M543 Wrecker

[Warren D]

After searching the internet for Vietnam Gun truck stuff, I came across a conversion kit for an M543 wrecker.  I decided why not, as I like wreckers.  The base kit is the AFV Club M54A2 and the conversion is from Hobby Link, a 3D resin print.  Quality isn't good on the resin, large parts are warped and many of the parts feel sticky.  No sun here in a week so hard to say if it's just not cured.  I'll post more later but had trouble posting this so keeping it short for now.

[Warren D]

Ok, not sure why but it worked this time.  (I did log out and back in).  I thought I could fix the warped parts with the old hairdryer/quench method and it seemed to work until I noticed all the warps were back a few days later.  The outer boom section was the worst and I had to remove 1/2" from the inner end to get it to slide into the base section.  The deck was shaped like a banana but a couple of relief cuts, squeezed together and set with superglue got it as straight as it will get.

 

[stavanzer]

Well, it looks reasonable on this side of the screen, Warren.

[Gary Chastain]

This will be a cool build, what scale is this?

[Warren D]

17 minutes ago, Gary Chastain said:

This will be a cool build, what scale is this?

1/35 as is most of the military stuff.  I do wish it was 1/25, not only easier to work with but it would fit in better with the rest of my fleet.

[Warren D]

1 hour ago, stavanzer said:

Well, it looks reasonable on this side of the screen, Warren.

It's ok now, the deck still has a little turn-up at the nose end but considering what it looked like, it'll have to do.

[Dave Van]

Cool project!

[slusher]

Looking great!

[BK9300]

Seems to be no end of the add-ons available in 3D printed items, no matter the subject.  This will be a good build!

[Warren D]

8 hours ago, BK9300 said:

Seems to be no end of the add-ons available in 3D printed items, no matter the subject.  This will be a good build!

While there certainly is a lot more available, the quality seems to be a bigger issue.  Maybe I got spoiled with high quality from folks like Dave at AITM and Karl at Global......

[1930fordpickup]

This is going to be cool when done. What a shame the resin was not flat and totaly cured when it was sent to you. 

I wonder if a finger nail UV curing light would help the bed? 

[Warren D]

20 minutes ago, 1930fordpickup said:

This is going to be cool when done. What a shame the resin was not flat and totaly cured when it was sent to you. 

I wonder if a finger nail UV curing light would help the bed? 

The bed seemed cured but there was some soft/gooey stuff inside the bottom beams when I cut.  I thought about getting a cure lamp, Amazon has one for under $20 but it seems to have a narrow wavelength.  I have an old UV bulb from back in the blacklight days but all it seemed to do was make the pieces softer.

 

[Warren D]

Got the primer on this morning, along with the finish coat on the soft-top and the yellow for the nose as this will be an 8GP truck.  I still have some Pollyscale acrylics left and I find they work very good for priming resin and 3D stuff.  I rarely use greens in my commercial truck builds so I have a few jars of OD left to use for the primer.  I added a little black to my home-brew FS24087 so it should be closer than the last one.

 

[Chariots of Fire]

Nice work, Warren.  I was going to suggest washing all of the 3D parts in detergent and warm water first but you beat me to the punch!  Going to be a BIG truck even for 1/35 scale.  The basic M52 is a 5 tonner, I believe, and this one looks similar.

Edited May 30 by Chariots of Fire

[Warren D]

4 hours ago, Chariots of Fire said:

Nice work, Warren.  I was going to suggest washing all of the 3D parts in detergent and warm water first but you beat me to the punch!  Going to be a BIG truck even for 1/35 scale.  The basic M52 is a 5 tonner, I believe, and this one looks similar.

Thanks Charles, the base truck for this is an M54A2 5 ton cargo truck.  It's not big enough for these old eyes and shakey fingers!!

[Warren D]

Almost done but hit a problem when painting the hood yesterday.  The paint from the same jar as the rest of the truck doesn't look the same on the hood.  I suspect it might not have been mixed enough but bottom line is I have to wait a day or two, re-mask and re-shoot it before gloss coat and decals.

[Warren D]

Calling it done, though I do need to glue the hood down.