Finished: Verlinden 1/32 Luftwaffe Power Supply Cart

[Roy vd M.]

 

As there is no build review / WiP available of this little kit (anywhere on the web, as far as I can see), I thought it nice to start this not-so-long thread. 

 

I'm no experienced modeller, having only finished one kit: 1/32 Trumpeter Bf109. That was a 'practice kit' for a much larger project: the 1/32 Revell Heinkel He 111. As I am a bit stalled concerning that project (in February I will fly over to London to photograph and document all external rivets on the real thing and until then I can't really get forward with the fuselage interior) I decided to tackle this Verlinden as a fun in-between-job. I will describe as detailed as possible what I did, where I did good and where I failed, so that this can be seen as a build review from a beginner's point of view. Hopefully other beginners can thus learn from my mistakes as well as my (lucky / educated) more enlightened moments. 

 

I'm aware that all of this may be boring for those many of you guys who know all of this... good idea to just skip till the next page (when finished)

 

This is my first encounter with resin and I like the material and feel. 

 

The kit consists of the following parts (undercarriage already cut loose):

 

 

First I cut off the undercarriage from its sprue. I filed and sanded to make as perfect a tubular form to the back-right long rod as I could. Then going on with all the other rods. 

 

 

There is extremely little space between that back-right rod and its neighboring twin. So I had to cut that flash with a knife and then I just used sanding paper 320. Also here try to sand as 'making tubular'-y as possible. 

 

 

One half done:

 

 

Then suddenly... just before I was finished... snap! the right inner rod broke off (front end). So tip: be very careful! A drop of superglue: back on track. 

 

The undercarriage was rather warped:

 

 

Here's the almost ready undercarriage:

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2013 by Roy vd M.

[Roy vd M.]

Having been warned upfront for the toxic qualities of the resin dust I used a dust mask all the time when cutting, filing and sanding.

 

Next picture: the wheels before and after. To me it looked more challenging than it actually turned out to be. I had to keep in mind to file and check... file and check... each time. Upon approaching the end form I used the rule file, sand and check... file, sand and check... so the wheel would stay round. And it worked better than I would have thought. 

 

 

Here are all the parts with all flash and other resin residue removed. The most annoying mistake I made was to try to cut the spring suspension part from the resin block by using a knife. I had noticed there was a pre-cut line. My first pre-cut line cut was ok. Second and last... snap! (again) The suspension end broke off. Unlike the first, this was no quick fix! First I had to check out what side of the broken off piece belonged to the remainder of the suspension and in what position it used to be. Then the superglue connection... not easy. This cost me about 20 minutes to fix. The second suspension part I cut out by using a mini saw (RB Productions). From that moment on I used the saw on almost every part.

 

 

Washing everything in warm water and soap:

 

 

After brushing each part with an old toothbrush I rinsed them with cold water:

 

 

And (very) soon I realized that I should have done the washing and rinsing earlier when the parts were still on their sprues. Didn't matter how very, very careful I was, I was almost surely going to lose one or more of the smaller parts. And indeed I did. Fortunately it was the most easily reproducible one: one of the smaller rods. Although I had some sort of theory why I should take them off first and THEN give them a bath, I won't do that ever again (or maybe if only larger parts are involved). 

 

 

Last job of today was to correct the undercarriage warping. I filled a bowl with hot water, put the part in it for 5 minutes and then bent it. It looked like this:

 

 

So I was happy. Then I started typing this post. 10 minutes later the undercarriage was deformed again so I repeated the bending process. And again. And yet again. Now after the 6th time it seems to be setting okay. 

 

Next step will be to glue the cart together and make a replacement rod. 

 

Does anyone know the correct colour for a cart like this? Box example looks very nice, if someone can inform me of that colour I'd be delighted. 

Edited December 8, 2013 by Roy vd M.

[Vandy 1 VX 4]

You have two options XF-60 German Dark Yellow or German Grey XF-63 as the base colors

Tamiya  has a good painting diagram in the 1/48th kit#89768 for the details

http://www.model-making.eu/products/German-Aircraft-Power-Supply-Unit-with-Luftwaffe-Crew.html

Instructions above link

 

http://www.luftwaffeairfieldre-enactmentgroup.org.uk/Uniforms___Equipment/DispersalEqpt/dispersaleqpt.html

http://forum.maketar.com/showthread.php?p=5055  a little way down good photo 

Edited December 8, 2013 by Vandy 1 VX 4

[Roy vd M.]

Thanks a lot! Also great to see some up close inspection material for better detailing!

[Roy vd M.]

Thanks Marus!

 

Today I glued together the undercarriage + springs + wheels. The generator has two supporting beams. The kit's instructions are very unclear as to where those beams should be put. Eventually with the help of some other pics (thanks again Vandy) I found the right spot. The hand grips at the front I placed slightly more to the front, in line with the 1:1 cart.

 

 

The supporting beams are depicted on the following photograph. On that picture also my happy Vallejo putty project. I decided to fill the resin holes, although they can't be seen unless you pick the thing from the diorama. Not a lot of work and you never know if in the future one will regret not having done it. 

 

 

Safe-kept all day, at one point and unexplainedly one of the other small rods which I had put to dry, was gone. Probably a gust of wind that had entered the house upon opening the balcony door. So another mistake/tip for the colleague beginner: put those tiny items in a box rather than on a smooth towel. 

 

[Roy vd M.]

I have an unused F104 Starfighter ('Ferrari') Revell kit that I sometimes use to test things on. One of the tubular parts was exactly as thick as the rod I lost yesterday. Furthermore, a sprue piece was cut and sanded until it was about as thick as the rod I lost today. After attaching that part I filed it a bit more to make it a good twin to the original part. 

 

 

 

 

 

To bend the copper wire for the coupling I used the back end of my knife grip:

 

 

 

And finally for today, the cart stands:

 

 

 

After a couple of hours left to dry and then trying to sand off, the putty looked like this:

 

 

I'll try milliput next.

Edited December 8, 2013 by Roy vd M.

[Roy vd M.]

Oh yes, this morning I saw that the undercarriage had deformed again. Couple of more bending tries... no succes.. one try with the hairdryer and that did the trick. So I'll stick with the hairdryer method. 

Edited December 8, 2013 by Roy vd M.

[Roy vd M.]

Milliput regular:

 

 

On with the handles. First tried to bend the copper wire by using pliers.

 

 

Then by using photo etch bender. That worked a lot better.

 

 

Pre-made holes had to be widened a bit. I did this by rotating the hobby knife in it.

 

 

The handles before cutting:

 

 

Fitted:

 

 

Glueing the handles... and ready!

 

 

Looking once more... grr! Worked too fast. Breaking the handles off again and fitting them right this time. 

 

 

[Roy vd M.]

The model now consists of 3 parts, the middle one being seen in the picture under "fitted". If I glued everything together now then painting and weathering would be a disaster. 

 

First now I'll make a little generator handle (no idea why Verlinden didn't include one in the kit... I think it's an important and very visible part. 

 

Then I'll see if I can find something else to add. If not... priming! 

[Roy vd M.]

Went to the local hobby shop and purchased a bunch of rods in several sizes. Lever was made with a small piece of one of those. The tiny ball on top was made out of milliput.

 

 

The on to the priming business. I used Vallejo Surface Primer (73.601) directly into the airbrush (Evolution) and that worked perfectly. No more mixing revell primer for me.

 

 

I intend to apply a 'rust-eaten' effect to the left side of the inner part of the central rod. 

[mywifehatesmodels]

Looking great, Roy!

 

I don't find this build to be boring, at all. In fact, it's right up my alley and I'm glad you've decided to post your progress. I have future plans for a Fw 190 display that will need this cart, so I am very interested. However, the one I want to do is the version with spoked wheels, but this is still very informative. You seem to have been able to improvise and overcome, as well. I think anybody who has built anything from scratch did it out of necessity, first. It all starts there, I think.

 

Great work!

 

John

[Roy vd M.]

Thanks John for your nice words.

 

Does anyone have any idea how long a standard electricity cable used by a generator cart like this used to be? 

 

I know, it's a bit of a niche question.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Roy vd M.

[mywifehatesmodels]

I don't know the length, for sure, but I've seen photos of them parked off the wingtip of a Fw 190 and, even when connected to the plane, there was enough slack for the cable to be on the ground. So, I would guess at least 7 meters, or 20-25 feet, minimum.

[lawman56]

Glad to see you doing this! I've been planning to get this and the fuel drum set at some point. Now I know what this cart looks like and the pitfalls to contend with. Thanks!

[Wouter]

Nice build log Roy!

 

I've found some pictures on the web that should help you determine the cables length.

 

The cart is just beside and behind the right wing and the cable runs underneath the plane. 

 

Pretty obvious :-) (Me 410)

 

Horten Ho IX V2

 

Cheers Wouter