[Winter] Hummel (late)

[MonsieurTox]

I am sorry you will not be able to paint in winter. But don't worry, you are so far ahead of many of us that you will have plenty of time as the weather warms next spring.

(I know one long-time, award-winning modeler who does not hesitate to use his airbrush indoors with acrylic paints. I cannot advise doing so. When I lived in apartments, I used spray cans, warmed them in water, warmed any metal parts in the oven at a very low temperature, and then held the parts out the door spraying toward the outside. I never made any mess in an apartment--though how I managed is something I now find incredible.)

Yes winter is usually building time, but last year we had some good temp in winter so we will see this year. I prefer to build as much as possible now! Or I could build a spray booth, that's something I've been thinking about for a long time but never found the time to do... I can spray paint some parts outdoor but won't risk on a whole model as I already had some bad result due to low temp and humidity in the air!

[HERMAN BIX]

I sometimes overcome the temp issues by pre-heating the model with a hair drier for ages to ensure its very warm and takes the paint quickly.
I also set up so that once the paint goes on the warm model I can use the hair drier to post heat the paint to help it go off without any risk of temp or humidity related issues.
It really works a treat.

[MonsieurTox]

Yeah that can work but I'm going to wait for spring, I'm not in a rush !

[MonsieurTox]

Some progress !

On my previous build, the gun shield was 3D printed but I wasnt happy with that, this time I wanted it to be styrene. I add several option for that, forming by hand (rolling), but styrene tends to not hold the right curves, or vacforming it over a buck. I was going for vacforming but I was too lazy to build a small vacforming tool just for that job (mine is way too large and it would have been a waste of styrene), so I chosed for a 3rd option : 3 layers of thin styrene glued and put onto a buck with tape until the glue set (actually the solvent, not the glue).

So I made the shield with 3 layers of 0.3mm styrene, which would made the final thickness to 0.9mm on theory but ended to be 0.8mm because of the solvent that melt the plastic and the pressure I put onto the part to be sure there was no solvent trapped. Once the solvent is evaporated, you can remove the tape and the new part off the buck. The 3 layers fusionned into one piece and it will now hold the shape forever !

Then I cut the 2 shield pieces from that larger piece I created :

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I add to do some compromises for strength, the 2 shield pieces are attached together which was not the case on the 1:1 Hummel, the right hand shield was bolted to the right side of the gun bracket and the left hand parts to the left gun bracket so it can rotate. My 2 pieces are glued together and to the top of the gun platform which means it can't rotate. Not sure if that's clear but the pics will speak for themselves.

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Shields not glued yet, just for the pic :

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[MonsieurTox]

Brackets are made or brass with Meng bolt and nuts, bracket mounts are made of styrene.

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Next was the fighting compartement floor.

I wanted to reproduce the original pattern.
Luckily, I found some awesome pics of the restauration of a Nashorn here : https://www.facebook.com/Nashorn.SD.KFZ ... stauration
It has been very helpful to figure everything that is common to the Nashorn and Hummel !

So back to the fighting compartement floor, there are plenty of pics of the original on these facebook page. The pattern also match the one used on the Hummel displayed at Saumur but other pattern may have been used (I have no info about that though).

Some pics of the original floor :

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Some very helpful measurements :

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I have been to recreate in 3D the accurate pattern and I printed it. Then I made a mold of it and cast some textured sheets in PU resin :

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I then cut the individual plates with my CNC :

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[MonsieurTox]

This post is about the hinges used on the rear doors and on the driver and radio operator hatches. Those are the same. I haven't been able to source accurates ones so once again they had to be made. I wanted to made them movable so I can open the rear doors (to be able to remove the battery if I use a standard one), that was not necessary for the front hatches but since those are the same...

So I designed them in 3D, printed them then molded and cast them in PU resin. The white PU resin doesnt give justice to the details.
I drill 0.75mm holes and put a 0.75mm brass pin in them.

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[MonsieurTox]

Now some various close ups, general views to show the general progress, I've added several nuts and bolts, still a lot to do, mainly small details but that's what is taking the most time !
Next update will be about the working lock for the rear door.

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[MonsieurTox]

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Recoil and elevation servos :

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I created a frame to support the rear part of the combat floor :

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Parts breakdown :

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[Ecam]

Very impressive work, your talents are off the chart!

I've used boiling water to shape styrene, your method opens up more possibilities.

[tankme]

Very impressive work, your talents are off the chart!

I've used boiling water to shape styrene, your method opens up more possibilities.

Yes, I agree. The build looks great.

Just don't boil the styrene too long or it will shrink on you.