M4A4 Sherman VC Firefly, Halinski 1:25

snake7

Well-Known Member
Took a little break between stages. The reason was that in instructions it's suggested to use BCG glue for gluing turret. So i ordered and waited for it to be delivered.
And I'm glad i did.
I was in need to glue a lot of petals and parts by edge and did it with ease with this glue. Compared to others that i have, BCG doesn't add layer between paper like super glue gel or white glue do. It glues faster than white glue, but you can reposition parts unlike with superglue. It doesn't leaves a lot of residues and hairs like UHU glue do. After drying the parts still remains flexible, unlike with superglue. And if you want to fix, you can easily take parts apart without damaging them.

So back to assembling. I was dealing with parts that need to be assembled like curved shapes in three dimension. This can be achieved by curving and gluing petals. But whole inner casing must be glued without any support and you need to plan steps forward to glue it right.

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First of all i curved and glued all parts separately.

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Then i started with simplest rear right part. This gave me starting point

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Next front right part was glued to the roof edge only

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And then to front main part

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Last to rear right part and right side was done

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Left was more trickier and i made a mistake. I decided to glue front part first to front main part and than to add little upper rear part. But then i noticed that i'm trying to fit it by cutting and adjusting. This pointed on mistake in position of whole left side. Luckily there was a spare one, so i disassembled whole side and started to glue from little rear part that can be positioned by white mark for antenna from inside. And lastly i glued front part.

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Final step was to glue rear bottom curve that consisted of four parts

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Inner casing is ready. Everything was glued by edges only. Still amazes me how plane paper can transform to any shape you want, with right design. You just hold this curved in all corners casing and realise that it is only paper.

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I must point out that you must be very prices and patient, because if you start to trim and adjust parts - it is a sign for mistake.

Also, i didn't mentioned it until now, but there are a lot of spare parts scattered all over the book to help you deal with hard steps like this. I've already used a lot of tiny spare parts instead of ones that were lost in process and for the first time fixed mistake with spare part. (There is a whole spare set of inner casing :))
 

Rhaven Blaack

!!!THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Thanks guys

Just wanted to add that, as you see on pictures, i didn't cut out openings until i assembled everything. The reason was to preserve structure stiffness. I just made cuts like dashed line for easy trimming later.
That makes perfect sense. Thank you for sharing that tip.
 

micahrogers

Moderator "Where am I, and how did I get here?"
Staff member
Moderator
I have found this technique useful in a few builds, but I'll update my style yo use your dashed cut step.
 

snake7

Well-Known Member
After i assembled inner skin i moved to power structure.

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I know that there is a laser set for this, but i wanted to keep with my challenge and cut it myself.

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Thin breakable parts were strengthened with glue.
A lot of parts must suggest curved edges. So i gently cut corners with art knife and then sanded them with P360 sand paper.

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First step was to glue three big parts at front, on top and at rear and connect with beams. You can position those by openings and it is a good starting point.

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Next i glued left side, starting from horizontal beams and then vertical ones.

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Then the other side and bottom rear parts and power structure was ready.
Little by little shape was lined up and final bottom ring put it in to correct place and strengthened it finally.

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I must admit this was most complex power structure i ever assembled, but the design was right and there were no real issues.
 

mijob

Tie designer
Staff member
Moderator
I can't shut my mouth anymore my jaw is hanging on the floor. You naild this one. Again.....
 

snake7

Well-Known Member
Thanks guys!

Eventually finished outer skin! This part was twice harder than inner one, though i had power structure to glue it on.

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After a lot of thinking i decided to glue parts separately.
So, first of all i cut all the parts and folded-glued all curved ones. This gave me some picture how will it sit on top.

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Then i started from gluing upper part, because i could position it by openings.
After that glued right side - rear and then front. I used white glue, because it softens paper and i could smooth out all petals in curved corners.
I did not painted edges to give it more tight fit.

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Finished with right side and moved to left. Frond edge was hardest part to fit...

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When i done with big part a glued remining small rear one and finished with lower rear parts. They also were glued separately.

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Took my water colors and gently brushed-wiped places where some white edges popped up.
I can't say it all went perfectly but i satisfied with the result done by one shot.
I definitely have no mental strength to do it again more accurate :rolleyes:
If you ask where is number 12?! ;) Well, i decided to assemble polish version, so i stick to all parts that marked with it and they had clean turret with no numbers on it.

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Revell-Fan

Co-Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
HOLY COW! How did you make those struts around the tower (like T11, T14...)? Did you laminate them to card or did you fully build three sides to get the desired thickness?
 

snake7

Well-Known Member
Added some details to the turret as suggested in instructions, before i start assembling radio station

Ventilation cup, commanders hatch base ring, some plugs and pistol port frame

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Parts аrе ready and attached to their places

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Fun fact: the turret was made of cast, homogeneous steel, and was 76 mm sick at the front, 51 mm on the sides and rear, and 25 mm on top.
(You could clearly see how designer saved this proportions in 1:25 scale, when i assembled power structure that separates between inner and outer shell)
 
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