Atomic Annie

[digger303]

Xmas present from my son and in order to encourage him I'm ripping into this build asp.
While waiting for the Korean war build.



Getting stuck into the axle, suspension system and I must say cleaning up leaf springs is a pain.

[aur0ra145]

Is that really 738mm long? That will be enormous if it is!

[Stokesy44]

I thought this was a post about the wife when I first saw it!

Off to a fast start, shaking off the Christmas cobwebs.

[RangerNeil]

Wasn't this the gun that lobbed a atomic warhead X miles - but was still in the fringes of the blast zone????

[digger303]

Wasn't this the gun that lobbed a atomic warhead X miles - but was still in the fringes of the blast zone????

Yes and they only did it once

I thought this was a post about the wife when I first saw it!

Off to a fast start, shaking off the Christmas cobwebs.

Nah your thinking of "My Super Ex-Girlfriend " and the racy scenes

Is that really 738mm long? That will be enormous if it is!

That's what is says on the box....only 100mm wide though. I think it will be displayed in the transport position.

[Tomcat64]

Wow what a whopper!!

Will be following along with this one

[digger303]

Got a fair bit of one chassis assembled and I can say apart from a couple of locating holes being a fraction off it is fitting together quite well and the wheels are pretty level.

[Tomcat64]

Nice - always a feeling of accomplishment when you get the chassis done and it sits square!

[digger303]

More progress on the second chassis and some of the cab work done.
I added some foil to the seats to give them some life rather than a flat bit of plastic.




Springs gave me a bit of trouble here. Self induced of course in that I had then the wrong way round so had to split the parts apart and redo so that a bit messy atm.

[Stokesy44]

Good save re the springs. I did the same on my Pz IV - on all 8 sets of springs!

[digger303]

Good save re the springs. I did the same on my Pz IV - on all 8 sets of springs!

I know and I tried so hard not to bugger it up

[Tomcat64]

That's coming along nicely despite your best efforts

[RangerNeil]

More progress on the second chassis and some of the cab work done.
I added some foil to the seats to give them some life rather than a flat bit of plastic.




Springs gave me a bit of trouble here. Self induced of course in that I had then the wrong way round so had to split the parts apart and redo so that a bit messy atm.

Excellent save on those springs!!

[DRUMS01]

I've thought of buying this kit several times but passed for something else. I'm eager to see how it turns out in your skillful hands. I like the foil touch, great idea...

[digger303]

Thanks guys

I've thought of buying this kit several times but passed for something else. I'm eager to see how it turns out in your skillful hands. I like the foil touch, great idea...

To be truthful it is not a kit I would have bought, but my son gifted it to me. So I feel I have to build it in appreciation and I'm not really hating it. It mostly fits well, but there is a myraid of small pieces ( 1000pc's in all) and each step seems to be spread over 2 or 3 sprues. So I'm not progressing that fast compared to the amount of time I'm so far spent on it.
Also those small pieces aren't always depicted well in the instructions so a lot of the time I'm trying to work out which side is up....no doubt I will have guessed wrong

This is distracting me from finishing my St Charmond though. I should put this aside and go back to it, but I do love the building of kits so I probably won't

[Stokesy44]

This is distracting me from finishing my St Charmond though. I should put this aside and go back to it, but I do love the building of kits so I probably won't

I'm in exactly the same boat right now, I just want to build. I've now started my third AFV with the other two ready for priming.

[digger303]

Not had a update for a bit, but all these small parts tend to slow me down. They are a lot harder to clean up.




The sub assembles went together pretty much ok with just a little triming of location tabs and widen of holes. However I had a lot more trouble getting the sub assemblies all linked up with one in particular. The ammo loading system assembly needed a lot of adjustment and atm still doesn't look right.

Also I seem to have lost a brake drum...no where to be seen or found

[Stokesy44]

Hopefully the brake drum will turn up. It looks a proper brute of iron!

[digger303]

Hopefully the brake drum will turn up. It looks a proper brute of iron!

Thanks, It's getting bigger by the day and I've only exhausted 2 of the 18 sprues. I've got a bin full of plastic nubs.

[DRUMS01]

Too bad the nubs are not hubs (drums).... If you cannot find it, can you cast one from one of the others in a rubber mold?

Ben

[digger303]

Too bad the nubs are not hubs (drums).... If you cannot find it, can you cast one from one of the others in a rubber mold?

Ben

The hub is still awol.
I maybe able to scratch build or mold a new one. Not done that before , but I do have some of that re-heatable product.

Another update.
Just worked on the same sub assembly nipping away at it until I got a reasonable fit and got the gun together.
I did have to employ Neils favourite method....Clamp the bejeezus out it



I dry fitted the breech assembly in as I'm starting to think about how to paint this.


Still growing

[Stokesy44]

That's a helluva gun you got there mate! Looks superb.

[Tomcat64]

That's coming along superbly and looks a proper beast.

How visible would the MIA brake drum be once the wheels are on? If it's mostly hidden I'd be tempted to do a rough scratch-build to replace it.

[digger303]

Still missing the brake hub, but I went onto trying to fix the tyre issue. The centre of the tyre is too large ( or the rim isn't big enough you decide ) and both sides are a different size. So I tried to tighten them up to create some friction by wrapping the rims in a thin strip of styrene and this worked to a degree. It also seams to be a different rim size on each face so it's a matter of trying them out for the tightest fit.
As you can see I also stuffed some waste foam into the tyre to plump them out for a better look.



Another rim issue is that duals have this long tapered wheel hub that just does not fit. It keeps the rim halves from properly coming together. My quick and dirty solution was to cut the ends off by a huge amount then use my drill and burr to grind out the inside of said rims to get a good fit.


One tractor almost done and the only fit issue to report is some of the glue location tabs and holes needed trimming.

[RangerNeil]

Looking good mate - well done. The size comparison between the tractor and hand is impressive - seems this going to be one hell of a size when finished.

[digger303]

Looking good mate - well done. The size comparison between the tractor and hand is impressive - seems this going to be one hell of a size when finished.

The tractor is like a TONKA toy

[Tomcat64]

Nice work sorting those wheel assemblies out

I thought the same as the other Neil - that last shot really shows just how big this thing is!

[DRUMS01]

One would say this thing is atomic in scale..

(see what I did there)

[digger303]

One would say this thing is atomic in scale..

(see what I did there)

I'm trying not to

[Stokesy44]

Cracking work. Its not getting any smaller!

[digger303]

Cracking work. Its not getting any smaller!

When your right your right

It wasn't quite wide enough so a spacer or two was needed. It isn't quite cental, but close enough not to matter.


Damn seam opened up so I've masked it and although it isn't shown here I mixed some Ca and powder. Filled it and levelled it off with just bit of sanding to finish it forever I hope.


Here I had a issue with the trunnions or the locking assembly not being perfect. I could be my fault or just needed a slight movement in the locator holes to get it right



As you will see it won't matter now because despite my intention to have this in travel mode the plan has changed ,forced I was



The barrel should have been left free to slide inside this pipe like assembly as it now can't it will have the barrel raised. While I'm talking about problems caused by myself I have another blooper. When I was glueing the cabin steps on for both tractors the extra thin wicked into the cabin and set it place. There ain't no getting it out without ruining detail. I reckon I can spray the inside of the cabin through the windows, but getting the dash decal in place is going to be a trial.

All sprues are now bare, but I do have a few bits left over. I must have missed some adding some parts, despite having gone back through the instructions twice. Guess I'll have to look again

[Stokesy44]

She's putting up a fight, that's for sure. All that detail and slab sided metal will look great when painted and dirtied down.

[digger303]

She's putting up a fight, that's for sure. All that detail and slab sided metal will look great when painted and dirtied down.

Some of the fight as usual is self induced, but the kits getting some licks in on it's own.

It never saw combat and was more of a status show piece do you think it got very dirty ?

[digger303]

I think I'm about ready to start painting.
Here's a quick mock up with a few items not glued to make painting easier. I have to make a decision on which Olive Drab to use too.



Sorry about the cluttered back ground, but space is at a premium.

[aur0ra145]

I think I'm about ready to start painting.
Here's a quick mock up with a few items not glued to make painting easier. I have to make a decision on which Olive Drab to use too.



Sorry about the cluttered back ground, but space is at a premium.

That is enormous! Where are you going to display it when finished?

[RangerNeil]

She's putting up a fight, that's for sure. All that detail and slab sided metal will look great when painted and dirtied down.

Some of the fight as usual is self induced, but the kits getting some licks in on it's own.

It never saw combat and was more of a status show piece do you think it got very dirty ?

It was used by the army - of course it got dirty!!

[digger303]

I think I'm about ready to start painting.
Here's a quick mock up with a few items not glued to make painting easier. I have to make a decision on which Olive Drab to use too.



Sorry about the cluttered back ground, but space is at a premium.

That is enormous! Where are you going to display it when finished?

Shelf above my desk. I have a 1/32 A-10 i may move on if I have too.

[Stokesy44]

She's putting up a fight, that's for sure. All that detail and slab sided metal will look great when painted and dirtied down.

Some of the fight as usual is self induced, but the kits getting some licks in on it's own.

It never saw combat and was more of a status show piece do you think it got very dirty ?

Good point. If it was me (and its not) I would do a light dry brush with the base color diluted with a touch of white and I would do a wash, just to bring out the detail, nothing further.

[DRUMS01]

Good job on pushing through on this build despite the kit and other inflicted issues. It should be a wonderful attention getter when done. Did it come with any figures? If I remember I think it was actually deployed in Europe and Korea. And if I remember the stories correctly it move often to avoid being targeted, so there just may be a little dirt here and there, but even then not much.

This was the the father of the nuclear capable 8 inch M110's used up to the early 2000's. While there is a big difference between an 11 inch and 8 inch round in size and weight, the 8 inch I calculated firing solutions for could also shoot up to 30km with the XM RAP Atomic round (about the same as Annie) and deliver up to a 1.1 kt. nuclear round.

Europe dealt with Annie, the Lance and Pershing capable missiles along with the M110A2 howitzer during the 80's. All the while through protests, the Cold War, and implosion of the Soviet Union. Now, 35 years later, they have other tactical nuke delivery vehicles that have made all of these nuclear capabilities obsolete.

[digger303]

This where I'm at with the painting. One full jar of Mr Surfacer and a bit more than 1 bottle of H-78 mixed with 5ml of white and I didn't get a full first coat completed. There is so many nooks and crannies it's taken much time to cover the bare plastic particularly on the gun chassis.

I'm not sure if the colour is right, but if anyone knows I'd love to know.

I did manage to get the inside of the cab sprayed through the windows. I suspect that part of this will just go down hill from here. I'll move onto that next once the chassis has at least one base coat.


I finished off adding the bits and pieces including the PE platforms and I still intend to add a little bit more detailing.

[aur0ra145]

[DRUMS01]

There are some neat images on this site:

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/atom ... 18636.html#

[DRUMS01]

Digger, I believe the color is more in the green spectrum. While yours looks more drab, the one I saw at Fort Sill was more OD GREEN...

On a separate note, does anyone remember the Neutron Bomb? It came after Annie. I think the theory was to kill humans but have minimal damage to the equipment and surroundings. I was stationed in West Germany in the Cold War and was in an 203mm, 8 inch, M110 battalion that was at the center of the controversy. While we has what they called tactical nukes, they also had a internal part of the nuclear round that could convert it to a Neutron type round. We trained heavily on conventional, nuclear, and theoretically neutron weapons delivery. At the time we only had the conventional and nuke rounds in West Germany and the Neutron parts were kept in North America. I do know it caused several large protests in Europe over both the tactical nukes and the neutron bombs. Eventually, all of the tactical nukes were eventually removed From Europe, our units and posts are now gone as well.

Sorry digger for throwing all this in your build thread, it just came out because of the subject. I think what your building it looking great and the light weathering, washes, and highlights will make this really pop!

Looking forward in seeing the masterful work...

[digger303]

Digger, I believe the colour is more in the green spectrum. While yours looks more drab, the one I saw at Fort Sill was more OD GREEN...

On a separate note, does anyone remember the Neutron Bomb? It came after Annie. I think the theory was to kill humans but have minimal damage to the equipment and surroundings. I was stationed in West Germany in the Cold War and was in an 203mm, 8 inch, M110 battalion that was at the centre of the controversy. While we has what they called tactical nukes, they also had a internal part of the nuclear round that could convert it to a Neutron type round. We trained heavily on conventional, nuclear, and theoretically neutron weapons delivery. At the time we only had the conventional and nuke rounds in West Germany and the Neutron parts were kept in North America. I do know it caused several large protests in Europe over both the tactical nukes and the neutron bombs. Eventually, all of the tactical nukes were eventually removed From Europe, our units and posts are now gone as well.

Sorry digger for throwing all this in your build thread, it just came out because of the subject. I think what your building it looking great and the light weathering, washes, and highlights will make this really pop!

Looking forward in seeing the masterful work...

Thanks friend,

On the colour issue the instructions recommended olive drab No 2( H-78) in the Gunze range, but I thought it was too dark so I added some white which I didn't mind doing cause it extended my supplies. So what I will do is finish painting the chassis in the same colour then try what you recommended, of course I have to try to find a match in my inventory and thats not always easy for me.

I do remember a lot of talk about the neutron bomb then nothing. I googled this.

"Many NATO countries were unwilling to accept the bombs on their territory, as they did not want to become Cold War hot spots. The United States, however, wanted a forward deployed weapon that could deter Soviet aggression, allow for great flexibility after it was used, and which presented a more credible threat to Soviet tanks.

Long negotiations with NATO allies, specifically the Dutch, Danish, and Germans, led to initial plans to deploy the warheads in Germany in 1978. There was some thought of using the neutron bomb as a bargaining chip with the Soviets, perhaps to get a reduction in the number of tanks.

However, after considerable vacillating, President Jimmy Carter announced on April 7, 1978 that the U.S. was abruptly cancelling the program, angering NATO members, especially German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. The negotiations with the German Chancellor had been especially fraught and politically costly for Schmidt; he ended up using much of his political capital in order to convince his own party in Parliament to support the deployment of the neutron bomb in Germany, only to see the rug pulled out from under him."

[Stokesy44]

Fascinating stuff. Never apologise for adding historical data (especially from first hand experience) to a build thread. A love of history is part of the draw when building historical vehicles. Reading about how this thing was or wasn't deployed is fascinating.

I didn't get the chance to serve due to physical issues but I grew up wanting to be in the forces so reading stuff like this is pure gold.

As for the kit, the gun platform looks stunning Digger, what a superb piece of work you've made of it mate.

[Stokesy44]

I think we got the sniper, sir.

[digger303]

I think we got the sniper, sir.

and thank you

[Tomcat64]

Wow - I honestly hadn't realised from the boxtop picture that there was a tractor unit at both ends

Nice work mate and really interesting historic snippets too - I had no idea about this one at all before this thread.

[digger303]

Wow - I honestly hadn't realised from the boxtop picture that there was a tractor unit at both ends

Nice work mate and really interesting historic snippets too - I had no idea about this one at all before this thread.

It's got me curious on how they managed to co-ordinate the 2 machines. Possibly speed was limited to what was manageable, corners must have been a challenge and more so changing gears and keeping speed in sync so the two tractors weren't fighting each other.
No engines included in the kit either and despite the detail they don't really want anyone to view the underside. It's got loads of injector pin marks and trumpeter has these tab and slot location points for a lot of parts. It makes it hard to fill and hide them so I didn't make my life too hard and ignored them.

Here's a very interesting interview.



Note the disclaimer says once you get this medal you can't come back and sue the army for using you for testing purposes.

[digger303]

It's the wrong green isn't it



I've run out of paint and waiting for a resupply in the meantime I can use whatever green I have to hand.
I've 4 bottles of h-52 olive drab coming which should be enough to do the job.
Olive drab is the correct colour for the time period. It's just after WW2 the olive drab was formulated with better quality pigments, but then they fade differently creating a colour which has a definite green hue. Got my doubts whether I can create that effect, but I shall try.