Brussel Scouts

[Peter Bibby]

Hi Gents,
Well after I made the decision to clean up the shelf of doom and not start anything new, I am about to start something new. This one kept giving me looks every time I opened the cupboard, you know the ones, those "you know you want to build me" looks.....So down it came along with a few extras.

I am expecting the builds to have no problems, which is good as I have decided to construct a wire tree for behind the fence. May be a bad idea. :S

Anyway, let the fun begin

 

[mike walsh]

Nice

:v
Michael

 

[moon puppy]

Dig the title.

 

[Peter Bibby]

Thanks gents.
Mike, not quite as imennse as what yours will be, but I'm here for Miniart support.

Bob, I thought the Barn looked very.....north east Europey, if that makes sense. The kit gives you 4 decal options. 2 British vehicles in Normandy, a Polish version and a NZ version in Italy. I could go the 8th Armoured decal option, but just in case, I also have a set of Star decals for the 33rd Armoured coming. I have read that this unit saw action outside of Brussels, hence the title.

On with the build. The workable suspension of these kits is good, if not a bit fiddly with the foam pad supplied with the kit needing to be cut into small rectangles and then being trapped between the halves.

The lower hull is made up of separate panels that all lock together nicely.

And with the start of the back details being added.

Some of the placement details in the instructions are a bit vague, resulting in a couple of brackets being slightly in the wrong spot. Unluckily for me, I found this out once they were glued tight. Luckily for me though, with all off the back details on, you cant really see them.

More soon
Pete

 

[centaur567]

Gary S.

 

[MrT]

 

[SA Dave]

Hey COOL!

 

[Peter Bibby]

Thanks for dropping by gents.
Continuing on with the upper hull now. Nothing out of the ordinary here for a Sherman build. A few holes to drill out for the attachment of goodies, depending on the version being built. Always good to drill them out first, and not once the panel you need to drill is glued down with the marked spots inside.

The 8th Armoured version I am building does not use the appliqué armour or the two plates in front of the drivers and radio operators hatches supplied, just the machine gun plug. I have also fitted the large brackets at the front plus the smaller ones along the sides. As I was curious as to what these were, I read the PMMS review. Evidently these brackets were for holding a lorry disguise, Who new.....

The back engine deck is a fairly bland affair, with a travel lock and not much else. The tool placement is standard Sherman, with the additions of the grouser covers and fire extinguishers.

Now onto the turret.

Pete

 

[moon puppy]

 

[centaur567]

Gary S.

 

[Peter Bibby]

Guys, your emoji's are making me thirsty....

So, on to the turret. A fairly simple affair, with excellent fit of the top and bottom halves requiring minimal clean up.

You get a choice of two styles of rear radio boxes and again the fit was perfect.

The 17 pounder is in two halves, as is the muzzle break (again two choices) but it seems to have married up without much trouble, so should not need a lot of sanding. Its a long sucker.....

While waiting for glue to dry on the barrel, I went and added the running gear.
And here she is as it stands at the moment.The sprockets and idlers are just press fitted for ease of track removal.

Stay tuned

Pete

 

[moon puppy]

Nice!

 

[ij001]

All very familiar.

Ian.

 

[Peter Bibby]

Yes Ian, a bit of deja vu for you I'm sure.
Did you attempt to use those ridiculously flimsy periscope guards, or were you like me and crumpled the first one beyond recognition so thought "No, perhaps not". :gogo
I did think about doing the Kiwi version but the other goodies I had on hand pushed me towards a British version.
(looking at your avatar, we are clearly meant to do very similar things....)

So picking up from the last post, the last few bits were added, being the PE fender attachment brackets (of which I have knocked of and reattached 3, a small bracket front and center and the hatches.

Next were a few of the Miniart crew, along with the Tamiya Para's.

The Miniart base was then assembled, with this one being relatively straight forward as there are no destroyed edges.

And lastly, some shots of all the plastic together.

The plan is for a tree to be to the left of the building, so that will be worked on soon.


So now its time for this build to slow as its paint time....

Until then.

 

[mike walsh]

Nice,

It's good to see the Miniart base and figures bring the diorama alive.

Keep them rolling

Michael

 

[Jeeves]

Ooooooo this is going to be good!!

 

[moon puppy]