David Lovell
SMF Supporter
Before we go any further I still stand by there's no such thing as a bad kit ,some are better than others.
This has been in the stash for some time removed looked at the contents and returned more than once but this time what the heck took it to the bench(dining table)
Take note of the etch fret on the left ,any way on with the build hull tub about eight pieces to get this far
No issues what so ever not in the instruction sequence but wanted to get hull running gear and tracks out of the way first ,what the scaple blade is pointing at is/are the axel stubs for the return rollers there's no real hole for them they just glue to the sides ,im sure your thinking like me yeh there going to stay there
So drilled out the sides and inserted some nickel silver rod (Albion Alloys) right through the hull then close to tacked on the little stubs
This let me easily cut them to the correct length and do away with the kit parts
Next was the road wheel swing arm thingy's as you can see not much to hang the road wheels on but hey crack on
Any way the drive sprocket was a utter nightmare a complete bodge ended up drilling out the hull and inserting some lengths of spru each side enlarging the sprocket holes then all the pictures show it fitted convex with bolt detail around the outer rim if you wanted the bolt detail its only on the concave side but if you try and fit it con vex there's no way it lines up with the road wheels it being one of thoes that goes through the center of the tracks hence it has to be in line with the wheels/return rollers so concave it was the hole in the center was covered/bodged with a couple of spare road wheel caps.
So whilst struggling with the rest of the poorly fitting parts to get this far as usual bits started to get broken off
Still trying to keep some form of sanity told myself its not that bad look there's some nice little details like the sprung latches on the tow hooks
Not often you see them in 72nd.
Right then section A
That bloody cradle part has been built again and again ,so as you can see they give you a etch jig to set up the launch rails
So thoes strips with three sprue gates on each one go top and bottom of the etch rails this was mission impossible so armed with the most dangerous tool in my arsenal scribed out made more defined the grooves on the kit parts
Not too bad one or two casualties but nothing to get upset about. In the picture of sectionA you can see part C04 goes through it also has moulded on spacers yes of course as in real life these spacers are bigger than the holes to help keep it ridged and in line but slid on separately during construction so how the bloody hell did they think it would fit through the holes twits with a A. So found some ally tubing and ended up with this
Can you remember me saying take note of the etch fret on the left well they are the finns for the rockets ,im a patient man or ive tried to be up un till now guess what its f***in run out ,I've lovingly put it all back in the box it can f***in do one. I'm off now to build a kit thats probably not as good as some kits but hopefully better than this one . Dave
This has been in the stash for some time removed looked at the contents and returned more than once but this time what the heck took it to the bench(dining table)
Take note of the etch fret on the left ,any way on with the build hull tub about eight pieces to get this far
No issues what so ever not in the instruction sequence but wanted to get hull running gear and tracks out of the way first ,what the scaple blade is pointing at is/are the axel stubs for the return rollers there's no real hole for them they just glue to the sides ,im sure your thinking like me yeh there going to stay there
So drilled out the sides and inserted some nickel silver rod (Albion Alloys) right through the hull then close to tacked on the little stubs
This let me easily cut them to the correct length and do away with the kit parts
Next was the road wheel swing arm thingy's as you can see not much to hang the road wheels on but hey crack on
Any way the drive sprocket was a utter nightmare a complete bodge ended up drilling out the hull and inserting some lengths of spru each side enlarging the sprocket holes then all the pictures show it fitted convex with bolt detail around the outer rim if you wanted the bolt detail its only on the concave side but if you try and fit it con vex there's no way it lines up with the road wheels it being one of thoes that goes through the center of the tracks hence it has to be in line with the wheels/return rollers so concave it was the hole in the center was covered/bodged with a couple of spare road wheel caps.
So whilst struggling with the rest of the poorly fitting parts to get this far as usual bits started to get broken off
Still trying to keep some form of sanity told myself its not that bad look there's some nice little details like the sprung latches on the tow hooks
Not often you see them in 72nd.
Right then section A
That bloody cradle part has been built again and again ,so as you can see they give you a etch jig to set up the launch rails
So thoes strips with three sprue gates on each one go top and bottom of the etch rails this was mission impossible so armed with the most dangerous tool in my arsenal scribed out made more defined the grooves on the kit parts
Not too bad one or two casualties but nothing to get upset about. In the picture of sectionA you can see part C04 goes through it also has moulded on spacers yes of course as in real life these spacers are bigger than the holes to help keep it ridged and in line but slid on separately during construction so how the bloody hell did they think it would fit through the holes twits with a A. So found some ally tubing and ended up with this
Can you remember me saying take note of the etch fret on the left well they are the finns for the rockets ,im a patient man or ive tried to be up un till now guess what its f***in run out ,I've lovingly put it all back in the box it can f***in do one. I'm off now to build a kit thats probably not as good as some kits but hopefully better than this one . Dave
