More Grille Work

When making the Grille as a ground mount you want the four legs to sit flat on the ground.  I put a couple coffee stirrers across the legs and then a second pair of them across the other direction.  Then I used a bottle to weigh them down.  This made sure the legs would sit flat as the glue dried on the central panel.

I use this pair of pliers with flat insides to press the parts together without marring the surfaces.

I used this plastic covered wire as the pins to hold together the legs and the feet. 

I keep swabs handy to absorb excess glue when I apply too much.

Model Master is the glue I use to bond styrene to itself.  The applicator is very fine and specific.

I use a little bit of Gorilla super glue gel because it is gap filling when I glue differing materials such as metal wire to plastic.  I just screw off the top and apply it using a long toothpick.  That way it keeps the nozzle clean.

These are the tools I used to make this conversion.  Needle nose pliers are helpful when handling the wire.  Pin vise to drill a small hole in the plastic before the wire is inserted.  Wooden coffee stirrers to apply glue and mix paints.  X-Acto knives, I like the plastic handle.  I color code my handles, with the green ones being the newest sharpest blades.  I use the #1 Z series zirconium nitrade coated blade for my primary blade.  Once they get dull, I put them on a metal handle blade that I use for wood or soft metal.  The large sprue cutter I use for cutting wire and heavy plastic.  The small sprue cutter is from Tamiya and it ONLY gets used for cutting soft plastic or small styrene plastic sprue.

I get sanding sticks from Hobby Town in Bowling Green, KY.  I find it easier to sand small pieces or small parts of larger models.

Once the models were built, I had to paint them.  I covered the pin on the bottom of the gun mount and the hole in the base.  That way the pin won't stick in the hole when the gun is turned.

I painted them using Rust-Oleum 2X gray primer.

Covering the pin with blue tape when primer painting.  Many of these models started as junk models.  Some were fully or partially painted, like this one.  I did not bother to strip off the old paint because these represent very late war German weapons and I figure the quality may have been a bit rough anyway.

Thanks for reading.

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Mike Bunkermeister Creek

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