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Nice progress vik , pretty jealous of your pink styrofoam, i ahve always wanted some of this stuff. Are you going to custom make the detailing ? or nick some from exsisting vehicle kits.

rather DIY details as i don´t have either funds for bits atm or the urge to GW-up this tank^^ so i think i either use toybitz or selfmade details... whatever will take my fancy when the next step/s will open up... as of now i only have a foggy outline of the look of that tank in a finsihed version... i think this is one of these projects that will be built through and with the tank and the material involved...i thnk a more professional builder/modeler would have a clear outline, concept of the tank but thats just not me...^^

Naw, don't worry, clear outlines only limit your creativity *lol*
Let it flow...you have a rough idea in your mind, that's the prime guidance...as you progress through the build, you'll probably get some ideas and change plans...let the "feeling" guide you
If you look at the initial sketch for the ZEUS ( http://fischers-design-shop.blogspot.com/2008/06/zeus-super-heavy-1.html) you can probably guess how little plans are worth *chuckle*
Cheers
klaus

lol yep, the ZEUS (you just have to spell it in capitals^^) has come a long way until completing...

well today i literally took you by the word and let my inspiration/imagination flow and worked further on the tank... i cut up some pieces of foam for the two double sponsons and also i created a turret basic shape... stay tuned, later on i will work further on those parts and will provide you with updates and pics^^

vik

Klaus has said pretty much how I make it all work for my tanks.

i envy those people that can sit down and think through their new project. really this is a gift, and also a gift that i am not bestowed with^^ i am far too flimsy sometimes or rather impuslive to make too far reaching plans...i have a rather hit and change direction aproach on things so the flow take is my thing too^^ and honestly, for me it is as much fun to see how something develops as to just build it along a manual, even if i myself would have written the manual...i suppose it would get boring in mid term and thus i would abandon the project for a great lenght of time and thus then later on starting anew... so if i want to make something in one go, i think the flow way is best for me^^ nice of you to be of same wooden stock as me^^

It can be tough at times, then I look at the materials again to see what new way I can go at the project, relax and flow like water I do.,

sounds like zen to me...have to google about zen tank making i guess...or maybe not as we seem to be naturals in that department^^ already^^

There, the "tank" flows within and around you! Feel the tank Vik!(said in Ben Kenobi like voice)

LOL now this makes me confused... *looks for his tauntaun*

Just gave advice on the other thread as to how foam, bobbins and pins/nails could work for your sponsons! Gotta get some sleep, but will catch ya later.

see you around these parts... i guess in the evening i will be ready to show some progress and maybe even some swiveling action^^


Automatically Appended Next Post:
hello followers of this lil thread of mine...

today i want to show you a bit of progress and a bit of some inspirational pics to look through and maybe you cvan help me with a bit of a sorting to choose some bits to make my weapons for this tank...

so here at first the current look of the parts i have done for the tank...turret and the very basic shape of the sponsons....as of now this later design would be for nonmovable sponsons...this is currently under reconstruction as i think it is overdated^^




and here a gallery of some possible materials i could use to make different kinds of weaponsystems...

this could be a plasma kind of weapon system...made from network cables^^


wsame possible use here i think this is a former sink of our babybathing tube sink drain hose...


this could make a big gun for the mainturret... a glas vial of a bourbon vanilla pod...about 20cm long...


these two pieces are from a collection of screws coming from dishwasher soap...i also thought they could be used for jets as well...


as mentioned in another thread (shasos oddball thread...) these inkpen cartridges could be either amo for the main gun mentioned above or even suit as bolterbarrels...


screw of a tomato pulp tube... i have quite some pieces of these and i also thought thee could be a good base for jets...


this piece is a used up thread bobbin from my wife, the structure says vent to me...or possible plasma vents too...


these three pices mark the first details that are going to get glued to the mainbody in the next days... some viewpoints for the driver and the commander of the tank and also a bigger piece i plan to cut to size as a grill for the vents...all made up from a plastric grid i cut ot of a flycrusher^^ (one day my wife brought me two big flycrushers and i was very happy about them but haven´t since then used these^^)


also here i present some pencilmines i have from a special kind of pencil... don´t they already look like armor piercing amo?^^


and on a side note since i have rumaged around in my scratchbuilt box i digged out this piece of former try and error built .... i tried then to make a dreadnought ou of some ranodom stuff...never finished this piece tho...couldn´t get the legs working...



well this is the current status of my works and i would be glad if you could help me out with some insights and comments to my current situation^^


vik

Hey Vik did you solve the problem with the soft tracks? No time to go through the last pages. Did you consider putting some Milliput milk on them? Would solve the glue/primer problem and make them much more sturdy.

the treads are currently still soft but i will later on harden them with PVA glue... but do tell, what is milliput milk? never heard of that one...

Those are some awesome bitz. Ich liebe durch the Network cable 'plasma guns' und the pencilmines. The bobbin is pretty neat too.

I'd be wary of using glass in the model, though. Don't want to accidentally drop or bump it and have shards of glass all over your workspace.

I don't see why you didn't continue the Dred- it's looking sehr gut from what I can see. Try using a bobbin or other tube as the 'hips' of it, then attach the legs to that.

Don't go for the glue, it stays to elastic. The tracks would be ruined the first time your malcadon touches a gaming table.

You know milliput right? One of the more famous sculpting/repairing putties. Its properties are different from GS and I don't like it for sculpting, but it gets ROCKhard when dried. The most interesting property is, that you can dilute it with water, thus produce "milliput milk". You could brush that over the tracks and afterwards sand them down a little. Should result in a durable, smooth, easy to paint surface...

If you're considering it I can provide some tricks on how to do it.

The tracks would be ruined the first time your malcadon touches a gaming table.

do you mean the paint would come off? that would be truly a real drag... hmmm actually now that you mention it and put it that way... i do have a package of miliput lying around... not touched yet so i could use it for such an action...
so please do share your tips here, i think this could also work on other sections of the tank to make it sturdier...
by the way baiyuan, i see an american flag in your avatarpic? is something wrong with dakka or have you changed your status?

So, add enough water to the miliput to make it the consistency of milk and then see about brushing it over the treads and such. Nice way to protect the foam from primer and other chems of model making!

Missed a few things on here recently. Those treads are looking excellent vik, with a milliput wash to harden them up they'll be perfect. The beast itself is looking huge.

Nice assortment of bitz there, but as others have said, glass is not the best material to use. The pop-a-point pencils are excellent, haven't seen those for ages, I'm going to have to track some down now, thanks

Yeah, get that dread up and walking. Or on treads maybe? The body looks great, just needs some locomotion.

by the way baiyuan, i see an american flag in your avatarpic? is something wrong with dakka or have you changed your status?

I think there's something screwy with either Dakka, or the connections to the server, cause for me it's been displaying a swedish flag instead of US.
Anyways, that's a nice assortment of bits. I especially like the pencil nib idea, never thought of using those for large case ammo, probably because i don't have any hanging around in my pen and pencil drawer.

as for the dreadnaught if you decide not to finish then flip it on it's back and do a little bit of rework to it and use it for a main tank turret.

Viktor von Domm wrote:

The tracks would be ruined the first time your malcadon touches a gaming table.

do you mean the paint would come off? that would be truly a real drag... hmmm actually now that you mention it and put it that way... i do have a package of miliput lying around... not touched yet so i could use it for such an action...
so please do share your tips here, i think this could also work on other sections of the tank to make it sturdier...
by the way baiyuan, i see an american flag in your avatarpic? is something wrong with dakka or have you changed your status?

I'm planning to do the same thing to the bow of a boat soon. I will give the styrofoam the right shape and then build up a milliput surface, which I can sand down to perfection.
The best way to do it goes like this:
1. Take a medium portion of milliput (a ball with a 2cm diameter should do) and mix it. I'd wear gloves or some other protection while doing so, because it's sticky as hell and I was told it's one of the most toxic putties.
2. Take your ball of milliput, place it on a firm, waterproof surface, like a palette or a CD or something and press your thumb in the middle of the ball until you have a small bowl/cup of milliput, that sticks to the palette.
3. Take a trashy brush, it will suffer, and start adding water into "the bowl". You can control how thick your "milk" is, by running your brush over the walls of milliput more often.
4. Now apply the milk with a the brush. If you want a thick layer rather do several thin ones. I dries pretty quick when it's thinly applied so you can do the next layer very soon.
5. When you're done with the "milking" be patient! I'd give it 12-24h to fully cure. As I said it dries quickly, but the actual hardening takes double the time. If you rush it, it will look hard at the surface, but you'll rip it right of when sanding.

Hope that'll help and I'm curious how your tracks will turn out to be.

About my nationality/avatarflag, It's dakka or my browser or something. I didn't change it and I'm still in Hamburg. When I load dakka I'm normally american first and it switches to german later on. Must be something in the way the forum reads out the user informations.

It's coming along nicely, Vik!

ok so since this little tut from baiyuan sounds doable with both my left thumbs^^ i will do this when i have the time...about next week i think...i even think that the body of the tank could be done with the same material i used but just reversed so that the not ripped side gets used and later i use the milliput milk too there...could make more a detailed look to the tank than the current and for my current taste too chunky look...

at sebastiansyn: i have to thought about using the dreadbody as a turret, mainly as the white triangular shaped plastic "shoulders" i used are a nice sponson for a smaller tank...and they only cost about 0.15 € or something...

about the flag issue i have seen this with quite some peeps here, tho i still remember where each one belongs i see this and wonder^^ but after all it is a mere detail...

pencil nib / pop-a-point pencils is really a cheap and fitting looking way to make bigger rounds...i guess the amo would be around 200mm caliber so quite good for the use of AA guns...well anything rapidfireing...^^

as some of you (anvildude and monkeytroll) have pointed out, glass shouldn´t be used...i understand this in terms with the big vial of vanilla here shown... tho i have a collection of aroma minibottles of thicker glass, i wanted to use these for
chimneys...still a no go? well i guess safty first aplies as ever!^^

and many thaks to all of you for being regular foloowers of this thread^^ you are all part of the project^^

cheers, vik

Heavy glass ought to be alright- stuff that's at least 4 or 5mm thick. Small, heavy walled bottles should be fine.

I stay away from glass at all costs myself.

I agree, glas of any type is something best avoided where games come into the picture. However, you can use something similar which is the plastic cigar tubes.

Yeah plastic cigar tubes are safer.

The network cables will make cool sponsons , the sink drain hose tube thing , would make a nice exaust imo. the armopur piercing ammo is cool , i remeber you mentioning them to me waaay back . nice bits mate.

only smoking them before hand is unhealthy^^ and i am not currently inclined to buy some...seems i am stuck to feltpens and some tubing... the downside on cigartubes by the way is their thin walls...wouldn´t look right in my book...i am by the way currently rethinking the whole body issue as i am somehow quite unsatisfied with the current boxy look... too less detail and too much flat areas... that has to change... maybe i can get something built together even today... if not then i will go to work starting monday...

keep well mates and keep the faith^^

vik

Time for more tank based dreams.