The Joy of Modeling: Zis-5V (1/35 MAC Models, Ukraine) Chapter 6

No, I have not been asleep at the wheel, I was just finishing up my sparesbox entry:

This is the rear portion of the vessel. I'm afraid I cannot comment any more at this time.

Here is the OOB 5V cargo box. Not bad, but, I have always wanted to make one of these out of real wood.

Here is a great pic off the internet from a Zis in a museum (duh, right?) Here you can see the surface texture of the pine and the milling that gives it strength. It's hard to appreciate at first glance, but the Russian design is staggeringly brilliant in its simplicity, especially in the context of a world about to be consumed by Nazi aggressors. (It's a strange day.......No colors or shapes......)

Here are my notes on the planking for the bed. I am neglecting the most important part here, that is figuring out what standard sizes of basswood stock is available. For this I went to Des Plaines Hobby (that is not a plug) and bought a few lengths of each size I thought might work. 1/16 x 3/16ths fit the bill. Making custom sized wood stock is doable, but TRULY insane. (No sound in my head....I forget who I am)

So the milling begins. Initially to get a feel I taped the blade to the plastic to see if it would work. So here is a test. (When I'm with you.....There's no reason)

Here is the actual tool. I knew I would be mass producing a bunch, so take a bow Sticky. (there's no sense....)

Here is a quick schematic of the planer tool. In it's essence it's really a way to hold the wood stock and blade relative to each other to get a consistent straight cut. The base holds the wood while you work it. The planer is a way to square the blade to the wood. The flat front edge of the tool base is the guide that runs along the stock. You will also notice there is a clamp at the top (the L shaped plastic) that is screwed down to hold the blade firmly between the two quarter inch blocks. In addition, there is a long screw at the back. It can be turned to adjust how deeply the blade will cut into the stock. The plastic and screw are long so that there are a lot of threads in contact with the hole, this gives it a lot of bite, keeping it from turning out of adjustment during use. (I'm not supposed to feel...I forget who I am, I forget)

A close up of the milling process. My hands are holding the camera, so I am not demonstrating the sliding motion along the wood to cut it.

The planks overlap, so the depth of the cut determines the overall width of the bed. I cut one plank, chopped it into 15 bits to see where I was at. Too big. (Fascist baby.....Utopia, utopia)

Final planks. Nailed it. I know it looks wide in this pic, but when you push them together they are a perfecto match. (My dog needs new ears....Make his eyes see forever)

I ran out of 1/16 x 3/16ths stock, of course. So I took some of my bigger stock and cut it to the size I needed. (Make him live like me....Again and again)

The upper sides planks are tongue and groove and fit like Zis (get it?). The milling tool will be adjusted to make these cuts. On the tongue side the blade is raised slightly and both sides worked. For the groove side a pointy file is held in position and drawn across the other side. ( Fascist baby...Utopia, utopia...)

Here's a good action shot showing the milling process. The blade is drawn repeatataly against the wood stock, much like a plane. (I'm wired to the world....that's how I know everything)