PzKpfw I Ausf.A ohne Aufbau ~ Tristar

[Jamie Tainton]

[Laura]

it is difficult to top your builds but this will be by far your most detailed and insane one! after having 30 minutes on my knees behind me searching a metal part that decided to fall down i looked in this thread and my jaw dropped! if only i still could solder!

but i have to ask - do you actually enjoy working with those small pe parts? the tiniest pe parts are just a pain to me and i always get aggressive!

[Jamie Tainton]

[Dan Reed]

Good points here-if this doesn't work out for you, it will be good practice on soldiering.
Dan

[Jamie Tainton]

I think I mentioned at the start of this something about whether the old Aber set would work. I went ahead anyways just because I needed to be sure it wouldn't work and for me I needed to build it up and try it. I guess I could have measured everything like a math problem but I need to see it in a more built way to be convinced. I am able to laugh about it though.

"Humor is an affirmation of
dignity, a declaration of man's
superiority to all that befalls
him."
-- Romain Gary

Today I need to laugh at myself in order to stay sane. Today
I choose not to take myself too seriously.

[Laura]

[Jamie Tainton]

Okay well I've had to make some changes as to how this kit will be made but all is well. I replaced the metal rear end with the one from the kit ( the early version as I wrecked the new one before. It's fine though).
First a few shots showing the metal rear end that turned out pretty good. Nice practice I guess


Oh well maybe next time I'll scratch something up.




Here you can see the metal engine deck is somewhat longer.


Here you can see the firewall bulkhead only dry fit at the top of the picture and the Tristar gas tanks installed.


the floor at this point in the build. I have since done some more work and will be adding some weld beads in the corners.


Rip and tear. One can't hang on to things if you want to make progress -when you fuck up ya fuck up. So it looks k=like the plastic ends of the sidewalls are okay.


Here you can see the new rear wall, (on the sprue) compared to the older one.




The Tristar rear engine access door compared to the Aber one.


Here I have started to clear out the molded in slat details.
There is a rudimentary one that is on the Aber set for the Tristar Panzer one. It's not as nice as the one I just did bit it will be better taht the solid one from the kit.










Here you can see the metal has been heated and discoloured, I had to take it all apart once it was done- wasn't perfect enough for me I guess I'm happy with it now then.




Glued in place with some CA

[Jamie Tainton]

Test fit of the Aber part for the engine firewall.


The repair of the lower hull that I had cut out before.


the inside of the engine deck ready to be painted a dark grey colour.






the parts needed for the Aber firewall.


and the parts for the battery systems.


These are the parts for the two pieces that are attached to the transmission and bolted to the front armour plate.




Just a preview.




The firewall almost finished getting soldered- the Pink resin part is only dry fit- not in final position.


Comparing shots of Aber and Tristar.




Test fit

[Jamie Tainton]

You know this build is not as neat and tidy as I would like but there is a bit of a learning curve with every build. the first time out- the next time I do something like this I'll have learned from some of the dead ends and "mistakes" made on this build. It's still all good but next time it'll be better. Anyways here's some more pics of progress made over the last few days-
Here you can see I've decided to replace the resin axle pieces, which were warped, with some Evergreen rod.




Need to clear out the opening on the bracket piece


There was something wonky with the Aber piece that was made for supporting the rear end of the transmission. It's way too small!. Does it look like the rod will fit through the metal opening.


Tried to scratch my own replacement




Test fit shows it still won't work- it sits too high. So in the end, since this won't be seen anyways I removed it.


The next issue is to try and see how everything lines up. I used some temporary glue to attach the final drive/brake parts. I drilled a hole in the center to be able to line things up from the outside.
[img]http//panzerfaust.netfirms.com/ArmourWorkshop/Panzer%20IA%20ohne%20aufbau/Step%2015/Step%201508.jpg[/img]



Dry test fit




Other parts including the drive trane cover.


Next the floor boards and seating gets a look see.






A curious dry test




All loose dry fit






The seat is quite detailed

[Johannes]

Hi James,

you are a true soldering master. Also, I'm very excited about your can do attitude during this build. I think I'd have kicked the kit off the bench if I had run into problems like this! Very, very inspiring. Keep up the great work!

Johannes.