1/35 Tamiya Rhino

These are called "equilibrators" (apparently), there are two of them, 6 parts each.


Still learning these new glues, using MUCH less, and cementing one half while clamping the other half to avoid my clamp from attracting it.


I was pretty unhappy seeing those casting or injection marks (right term?) in the middle like that. Was trying to figure out how to remove them when I realized NOBODY will see that installed.

Yeah, ejector pin marks. The pins pop the sprue out of the mold after the styrene is injected and set. You might be able to fix those, too, with some 2-part epoxy putty, or even some of the kit sprue, stretched over a candle to the right thickness and then laid in with some liquid styrene cement. If they're hidden, though, yeah, you could leave 'em. Unless it bothers you that YOU know they're there!

Using "gold" paint would be too bright for 88mm shells wouldn't it? Need more of a dull tarnished brass. Is there a good way to weather a pile of shells?

(thought ya'll might get a kick out of this bottle, paint is in excellent condition)

I've got some old Testor's jars like that, from when I was a kid. Some of those enamels start congealing from the minute you open them, like gloss black and gloss white. But I have a bottle of copper that I got in the 70s, and it's still useable.
As far as those colors go, if you were to use Testor's enamels, I agree, gold is too bright. Copper would work better. I use it for gold lace on my figures, because it's a little darker than the gold.

I found this photo on a Farcebook page where they are restoring one...


Appears to be a bit photoshopped, or in 2024 AI-adjusted, but still a helluva shot. Here's the site for the resto job if you wanna see more.

https://www.facebook.com/Nashorn.SD.KFZ.164.restauration

Still working through the kit, overall it is going very well. Lots of fiddly bits on the gun, but just a matter of patience because the parts do fit very well.

Here's some "issues" I had...


These tiny hooks, or tie-downs. It was a chore to get them into their slots, there is a top and bottom to them. But that wasn't the issue I had, again that is just a patience thing. My problem was grabbing them with tweezers, only to see them disappear, launched like a rocket into oblivion. Think I need to learn to be more gentle with the tweezers.


This part (D17), I managed to break it clean when using snippers off the sprue. Tried twice to glue it, but it looked like it had been broken and glued. Replacing it with wire was much easier.

Still chuggin' along, in this pic you can see the D-17 restoration.

That's looking pretty good!

Bummed that I missed those seams, will try to hide then inside the racks.



Pictures make me see things I missed during assembly, like those ejection pin (?) circles.



This is the point, after applying whitewash (1st ever attempt) and beginning the aging, that I realize I took no pics of the beautiful yellow/red/green camo before covering it up.

That looks really nice. I really like how you got that paint to look on the sidewall above the rifle

Picking this one back up after a break. Was never happy with rubber-band tracks, something about their texture, and of course no sag (not enough) on the top. So I decided to put some more money into this kit and use a "workable" kit from the AFV Club.

!!!

Why am I such a masochist?


There are two parts per link, the smaller one glues in the center and has one lip on one side and two on the other than form the hinges. The little pile above represent about half of a sprue for each part.


But there are six sprues here, for one track. Ugghhhh.


Another six sprues for, yeah, the other side of the tank. Leaving them bagged and hidden from my view, for my sanity.



These are tricky. What you see above was me using Blu-Tack to hold the lower/larger part of the links together, with the pinss alinged with the hinges of each other. It provided a nice stable platform for adding the smaller parts. What I was not ready for was my gluing the tracks to the Blu-Tack. Ughhh again.



But here's a finished segment divorced from the Blu-Tack although there's still little bits of it stuck in there (only visible from the other side), will be covered by "mud" and weathering so I'm leaving it. That segment represents one sprue each, so two down ten to go. Ughhh!

Good idea with the blue tack. Too bad you didn't get a jig or something with the track. I wonder if you could make a jig like Takom kits give you.

Where did you get those tracks? I'm a bit of a masochist as well.

wjbrandel said:

Where did you get those tracks? I'm a bit of a masochist as well.

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https://spruebrothers.com/afv35179-...panzer-iii-late-panzer-iv-mid-workable-35179/

Thanks for the info.

This is going to be a very intensive thing, but (I hope) worth it. The "sag" is controllable, I could add a link to exaggerate. But it looks and feels heavy.

Love the weathering!

Tracks look like a lot of work, but it really pays off

The figures were a major mojo-killer for me. But after sucking up the suck and doing the Bradley tracks I've decided to move this Rino forwards as well.

I'm not terribly proud of these, but they are much improved from where they were a month or four ago.



...and they do hide many flaws when deployed in their fighting positions.




But frankly, I think this type of kit really needs a display if not a mini-diorama for the effect. Something about it sitting idle on the shelf, it looks tall and weak, unlike if it were more like real life as shown here.



I'm putting it back into a box for now while I contemplate a suitable display.

Those figures aren't bad at all................another reason why I moved on from 1/35, I was never happy with my figures either.

Edbert said:

These are called "equilibrators" (apparently)

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Because they're there to create equilibrium (for the cradle and barrel).

Edbert said:

Using "gold" paint would be too bright for 88mm shells wouldn't it?

Click to expand...

Probably a bit too late now, but by this time in the war, German shell cases were generally lacquered steel, not brass. They could be either a grey steel colour if the lacquer was completely colourless, or some brown or greenish tint due to having been painted with a translucent lacquer. The same goes for small-arms ammunition. It's easy to paint with something like Tamiya Smoke over a metallic steel colour, followed by matt varnish to get rid of the gloss.