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Armor/AFV: AA/AT/Artillery
For discussions about artillery and anti-aircraft or anti-tank guns.
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Box review / Build log : AFV's LeFh18.
guygantic
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Antwerpen, Belgium
Joined: August 19, 2006
KitMaker: 7,084 posts
Armorama: 970 posts
Posted: Friday, December 19, 2008 - 01:03 AM UTC
Hello artillery builders, the following weeks I'll build this nice kit :



I'll start with the history on the front page of the instructions sheet :



Small sprue with the spoke wheels, come with rubber tires :



Detail :



Two resin parts, barrel,...:



Sprue with split trail and folding spades (choose transport or firing position) :



Detail :



Sprue with fine parts, very fine tools :



Detail :



Sprue with the shield, good detail ! :



Detail :



Metal wheels are provided too :



Detail :



Instructions are quite clear, drawings and pictures are shown, but some pieces need to be glued on by reference photos (in my humble opinion) :



The modeller can choose to build the horse pulled version, or the motorised transport version (251 for example).

Hopefully I can update soon ! G.
HORSTHOPF
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: August 01, 2007
KitMaker: 179 posts
Armorama: 144 posts
Posted: Friday, December 19, 2008 - 01:45 AM UTC
Looks like an excellent kit!!!
I will stay tuned for more progression and pics.

Regards

Horst
wbill76
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Texas, United States
Joined: May 02, 2006
KitMaker: 5,425 posts
Armorama: 4,659 posts
Posted: Friday, December 19, 2008 - 04:58 AM UTC
Guy,

Another interesting project! May I suggest you consider submitting this one as an In-Box review to go with the build log? I'm sure it would make for an excellent addition to the Reviews section...you've already done most of the work with the sprue shots here in the thread after all.
GALILEO1
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Maryland, United States
Joined: April 18, 2006
KitMaker: 1,794 posts
Armorama: 1,431 posts
Posted: Friday, December 19, 2008 - 06:27 AM UTC
Excellent project!

I was thinking of getting this kit but was a bit intimidated when I saw how complext it was. May give it a shot one day though!

Looking forwad to seeing more!

Rob
GaryKato
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California, United States
Joined: December 06, 2004
KitMaker: 3,694 posts
Armorama: 2,693 posts
Posted: Friday, December 19, 2008 - 09:01 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Guy,

Another interesting project! May I suggest you consider submitting this one as an In-Box review to go with the build log? I'm sure it would make for an excellent addition to the Reviews section...you've already done most of the work with the sprue shots here in the thread after all.



I second that motion! I've been intending to write an in-box review of this very kit for a while now but there are so many others in my queue.
russ
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Christchurch, New Zealand
Joined: May 01, 2002
KitMaker: 432 posts
Armorama: 359 posts
Posted: Friday, December 19, 2008 - 10:54 AM UTC
Hi there Guy,

I have this kit in my stash so will be following your build log with much interest.

Neil
guygantic
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Antwerpen, Belgium
Joined: August 19, 2006
KitMaker: 7,084 posts
Armorama: 970 posts
Posted: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 10:10 PM UTC
Horst : it is an exellent kit indeed. The build is fun to do, no fit problems, it looks good.

Bill : I read your pm. I did what you suggested in the message. Thanks !

Rob : it falls together when you have good attention, concentration, the instruction sheets need to be read before you start building. Try to locate the risky moments.

Gary : I do the best I can, but making reviews is completely new to me, AND as you must have noticed already, my English sucks. If I'm right, the review is coming up one of these days.

Neil : lucky man ! This is a great kit and when finished it will be a true addition to your collection I'm sure.

Updates follow soon.

Greetz Guy.
guygantic
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Antwerpen, Belgium
Joined: August 19, 2006
KitMaker: 7,084 posts
Armorama: 970 posts
Posted: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 10:30 PM UTC
Step 1 : the parts fit together very well, only parts A29 and A28 need to be filed by a round fine file, to obtain a good fit around the barrel. Part A23 was illustrated wrong, it looks different in the box ! A bit of careful cleaning work of the parts is necessary to make details stand out more.

Step 2 : parts A3 and A4 have no flash, do not remove the fine edges ! It is detailed as it should.
Part A11 was replaced by a piece of copper wire (0.8mm).



Greetz G.
exer
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Dublin, Ireland
Joined: November 27, 2004
KitMaker: 6,048 posts
Armorama: 4,619 posts
Posted: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 10:51 PM UTC
Sprues look very crisp. Should be an interesting build
guygantic
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Antwerpen, Belgium
Joined: August 19, 2006
KitMaker: 7,084 posts
Armorama: 970 posts
Posted: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 10:53 PM UTC
Pat : the kit contains really crisp parts, I hope I can make them stand out by good paint work later...

Step 3 : the muzzle break consists two parts E5, again, sanding by a round file is necessary to make it a good fit around the metal barrel. Glueing together parts E3 on E4 with A44 between them, is a bit tricky and concentration and patience was needed. Take care of part A44 ! It is conic, so it must be glued on right (oh my... my English ! Please correct me if I'm explaining myself in a silly way !). Oh yeah, don't glue parts where the instruction sheet warns you not to do that ! The movable parts will come in handy when bringing the sub assemblies together in a later stage.

I did'nt use part R2, but made another from copper wire. This part makes the barrel elevate more or less, so the modeller has to decide now what he wants to do with the gun (firing or transport pos.). I will make a transported gun, so I made this part about 2mm.

The rest of this stage was quite straightforward.





Step 4 : the shield was an easy thing to do, I only replaced the two parts A43 by copper wire to avoid cleaning up these little thingies.
Install part A38 when you build the half-track pulled version, don't glue this on when you decide to build the horse pulled model. I had to remove a rivet to make it fit well (as showed on the drawing of the instruction sheet). Part A39 can be glued on in opened or closed position.



Step 5 follows in a couple of days.

Guy.
dispatcher
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Illinois, United States
Joined: November 04, 2007
KitMaker: 396 posts
Armorama: 325 posts
Posted: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 - 02:00 AM UTC
Guy, good job so far. I hope to be following you with the LeFH 18/40 when you get further along. I think it will be good for everyone to see the two kits close together.
Joe
wbill76
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Texas, United States
Joined: May 02, 2006
KitMaker: 5,425 posts
Armorama: 4,659 posts
Posted: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 - 03:44 AM UTC
I've been waiting for this one to start Guy, you're making good progress! Keep the updates coming.
guygantic
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Antwerpen, Belgium
Joined: August 19, 2006
KitMaker: 7,084 posts
Armorama: 970 posts
Posted: Sunday, January 04, 2009 - 07:22 AM UTC
Joe, Bill : tx guys, here's the update of step 5.

I had no problems bringing the shield and the barrel together. Parts A50 and A51 need good focus of the builder to do this part of the job properly. They have to be attached on three spots.



Sub assembly M1/A14 will be glued on later, after the airbrush job on the barrel. Just to make things easier. A8, same story. The aiming system is another sub assembly that I keep apart untill I treated this with care (paint work).

Step 6 : only parts B12 and B10 need a lot of cleaning. Don't mix the two versions horse/tractor !

Step 7 : Another good fit here. Finely molded parts, great ! Take a sharp blade for removing these fine parts. To avoid problems while glueing, I recommend this steps : B24, B28, B15, B9.



G.
CMOT
Staff MemberEditor-in-Chief
ARMORAMA
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England - South West, United Kingdom
Joined: May 14, 2006
KitMaker: 10,954 posts
Armorama: 8,571 posts
Posted: Sunday, January 04, 2009 - 09:46 AM UTC
Looks to be coming along nicely Guy, you could also send in an OD or build feature to us here at Armorama. Don't fret about your English as it appears fine to me, then again I am English and I sometimes wonder what it is I am trying to say. Keep up the good work Guy.
guygantic
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Antwerpen, Belgium
Joined: August 19, 2006
KitMaker: 7,084 posts
Armorama: 970 posts
Posted: Saturday, January 10, 2009 - 12:35 AM UTC
Hello guys,

This is my last update of the gun. Now I have finished the build of the different elements and they're ready to be airbrushed.

The final steps of the construction were straightforward.







This is the stage I have completed at this moment :


Now I have to wait for less cold weather, for I have to open a window while spraypainting the gun parts. We have to deal with the coldest nights since many years.

This isn't done yet, I'll be back !

Cheers, Guy.
wbill76
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Texas, United States
Joined: May 02, 2006
KitMaker: 5,425 posts
Armorama: 4,659 posts
Posted: Saturday, January 10, 2009 - 05:26 AM UTC
Looking forward to seeing this one with paint, start praying to the weather gods for warmer weather!
mj
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Illinois, United States
Joined: March 16, 2002
KitMaker: 1,331 posts
Armorama: 569 posts
Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 06:15 PM UTC
WOW - where have I been?? I just stumbled across this build log. I have this kit, and have been hesitating on starting it. It is a bit daunting. This build log is perfect!

Well, it is April, and here in Illinois, we are expecting 80 degrees this weekend....Guy, is it warm in Belgium too? I am dying to see some paint down on this gun. And, by the way, not only is your English very good, your building skills are excellent. This is a beautiful model.

Please let us see the end of the story

Cheers,
Mike

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