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Modeller Build Logs
Tasca M32 Recovery Vehicle w/ T1E1 Mine Roller |
| By James Wechsler | | Started: | Apr 15, 2008 | | Updated: | Oct 2, 2008 |
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First off let me say that Paul Owen is a great guy, even if he is a Vancouver Canucks fan. Having built 44 Shermans, I really hadn’t planned on buying the Tasca M4A1 kit since I’d built that variant a few times over. But Paul sent me this kit and it is a really, really great gift. So I got motivated to do something special.
After thinking about it for a while, I realized that simply building this kit as a gun tank really didn’t get me excited. Then it dawned on me, it would make the perfect conversion base for an M32 Armored Recovery Vehicle. I mean the old Italeri kit was just staring at me and screaming ‘I need a new hull, suspension, and transmission cover!’
So there it was, my mega project. But then I got to thinking a little more. Why not go further? Let’s scratch build the T1E1 ‘Earthworm’ mine roller! Never heard of this massive contraption? Check here:
http://www.jedsite.info/engineer/tango-number-us/t1_series/t1e1/t1e1-intro.html
But wait, there’s more. The M32 has two huge hatches on the turret structure that just scream ‘interior’. At last, my project has reached planning fruition. This blog will be of an M32 ARV w/T1E1 Mine Roller and a full interior.
Plan on a lot of chapters. |
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| More Scratch Building | May 13, 2008 |
Well after the last chapter I thought I’d be ready to start installing the interior parts. But when I looked at the Verlinden engine parts I was stuck on the main engine support bracket. It’s a super thin part mounted on a very thick backing. Try as I might, I couldn’t think of a way to remove the backing without destroying the part. If anyone knows how to do this, please post you’re technique so the rest of us can learn. The part is about 0.010 inches thick and the flanges around the outside are so thin that you can see though them.
I finally decided it would be better to scratch build a replacement part. I used the dimensions from the Verlinden part and adjusted the width to match the hull of the Tasca kit. Cutting out the ring took forever. The final results are OK but not perfect. I just don’t have the right tools to cut a circle that big so I had to do it by hand. Fortunately, most of it will be buried under wiring and other components.
What a time consuming job this turned out to be.
Good thing I’m in no rush to finish this project. I’ve been at it for 3 weeks now (admittedly not full time) and it doesn’t seem like I’ve accomplished much.
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