Famo, trailer and stug III - long term project

[modelperry]

Thanks everyone for the continued support and interest!

Item 18: air tanks

As indicated in Snake's Z thread, the end piece petals did not close well so putty and sanding happened. My putty of choice is shown as well. It contains marble dust and sands very nicely.

I also started the transmission assembly (parts 19 through 27)

The instructions tell you to start with number 20 parts instead of 19. This makes sense since 19's axle passes through 20 and complete build up of 19 is not really possible.

greg

[modelperry]

All of part 20 for the transmission. Fit is OK but there is a lot of white and one definitely needs to use the written instructions to get any sort of useable result.

greg

[jaffro]

Looking good... I can relate to your trouble with the petals, I've never been a fan of those, I use a water based wood putty myself, it seems to work really well with paper... I've tried that plastic modellers putty before and didn't like it.

[modelperry]

Parts 21 through 29:

Watching paint dry is not very productive so this post may be a bit jumbled as I try to preserve sequence of build and bring you all up to date.

The transmission is done. Lots of white, some minor fit issues and confusing/ incomplete drawings happened. I've been waiting for the panzer gray paint to dry (testors model master enamel spray - not fast drying like Tamiya lacquer) before posting an update.

In the meantime, I started the engine. The front engine mount starts the process. It's a little fiddly but it came out OK.

Then the main engine block was built up. There are a few issues with this that Snake pre-warned about over at Z. These mainly concern the rear engine mounts. The mounts have a curved surfaces to them where they glue to the engine and bell housing. The curve on the bottom of the engine mounting side is not deep enough at the bottom, so the mounts as designed have an unnatural angled look. To fix, the curve needs to be recut to remove material from the bottom and curve it into the existing end point (like a curved piece of pie cut out).

Then the bearings that insert into these mounts are slightly too long to allow the engine to sit in the rear frame cradles properly. these were simply trimmed a little to improve fit. Test fitting the engine in place with the front mount installed shows the engine is slightly longer or the front frame mounts are mounted slightly too far rearward for proper fit. Once I have the bell housing installed, I'll drop the engine back in and see if I can figure out the best course of action to address this.

greg

[modelperry]

Parts 30 and 31

Parts 30 are for the Bell housing. You will notice parts 30g, 30k and 30u have notations next to them. These came from the previously mentioned thread at Z. I found 30k to be fine. the ends of the short legs on 30u required very minor trimming. 30g parts are the rolled recesses that the fabricated bolt s mount into. When rolled and delaminated, I found these to fit very well with no further modification.

Parts 31 make up the left and right cylinder head assemblies. Sorry, forgot to take a picture of the parts before assembly. I didn't really have any issues with these.

I did need to move the front engine mounts forward on the frame to meet the corresponding part on the engine.

greg

[KCStephens]

Greg
Your Famo is really coming along. The engine and trans look fantastic with all their fiddly little bits in place. I look forward to seeing it up close and personal sometime in the future. Any major issues to report up to this point?

[modelperry]

Originally Posted by KCStephens

Greg
Any major issues to report up to this point?

Nothing like I experienced with the MAZ. Mostly minor stuff so far. Here's hoping that continues....

[modelperry]

Parts 32 and 33

Engine intake assembly is made up from parts 32. Other than being a little fiddly and a little trimming here and there, no major issues to report.

Item 33 is the drive shaft. no fit issues.

I took some time to paint the engine before adding more parts that would make doing so more difficult later on.

greg

[modelperry]

Parts 34 and 35.

Engine build plodding along.

Neither assemblies gave me much trouble.

greg

[rmks2000]

Looks great Greg!