The magnetic system I devised for the air filters when opening the tank up works very well, although due to the flexibility of the hoses the paint is cracking and coming off; something already apparent in the photos. Not much I can do about that so I’ll leave it be, at a distance at least it adds some character. I don’t know if its because I varnished them and that’s made the paint too hard, but its likely I’ll have to respray them at some point in the future.
I also added some green stuff where the aerial plugs in to keep it stable, but I can remove and replace it any time I please. Very useful if I ever need to crank the turret fully to the right, or if I’m doing something up close where I risk poking my eye out. Its just a shame there isn’t enough flexibility for the aerial to just fold down when the gun moves overhead and ping back up again, but it really does look the part.
It has to be said that the tank is now much heavier than it used to be having an extra 16 road wheels over the later variation, plus metal hatches. Its going to get even heavier once the turret is finished and added, as the smoke dischargers, pistol port cover and cupola are all metal. The early metal copula is absolutely lovely; tons of detail and a great satisfying action. I noticed before I started this makeover that the plastic turret was front heavy owing to the gun, so I ordered the metal turret ring along with the new hull and other bits. I expect this extra weight along with the cupola will easily balance the weight of the gun.
All components of the turret bar the gun barrel are now out of their IPA bath and are being prepared for priming. As any imperfections will be super noticeable compared to the lower hull I’m taking my time with them. I feel like I’m on the home stretch at least.
