The half track build
- Thread starter Dalboy
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Dalboy
Established Member
Droogs":2958b0ea said:
May have to double check on that it is either the M3 or M9 American half track
Dalboy
Established Member
Thank you all.
The detail is the thing that seems so take the most time this one is the type of model that if you don't have the patience is not for some. it is strange if I just want to make something quick I will stop this and go turn a bowl or something then return and carry on with this normally only a day later unless it is a club competition piece.
I nearly lost this post only to find it right at the top in the sticky posts. Mind you it will make it easier for me to find and thank you to whoever put it there.
The detail is the thing that seems so take the most time this one is the type of model that if you don't have the patience is not for some. it is strange if I just want to make something quick I will stop this and go turn a bowl or something then return and carry on with this normally only a day later unless it is a club competition piece.
I nearly lost this post only to find it right at the top in the sticky posts. Mind you it will make it easier for me to find and thank you to whoever put it there.
Dalboy
Established Member
Not so much done today started by wanting some thin strip so a hunt through one of my draws and believe it or not with all of the thin pieces I could not find what I wanted so ended up finding a piece the right width but too thick. All the pieces in the draw range from 1/32" thick surprising how much there is in there need some dividers to get it better organised.
So looks like time for some planing oops hand plane needs sharpening so out with the sharpening system.
May as well do the little one at the same time at least these are ready for next time now.
Managed to get the piece down to 1/16" X 5/16".
OK one job done now onto a spacer piece for the front and the centre seat support the later again could not find the right thickness OK so I now can see how this is going to be all day and I am not wrong.
Managed to match two pieces for colour and grain pattern and the right thickness so when glued give me the size required. Put this in clamps and thought I had better start the seats yes you guessed it I needed some wood to match the seats in the back so off to the wood pile found a piece cleaned this up and sized it to the correct thickness and width great at least the seats are now made.
Found another piece for the front support this needed some hand planing and cut to size. So not much progress but a lot of work just for a few pieces.
I got all the pieces spread out and think it may be a good idea to start assembling some of them otherwise I will end up with a Airfix kit.
I just hope you all had a better day than me.
So looks like time for some planing oops hand plane needs sharpening so out with the sharpening system.
May as well do the little one at the same time at least these are ready for next time now.
Managed to get the piece down to 1/16" X 5/16".
OK one job done now onto a spacer piece for the front and the centre seat support the later again could not find the right thickness OK so I now can see how this is going to be all day and I am not wrong.
Managed to match two pieces for colour and grain pattern and the right thickness so when glued give me the size required. Put this in clamps and thought I had better start the seats yes you guessed it I needed some wood to match the seats in the back so off to the wood pile found a piece cleaned this up and sized it to the correct thickness and width great at least the seats are now made.
Found another piece for the front support this needed some hand planing and cut to size. So not much progress but a lot of work just for a few pieces.
I got all the pieces spread out and think it may be a good idea to start assembling some of them otherwise I will end up with a Airfix kit.
I just hope you all had a better day than me.
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Dalboy
Established Member
If you remember yesterday I had a bench full of parts for the back section of the half track. Well today after going out this morning on my return I started to glue these together so now it is starting to look a bit like it should. the back is still not glued to the chassis yet. I just propped the two front panels in place in one of the photo's just to get a rough idea what it will look like.
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Dalboy
Established Member
Not a lot done today. started by cutting the centre piece of the seat support and routing the lines as well as drilling holes for various levers. I then glued some blocks to the end of some dowel these are the gear levers and the like.
Onto some planing for the outer seat support block and the middle seat stand. Drilled the seat support and the centre block at the same time for the four dowel uprights and glued this together while that was setting made the two outer blocks and glued these as well as the seats to them.
Next was the gear levers and all the selectors rounded the little darker wood to form the gear knobs on most of the levers except one which needed some thinning at the end(the one fixed in the slot) brake lever.
All the parts assembled
Picture with ruler to give idea of sizes I was dealing with.
Onto some planing for the outer seat support block and the middle seat stand. Drilled the seat support and the centre block at the same time for the four dowel uprights and glued this together while that was setting made the two outer blocks and glued these as well as the seats to them.
Next was the gear levers and all the selectors rounded the little darker wood to form the gear knobs on most of the levers except one which needed some thinning at the end(the one fixed in the slot) brake lever.
All the parts assembled
Picture with ruler to give idea of sizes I was dealing with.
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OM99
Established Member
Looks stunning, great work and a lot of patiences.
Olivier
Olivier
Dalboy
Established Member
Thank you Olivier
Yesterday was a day of preparing some wood for the front mudguards and some other bits, but no parts made today I managed a couple of pieces before the great grandchildren descended upon us, so again not a lot done.
Yesterday was a day of preparing some wood for the front mudguards and some other bits, but no parts made today I managed a couple of pieces before the great grandchildren descended upon us, so again not a lot done.
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what a fantastic build
must find time to pop in for a cuppa, and offload some "offcuts" so you continue these builds and save me burning them, winters coming :-(
you have so much patience to inspire all of us
Steve
must find time to pop in for a cuppa, and offload some "offcuts" so you continue these builds and save me burning them, winters coming :-(
you have so much patience to inspire all of us
Steve
Dalboy
Established Member
SteveF":w5w0ggsy said:
You know that you are more than welcome Steve just give us a bell even if it is just for a cuppa and maybe have a look in person at the build.
Dalboy
Established Member
Another day where I needed to prepare some wood this time I needed some 1/8" and 1/16" thick so made a quick false bottom for the thicknesser and ran some wood through of various types to see which would look good.
Anyway after this I then needed to cut some 3/16" wide strips from this first of all to make the two side baskets for the back section.
A couple of walnut discs for the upper rear lights then glue in place.
I also made up the front wheel axles as I had just pushed in some old dowel to hold them before, they look better now but I have not yet glued these will do that once I add some finish.
I also cut the ladder side pieces ready for drilling tomorrow and adding the rungs the four pieces bottom left in the last photo.
My bag of parts is growing again.
Anyway after this I then needed to cut some 3/16" wide strips from this first of all to make the two side baskets for the back section.
A couple of walnut discs for the upper rear lights then glue in place.
I also made up the front wheel axles as I had just pushed in some old dowel to hold them before, they look better now but I have not yet glued these will do that once I add some finish.
I also cut the ladder side pieces ready for drilling tomorrow and adding the rungs the four pieces bottom left in the last photo.
My bag of parts is growing again.
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Dalboy
Established Member
I have not done much on the half track over the last couple of days as I had a phone call from a friend about some wood so went and picked some of it up, and before anyone asks it is no good for model making or other projects as you know it. It is mainly for woodturning. See the first couple of photo's.
I spent a good part of today cutting it up to get it in my store.
Any way to the work that I managed to do on the half track, had to remake one of the ladder rails and then once sorted drilled 8 holes in each pair. Cut some rungs and glued three in using the second rail to keep them all lined up once dry enough to handle glued the rest in along one side. Again once these were dry enough to handle glued all the rungs to the second side and placed some spacers to keep everything straight.
While the two ladders are drying I got on with the ladder brackets four required of these. Put them to one side and added the support blocks for the top of the truck sides, and also added the tops still need sanding in the pictures.
The last two pictures show the ladder brackets and ladder in place there is one either side.
Once I have cleaned up the top rails this back section will be complete except for three wires to go across the top which I will add after the finish.
Then it is back onto the front cab section
I spent a good part of today cutting it up to get it in my store.
Any way to the work that I managed to do on the half track, had to remake one of the ladder rails and then once sorted drilled 8 holes in each pair. Cut some rungs and glued three in using the second rail to keep them all lined up once dry enough to handle glued the rest in along one side. Again once these were dry enough to handle glued all the rungs to the second side and placed some spacers to keep everything straight.
While the two ladders are drying I got on with the ladder brackets four required of these. Put them to one side and added the support blocks for the top of the truck sides, and also added the tops still need sanding in the pictures.
The last two pictures show the ladder brackets and ladder in place there is one either side.
Once I have cleaned up the top rails this back section will be complete except for three wires to go across the top which I will add after the finish.
Then it is back onto the front cab section
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rafezetter
Troll Hunter
Dalboy - Your work is outstanding. I've been making scale (plastic) models for close to 40 years and when I go a bit overboard with the details I sometimes start to think I've bitten off too much... but to make something totally from scratch, from a material that requires more working than plastic, with all the detail you've put into this so far, well, I'm just amazed. A showcase peice.
Dalboy
Established Member
rafezetter":qpbrh967 said:
Thank you for the kind words.
I like many have my failures when making parts but most of it is working with the wood to get it to do what is wanted of it, as well as taking your time, don't be afraid to remake a bit if it goes wrong. The thinnest piece I have had to make when it was not in my draw of parts because either I did not have the correct size or the wrong coloured wood was 1/16" thick.
I am already looking at what my next project will be and I still have a fair way to go with this one.
I realised that all the wood I had prepared I did not have a pice wide enough for the bonnet top. Well I found some wood as near a match as I could find
A close up of the piece all marked out ready to cut out the cut on the left and right are angle cuts. It took a little time as when this is assembled and glued to the two side panels the groove going across has to match with one on the side panels
As you can see from the photo getting a match not only for colour but also finding a piece that has the greenish wood that is large enough for it, The two small pieces on the left are the pieces either side the bit I found I had to cut off the lighter wood.
Not easy to see but the other heartwood was not the right shade and I had to pull out a number of bits and plane them to see the true colour.
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AES
Established Member
@Dalboy: I'd seen the headline for this thread a couple of times and not opened it 'cos I thought "This can't be the half track that I know off, it must be some technical term I'm ignorant of" - there's LOTS of those BTW)!
But today curiosity got the better of me and I must say your work is absolutely immaculate Dalboy.
MANY congratulations Sir - attention to detail (the hallmark of all good modellers) just doesn't come half way to describing the efforts you're putting in here, and as someone else has already said, remembering the fact that the end result is going to look just as good as any plastic scale model, BUT with all the components have been crafted from "blank" raw materials and in no way pre-shaped, this really is work of the highest order - especially when considering the very small size of some of the parts.
I'm pretty sure I've seen you posting on the US Toy Builders Forum(?), so I will NOT start babbling on about "awesome", etc, etc, here (one reason why I myself post there very infrequently - pluzs the fact that my work ain't that good!) and bearing in mind that your half track definitely does NOT qualify as a toy but is clearly a model, I can well understand you posting here instead of there.
Just as a matter of my own interest, what scale is this vehicle too?; what size will the completed job be?; where did you get the plans (I assume it's a real-world prototype)?; and is it "just" for your own satisfaction or does it have a definite home to go to? Oh, and yes, how are you going to finish it please?
Meantime please carry on with a very interesting WIP, and thanks for posting. Many congratulations, as a certain Mr.Lewin would say "You really are a master craftsman Sir" - a more than justified comment this time IMO.
AES
But today curiosity got the better of me and I must say your work is absolutely immaculate Dalboy.
MANY congratulations Sir - attention to detail (the hallmark of all good modellers) just doesn't come half way to describing the efforts you're putting in here, and as someone else has already said, remembering the fact that the end result is going to look just as good as any plastic scale model, BUT with all the components have been crafted from "blank" raw materials and in no way pre-shaped, this really is work of the highest order - especially when considering the very small size of some of the parts.
I'm pretty sure I've seen you posting on the US Toy Builders Forum(?), so I will NOT start babbling on about "awesome", etc, etc, here (one reason why I myself post there very infrequently - pluzs the fact that my work ain't that good!) and bearing in mind that your half track definitely does NOT qualify as a toy but is clearly a model, I can well understand you posting here instead of there.
Just as a matter of my own interest, what scale is this vehicle too?; what size will the completed job be?; where did you get the plans (I assume it's a real-world prototype)?; and is it "just" for your own satisfaction or does it have a definite home to go to? Oh, and yes, how are you going to finish it please?
Meantime please carry on with a very interesting WIP, and thanks for posting. Many congratulations, as a certain Mr.Lewin would say "You really are a master craftsman Sir" - a more than justified comment this time IMO.
AES
Dalboy
Established Member
Thank you AES for the kind remarks. I don't see myself as a craftsman just someone who enjoys what I make and put into it the best I am capable of. As I said above it is a case of working with the wood and not against it.
Except for my machines to prepare the wood to thicknesses required all the other cutting is done with a very few tools, the main ones in this photo.
The plans are from Toys and Joys.
As it stands at the moment it measures 19" X 7" X 6 1/4". I have changed the wood colours but that is just me as for finish I will spray varnish of some sort to much detail to get around with a paint brush which can cause pooling in little corners and spoil the end result. This is just for me, and am already looking for the next project but that will be after some turning my other love in working with wood.
Yes I am on many forums and use the same user name on many. Another good one is the Australian site which has a dedicated section for toy/Model makers.
Did you mean This site.
Except for my machines to prepare the wood to thicknesses required all the other cutting is done with a very few tools, the main ones in this photo.
The plans are from Toys and Joys.
As it stands at the moment it measures 19" X 7" X 6 1/4". I have changed the wood colours but that is just me as for finish I will spray varnish of some sort to much detail to get around with a paint brush which can cause pooling in little corners and spoil the end result. This is just for me, and am already looking for the next project but that will be after some turning my other love in working with wood.
Yes I am on many forums and use the same user name on many. Another good one is the Australian site which has a dedicated section for toy/Model makers.
Did you mean This site.
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AES
Established Member
Hullo again Dalboy. You wrote, QUOTE: Did you mean This site. UNQUOTE:
Yup, that's the one.
But IMO, it's because you work WITH the material, scrapping (or modifying) the bits that don't first come up to scratch, and overall QUOTE: put into it the best I am capable of UNQUOTE: that does make you EXACTLY a craftsman (that's my own definition anyway, FWIW).
And thanks for the Toys and Joys link too - one I hadn't seen before, now bookmarked.
Cheers
AES
Yup, that's the one.
But IMO, it's because you work WITH the material, scrapping (or modifying) the bits that don't first come up to scratch, and overall QUOTE: put into it the best I am capable of UNQUOTE: that does make you EXACTLY a craftsman (that's my own definition anyway, FWIW).
And thanks for the Toys and Joys link too - one I hadn't seen before, now bookmarked.
Cheers
AES
