piece would compliment it even more...........a Hook 'n ladder maybe?

I wouldn't be embarrassed over a job like that........you did a super job with the paint very nicely done! love the detail the kit possesses too.

very nicely done Patrick! the weathering looks great!

pretty cool model........extremely well done if one was to try one of these models.......thanks for the tip

oh WOW! I will be sure to keep an eye on this Ken.....thanks for the info! I still need to get back towards finishing the nose glass on this bird

impressive work Michael

super detail!

I think you've built an outstanding model Dan.....the camo looks great just the way it is! very nice job on the engine as well.......it's very seldom you see a display pairing like this. then again, there aren't too many kits that have the engine, unless they are large scale kits. Soviet or Japanese planes are not commonly modeled....I've not done any. first class model my friend

super job so far.......your paint work is spot on!

really nice start........the engine looks great! I like building the larger scale kits as well.......added detail as well as parts. Revell used to have the 1:16 funny cars.........I built the English Leather Quite a while ago. I find that it's a fairly rare kit........after giving up the search, I settled on one that I had found. just recently, I did find the kit, but it had already been built and now sold as a parts kit >cry'in shame! Revell also had other 1:16 scale kits...at the moment, I have the '57 Chevy convertible {I'll digress if I keep this up}. hope to see more

quite a bit of progress Chris.......looks superb! good save on the wing issue.

fantastic job on them Patrick! the way you made the tracks must have ben a lot of work.........but worth it! they look so awesome!

now that is down right cool! I grew up with legos..........my grand kids love them too I got a few models of various lego like kits in the past. this year I got two more....the ship in the bottle, and the Fender strat and amp.........both proved to be so awesomely fun to build. I have never seen such a collection of lego blocks in my lifetime! how long have you been collecting them? in the instruction books for the two kits I got, they did a short Bio on the folks who designed the kits. it must be a full time job!!!! sign me up ! awesome ship you've built!

VERY nicely done

FYI..........OMK had the trailer for the Bandit II movie....been there for a while now. I was tempted, but the admiral put the Ka-boch on it....so I guess that's leaves me out they also have the Budweiser tractor and trailer kit....but they want over $200.00...definite NO in her book

hey there bud! good to see the start of these kits....life can be a problem sometimes........I go thru it too. very nice start on the engines Revell put out two other kits on the subject of MASH......at one time, all of them were on the OMK site. I'm more into Batman though

ohhhhhhh......but this isn't the end of the madness. the omitted pile got me wondering..........what am I to do with the turrets? these are only some of the parts....the kit is decently detailed. thinking back in the picture book in my mind........I recall seeing other ingenious instruments of war. here........sorry that I didn't take any pictures of the assembly process, but I was caught up in the moment. using the .075 sheet plastic was a lot easier to cut, in fashioning the car body. I'm a bit thick in the platform........and there are no 'bells and whistles' on it yet. I might not even stay with this design, but it's close to what I've seen. I even joked to myself that I could even do a decent AT walker....... the body is sanded and cleaned up........the turret hole was as easy as the plugs I made for the tank chassis. if I had the trucks, I could have it set on tracks #4 didn't show up......I'll have to read the thread on it......it has been reported. holefully this next one will come up........ it did!.......the one thing I was disappointed with, is that the tracks are plastic. I started to look to see if flexible track was available.......so far, a dry hole. as I've said........insanity has it's virtues!

thanks OC.......and I hope all had a great holiday! I didn't score huge in the model area, but what I did score was essential to this log I haven't had time to devote to Leopold during these last few days........my mind has been elsewhere. one thing I love about modeling, is that the freedom is enormous.......to look at a model and see possibilities.........my past subjects prove that to look at one ship and see another.......any one subject is up for grabs! I was going to withhold this until the end, but this is too cool for that. I wish I had taken a few extra picture. after reading that the Germans were in the design stages of making the rail gun an all terrain piece, like they did with the smaller mortar variants, it got me thinking how they would have accomplished this. ........the modification of rail flat cars to support the gondola........the info that they were using Tiger II tanks in the design was a starting point. I did look at other tanks, but the Tiger had the broad flat top deck....made sense. my wish list for Christmas was for two 1:72 Tiger II tanks, and my wish was granted these kits are nice........good in the respect that the tools and cables that are usually molded, are separate parts in the kit. there is the freedom to put them in other places, or save them for other endeavors. looking at the top deck, I gotta get rid of the hole for the turret. cutting a piece of 1.5 mm plastic sheet, the hole was traced on it. cut out, the plug will look like this...... trimmed and fitted, it looks like this.... I wish I remembered that I also had some .075 thick styrene........I would have used it instead. #4 won't show up.......just the drive wheels and bogies, just that I have double to deal with. I'll show more as I proceed

that's a nice piece you have there Roger I believe the name Rivarossi was tossed around when I did research on the origin of the Army piece I got from my older son. what I did was buy some EZ track form the local hobby store {Hobby Town}, when I decided to try to do the diorama for the snow plow. if you want to see if the loco runs, why not purchase a train set........it will come with everything you'll need to start off. you can always expand from there

shots are done..........one in each arm......flu and covid. left arm is a bit sore, but I'm good I got back home and got a little more accomplished. I promised to show you the outcome on the base. a dry brush of raw umber and green for vegetation. still need to bring out the ties and rails, but that will be done after the big day I'm afraid. for now.... I'll see if I can bring up the lost picture........nope......it won't go Leopold was dry fitted.......assembled on the base I forgot to add the munition shed....... one thing I did notice is that the gondola seems lower on the rear truck.....I'll look into that. the admiral is on edge today.......so I'll likely be walking on some eggshells.........I do hope she mellows out. sucks I can't make her a drink, considering all the meds she takes gotta go help her make meatballs........and prep other things hope your festivities are joyous and super - T - duper!

great job all around! there would be no real rust......but there would be tarnish. you copied that well for the cans the cake came out 'sweet' as well

holy cow Greg.........the airship came out awesome! how you painted it was really cool! the seydlitz looks awesome as well......superb job with torpedo nets