Pz 87 Leo of the Swiss Army

[Andre Meylan]

Suspension sits ....

it looks maybe a bit strange now but when the other components in the same colors are in, it will turn out okey I hope ...

[Andre Meylan]

Suspension is out again for weight purposes as I put the turtle upside down to try some weathering underneath ...

In the meantime, all wheels have gotten its bearings and glued in using Loctite 638. All run smoothly, so no hidden glue inside ... !!

What I am still looking at, is the fixation of the tyres. I still have not found any inlays for the tyres to have more surfaces to be glued on. A 15mm joint sealing tape (by TESA) did not work, I need something firm. Any ideas are more welcome as a few fellows are past this process now I guess ??

The idler wheels and tyres are glued together with Loctite 480 (thanks for the advise in this forum!). If I am not mistaken, this will only separate when using some TNT ...

So, further assembly has to wait until the bottom is properly wheathered and that's not easy as shown on the pictures above ...

Cheers, Andre

[Andre Meylan]

Starting with the weathering on the bottom side. First attempt with oil colors was not satisfying and it does not get dry after three days. I might need to clear it with flat clear coat, let's see.

So I took Mr. Surfacer 500 on the floor and the other side, better this time ... initially still strange to paint a 6031 green pot with all light grey color.

After that, I tried the pigment colors I recently bought. Completely new technique to me and I will have to learn. Let the water dry and then this needs some re-arrangement with soft pads and then fix it with hairspray (I have learned in a YT tutorial ... ). The good thing is, I can always remove with water or cover it with clear coat if happy. Please tell me anytime should I go into a wrong direction

I cannot wait to try the rusty spots but this has to wait until the first lesson is fixed. By the way, the original is on page 4 of this thread ...

Cheers, Andre

[Andre Meylan]

Good temperature today for outside spraying a flat clear coat and thus fixing the pigment colors applied yesterday.

Cheers, Andre

[Stanislav Yanev]

Andre
You have achieved a great effect -bravo

[Andre Meylan]

Andre
You have achieved a great effect -bravo

Thank you Stanislav - yet, I am still not happy as it is not even close to the original ...

[Andre Meylan]

... it's getting a little better ...

Cheers, Andre

[Andre Meylan]

I would say it's done ... not perfect but most of it will be hidden anyway by the wheels and chains ... and nobody will lift it up to look at the bottom I guess ... hoping to improve on the topside then ... the learning curve was steep

Best regards, Andre

[Andre Meylan]

Going forward with the wheel / tyre assembly ... as mentionned in the forum, the tyres need more surface to be glued on, otherwise there is a risk of shearing-off the wheel rim. So I make a first attempt with a foam rubber that I cut out of a 2mm sheet. It is slightly too thick, yet with the pressure of the tyre I hope to depress it a little ... first wheel is glued using Loctite 480 ... let's see tomorrow!

Cheers, Andre

[Andre Meylan]

After the weathering, I can start with the assembly of the pre-painted goodies and electronics ... and soon get into troubles programming the TX.

Cheers, Andre

[Andre Meylan]

Smoke option pack

[Rolf Mönke]

wird ein Schmuckstück!!!

[Andre Meylan]

wird ein Schmuckstück!!!

Thank you Rolf ... let's keep fingers crossed that everything will work properly

[Andre Meylan]

finishing the installation of the smoke unit ... apart from the connecting tubes everything is in ... but not so easy as other steps I must admit.

Cheers, Andre

[Andre Meylan]

Where to start with the electronics ?? It's not easy to define a logical layout for a rookie like me ... maybe just connect everything, make it running and select the spots for the switches and then take it from there ???

Cheers, Andre