Every flavour of T-34

[tankme]

I believe they are using something that melts the plastic and not using CA. A debonder will not work if it's simply melted plastic.

[Estnische]

Hope you feel better Dan. Not much fun when life takes your fun away.

[ColemanCollector]

I'll second Herr P's methods of a bit of dremelling from behind to get the worst of the bonding areas, then gentle prying with whatever does the job with minimum marking.

I have a feeling it's MEK they're using. The factory assembly room must appear technicolour after a few hours of glue-monkeying.

Mike.

[Raminator]

Cheers for the advice and well wishes, gents. Thank you!

I think you're right, Derek and Mike; it's definitely not superglue. It looks like they've used the same stuff for the plastic and metal parts (the residue looks and feels the same), but It seems to have welded the plastic parts to each other. As the good Doktor suggested, I just needed to add a little violence...



If I had known how much of a pain in the arse this was going to be, I would've used a Trumpeter or Heng Long upper hull instead. You can see where the plastic has melted along the top of the rear panel and down in the triangular corners. The convenience of the Taigen upper matching the lower is far outweighed by the inconvenience of getting the transmission deck off. As always, I hope everyone else can learn from my mistakes!

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I'm going to start some test prints of the conversion parts this weekend. I'll strip off the moulded details from the Taigen upper in the meantime. Some more pics soon, I hope!

[HERMAN BIX]

Waiting in anticip




ation

[tankme]

I used the Trumpeter uppers on several occasions as when you use the Trumpeter turret, the turret to turret ring fitment is just better. Since you are using your own turret and ring I can see how you would want to use the HL/Taigen upper. Even the Trumpeter upper would've taken some time to build mounts and make stiffer. Doing a really early T34 from a mid or late one requires quite a bit of rework.

[Raminator]

The turrets I've drawn fit snugly inside both the Trumpeter and Taigen turret rings, but the Trumpeter's moulded ball race gets in the way of the roller bearings I modelled into my designs. You're right too that beefing up the Trumpeter and mounting it to the Taigen lower would've been another nuisance that I don't really care to repeat!

I've managed to get some test prints done during the week. The first set was to check dimensions and correct for differences between my original drawings (which were based on a combination of blueprints, the 1:16 Trumpeter kits, and a 1:35 Mono/Dragon T-34 1940) and the Taigen donor hull. You'd think they'd all match since surely they're measuring off the real thing, but it looks like the Taigen has the rear panel at 45° instead of the correct 42°. Three degrees doesn't sound like much, but it adds up to a few millimetres here and there; and depending on what you're measuring, sometimes every millimetre counts!

Here's the second round of test prints; everything now fits, but there are still some adjustments to be made.

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Again, I'm super happy with the quality of prints I can get with this new printer, here are some close-ups of some of the details:

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The grille on the vent cover is actually modelled and printed, I'm amazed at how well it turned out. The mesh is surprisingly strong, and it sags and deforms realistically. I think it looks even better than a photoetched one!

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I've got replacements for the front and rear lower panels in the Taigen lower to suit the earlier standard. They use the standard mounting points, and are fully compatible with the locking system for the upper hull and the bearings for the final drives for a seamless installation.

Next up will be the same treatment for the front of the hull, mounting the early-style driver's hatch, fenders, lights and tow hooks. Some more progress soon!

[tankme]

Looks great. An early based on a Taigen hull would be an easy mod. You mentioned before that you us UV-stable pigments in your resin mix. Is there a specific kind you use to get that nice black color? I'm trying to print some tracks with the Siraya Build/Blu mix and of course smoky black isn't very black once mixed with clear.

[Raminator]

I went to a local art supply shop, the liquid pigments they have for epoxy and polyester resins work fine in 3D printing resin too (it's really only the initiators and additives that are different). Since they're meant to colour clear epoxy, they're really pigment-rich and great for our purposes. I think the UV-stable part is more so that the colour doesn't fade in the sun, which isn't really an issue if we're painting the parts. You'd just want black or any other dark colour to prevent light scattering during printing; white would probably cause blooming.

Meanwhile:



The front of the hull got the same treatment as the back. I would've done a neater job if I had sharp sawblades; these were chewing through the plastic more than cutting.

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Some repairs with styrene tube and strips:

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And then it's ready for some test prints. Just dry-fit and blu-tacked into place, but it's valuable to get a sense for dimensions. Ready for another round of adjustments and prints!

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Starting to look the part, though!

[HERMAN BIX]

Those front guards look like they are off an old Morris Minor 1000 !!
Lovely rolled compound curves, way too nice for a tank.