A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

[Xiaoshan_Sailor]

[Will01Capri]

OMG
This is brilliant
The rivets would drive me insane, i commend your patience and determination
It will be another wonderful model.

EXCELLENT

[Kaczor]

And thanks for the tip about Meng rivet sets, it will be very helpful with my future project

[lmcq11]

Hi everyone, here i am, back at the front after a beautiful summer of travelling and relaxation. I think it was the first time in my life that i did not do any modelling for 3 months strait. Now, let's finish this A7V monster.

I had earlier finished the two sides armor plates with their rivets, enough to make you sick.

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

Side armor are installed on the chassis.

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

The front and rear armored plates were redone to better meet the joints, get rid of all the pre-drilled holes and position the gun and visors at the right location. Rivets for all remaining parts will be added later.

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

The Ludwig top parts were reused but given a thin plasticard overlay to get rid of all the pre-drilled holes. These two parts were made to slide in and remain removable.

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

The interior is quite spacious. It remains to be determined if i will take the time to complete the interior at the front. A detailed interior will complicate the electronics for the gun rotation, elevation and recoil, and take a lot more time. I'll see because i have more exciting builds awaiting.

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

The main structure of the drivers compartment was assembled. Because of the new shape of the side armor, i needed to extend the back at the front and back to meet the angles of the side armor. The whole compartment will be given an overlay to hide all the holes and position the visors at the right place and dimensions.

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

It is starting to look like an A7V

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

[lmcq11]

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

[Raminator]

Great to have you back in action Louis, I'm sure you'll need another holiday after putting all those rivets together! You've got to be single-handedly keeping Meng in business at this stage.

[Shotek]

I have to admit that the amount of rivets is just... insane..

I' have had probably rivet nightmares already!

keep up good work

[tankme]

Definitely a rivet nightmare. I'm actually trying to figure out how I'm going to do the rivets on my T26. Now that I have a resin printer, that might be the route I go.

[MonsieurTox]

It looks fantastic Louis.
I'm glad to see you back at it !

[lmcq11]

Thanks everyone,

This A7V model is definitely one of the most complicated i have undertaken.

This post is for the top driver and commander's castle.

The Ludwig kit parts only provide a basic shape for the castle, mostly inaccurate. Using the 1/35 Meng kit and instructions, i had to completely redo the exterior which is composed of bolted on additional armor. Here are details of the side panels, with the mechanism for opening the visors.

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

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Overall view of the castle.

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

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The two section extra armor is added on top of each sides. New visors are created too. This is time consuming due to all the various angles. To simplify the construction, all the visors have been glued in closed position.

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

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The sliding top commander's hatch reuses some of the Ludwig parts. The more accurate grill on the other side was built from scratch but i was able to reuse a section of the Ludwig top grills provided for the glacis. For some reason, i was given an extra sheet of these parts. Parts for the visors have been created in very thin plasticard. The dome on the middle top of the castle is created from a Lego part.

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

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A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

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A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

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The finished castle with about 400 rivets and bolt heads.

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

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A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

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As there would be as many rivets inside the model as there are outside, i have decided not to create an interior of the model, at least for this build, maybe one day. There is too much effort and time required. I also need to keep my sanity because putting on rivets is really not fun.

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

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The finished castle as it looks on top of the model. I found a few more tiny rivets to put on but that will do for now.

A7V German WW1 tank 1/16 RC - Build

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Next step, the top front and rear glacis.

Regards,
Louis