RichO

I'm sure you guys have figured out that I am not building this much as posted in just a day. I'm a bit farther along with this build than what I am showing. So some suggestions are beyond being able to redo. I'm posting to get all you guys caught up to where I am actually at with this build. Which is just to installing the tires. I'll get everyone up to date shortly, and then to the current build. Thanks, Rich

Crazypoet, I had not thought of articulated, until I had already mounted everything as fixed. Someone else had suggested articulated steering also. Rich

I have the components worked out for the rear suspension. I built the axle pass through collar. This is close to the production shape, and fits with the other components... The major parts for the rear suspension... first version of these components, I built the version that was supplied with the paper kit by Model-Kom. See below... You can see how the mounting rings for the wheel axles, are just rings with no detail. I rebuilt the mounting hub with the back ring detailed with the form curve that it has in the photos... Fit to the frame (somewhat)... Now that I have these worked out, I will clean and primmer, then I can cast the four copies for the whole rear end. I need to cast eight of the axle pass through collars tho. I'll be back with the casting next time. Thanks for looking.

Hey Guys, Time to start with the suspension system. I want to copy the photo below to get the components for the rear suspension. So I thought I would use the "A" arms that are in the photo below... The heavy duty cast iron look of the forged "A" arms above, seams and all, I will do a resin cast. I cut out the parts and built the lower "A" arm... I next had to shape the styrene into what looked like the lower arms in the photos I had... Once I got the shape I was after, I built half of the mold to make four of these... The four copies... The goal here was to make a one piece cast part that looked like the forged original...seam lines and all... I now need to clean up the rest of the copies and get ready to install. I still have the star caps at the ends of the arms that need casting, about 36 of those altogether. I'll be back in a while with the casting of the upper a-arms...later all. Rich

Great to pass any info along to you guys. I try to show briefly, anything that I think might be interesting, so ask any questions. Thanks

Thanks for the nice comments guys! This will be fun, I'm just getting started. Crazypoet, Great question...I have a few years of card modeling under my belt. One day I got a really cool card kit that I thought was to good to be made out of card, a lesser permanent material than styrene. If I can build it out of card I can build it out styrene, same difference. Flat patterns. It just takes good patterns to work from. As for the gluing, I don't use glue, no drying. I use a chemical compound called methylene chloride. "Plastic Weld" in common terms. This stuff is about as fast as super glue when I use it, and the seams sand nicely. The thickest styrene sheet I work with is a 0.03 - .75mm. This was the thickest material that I got used to working, without breaking or cracking. If I need thicker in a particular spot I just double up the layers. When I go about joining, I just weld and hold as I go, just like I did when building out of card. Only I don't have to hold as long as I did with the white glue for card. I have some interesting curves in the cab of this build that will be fun when I get to them. But mostly, this build is just nuts and bolts... but stick a round to see how badly I mess thing up...could be fun. Thanks, Rich

Hey, Thanks for looking at this everyone. I have built the cross frame braces that go over the axles. The parts...18 parts per side brace... I will mount these in their location, however I will not put the cross brace in just yet. I will have a ton of stuff to place under the braces when I install the drive line. I'm now at the suspension section... I'll be back with the suspension shortly. Thanks All, Rich

Hey Altogether, This is a quick response to GusMac and the removal of the pin heads as rivets. I have replaced the pins with the resin rivets from MasterClub. The pins were nice but hard to get ones with domed heads and not all are round, just not real consistent. The rivets are really great to work with. Yurislov, at MasterClub was easy to work with and his rivets and screws are just gorgeous to look at. Thanks All, Be Back Later... Rich

Hey Guys, I have managed to get some small steps done on the Maz. I have built the cross members for the axles and installed the internal frame bracing, along with the permanent install of the tow box. This is how I built the cross members for the axles. Then the install. Now that I have the internal bracing installed along with the axle cross members, I can now start with the exterior axle components. I do have more internal frame braces to install, however I would like to install the drive train first so bracing dose not interfere with that install. I next need to perforate the frame with several openings for the axle passthrough. I'll show that next. That's it for now. Be back later.

GusMac, I used to cut these with a small hobby wire cutter. However, the stuff did fly everywhere. I wrapped a towel around my hands when cutting, but this all got to be such a hassle that I found a new product to use. Pin in the feet and butt had to stop. I'll show photos of the new product. Thanks Rich

Hey All, I thought I would show how I have built the Tow Box. The Tow Box is the large anchor structure for the towhook. I don't know if it's called a Tow Box, I just pulled that out of my as . The parts were not to numerous, but a lot of detail in a small piece. Parts for the tow hook... Building the box... The anchor bolt for the tow hook goes all the way through the tow box and ends with a large nut to hold all secure. I first had to get all the parts aligned and measured. Then the construction of the Tow Bar... I used Evergreen rod and tubes to sculpt the anchor nut... Then I had to sculpt the tow hook and detail all... Next I added the details for the anchor plate at the end of the tow box... and detailed the rest of the end. The tow hook stayed in place and look good... The tow box is finished and ready to be instaled... This little part took about three days to build...once I figured out the dimensions all went smoothly, just slow. Thanks all for looking I'l be back with more frame items, Rich

Hey All, A little more work on the Maz. I managed to build the three bottom frame braces (or stiffeners). Finding photos of unobstructed views of things at the bottom of the frame can get tough sometimes. The Model-Kom kit and the E63 kit have different shaped frame braces. And the Trumpeter kit did not even address this issue. From what I could find online, what I chose is close enough to pass. If we have any rivet counters out there watching, this build is going to drive you nuts. Because I'm just building this like I would as if it was in my back yard. If it works, it works. The parts. These are the parts for one brace. Assembly. In the photo above you can see that I use Dressmaker Pins for my rivets. I can get a small package of 1000 for less than a dollar. The three braces. It looks like the braces are a nice fit. I think the next thing on this build is the internal structure of the four axles shafts where they come throu the frame.

Thanks guys! This is going to be big with an open ended time line to build. The combination that I plan to build is a monster 10,000 part build. I hope everyone will like this presentation. Rich

Hey All, So this is my first posting of a project in the Armour forum. Altho not an AFV build, it still hauls all you all around. So a good place I thought for a military truck build. I wanted to build this truck project because I really like the big industrial design and feel, and also the scale of this large Russian beauty. I have several different model kits of this subject, so I will be building a conglomeration of what I have and what info I can find on this subject. I have three kits that I will be combining the info from, to scratch build a big model of this big truck. I have a 1/35 plastic version from Trumpeter. I have a 1/25 card version from Model-Kom. And I have a 1/35 card version from E63. The Trumpeter kit. The Trumpeter has the typical great Trumpeter detail to copy from, but really sucks on the design of the model it's self, with no engine and transmission, and just half a transfer case...etc. The list goes on, for the amount of money. The Model-Kom kit. The model-Kom kit has great detail to use as a reference, but I'm not so crazy about the color scheme. I could paint it maybe, but I will hold on to it for another days build. The E63 card kit. This is a download kit from Enrico, in Italy. This is a great super detailed kit. He has some really detailed models, some for free download. A Russian Beauty For a paint scheme I have chosen this beauty to try to copy. I like the original Russian green under the orange paint, and all the weathering. A real opportunity to get crazy with the paint job. The MAZ 537 G build. Of course with any build you have to start with the foundation. I started with cutting out the frame rails. To get thing straight and tight when I build, I sometimes use a set of magnets to hold things square. frame rails. Once I have all the rails put together I trimmed up the ends and glued the rails together. I wanted to maintain the look of the real MAZ frame, which has round bends and open corners where the frame rails are joined.. And to build the front end I had to build a bumper. The parts The front bumper installed. This is the frame that I built as of today. So this is where I decided to stop for now. The frame feels strong and stable and ready to accept the drive train. I will next build the outside frame supports and start with suspension bracing. Be back sometime soon, Rich

Hey All, I have been cruising through here for a while now, looking at some of the fine builds. I was wondering if anybody would be interested in my 1/20 scale scratch built MAZ 537g. I think AFV builders might want to see what going on with this big build, altho not strictly AFV. I'll start posting as soon as I can figure out the photo deal if I get a little feedback. Thanks RichO

JAMES, I don't have any kids, so my first born is out of the question. Just give it to me straight. How much? You can PM me anytime. Thanks!

Anybody have a WNW " Harry Tate" for sale? Please contact me here, Thanks, Richo

We really need to see more now.

I'm with Pardelhas, any of the giant bombers would be great. I already have the Gotha, and I can't wait for the AEG. I thought about scratch building some of the big boys. ' not sure if I'm up for that tho. Also I agree with PH-GEO a zepplin would be very cool. Just one thing tho...A 1/32 scale zepplin would be about 17 feet long. ( I had thought of building a diorama of a zepplin being escorted by 1/32 fighters and other bombers. I need a bigger house!!

Nice save with the engine! Thanks for the heads up about Aviattic's thin cowling. I have not started my build yet, I want to see a lot more of what you're doing.

James H, Thanks for the heads up. I looked at the group build thread but I only found two pages. I wana see more.

Seriously watching this one! I ordered my E.IV over Christmas break and would like it to be my first WnW build. Lukasz's new engine was just to amazing to pass up, and the new seatbelts are way cool. Now I just need a new prop and some barrels. Thanks Jeroen for letting us follow this with you.

ONE-OH-FOUR (ERIC?) I tryed to play the video you sent and my laptop won't plat it. However I have seen Chuck Berry in person in concert and I know what it sound like! THANKS!!

DAVE, Thanks for the help! Looks good. RichO

DAVE J., Alright DAVE, I can't figuer it out. Give me an email address to send the photo to. Lets see if you can get the whole thing inside the crop marks. Thanks, RichO