Famo, trailer and stug III - long term project

[Igor]

I suggest plastic box. Will keep from unwanted hands and drops and also from dust.
All my models stored this way and this method convenient for transfering.
Of course you will need very long one

By the way - great progress. Looks excellent!

[modelperry]

Thanks Igor!

I do have a long plastic box but am not sure it's long enough.

I also have a new vehicle. a Jeep Gladiator with a five foot truck bed and a tonneau cover. So I have the means to transport without it getting wet. I think.

I just want to attach it to a board to keep it from moving around and bumping into other stuff being transported and to give it extra support for a longer life.

My scud launcher was not secured like this and the suspension got wrecked in transport. Lesson learned.

Anyway on to the build progress...

Parts 69-78 bed frame.

Pictures of all parts include the edge strips provided, although I did not use any of them here.

In general fit was decent aside from a needed tweak here or there. A few parts were on the mirror image parts page and placement had to be adjusted accordingly. That's why there are a few errant asymmetric white spots here and there on the finished assembly. Paint will be applied later on.

I found this assembly much more enjoyable than many other parts of this project for some reason.

greg

[modelperry]

Remaining picture of frame assembly:

[modelperry]

Parts 79-87

Parts 79 and 80 are the front bed wall assembly. This assembly is NOT straight forward. parts are intertwined between each other and with the previously assembled bed frame. I did get it figured out and assembled well enough to have the ramp latches operate properly.

Parts 81 appear to be a tensioning mechanism to hold a load in place better. The hydraulic box innards were supposed to include a spring but that didn't happen. I used rocket card glue to attache the rod ends to the bottom of the angled beams so they would remain flexibly attached and could slide in and out of the boxes as needed.

Parts 82 - center bed floor. No mysteries here.

Parts 83 - side bed floors. just a little more tricky than the center.

Parts 84 and 85 - bed ramps. These built up OK as long as you took your time to figure out proper parts placement. pinning them in place was a challenge though as access to the hinges was mostly obscured by the beams they were overlapped by. I added a picture of how the ramps are held in place by the latches built into the front wall.

Parts 86 and 87 - center bed floor channels and miscellaneous rigging items and pins to attach the bed to the bogies.

So whats left? Well, Parts 88 won't be used. Parts 89 are the last group of parts to assemble. Parts 90 are gas cans and parts 91 are oil drums, neither of which I will be building since I already have a load for the bed.

Then comes paint for the bed and final assembly of ALL the pieces of this project.

The end is nigh.

greg

[modelperry]

Parts 89 - drawings are unclear about all parts placement. Only used the cylinder portions.

Next was final assembly of it all. That didn't go according to plan. I had to break free the mounting lugs on the front bogie, modify them and re-position them because they were too close together to fit the bed mounts. The rear bogie had the same issue but I was able to wedge everything together without tearing stuff apart.

Then I placed the FAMO and trailer on my base to get them located somewhat symmetrically on it.

As much as I would have liked to keep all the movable parts functional, I did not want the rig to move so I glued the spade frame in the upright position, the famo tracks to the board and the trailer wheels to the board as well.

The StuG was glued to the trailer bed. Then I took far too much time attaching the chains to the StuG.

But it is DONE now.

What to do for my next big project....

greg

[Igor]

Wow! Congratz on finishing such huge project, Greg!
My patients lasted only for FAMO.
All in all looking astonishing!

[SCEtoAUX]

That turned out very good. Looks impressive. BZ!

[whulsey]

Great work.

[modelperry]

Thank you all for the support, suggestions, comments and boosts to my self esteem. It means a lot, and I hope my presentation was educational as well as fun for you to revel in my building anguish......

greg

[enrico63]

Ciao Greg,
This is a really nice model and you did it very well indeed!
Compliments.