One of the longest continuos builds I have done, with nothing else on the bench ( no room ).
Quite a marathon. definitely not a sprint. Over 770 parts, although the tracks take up 170 off those. An engine is included, - a waste of time - there is no way you can display it and it's not complete, it has no cooling system/radiator! At times Trumpeter/HobbyBoss do this, it looks like they planned more detail, but stopped short.
This is a model where the instructions have to be read, and understood before cutting any plastic. Some of the assemblies aren't clear until you actually have the bits in your hand & dry fitting is essential. The engineering and fit of the parts is excellent, no filler was used. The instructions are pretty good, but the complex assemblies can sometimes be vague, with a simple line drawing. The sequence of assembly can seem a little odd - adding small bits before large assemblies just invites damage. I suggest you work out your own sequence, and when you are going to paint! You can't leave it to the end - that will just make things more complicated than they already are.
One thing I would suggest is adding location pegs to the side frames/decking. There are small pimples & shallow holes on the model. Drilling out and adding pegs will make a much more secure construction - this model is turned in your hands so many times it's easy to dislodge parts! It came apart several times & eventually CA was resorted to.
You can assemble this with the bucket wheel assembly up or down. I did it with down, as I thought it showed the working to advantage - it does make it much longer - 290 X 90 X 90mm. With the bucket up it will be shorter, but higher.
This is definitely a model for a more experienced modeller, the large number of parts can be offputting, when you open the box.
I had had a dip in my mojo & this model was a real test. It can be a real challenge, but not so difficult that it ends up as landfill. I can say I really enjoyed this, but I wouldn't like to make models with this complexity on a regu[ar basis!
The model is still available - not cheap!
Thanks for dropping by - comments and questions welcome!
Dave
Quite a marathon. definitely not a sprint. Over 770 parts, although the tracks take up 170 off those. An engine is included, - a waste of time - there is no way you can display it and it's not complete, it has no cooling system/radiator! At times Trumpeter/HobbyBoss do this, it looks like they planned more detail, but stopped short.
This is a model where the instructions have to be read, and understood before cutting any plastic. Some of the assemblies aren't clear until you actually have the bits in your hand & dry fitting is essential. The engineering and fit of the parts is excellent, no filler was used. The instructions are pretty good, but the complex assemblies can sometimes be vague, with a simple line drawing. The sequence of assembly can seem a little odd - adding small bits before large assemblies just invites damage. I suggest you work out your own sequence, and when you are going to paint! You can't leave it to the end - that will just make things more complicated than they already are.
One thing I would suggest is adding location pegs to the side frames/decking. There are small pimples & shallow holes on the model. Drilling out and adding pegs will make a much more secure construction - this model is turned in your hands so many times it's easy to dislodge parts! It came apart several times & eventually CA was resorted to.
You can assemble this with the bucket wheel assembly up or down. I did it with down, as I thought it showed the working to advantage - it does make it much longer - 290 X 90 X 90mm. With the bucket up it will be shorter, but higher.
This is definitely a model for a more experienced modeller, the large number of parts can be offputting, when you open the box.
I had had a dip in my mojo & this model was a real test. It can be a real challenge, but not so difficult that it ends up as landfill. I can say I really enjoyed this, but I wouldn't like to make models with this complexity on a regu[ar basis!
The model is still available - not cheap!
Thanks for dropping by - comments and questions welcome!
Dave
