NOTICE TO MANUFACTURERS: This is how kits should be made. All you manufacturers who are churning out kits from moulds that are 25 years+ old and were not brilliant in the first place - you know who you are - go and buy some Zvezda kits and learn how it should be done!
After the excitement of getting my hands all dirty and bits of sundry materials (plaster, foam, dust, paint, glue, plastic, flock etc.) everywhere, I thought I'd have a go at something I could at least keep on my bench.
During my searches for 1/100 scale armour, I came across this from Zvezda:
Yes, I know it's a cartoon thing, but having seen how good their other 1/100 snap kits are, I thought £7 was worth a tilt. My plan is to turn this into a generic airport emergency vehicle. No specific type, but there seem to be a lot of this type of vehicle around. Because the fit is likely to be good and detail adequate for my needs, the only things I'm going to have to do is replace the solid windows and build some sort of crew cabin. Nothing accurate, but as an ex-lorry driver, I've got a reasonable idea of what should be there.
So here we go.
Sprue shots:
Instructions:
First thing I found was the silly face moulded on the front:
So they have to go. Not a major problem but it will make cutting out the windscreen more difficult as the plastic is thicker to accommodate the recessed eyes.
Then, when the windows are cut out, part of the support frames to which everything is fitted will also have to go.
First cuts:
Window openings:
Test fit and back and floor of cabin done:
I won't say I wiped that silly grin off his face 'cos that's beneath even my low sense of humour. Sanded and filled:
I want to add clear plastic for the windows. Fortunately, the plastic is quite thick so I was able to add a very thin piece of plastic strip all round the inside of the window frames. This gives me something to hold the windows. The kit is supplied with stickers for the side windows. Hopefully I'll be able to use these as templates; the windscreen will have to be done using my usual precision - pure blind guesswork and LOTS of cutting and test fitting.
That's it for now, except to say I've test fit the majority of the body parts and the fit is absolutely perfect everywhere.
After the excitement of getting my hands all dirty and bits of sundry materials (plaster, foam, dust, paint, glue, plastic, flock etc.) everywhere, I thought I'd have a go at something I could at least keep on my bench.
During my searches for 1/100 scale armour, I came across this from Zvezda:
Yes, I know it's a cartoon thing, but having seen how good their other 1/100 snap kits are, I thought £7 was worth a tilt. My plan is to turn this into a generic airport emergency vehicle. No specific type, but there seem to be a lot of this type of vehicle around. Because the fit is likely to be good and detail adequate for my needs, the only things I'm going to have to do is replace the solid windows and build some sort of crew cabin. Nothing accurate, but as an ex-lorry driver, I've got a reasonable idea of what should be there.
So here we go.
Sprue shots:
Instructions:
First thing I found was the silly face moulded on the front:
So they have to go. Not a major problem but it will make cutting out the windscreen more difficult as the plastic is thicker to accommodate the recessed eyes.
Then, when the windows are cut out, part of the support frames to which everything is fitted will also have to go.
First cuts:
Window openings:
Test fit and back and floor of cabin done:
I won't say I wiped that silly grin off his face 'cos that's beneath even my low sense of humour. Sanded and filled:
I want to add clear plastic for the windows. Fortunately, the plastic is quite thick so I was able to add a very thin piece of plastic strip all round the inside of the window frames. This gives me something to hold the windows. The kit is supplied with stickers for the side windows. Hopefully I'll be able to use these as templates; the windscreen will have to be done using my usual precision - pure blind guesswork and LOTS of cutting and test fitting.
That's it for now, except to say I've test fit the majority of the body parts and the fit is absolutely perfect everywhere.
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