| WWI | Land | MkIV UK Heavy Tank Used by Britain, and by Germany (as beutepanzers - captured tanks) |
A7V German Heavy Tank The only German tank produced in WWI. Only 20 were completed as tanks. |
| MkV UK Heavy Tank Used by Britain, United States and Russia |
FT17 French Light Tank Used by nearly everyone, some still in service in WWII |
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| Medium A "Whippet" UK Medium Tank Used by Britain and Russia. |
Schneider CA1 French Medium Tank Badly laid-out, badly armored, useful armament. A few were still in service in Spain in 1937 |
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| Beutepanzer IV British MkIV captured and used by Germany |
St. Chamond French Heavy Tank (being developed) Only a slight improvement on the Schneider. The armament was first-class |
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| Air | Halberstadt CLII German Fighter-Bomber Also used as escort fighter for bombers and recon aircraft |
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Aircraft
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General notes on how I make my models:
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I use 65# (145
g/sq.m) card now. The 110 # (200
g/sq.m.) card is too hard to fold for the small parts, and I don’t want to
use more than one card weight in a single model. I briefly considered using 20# paper for
covering laminations, but that didn’t seem to work out very well. There are small
parts (hatches, hinges, cover plates, etc.) that can be added to a model to
give it a 3-dimensional look. These
aren’t strictly necessary, as I duplicated them on the basic model
pieces. In many cases, these are easier to
add after creasing the larger part but before it is folded and shaped. I use a dental
pick for scoring. It has one end shaped like the end of a hockey stick that
is easy to make straight lines or curved ones. I apply glue
for most parts with a toothpick, sharp on one end and blunted on the
other. They’re cheap and easily
replaced. I use a cheap plastic brush
to apply thinned glue over large areas for laminations. I keep the brush in a glass of water to keep the
tip from drying out. I add only a
small drop of water to the glue to thin it.
More than that will dilute the glue too much, warp the parts, and make
the ink on the printed parts run. My laminated
parts consist of a colored “cover” that is wrapped over a blank “core”. I recommend that the core be trimmed to
shape after laminating, before the cover is attached. The cover part sometimes has one edge shaped the same
as the core to help aligning the two before folding the cover over the
core. I show the number of laminations
that I use for specific built-up parts.
Sometimes these seem to be too many for some parts because it makes
the final trim very difficult. Don’t
be afraid to experiment with this. I
don’t score the fold lines on lamination “covers”. Folding the “cover” over and around the
laminated “core” must follow the edge of the core as it is actually cut,
which might not be exactly where the lines are. I lightly sand the edges of the laminated
core where I cut it to remove unwanted deformations. I fold one section of the cover at a time,
making sure that it fits the core snugly before I move to the next
section. I have started trimming the
part out before it dries completely because it is easier to cut through damp
laminations that dry ones and the cut edges seem to be cleaner. Making the
small hemispheres (like MG ball mounts) correctly takes practice. I burnish the insides with the rounded butt
end of an antique knitting needle, working in circles, starting on my cutting
board, then proceeding to a foam pad, then my fingertips. I put a large dollop of white glue in the
concave side and place it on the model, then use my fingernails and dental
picks to make final shaping adjustments while the card is still soft. I have started cutting mine inside the
printed line; otherwise the finished part may be too large. I include a few extras of these pieces, as
well as extra MG’s. I include tabs
on some parts to help make strong joints.
I use the tabs in making the models I use for the website photos. I cut many of the tabs off before I make
the models I make for keeps, and glue the parts on as simple butt
joints. This is trickier but makes a
cleaner joint than one with the tabs.
I also paint the exposed card edges of my “keepers”, but leave them
unpainted for the website models. Some of my
tracks are doubled-over, where the back side might show in the finished
model. I originally recommended a
double score along the fold lines, but now I believe a single score is
enough. I leave the tracks just a tad
long, so trim the ends to length before gluing the last section down. I put the joint between the ends of the
tracks on the bottom of the model, or on the top if the top is hidden by the hull, so the joint won’t be too obvious. |
Requests: |
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