Sd.Kfz. 9 Famo / Angraf / 1:25

An impression of my "wheel serial production factory" (it's making me mad ?() plus:.... the first set of wheels in place:

My experience is that repeating the same action(s) in modeling can be very boring, but on the other hand it can save you a lot of time; for these wheels that count many, many parts each( and two wheels are needed for each set of wheels...!) I did as usual: I start with building the first one to accustom myself to the way to build them; for this first wheel it took me several hours. Then I repeat each step one by one for the other wheels,thus making each step faster ans faster: On the plus side: at the end of the process you finish many wheels one after another; on the minus side: you really must go for a walk after some time because, like I said, it is making you mad...

Six sets, three on each side, of "middle" wheels are finished now; "middle", because the next set of 6x2 wheels has longer axles, thus making the distance between each of their two wheels larger. Each one of these sets will fit "around" the now finished sets: one wheel on the inner side, the other one one the outer side. I already made some nice progress on these next sets, so pictures of the next steps will soon follow!

I wanted wheels.... Well, here I got them. Lots of them!
The top view shows how all these wheels and swinging axles fit together and are still free to move independently.
Next step will be to add the remaining three sets of wheels on the other side and then start with the very complex and detailed driving wheels plus the rear wheels.

Is 14x2 = twenty-eight wheels ( see picture) enough for the tracks? No it is not... The two driving wheels are still missing. So up we go for these driving wheels, hoping that the we can keep the misery of missing or not fitting parts away. (For those of you who can check it: no parts 53f/g -black rubber rings for rear wheels on my copy...; plus: the diameter of the axles for the rear wheels, parts 11n, needs correction, as do most of the parts in this model as I told you before)

A picture showing the work in progress on the front (driven) chain wheels; sub-assemblies so complex and containing so many parts that they are in fact models on their own. The rubber blocks and rollers where the wheels and chain will be in contact are already visible. These wheels are almost finished so new pictures of mounted wheels will follow very soon!

Is thirty wheels enough for the tracks? Yes it is!! :] In other terms: All the track wheels are finished now. Those who own a copy of this model and can verify will agree that the number of parts needed to finish all these wheels means an important step. Sometimes the goal of reaching such a step can almost become an obsession -but it should not. This is a hobby -it should mean fun.
So for the tracks (I did not check it but they could easily contain one thousand parts or more) I will calmly start constructing the first links and as I progress continue building the rest of the model; first of all there will be the"regular" front wheels as the next step.

Hi Michael!
Not one word about this in the instructions, but... there is indeed one diagram showing parallel rubber blocks. Besides of all that, the position that you propose is much more logical and certainly the right one and therefore I corrected it right away as the attached picture shows. Strangely enough, the blocks, seen from the side,are not in the "middle" of the "teeth"/rubber rollers, as shown on the other picture, so I kept that as it was before.
Thank you very much for your comment!

No, no damage done!

I wanted to put an end to this endless wheel story, so what else could I do then build the three wheels that were left: the front wheels and the spare wheel. These wheels are surprisingly well designed and fitting is perfect - a bit like the Kraz...!
The only horizontally fixed position of the model for this moment is the front axle plus the front wheels ;all swinging arms of the chain wheels are (still) movable and to determine the final position of the complete chassis I will now have to start putting the chain wheels on the chain.
So there is no more escape: I'll start the first links together with the radiator and the front mudguards.

One last step was necessary before continuing: apparently nothing has changed but when you take a closer look you will see that I added the system of pressurized air ducts, compressor etc. As soon as I will start building the body most of the inside of the chassis will become inaccessible. The instructions warned me that this was the moment to install these ducts, so I did.
As I said before, next steps will be the first chain links, radiator and mudguards.

The instructions stated that the non printed sides of the inner and outer mudguards should be glued together before giving them the right shape. Although in this case the final result might have been the same, I am not a fan of this: The inner and outer "skins" have by definition different measures and so there is a risk for surprises.
I preferred to build the inner skin and use it as a 'support' for the outer skin:

And then comes another very pleasant surprise :O, very typical for this build... Did I do something wrong? Everything seems to fit; the mudguards have been fixed on the frame exactly where they should be fixed; is it simply the indicated place for the mudguard supports (one of them is shown on the picture) on the frame that is wrong? Let's hope so, because otherwise I might have a serious problem...

The Famo with the front mudguards installed; no other position for this sub-assembly is possible, so...?!

I did a test build for the first two connected links of the tracks and I was satisfied with the result; I now know how to construct these links and I now know that everything fits together well. (The "teeth" on the inner side of the links will be added later).
What I know also is that each link is built from nineteen parts and that I will need at least fifty-five links for each side... But what I know for sure is that these tracks will be finished in time before the rest of the model will be ready.

Just an impression of the preparations for composing the chains: 216+240 parts... just a fraction of what will be needed ...:)

I understand exactly what you mean, but... for me no laser parts, no sanding and painting, except for the the edges... I have chosen to build paper models. I remember to have written about this in my thread of the 'Radomka': it is nonsense to want to hide the joints in a ship's hull of a paper model; show the wonderful way of how a ship's hull is being built together creating beautiful 3d-shapes from simple pieces of carton; show how it has been built but try to build it in a perfect way. That is my philosophy. I used to build plastic and wooden models and everything had to be flawless... I ordered the laser parts for the 'Famo', just to know how they were looking - until now I did not use one single of these parts...

Thank you, Josve, for reacting so extensively. Of course everybody has the right to have his own ideas in modeling! (By the way: in my reaction I meant the metal laser cut parts for the Famo).
You are completely right:The laser cut parts from cardboard for tracked vehicles look beautiful, much more beautiful then anyone could achieve by cutting by hand. And, of course, they save lots of time.
The only thing is: It is a bit like doing the Tour the France on a motorcycle :]
Thank you once again for following my thread so closely!

The radiator/cowling under construction; the grill was made from thin wires, the gaze-wiring from packaging of garlic. (The instructions show some kind of mat of straw for this without further explanation, so I can not check this.)
The "Famo" logo is visible on the nose of the cowling!

Slowly the "Famo" is getting its characteristic 'face':

And then, suddenly, after months of correcting or modifying parts and trying to find all kinds of solutions for parts with horrible fit, there comes a moment when fun changes into aversion...
I knew that,once I would start building the body onto a frame that on many, many occasions had let me guess how and where exactly parts had to be placed, problems would arise. But how could I know that they would be that serious?
I show you a picture of the sides of the engine covers. Look to the left one and see all the material that I removed to make place for the mud guard. I removed the maximum I could - the part is almost cut in two-and still the part was 'bended' around the mudguard instead of fitting in a strait line at it should have. Then there was no other solution then to cut into this beautiful mudguard. And it was at that very moment, when I had to start destroying parts that I had built together with so much care,and knowing that many other problems were still to come, that I had had enough for good of this model. I am not a test builder; designing and testing is a different job.
I want a model that fits decently or even perfectly. It is not without reason that I talked on many occasions about the Renova-"Kraz", which is an exemple of what a perfectly fitting model is like.
Sorry, but I will soon be starting a new model.

Thank you,guys! Let's look at it from the positive side: Is'nt this a perfect opportunity to start a new project?

Well. my 'heart' is with the 1:100 civil ships (I did the "Regulus" and the "Radomka), because of the level of detail that the 1:100 scale can offer. But there is hardly anything on the market in that scale. But I am very interested too in highly detailed 1:33 (e.g. Halinsky-)airplane models and helicopters. And there the choice is so overwelming that I need some time to search the internet. I will let you know my decision as soon as possible!

Sorry, guys, but my decision is taken - maybe there will be a new (computer designed?) version one day with a degree of precision that will make building real fun. Then I will be the first one to buy it and make a new start.