Tintin - 1/72 Bordurian Tank

strobez · March 22, 2018, 04:54:17 PM

So, after I calmed down and was reassured that indeed the Chaffee is a small little tank and it wasn't just my imagination - http://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php/topic,45046.0.html

I decided to start working on it. The tank seems to be a good thing to work on while the rest of the painting jobs dry. This will be my first tank, but I'm already liking the fact that the main construction seems to be moving quite quickly with no fiddly cockpit details to start.

Anyway... here we go... the Bordurian Tank that Tintin commandeers in The Calculus Affair. As far as I (and those more knowledgeable) know, it's not a real world tank. That's a bit strange given Herge's usual attention to details like that. However most people think that it's a mix of Soviet and American tanks on purpose - Borduria is fictional, so it's a kind of satirical stand-in for the Cold War in Europe.

We start as always, with the box:

As I mentioned in the thread in the link above. I don't usually build tanks and was a bit surprised at how malnourished this one seemed to be. It's itty bitty.

First thing to do is move and remove some hatches.

I got the main hatch moved over to the other side, then cut up the wheels for re-spacing. We only need 4 not 5.

A quick dry fit with tape to make sure this is gonna work... Once the side skirt is on, you certainly won't be able to see much back there.

Made the cuts and filled in the blank spots. I made a judgement call on the bottom. The bits if the axels that appear on the bottom piece are just going to have to be mis-aligned. The amount of work to move them just didn't seem worth it. I'm at peace with that decision.

philp · March 22, 2018, 05:28:46 PM

Nice start.

Weaver · March 22, 2018, 05:43:15 PM

Quote from: strobez on March 22, 2018, 04:54:17 PM
I decided to start working on it. The tank seems to be a good thing to work on while the rest of the painting jobs dry. This will be my first tank, but I'm already liking the fact that the main construction seems to be moving quite quickly with no fiddly cockpit details to start.

No tanks have the fiddly bit at the end, when you have to put the tracks on without snapping the wheels off....

If yours has the little pins on the ends of the tracks that you're supposed to put through holes and then 'mushroom' over with heat, don't do that: there's LOADS that can go wrong there. The best way I've found is to use black thread and sew the ends of the track together.

philp · March 22, 2018, 05:45:00 PM

Staples also work, especially if there are skirts to hide the top run.

strobez · March 22, 2018, 06:30:01 PM

I was wondering about that... they're a rubbery vinyl or something. I'm supposed to fit the end though the button holes, but it certainly didn't want to stick. I like the staples idea... sounds... efficient.

Weaver · March 23, 2018, 03:09:02 AM

Quote from: strobez on March 22, 2018, 06:30:01 PM
I was wondering about that... they're a rubbery vinyl or something. I'm supposed to fit the end though the button holes, but it certainly didn't want to stick. I like the staples idea... sounds... efficient.

It works fine if you've got side skirts to hide the staple behind.

NARSES2 · March 23, 2018, 07:08:28 AM

Yup either sewing them or staples will work. Never really found any adhesive that would work with Hasegawa tracks

Old Wombat · March 23, 2018, 08:01:59 AM

Don't know about Hasegawa tracks but the Tamiya vinyl tracks can be glued using those 2-part plastic adhesives - the ones with the primer pen that looks like a Texta & a tube of glue which I think may be CA (never really looked).

NARSES2 · March 24, 2018, 03:24:32 AM

Quote from: Old Wombat on March 23, 2018, 08:01:59 AM
Don't know about Hasegawa tracks but the Tamiya vinyl tracks can be glued using those 2-part plastic adhesives - the ones with the primer pen that looks like a Texta & a tube of glue which I think may be CA (never really looked).

Cheers mate. I haven't built any armour for ages, but keep being tempted and that type of info is handy as things have almost certainly changed

strobez · March 30, 2018, 05:23:53 PM

So I got a bit more work done to the tank body, but I have a question. Do I need to include those "little top wheels" (probably not the technical term) that I cut off to re-arrange the axels? I'm not entirely sure I know what they're there for... making sure the tracks stay tight? They'll be covered by the skirt I think, so I'm guessing it's not worth the hassle... unless they keep the tracks from falling off. Any tips here?

While I was mulling that bit over, I decided to give the turret a bit of TLC. The Chaffee slopes away from the gun towards the rear, but the Bordurian tank is level across the top. So that mean a bit of shimming and some styrene to raise the profile a bit. It also meant a lot of putty. I'm a little worried that the hatch is getting buried, so I'm going to have to do some tight quarters sanding I think.

Also, I assembled the inner turret mechanism. It looks like it's supposed to allow the gun barrel to be raised, bit given the shape of the barrel base... there's really no wiggle room at all. At first I thought I might have put the piece on upside down, but after studying the instructions I think it's correct. Oh, well...

Weaver · March 30, 2018, 06:16:08 PM

The 'little wheels at the top' are called Track Return Rollers. Tank tracks come in two basic forms:

'Dead' track is slack and rests on the top of the road wheels on it's journey back to the front of the vehicle. This is simpler, and somewhat easier for maintenance, but it makes the track more likely to shed when turning.

'Live' track is taut (relatively) and has return rollers. It's much less likely to shed when turning. This is the modern standard: only the Russians clung to dead track after WWII, and even they went over to live track after the T-62.

Since the Bordurian tank is strongly based on late-1940s US designs, my guess would be that it has live track. However, it also has very complete skirts, which means that you can't actually see the top run of track, or even the angle at which it comes off the drive sprocket or idler, so I'd say do whatever's convenient for you.

rickshaw · March 30, 2018, 07:56:07 PM

Mmm, not quite correct.

"Live tracks" are tracks which have small springs between the track pins which make the tracks "curl" inwards. These help make sure that the tracks stay on the sprocket and return idler at the ends of the track run. These only became common in the 1970s, first with NATO and then with the USSR/Warsaw Pact. Live tracks are more difficult to work with manually for the crew during maintenance.

"Dead tracks" are tracks lacking the inward curling springs on the track pins. Dead tracks are easier to work with manually but have a tendency to be shed during maneuvers.

Return rollers ease the track along it's way, from the front to the rear of their run. Many tracked vehicles didn't originally have them and they were often added as the vehicle developed. They prevent "track slap" - where the tracks at speed will slap against the top of the road wheels, which is noisy and increases wear on the inner surface of the tracks. Only the Russians did without them the longest but by the T-64 series, they became more common (because of adoption of "live tracks").

Rick Lowe · March 31, 2018, 12:21:34 AM

Rick', most of the US track in WW2 was 'live'.

I'm not sure that it's springs, AFAIK the connecting blocks at the ends were wedge-shaped, which caused the tension.

From Wikipedia:

"Live" and "Dead" track
Tracks may be broadly categorized as "live" or "dead" track. "Dead" track is a simple design in which each track plate is connected to the rest with hinge-type pins. These dead tracks will lie flat if placed on the ground; the drive sprocket pulls the track around the wheels with no assistance from the track itself. "Live" track is slightly more complex, with each link connected to the next by a bushing which causes the track to bend slightly inward. A length of live track left on the ground will curl upward slightly at each end. Although the drive sprocket must still pull the track around the wheels, the track itself tends to bend inward, slightly assisting the sprocket and somewhat conforming to the wheels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_track

strobez · March 31, 2018, 04:25:50 AM

Thanks for the lesson on tank tracks. I definitely need an education in that regard. As luck would have it, I attended the Hobby Fair 2018 here in Seoul and snagged a 1/76 Matchbox Chaffee for $5. I decided I'm going to swap the turret hatch as I'm not happy with how the Hasegawa one handled the migration. The Matchbox one looks closer to the Bordurian one as well. It also comes with a handy little base that will be put to good use (and the bonus was the little rifle I'll make into a post-finished addition to my Nausicaa glider).

strobez · April 03, 2018, 09:26:32 PM

As luck would have it, I ran across another Chaffee - this time the 1/76 Matchbox boxing - over the weekend at the Hobby Fair 2018 here in Seoul. For a few bucks I couldn't resist... especially when I see several bits I can put to good use.

I'm kind of glad I opened the Hasegawa 1/72 box first... the 1/76 version is REALLY small. Just look at that two-tone base plate though... I really like that.

I also decided that I wanted a do-over on the turret hatch. I just didn't do such a hot job last time - I think I was trying to be too fancy. Interesting that a 1/76 scale hatch seems to be exactly the same as a 1/72 one... but I'm not complaining.

After getting the turret sorted out, the next thing was to take care of those little side wall supports (for lack of a more technical term for them). After a bit of humming and sawing I decided to get rid of the two on either end and then just reposition the one in the middle to be on centre. Luckily it was pretty easy to accomplish.

Next up is the back end. I also got my hands on the Trumpeter M26 to use (finally!) in my Tintin Lunar Tank project. Since it also needs a lot of surgery to make it look the part, it was kind enough to cough up the grates for use here. The back end is a bit tricky because it slopes away at a different angle than the Chaffee, so I'll need to squeeze this into place first.