Hi all,

Got an SMS from my wife yesterday saying that my package from HLJ has arrived. :lol: So, as soon as I got home, right after dinner I open the HLJ box and inside it the 1/35th Daimler MkII Scout Car.

Below are two reference pictures that I got from Mastergg and Silantra respectively (thanks guys) which I will be building.




There are no pictures just yet as all that I done yesterday is only test fitting the models to look and recognize parts that will need to be modified in order to convert it to the Ferret Scout Car.

A few areas I have identified that needs to be rebuild in order to transform it to the Ferret.

1) Tyres - eventhough the tyres are the right size, the rims are a bit different. The Ferret have, instead of holes on the Daimlers, are eight nuts on the inner side of the rim and the wheel hub will need to be added as well. This will be tackled first as I will need to make a cast copy out of the modified ones because the Daimler only has four wheels while the Ferret has a spare wheel on the side. I will modify all the wheels and cast a few copies of the wheel as back up.

2) Wheelarch - The rear wheelarch does not need any modification done but the front will need to be rebuild. Luckily the wheelarch comes in separate parts thus making it easier for me to rebuild it.

3) Main body - There are a few modifications that needs to be done in order to convert the Daimler into a Ferret. Upon inspection, the front will need to be extended, the upper body (the opening where the driver goes in/out) will need to be removed and rebuild, the engine cover will also need to be modified as well. The exhaust will need to be relocated as well.

4) Interior - Since the basic interior is supplied with the Daimler kit, I might as well make the Ferret with full detailed interior. This is also planned to be done but this depends on the time factor as well.

Well, that's all (for now) the overview of what I will be doing for the 50th Merdeka Group Build. I appreciate any help given previously or along the way. :D

Can't wait to see you in action Dr Druid. Will you be using any anesthetic for the patient Dr? :D :D

Richard.

This should be interesting, can I request a step by step inprogress on this one.. Please.....

Nope... No need for anesthetic... It's a soldier, so it should stand a bit of chopping here and a bit of chopping there, some piercing here and there. :lol:

I'll try to give a step-by-step progress on this build Masterqq. :D

Cut em up... head em up... move em out... rawhide!!! Hiyah!!! :lol: :lol:

Richard.

:)

very good...

druid..

the step by step would be a good reference for us "non-scratchbuilder" and "non-surgeon" :D:D

kuman

why are we waiting?........

why are we waiting?........

why are we waiting?........

why are we waiting?........

why are we waiting?........

Patience my friends.... :D

Its past 5pm. Go home quick and get started!
tell me you are doing the camo scheme........

Work ends at 5.30 lah... :lol: and I'm doing the camo scheme... :D

Talking about camo scheme, does anybody have camo scheme for the M102 Howitzer.

The one I saw at the highway was quite similar to the Ferret camo but I didn't notice the sand colour.

5.30 alledi,

Richard.

There is one door guard M102 at the entranc of the camp in Sg Ara camp, It was painted the same 4 colors as the Ferret camo

Thanks masterqq,

I'll get right on it. By the way where's Sg Ara Camp?

Richard.

Hi guys,

I've been very busy the last few days so there's not much I can do for this build. I'm tackling the tyre first for this build. The tyre diameter and size for the Daimler and Ferret is the same but from the reference I have, the Ferret has 16 lugnuts on the rim and eight near the wheel hub while the Daimler only has 15 lugnuts and the center is covered with hub caps (I think). So, off I go modifying the rims armed with a trusty Dremel, sandpaper, pencil and a few thick and thin plastic cards (0.25mm and 0.5mm).

First, the wheel hub is the same size with the hubcaps, so, what I do first is mark the areas that needs to be drilled by highlighting it with pencil.


Then I drill the holes needed for the hub to be put in place. the drilling is done carefully to make sure that the hole will fit the new hub perfectly. The pictures below shows the picture of the original wheel (left) and the wheels that has been drilled (right).


After that is done, using the trusty Dremel, I remove the hub caps and the lugnuts carefully to make sure that the surface is even. This is then sanded smooth before the next step.


Since all the lugnuts has been removed and needs to be relocated, instead of measuring each time to place the lugnuts (I will use small diameter plastic rods for this, I'm too lazy to stretch sprue :lol: ), I made a template to make it easy for me to locate each lugnuts at its place without much hassle. What I do is, I use the 0.5mm plastic sheet, measure and locate the place for the lugnuts to be at, cut it according to the diameter of the rim, and drill holes on the areas that will locate the lugnuts and.... tadaaa.... instant template for the lugnuts... :lol: Shown below is the template, the holes are a bit off but this will do lah. I will need to do another template for the middle set of lugnuts (the ones near the wheel hubs)


To use this template, what I so is I cut a 0.25mm plastic sheet the same size of the rim, glue the plastic sheet on the rim, then place the template on the rim like the picture below.


Then all I need to do now is to mark the location of the lugnuts using mechanical pencil and you have a mark on where to put the new lugnuts like the picture below.


All I need to do now is to make another template for the eight lugnuts the same way as I made the above and glue it all together. That is the progress for one wheel... I need to do this for another three before I cast it all for extra parts.


Maybe in a few days if all goes well I can show you guys on how to build the hubs and complete the wheel section of the Ferret. That's all for now... B)

Excellent progress Imran. This will be a useful resource especially for scratchbuilding-handicapped idiots like myself. Thanks for sharing and I'm really looking forward to see more development pics.

This build will take quite some time since more needs to be done even on the rim itself. Hopefully it will be completed before the 50th Merdeka celebration. I will need all the help I can get from you guys here to make this build a successful one.

Hopefully I can finish building the wheels by tonight with all the lugnuts and wheel hubs before I can cast it. The main reason I wanted to cast the tyres is because from the picture, the Ferret has 5 tyres (4 tyres + 1 spare) but the Daimler only has 4. I need to build one of the Daimler tyre as the spare tyre and cast the others to replace it.

:o

excellent druid...

i think i'll need a bigger hence more powerful glasses to actually scratchbuild something that small... :D

good job .. waiting for more.. :))

kuman

Good Progress Druid...

and more photo for u..

BTW Sg Ara camp in in Penang, in between Pen Airport and Sg Ara town.

Thanks for the additional picture Masterqq.

I have completed one of the tyres last night (no pictures though). Following from the previous picture, I have to drill 16 + 8 holes per rim to insert the plastic rods to replicate the lugnuts. I think I might also need to go to the Shah Alam Museum to take a closer look on the Ferret (or Harimau) Scout Car to see if there are any other modifications needed that I might have missed.

The reason I drill the holes is because I will be making resin copies of the tyres, so the lugnuts should not be easily pulled off when I make the rubber mold. Tonight, I will try to complete a few more tyres and took picture of each process (hopefully).

All I need now is a clear picture of the markings for it so I make a decal out of it.

Druid man... you are in luck, I have the marking from sibmas which I think it will be usefull to you..

If you make decal, can you print extra copy for me...

Whoaaa.... Thanks so much Masterqq. This really helps a lot.

Looks like I'm building the Ferret with this markings. All I have to do is to trace this back using Adobe Illustrator and get it printed onto the decal sheet (I'll print a copy for you as well if I get it done).

driud, you are in more luck! i've already done and scaled the logo. once i re-install illustrator in my pc, i'll hook you up with some decals!

Excellent, aidy! So, do we get to see all our ATM's armored core insignia decals?

Aidy... Me too ..me tooo

Aidy.... me three.... me three!

Richard.

Masterqq, thanks for the M-102 pix. They're great. I can now paint mine in single color. Only need the insignia on the side of the gun carriage.

Richard.

Thanks Aidy :D . It looks like I have to go all the way with this build after all. I will try to post some progress tomorrow. I've completed 3 tyres and only one more left to be done. B)

I was hoping that by not having you stuck for 1-2 hours working with Illustrator, we can all see faster progress on the plastic!

All, I've only done the clenched gauntlet logo and the RAMD(mekanis) panther logo. Will do others as I get pics! Like the bottom one in Tom's post.

One more minor detail on the decal guys. What you have is the Regimental and divisional insignia. Regimental colours are red-1st, blue-2nd, green-3rd, brown-4th, and maroon-11th. Divisional numbers differ but the insignia is the same. The other marking you should not leave out are the Squadron marking at both sides of the turret. they're(if i can still recall) Triangle-Alpha, Square-Bravo, Circle-Charlie and Support Squardon is Rectangle with the two longer sides detach. Please correct me if i'm wrong. Been a long time la. Maybe you guys are confused about the word "Squadron" i used. The Armor Regiment uses this term instead of "company".

Thanks, Victor. Will take note. I'm not keen on making Malaysian armour decals because kits are difficult, expensive or impossible to find for most of what we used.

Correction..Brown is 3rd armor and green is 4th armor. 1 last thing if i'm not wrong the exhaust pipe is diffient too. Our ferret is modified to diesel engine while the Daimler is petrol so i think you should double check the size.

Thanks for the heads up Victor. Hopefully Aidy can confirm on the size of the engine compartment. From the pictures that I have, it looks the same though. I will also have a look at the real Ferret a.k.a Harimau Scout Car to see how it actually looks like. Maybe get a load of pictures as well.

Ok, now it's time for the update.

I'm still doing the tyres and rims but have started a bit on the body of the scout car as well. I'll show here the continued progress on how I tackle the rims of the scout car.

I have made another template for the lugnuts that locates the eight inner lugnuts on the rim. The process is the same with the previous one that I've made. The picture below shows both the templates for the outer and inner lugnuts. Beside the templates are the rims with the location of the lugnuts marked.


After the location is marked, I drill all the holes on the rim where in this holes I will place the plastic rod that will replicate the lugnuts. Shown in the picture below are the rim with all the holes drilled out, all 24 of them (and I have to do this four times!)


Now is where the lugnuts is installed. First I cut the plastic rod about roughly 3mm long each. I purposely cut it longer as I can trim it later. The first plastic rod is for the outer lugnuts, all 16 of them.


Using tweezers, I carefully apply some glue on the plastic rod and individually insert them on the holes one after another.


After all the 16 plastic rods is installed, then another eight plastic rods (a bit bigger diameter) is cut (also roughly 3mm) to replicate the inner lugnuts. The picture below shows the size of the plastic rod compared to the tweezer.


After all the plastic rods has been installed, I then cut another plastic tube to replicate the wheel hubs and installed it on the rim. The plastic tube will then be filled before the casting process. Shown below is the completed wheel.


Three of the tyres is done and only one more left before I can cast it in resin. The reason why I painstakingly drill each individual holes and using plastic rods to replicate the lugnuts instead of just cutting them in small pieces and just stick it to the surface of the rims because I want to make copies of it. If there is not enough releasing agent on the parts while making the mold using RTV, it will tend to pull small details off the parts and this is what I want to prevent. Of course this rarely happens but better be safe than sorry right? The picture below shows all the three tyres that is completed together with the uncompleted ones.


I have also started working on the body of the scout car. As you can see, I have extended the rear side of the car and cut off the top portion of the driver compartment as well as the front side of the car.


That's all for now. :D

Very good progress and I like the way you are presenting it.

Must be tough building and also preparing this article at the same time. Don't want to disturb you, please carry on. The wheels already reveal what the finish of the Ferrets going to be.... bloody good.

Richard.

I second Richard's sentiment. Well done Imran. Many thanks again for sharing the progress as it serves as an inspiration for would-be scratchbuilders like myself.

druid_99.... very good progress... maybe you can resin cast the completed kit..
I will be your first customer.. :D

Rich..
Sorry do not have the shot on the M102 insignia.. but it look like this...

Awright! Thanks masterqq.

Richard.

Thanks for the encouragement guys, I really appreciate each and every comments and criticisms be it good or bad as it will improve my builds.

Richard: The tough task is not building and preparing the article... it's borrowing the camera to take the pictures... :lol: :lol: :lol:

CK: Thanks for the compliments. I appreciate it. I'm still trying to polish my scratchbuilding skills though.

Masterqq: Resin cast? Hmmm... I'm actually thinking of doing that but let's look of the finished outcome first, and then I'll think about that.

Thanks again for the feedback guys. :D

Just a small update (no pictures though).

I have started making the mold for the tyre and prepare it for casting. Just finished making the first part of the 2 part mold. I will continue with the second part when I get back home today.

Upon inspection with the reference picture, there are some difference with the length for the wheels of the Daimler and Ferret. I need to cut off the engine compartment for about 3mm and attach it back to get the correct length for the Ferret. I will show the progress when I get my hands on a digital camera.

Later... B)

Druid,
you have successfully made me think twice to try this kit. Scary conversion on the wheels, man.

Not sure if the following pics will still be useful Imran. I took them during my recent trip to Bkt Kepong. These 2 APC were still standing after the flood and although their the Police versions perhaps you might find something useful I hope.

The Ferret if I'm not mistaken but then again my knowledge of APC's is terrible.







The other AFV parked outside. Identification anyone?