1/35 Mirror Models Diamond T dump truck.

[outrunner]

This will be up next to take my mind off tanks.

I have put it in civilian trucks as I am not going to do it in olive drab like the box art.
There are 12 sprues, clear parts and a sheet of PE.



Instructions seem clear enough but there is no sprue diagrams in there and the sprue numbers are so small I think labeling them with a bit of masking tape might make life easier.

Not made up my mind about the colour yet but there are a couple of alternatives on the paint sheet.

Not started it yet as I am building a small sprue stand from some bits I have lying about. Oops, looks like I have pictured the same sprue twice, must be an age thing.

Andy.

 

[therapy]

Looks pretty complicated, but I'll enjoy watching along..

Nick

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Wow Andy, that looks like it's going to keep you busy. Have fun.

 

[Mini Me]

Unless I missed it in the pics I'm assuming it is 1/35 scale.........correct me if I'm mistaken. I really like the old Diamond T as well as the White and Auto Car that the Military used under contract. I'm so used to seeing these in OD green it will be fun to see a civilian version of this beast. Enjoy Andy.
Rick H.

 

[outrunner]

Unless I missed it in the pics I'm assuming it is 1/35 scale.........correct me if I'm mistaken. I really like the old Diamond T as well as the White and Auto Car that the Military used under contract. I'm so used to seeing these in OD green it will be fun to see a civilian version of this beast. Enjoy Andy.
Rick H.

Yes it is 1/35, I forgot to put it in the title but I have fixed it now.

Andy.

 

[outrunner]

Wow Andy, that looks like it's going to keep you busy. Have fun.

Yes Peter, there are quite a few bits in the box.

Andy.

 

[outrunner]

Made a start on this and got some sub assemblies put together. There are rather a lot of small, very small parts to this model and it seems to be smaller than I thought but as the real thing only had a 4 ton payload then it had no need to be huge. The twin rear wheel sets are not glued together yet as it would be a bit hard to paint them as one lump.

I was going to do this as a clean civilian build but having looked about on the net I may do it in the olive drab scheme with a load of weathering and dirt to cover my mistakes, we shall see. Oops, just noticed I have no olive drab paint and not much hope of getting delivery before Xmas.


Andy.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Andy
Very nice choice of kit. Mirror Models build up into nice, well detailed models but have many, fragile small parts. This looks typical.
Watching with interest.
Jim

 

[Jakko]

If it’s weathering you like, then I don’t think you’d need to hold back just because it’s in civilian colours. Sites where dump trucks work are generally not all that clean

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Looks nicely detailed Andy, will follow along.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looks very detailed, almost like you're building it from individual nuts and bolts. It would look great in weathered red though.

 

[Allen Dewire]

OOOOhhh!!! Me likes this one.....Watching closely with a cold one in hand Sir......

Prost
Allen

 

[outrunner]

Slowly getting a bit more done with the truck, axles all made up and started on the chassis.

This model is not for someone who is looking for a quick build as there are so many small detailed parts.
I am including this picture for Paintguy as he said he was having a bit of hassle with his Gheko kit. This one is probably as fiddly as his.

So many small parts and they all have to be cut from the sprue with a blade or a razor saw (which I don't have) as the plastic starts to break if you use cutters and there seems to be a lot more sprue gates than most models I have built. Time taken to get the parts ready and having to do a bit of fettling to get them to fit doe not make it a bad kit, just one that needs a bit of care and attention.


Andy.

 

[Allen Dewire]

WOW Andy,

There sure are a lot of little parts to this puppy. I feel your pain without a razor saw to remove them. I have a solution for you though. Get you one of these and the problem is solved,



I can't guarantee the results, but it works for me. And, you even get a disc to remove the rest of the nasty sprue gate stubble!!! HTHs Sir.....

Prost
Allen

 

[Deleted member 7181]

I see what you mean Andy. I must strike Mirror Models off my list if their kits are like that!

This one for instance, more gate than part lol



Best of luck mate!

 

[JR]

Andy.
Will join in please. Your quite right to say about how small some parts are. One of my early kits was a Mirror Model

The tracks were so small I had to end up turning it into a wreak . On some sections of the sprue the parts were so small I just gave up, even with the optovisor.
A sprue saw is a must, think this was when I ended up having to buy one.

That's a nice model and will be worth finishing.Keep going.

 

[outrunner]

I knew what I was getting into with this as I have built a MM kit before so I have handled the small and fragile bits in their kits. It is nothing to be scared of, it just takes a bit of care and a fair bit of time. Not having a razor saw puts me at a bit of a disadvantage but a few clicks on the internet will fix that. Hoping to get a lot more done over the Xmas period, good paractice as there are 2 other MM kits on my to do list.


Andy

 

[outrunner]

I spent a few hours in the attic fiddling about with the dump truck as there was nothing much to watch on tv. The bench is a bit of a shambles as I keep moving on to another part of the build when I get fed up of tiny bits.

The instructions say to fit these parts after you have the axles on the chassis but I reckoned it was going to be much easier to build them up first then stick them to the axles afterwards, time will tell if I am right.

It took a bit of time to get all the tipping mechanism fitted in there although I could have done without it as I am going to build the model with a load of gravel in the back and it would never bee seen unless you turned it over.

The next problem will be trying to set the axles to give me a slight nose up attitude to create the illusion of the truck being heavy. Simply putting spacers under the front axle will not do without altering the rear so that I do not end up with a set of rear wheels off the ground.

Andy.

 

[JR]

Nice progress, often think fitting sequences are strange.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looking good Andy. I agree that construction sequences are sometimes strange. Surely the most logical build sequence is that which would follow the build of the real vehicle.