Gecko 1/35 Supacat ATMP

[Deleted member 7181]

After reasonable success with my last figures I though I'd try my hand at some more, with another quirky vehicle. The scene will be pretty much as shown on the box art, with an ATMP support vehicle and several troops attending to a casualty.

I've never built anything from Gecko, but I imagined that being a simple vehicle I'd have a straightforward build on my hands and could concentrate on painting the figures. That was until I opened the box!





Starting with the figures, there's lots in the box. Most of the sprues are accessories, equipment, body armour & weapons. There's also a small PE fret for various straps and an antenna



Some of the figures have optional heads. I'll be going for goggles & helmet wherever possible!



Then onto the ATMP. Again, a surprisingly large box, packed with goodies. A comprehensive PE fret, and 20 sprues if you count the individual ones for the wheels.





There's also a bonus weapon sprue with these and 6 pistols. The guys will be well armed as there's already 3 lots of weapons in the figure box! A bit of flash on these but nothing major



Looking through both kits I get the feeling that not everything was moulded in the same place. Some sprues are very clean & sharp, others seem a bit softer, with flash here & there, and some of the sprue gates are massive and numerous compared to the part itself. All that clean up should keep me busy!

 

[Deleted member 7181]

So on to the build itself. Step 1 has the PE fret out already, for the cooling grilles



I know the mesh looks wonky, but that's how it's cut. No need to worry though as it's hidden in step 2



Plenty more etch already, with the rear light surrounds and mud flaps. They were pretty flat and boring so I bent a few curves into them to look like the box art. The instructions I'd say are quite basic, with positioning sometimes pretty vague, so I have to keep skipping to later images to see where parts should end up. Nothing quite lines up perfectly, but that could well be as much down to me as the kit.



Plenty of teeny tiny bits to clean up and keep me on my toes. Not the throw-together I was expecting



But I've now clamped the upper and lower sections together after a bit of persuasion and will leave it like that overnight

 

[Lee Drennen]

Andy. Very nice start PE looks good

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looking good so far Andy. Looks like it has more bits than a real one.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Andy
I look forward to this. There's certainly enough there to fill your time and test your skills and patience. I have every confidence you'll end up with a cracking dio.
Jim

 

[stillp]

Looks a nice kit Andy, plenty there to keep you busy.
Pete

 

[Jakko]

If I’m honest, I kind of saw it coming: small, simple vehicle … I bet the kit isn’t like that

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks guys.

There's certainly a lot more to it than I was expecting, and plenty of etch, which has been a sticking point for me in the past. I just need to put into practice all those tips from everyone!

 

[adt70hk]

Nice start Andy!

 

[Lee Drennen]

Andy you will be find there’s plenty of PE pros on here and the best thing there willing to help

 

[outrunner]

Looks like a quirky build Andy, but I am sure you will crack it.

Andy.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Cheers Andy & Andrew.

Yes Lee, always plenty of advice to be found here. Getting my hands to do what my head is telling them can be a bit harder though

 

[Deleted member 7181]

I did some more on this one today. Again, mostly involving etch.

There is a handlebar kind of affair to fit into that slot, but I've left it off for now. If I use the driver figure it'll probably be easier to line the controls up with his hands than vice versa.



From another angle, with a grille added to the front. There are a few gaps in the plastic parts but they've had a bit of Mr Dissolved Putty spooned in.



The kit grab handles that should have gone here are now in orbit so I made something representative out of wire



Then we came to the seat belts. They looked rather lovely on the fret, in 5 pieces each, but are now a horrible gluey mess lol. Simon tried to help me with my CA glue disability, but I clearly didn't pay enough attention!



I've left it on the bench rather than my first instinct of stamping on it. I'll see if I can clean it up a bit in the morning. If not, it'll make my mind up about using the driver as hopefully he'll hide the worst of it.

Then I have this lot to look forward to. Not sure quite how I'm meant to paint the seats and "interior" once all that lot is fitted and in the way, but I've spent far too much time on previous models stressing about what to paint before assembly etc, so now I just bang everything together and hope for the best

 

[scottie3158]

Nice work so far mate. Plenty of figures to keep you going.

 

[Lee Drennen]

Andy. Nice updates PE looks good

 

[outrunner]

Looking OK to me Andy, nothing a bit of tidying up wont fix. What type of CA are you using? When I was building RC aircraft I found that Slo-Zap was good, being thicker it did not run and gave you time to position stuff, I am just about to order some for myself as I am finding the cheap superglues are a pain in the butt.

Andy.

 

[stillp]

Umm... if you use the driver, wouldn't he be wearing the seat belts rather than hiding them?
They look OK to me though, I've done far worse.
Pete

 

[prichrd1]

Looking good so far Andy, don't let the etch beastie get the better of you, like Peter says - I have also done far worse!!

Paul.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks again for the great comments chaps.

Andy, I've tried all sorts but most of them have either gone off in the heat of the shed, or sealed themselves solid like the fancy zap & flexi 5k ones. I've currently got some loctite precision, or good old screwfix no nonsense stuff if I want slow or thick. Both have metal pins in the lids so actually work more than a couple of times

Pete, yes, probably. But can you imagine the mess I'd have made trying to fit them after painting?

He already has Paul. I know I won't enjoy the build any more after such a failure, but I'll see it through and hopefully the figures will go better

 

[JR]

Andy, there is nothing wrong with the PE at all, a little clean up on the seat as Outrunner Andy says. As for the copper replacement, think it looks ok if not better than the kit one would have looked . Don't be so hard on your self.