I am finished with this..................
This has been sitting unfinished for a long time, and I found out why!
The Model is an original Maquette tooling, dating from 1998, and in 2002, they decided to add new parts to allow the first production T-34 to be made. This involved new wheels, new tracks, new turret & new front & back fenders. To fit the fenders, you had to perform surgery on the upper hull.................
The turret was ill fitting & needed a lot of filler - the instructions are very vague about where to cut for the new fenders. When I started this originally, I must have made a hash of the cutting, so it went back into the box. Fast forward a decade - and having forgotten about the problems, I picked it up again after finishing my ICM T-34/76.
Judging by the original parts from this....................
which will probably be quite a nice model. For this model, the replacement tracks & wheels are OK. The turret & fenders etc - not good! - indifferent tooling, short run mouldings & abysmal fit, obviously not the same toolmakers as the original model. I came close to landfill consignment, but finished it anyway.
I couldn't recommend this particular model at all - the originals may be OK, but with a large number of good T-34 models around ( ICM & Zvezda - if I can put them in the same brackets! ), it's more of a hangover from the past.
If you have a liking for models that aren't common, you have to expect a few ( !! ) dogs, and this is one of them.
I'll have to go and sit in a darkened room & reflect that some models have become shelf queens for a reason!
Thanks for looking in!
Dave
This has been sitting unfinished for a long time, and I found out why!
The Model is an original Maquette tooling, dating from 1998, and in 2002, they decided to add new parts to allow the first production T-34 to be made. This involved new wheels, new tracks, new turret & new front & back fenders. To fit the fenders, you had to perform surgery on the upper hull.................
The turret was ill fitting & needed a lot of filler - the instructions are very vague about where to cut for the new fenders. When I started this originally, I must have made a hash of the cutting, so it went back into the box. Fast forward a decade - and having forgotten about the problems, I picked it up again after finishing my ICM T-34/76.
Judging by the original parts from this....................
which will probably be quite a nice model. For this model, the replacement tracks & wheels are OK. The turret & fenders etc - not good! - indifferent tooling, short run mouldings & abysmal fit, obviously not the same toolmakers as the original model. I came close to landfill consignment, but finished it anyway.
I couldn't recommend this particular model at all - the originals may be OK, but with a large number of good T-34 models around ( ICM & Zvezda - if I can put them in the same brackets! ), it's more of a hangover from the past.
If you have a liking for models that aren't common, you have to expect a few ( !! ) dogs, and this is one of them.
I'll have to go and sit in a darkened room & reflect that some models have become shelf queens for a reason!
Thanks for looking in!
Dave
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