M48A3 1:25 scale

[CharlieC]

Originally Posted by John Griffin

Darn it! I guess I'l have to recycle now. I've been saving cereal boxes for years for 'just in case'. I have literally hundreds flattened and stacked.
If my wife finds out I didn't need them I'll really cop it- I don't know how many times I've lectured her about saving them for me, every time I found one she through in the trash bin!
Live and learn, from the pros.

Before you rush off for your meal of humble pie.....

Not all cereal boxes are made from the the same card. The card to avoid is the type made from very short fibers - it usually has a smooth grey appearance. The other type we get is brown and noticeably rougher - this is quite useable if you laminate the sheets at right angles to limit the effect of the grain.

A very useful card is the kind that comes with carry boxes of soda cans - this seems to be tough and dimensionally stable.

Regards,

Charlie

[dansls1]

I've been doing the layered cardstock method and generally have been happy with it. The only real issue I've found is sharp points like the ends of wing formers tend to feather. I often dab a bit of cyanoacrylate on them once I'm sure they are the right size to help with this. The biggest advantage is the cutting, IMHO. It cuts so much easier than cardboard, even if I still do multiple cuts to get through the thickness, it's just easier, IMHO.

[Stev0]

I'd like to see more build pics.

Wow on the turret shape. You actually pulled off a difficult job

[John Griffin]

Originally Posted by Stev0

I'd like to see more build pics.

Wow on the turret shape. You actually pulled off a difficult job

More pics coming later tonight... I've added a few little doodads and am planning to add the gun and mantlet this evening.

[Jim Nunn]

John,

You have a very good argument to continue using cereal boxes. One must keep “She who must be obeyed” happy.


Jim Nunn

[John Griffin]

Here are some more shots.

I built the mantlet; no problems at all there. Then I tried to roll the main gun tube... ooh. It proved beyond my capabilities. I couldn't get it smooth at all.
Finally, I printed it on thin copier paper, then rolled it with a long lead-in of white inside, like a big lollypop stick. That one came out nice and smooth. And thick- very strong.

You can see the difference- the one on the right is the original on cardstock, the left is the one printed on paper.

I also took a photo of the turret with the mantlet 'posed' in front of it, for effect. I think it makes the whole thing look much more complete.
Tomorrow I will try to get the gun and boot placed on the mantlet, then mate them to the turret shell.

[Lex]

Nice work!

--As a matter of fact I always print on normal paper just because they form curves easy

[Don Boose]

Excellent gun tube.

The turret is very impressive. The edges don't really show much in the photo and I expect that your idea of a very light dusting with the appropriate colored chalk will make them disappear completely.

I'm convinced that the water color and/or water color pencil approach is best for edge treatment of high-quality models, but since my models tend to be other than high-quality, I usually go for the convenience of using Tombow or Faber-Castell brush pens.

Don

[dansls1]

Wow, I realized I posted without giving my praise for the turret. It looks great! Nice gun tube as well.
As far as edge coloring, I like water-based paints using a brush best. Watercolors and markers are decent substitutes, but the paints (while being much more time consuming) give me the best results.

[John Griffin]

Thanks. I think that the biggest reason for the edges showing is that I rushed it a bit, and didn't precisely match up the edges. If you look closely you will notice that the edges that show more than others are the ones where one side is 'stepped out' from the other very slightly, letting the raised edge show white. Many of the others don't really even show because I pulled them together tightly and pressed them down to the same level onto the backing paper glued behind. I think it might just be possible (if I was a better modeler!) to have no white show even with no colour added to the edges. The mantlet face has four join slits that are pretty much invisible because I got them tight. I might have to build a new turret someday to test this. Then pull of all the stuff from this turret and transfer it.
About the biggest goof I made in building was that ugly horizontal crease above the gun cut-out. I forgot to include the 'fold here' line and consequently bent the card in the wrong place. If I can get the boot I've designed to work, it should just cover it up. I hope so.