Ludwig/Taigen SU-152 (early production)

[Soeren]

Wow..... That look fantastic

[c.rainford73]

Raminator this is a work of art. Really impressed. Coming along nicely I see. Following your progress excellent details.

[Raminator]

Cheers for the kind words everyone, hope you're enjoying following along.

Just spent the better part of three days and half a box of Milliput sculpting a new front mantlet. I'm not normally one to toot my own horn, but this is the first time I've done anything like this and I'm quite proud of how it's turned out. I'll use Tamiya putty to give it a nice rough cast texture (and cover up any imperfections along the way!)

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Much closer to scale size compared to the kit part, even if it's a just a tad too long. It matches the blueprints I've been working from, but seems a little bit longer than period photos.

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With everything here fully functional and in situ, this should wrap up most of the structural stuff. I should sort out the drivetrain and suspension next, and wrap up work on the lower hull. After that should be the detailing, little brass bolts everywhere!

[AlwynTurner]

Lokking great Raminator, especailly when compared to photos of the real thing
http://www.militaryfactory.com/imagevie ... ntPic=pic1

Great work. Following along.
Alwyn

[Jake79]

Haven't had a look at this build for while..it's really moving on. Cracking work Mr Raminator, I wish my building skills were up to your standards. Good stuff mate.

[HERMAN BIX]

"Toot" away mate..............thats a whole lot of effort right there.
Good to know that even the Jukenburg legend needs improving

[Raminator]

Thanks guys, glad you've been finding this interesting!

Spent the last two weeks getting the internals sorted. I may have been overoptimistic when I said I could park a jumbo jet in the hull, the FRS7s are a lot bigger in real life than I'd envisaged in my mind's eye. It took nearly three evenings' worth of work to build the front speakerbox; it needs to be angled to fit under the front glacis and short enough to fit under the trunnions for the main gun, while being tall enough to clear the torsion bars. You can't see it in the photos, but the box extends between the first and second sets of torsion bars and the left and right suspension mounts. It's actually made of 26 individual pieces of styrene.

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I had to mount the TPA separately from the IBU since the long servo breech for the main gun will foul it if it's attached directly. I made up a short jumper cable to suit, and attached the TPA itself to the underside of the control deck.

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The on/off and smoker switches and volume potentiometers are accessible under the loader's hatch. Even running the system off a 2S LiPo, the TPA pumps out plenty of volume through the FRS7s. I wanted loud, and I got it.

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Also found the time for a little light detail work while waiting for glue to dry and cement to cure with the internals, first up is the shell loading hatch on the right-hand side of the hull. This saved the crew from having to lug the forty kilo shells all the way up to the top of the casement.

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Made up the correct-shaped round shackle mounts and some oxy-cut edges for the side panels. I'm hoping that the tracks will protect the Milliput from any frontal impacts. Suspension installed and adjusted, it took a whole night to get the stance right without the tank sagging in the rear or standing too tall. The tracks are probably a tiny bit too slack, but photos of KVs/SUs and ISs/ISUs in action all seem to have them fairly loose. Haven't tried any outdoor driving yet, but they grip well and don't slip at all on very tractive carpet.

I need to get the Tarr smoker installed next, plumbing the exhausts in will be a bit of a challenge. I also need to fit the flash unit and battle system, and then the whole vehicle will be fully functional. Detailing and painting in the near future!

[c.rainford73]

Wow that's one of the neatest organized tank interiors ever constructed. Very impressive layout and switches on your control panel. Speakers and enclosures are top notch!

Somewhat of a masterpiece in its own right....

Until you complete the exterior of course

I too have a Taigen lower hull and with the slack as you have presented these heavy tracks work flawlessly for me.

I think it's due to the design and layout of the kV series.

Following along-

Carl

[Raminator]

You're too kind, Carl. It's going to go to my head!

Hooking the exhausts up wasn't as straightforward as I was expecting until I settled on a design for it.

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Tubing from the Tarr goes into a muffler-like box that redistributes the smoke to the exhaust pipes. The Schumo parts in the upper hull slot into holes in the muffler, with a foam gasket to seal the joint. Haven't been able to give it a proper test run yet, since I accidentally ordered the 12 volt version of the smoker and I can only fit a 2S LiPo in here. I'll need to hold off on it until I can get a replacement fan since the IBU2 doesn't put out enough voltage to kick the fan over.

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While the cement was curing, I built up the mounting bracket for the hydraulic pump that serviced the recuperator for the recoil system. Early production SU-152s had this in the centre of the hull, later production vehicles had it offset to the left of the vehicle (for the obvious reason that the gun is on the right).

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Here's where it's at now. I might leave the lower hull until I can get the voltage step-up and replacement fan for the smoker, so I think proper workable hatches are the next on the list.

[Tiggr]

Very impressive on many levels. The interior layout is very well done. Does each speaker serve a separate sound card or are both in tandem on one card ?