SAMOKHODNAYA USTANOVKA-152/KV14 RENOVATORS DREAM!

[HERMAN BIX]

I'm still home !!
Had a win with repairs to the upper hull bracket that secures it to the lower.
Using left over T34 toolboxes that normally sit on the guards, I cut the longest in half, reinforced the inside with styrene sprue left over from the mounting arms on StuG III Schurzen used on my Kreig Schwein ages ago( lesson kiddies-never ever throw anything out) and super glued them into the inside edge of the upper hull.
There is a large surface area of contact with the flat lid of the tool box against the flat side of the hull sponson's, so having the ongoing strength to handle the bracket should be ok.
Spaced out with brass tube and a washer, the bracket was secured with M3 stainless bolts & a nylok nut under each.
I was about half a mm out on the height setting, but a slight tug on the tang that sits through the lower hull slot with a pair of pliers & the lock snapped shut.

[Estnische]

I'm still home!

Nice to get a win like that. I'm going home on Friday afternoon, and the contractors we work with have an RDO on Tuesday. Hopefully no dirty deals are done, and we go back to work on Wednesday.

I tried working with some old styrene angle scraps the other day, and they have turned brittle with age. Very frustrating when it snapped every time I tried to work with it.

[HERMAN BIX]

I've just arrived home from a long stint out west.
Waiting was a tiny sachet of goodies from MK Modellbau.
New hinges, new periscope covers, and a metal Ppsh 41 submachine gun .
I was confident they would arrive, but jeez it took a while..........such is the state of the world these days.

My next load of parts will be from RC Tank De, & include tracks, gearboxes, and a few bits for a future Panther project.
Im hoping I will be home long enough to put these bits on and be here to see the next lot arrive!...........but its wishful thinking I reckon.

[HERMAN BIX]

Little bit of minor progress during a few precious hours at home.
Tidied up the inside, made a speaker box for a Visitron 7 boom-box, and secured the bits with double sided tape.
I have a heavy & expensive package on the way from Dominique at RC Tank De with the last of the internals and tracks.
Another is on the way from Oz armour that might be able to get the upper hull internals working, but thats a speculation that I can only work on once I see them.
My thought processes and execution have been well any truly disrupted due to this long stint out west at work.

One idea I did have is to try to obtain a pile of Win .38/40 shell cases. They are as close as scale possible to the cases these massive things would have used & discarded when used in the artillery support role.
There is a period picture around that shows one on a street with a mountain of empty cases on the engine deck, I will locate it & post.
But as mine is intended to represent an early machine at the start of Kursk, I may not be able to get away with it.
Although, they were primarily used as mobile artillery NOT anti-tank weapons, despite the fact an impact from an HE direct hit could and did knock turrets off Tigers.
I guess if I can get my mitts on the rare Winchester cases I can decide then.

[Estnische]

Hey Herman, where did you get your Visitron? They seem a tad exxy here on Oz.

[B_Man]

Australian Modeller has them for about $20 or they are around $15 from Mouser Electronics in HK if you can wait longer for delivery.

[Estnische]

[HERMAN BIX]

I got mine as part of a package deal with an IBU from mr Raminator

[HERMAN BIX]

Been home a week now & struggling to get the "lovin-feelin" back
Seems that the 'train of thought' has pulled into the station with no one on it .............
Have stuff on the way from Germany, and Im hoping that when it arrives, if ever, then my mind will be readjusted.

For now, its research on this subject, and going over & over the fantastic other builds going here since I've been away for work.

[HERMAN BIX]

I just got a call from an excited daughter, the tank fairy has been to my house from Germany!!
I can’t wait to get home & snog the new parts