Blackadder's Landkreuzer P500; Der Wühlmaus

Blackadder

Active member
My apologies for my above post;

just goes to show don't post when you're tired and high (Martini).......Ha! Just got back from Florida last night 19 hours of driving and decided to check my threads before retiring,


Somehow I thought that post was funny last night.............
 

wargamesculptor

New member
No problem BA, I have to not say too much to the guys that help me at shows when we get back, as I don't always think about what I'm saying through the pain induced tiredness. So can fully understand where your coming from.
 

Blackadder

Active member
Okay; I promise, I'll have a production post readied later today


Wow; searched "Latest version of Baneblade" and found this:


baneblade-whole_1374141894.jpg



Surely someone has a lot of talent and time on his hands.


Now I see (infer) at least eight crew members and half a dozen or so free roaming servitor skulls, a bin for spent small shell casings, a lot of skulls, icon, and altars and a tech priest but I see no live ammo magazine for the big guns and no perceivable engine; what am I missing?




Appended to; "What am I missing..........."


Well the upper tread run to be sure. The artist has acknowledged that he was aware of the necessity of the upper run of tread as he shows the tread cutoff end in the front of the tank fender but then he ignores the issue and has the sponson gun server (gunner?) and some abbreviated individual smack dab in the space where the tread should be.


Then there is the question of fuel. In my reading preparing to make my version of a Landkeuzer I referred a lot to the largest produced tank (to my knowledge) the German Panzerkampfwagen VIII 'Maus'. The spec's show it carried 710 US Gallons of fuel internally and 400 gallons of fuel in the external reserve and had a battlefield range of 39 miles. BTW that works out to 185.5 feet of travel per gallon if you're interested and at top speed of 8.1 MPH. The big problem with the Maus was developing an engine powerful enough to move the tank and small enough to actually fit inside.


The artist here didn't address either the interior fuel storage 95 cubic feet or a reservoir cube size of 4.56 by 4.56 by 4.56 or appreciable space for any sort of propulsion unit.


Certainly the tiny barrels at the end of the fender couldn't carry enough fuel for more than a few miles at most. BTW note the surge baffles.........nice touch.


But it is a pretty picture......XD
 

Blackadder

Active member
The Wheel Thing:

Every type of model has certain pieces that if done right no one notices but if done wrong ruins the model.


That's how I feel about the road and drive wheels on tanks.


seemingly insignificant, partially covered still if less than detailed they stand out like sore thumbs when it comes to displaying your work.


Witness this beautifully detailed effort that somehow just doesn't make the grade because of the painfully plain road wheels. (and fenderskirts but that's a different story......)


lLBFqz2.jpg



So now I shall attempt to detail the drive and idler wheels on the Landkreuzer and also fix the fender skirt doors on this and my Titan Hunter. It's about time since I shelved it more than six years ago.


http://i.imgur.com/gNnpaRB.jpg

gNnpaRBl.jpg




In the images above and below we see the tools required to make the wells in the wheels for the final detailing. Now that the blanks are fully formed the rest should be easy.


http://i.imgur.com/nhl8Fjb.jpg

nhl8Fjbl.jpg




The procedure came to me on the long drive to Florida last week and I was aching to see if it would work and it did.


Now why was I so confounded by such a laughingly simple process?
 

Blackadder

Active member
Disc Making:

There are a lotta ways to make small discs but this is the easiest way I've found to do it without a lot of special tools and compasses, trammel points, and expensive disc cutting dies.


I glue scraps of plasticard (in this case 1,0 MM) to the ends of styrene tubing by simply dipping the very tip of the tube into the glue vial.


and allow to dry for a few minutes..........


http://i.imgur.com/hQ8B0Hd.jpg

hQ8B0Hdl.jpg




Once dry take your standard household scissors and trim off the rough excess.
(upper end of the medium length tube)


then take your sanding block and fine sand off the rough edges until the disc is flush with the side of the tube; usually takes a few seconds.
(lower end of medium length tube)


Once shaped take your utility knife and slice off the rounded end cap.


http://i.imgur.com/rZtG4W6.jpg

rZtG4W6l.jpg




Walla! a relatively perfect disc in a few minutes with no special tools and if you need a larger disc than a half inch use a bit of plastic gel cement and an appropriate sized metal washer same procedure.


http://i.imgur.com/GNZNLpr.jpg

GNZNLprl.jpg




Yeah I know it's Voila but I sometimes post on a French site and it drives 'em crazy........Ha!
 

moetle

New member
Your creativity knows no bounds!

Not that it really matters, but, if you look on the far tread where it cuts away showing the two idle servo skulls, the tread starts to go down. Seeing that, I assume that the treads actually wrap around under the lascannon/twin-linked bolters sponsons, allowing the operator to get in and out.

I think about those things too. The engine, I also assume, is in the back. I have no idea where the demolisher cannons ammo is stored. It's a BFG so I'd think the shells would be rather large.

Just making convo. I'm still trying to figure out how you get ten space marines into a rhino apc...
 

Blackadder

Active member
Yeah I saw that too, it looks like the servitors are controlling the headlights. How's that for a sinecure in immortality! Fa! Gimmee 72 virgins anyday... (females only if you please; TYVM!) Ha!

Just making convo. I'm still trying to figure out how you get ten space marines into a rhino apc...


put'em in a blender and hit 'frappe' Easy peasey.
 
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Blackadder

Active member
The Never Ending Process:


More and More this track manufacture seems interminable. The more I do there is even more left to do..........


I'm trying to make a reasonable facsimile of the FW Superheavy suspension and track.


Below see the beginning of both front and drive wheels marked for detail drilling for boltholes and reinforcement strapping.


http://i.imgur.com/8r5G86G.jpg
8r5G86Gl.jpg



And please don't tell me just to buy them from some other tank kit.


No one has captured the pure artistry of the FW original Baneblade.


http://i.imgur.com/1YkXBvR.jpg
1YkXBvRl.jpg



The GW Baneblade runs a poor second.
 

Blackadder

Active member
Playin' the Odds:


Well I have four chances to produce two acceptable outer drive wheels of the eight sides I have to work with. The others I can hide on the inner track where they won't be seen (Whom I kidding? I could never accept that...........)


http://i.imgur.com/SD6Xkgk.jpg
SD6Xkgkl.jpg



Anyway the one on the lower right seems to be acceptable so now I have a one in three chance of duplicating that effort.


The inability to calculate odds is one of the reasons The Blackadder does not gamble.
 

Blackadder

Active member
Likewise with your sculpting.........

Mindless Tedium:


Only 48 more of these little b*st*rds to go............


http://i.imgur.com/qBZ4CFl.jpg
qBZ4CFll.jpg



This is a good job to do while you're watching the telly; it goes faster that way.


The Blackadder isn't an Englishman but he plays one on the internet.....:D
 

Blackadder

Active member
Well I am of 3/4 English/German ancestry and a quarter almost everything else on my mother's side of whom can be described most charitably as sleeping around Europe a lot... Ha!

Whoops that can be misconstrued, not my mother that was sleeping around but her ancestors can from various areas of Europe.

I'm not sure that sounds much better; I'd better quit....
 
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Blackadder

Active member
Prognosis Negative:


This is where we separate the suspicion of mental instability from outright clinical insanity.


Why I subject myself to this form of torture when I would give anything to say "good enough" is becoming of great concern to me.


Gluing these little batons on the drive wheels is bad enough but folding them down to unify the diagonal reinforcements stretches credulity.


http://i.imgur.com/Mw772tZ.jpg
Mw772tZl.jpg



The closeup reveals the fraction of a millimeter variance that had me annoyed.


http://i.imgur.com/uomMeQw.jpg
uomMeQwl.jpg



Checking into a clinic on the morrow............
 

Blackadder

Active member
What a Difference a Day Makes:


Well two days but there's no title that mentions two days.......


If someone told me that these would come out like this I would have looked at him suspiciously


http://i.imgur.com/lhQ5KF1.jpg
lhQ5KF1l.jpg



But here we have left to right the various stages to completion and the first end result and I thought the envelope was sealed.
 

wargamesculptor

New member
Interesting family history BA, I don't think you need to attend a clinic more learn to accept your OCD ( worked for me )
The finished wheel looks spot on was very interesting to see how it developed
 

Blackadder

Active member
Finished:


The Wheel Suspension is finished. It's too early in the day for a celebratory martini but perhaps I'll have two this evening.


These wheels have been a thorn iin my side for jeez over six years and now they are finally done in what? A COUPLA WEEKS!


Procrastination thy name is Blackadder.


So here are the twenty road wheels and drivers held on place on the tack base with a rubber band of course they have to be spaced properly and mount brackets for the drive and idler wheels but G** D*** they're done!


http://i.imgur.com/4Ze7kpJ.jpg
4Ze7kpJl.jpg



The image below compares the FW Baneblade with what could be considered a true scale Baneblade chassis/hull.....


http://i.imgur.com/rh3jlqe.jpg
rh3jlqe.jpg



A profile setup shows the wheels not too big and not too small. Once spaced out properly they'll adequately do the job.


http://i.imgur.com/JYklLWf.jpg
JYklLWfl.jpg
 
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