Gecko Models 1/35 Cruiser Tank A10 Mk 1A CS
- Thread starter Bigfoot57
- Start date
Hi that looks good, will follow along. I've built a few Gecko kits now, including figures and I have found them to be pretty good overall.
I seem to remember reading about Gecko Models. I think they are a relatively new company based in Hong Kong although their manufacturing is done in China. Looks a nice kit. Individual track links 
I have built a couple of gecko kits they go together well
Well so far I’m not impressed with this. there are imprecise lugs for attaching pieces too which need you to drill them out
Gaps everywhere and the instructions are not that great either in showing where pieces actually go thankfully most of the interior will be hidden from view once the outer shells are added.
Gaps everywhere and the instructions are not that great either in showing where pieces actually go thankfully most of the interior will be hidden from view once the outer shells are added.
So 1st off apologies for the lack of updates. This is due to the construction which is turned out to be a real tour de force and I’m still only halfway through it now so what have we done?
First off, I’ve now added the wheels to the main body and given it a coat of paint to see what the finish looks like the colour being Portland Stone and light purple then we’re onto building the tracks which supposedly is simple on the jig supplied and clip them together well that doesn’t work, at least they didn’t for me so it was my method of doing it, which was glue the links together and while they were still wet wrapped them around the sprocket that formed the circular part of the track then the Long straight bit was just joined on the end as you can see from the photographs this process is currently being repeated for the other side and I envisage another week before they will be ready also had added the headlamps to the front and drill a small hole in the back of them and inserted a piece of wire represent the cable drilled through the top of the glacis plate and tucked away and hidden from sight
First off, I’ve now added the wheels to the main body and given it a coat of paint to see what the finish looks like the colour being Portland Stone and light purple then we’re onto building the tracks which supposedly is simple on the jig supplied and clip them together well that doesn’t work, at least they didn’t for me so it was my method of doing it, which was glue the links together and while they were still wet wrapped them around the sprocket that formed the circular part of the track then the Long straight bit was just joined on the end as you can see from the photographs this process is currently being repeated for the other side and I envisage another week before they will be ready also had added the headlamps to the front and drill a small hole in the back of them and inserted a piece of wire represent the cable drilled through the top of the glacis plate and tucked away and hidden from sight
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So the tracks are finished at last they may not look how they should do but there is best of what I can come up with they should look okay plus the fact you won’t see most of it as it will be hidden by a skirts to go on the sides for anyone contemplating on doing this model there are approximately 480 track links to be assembled to make the two tracks so good luck with that it took me nearly 2 weeks to assemble
Next up will be the start of the superstructure along with the Machine guns
Next up will be the start of the superstructure along with the Machine guns
So with the running gear out of the way and the tracks we now move onto the main body starting with the top section 1st off is the assembly of the machine gun on the front glacis fairly straight forward this was just a couple of pieces and a bit of painting afterwards next we move onto the main section of the top adding storage boxes which for some reason the one on the right had a large gap at the rear hence the white filler
After this came the exhaust simple job gluing the plastic pieces together however the lower photo etch piece was far to thick to bend into a curve as it was so we had to anneal this piece
To do this you heat the piece up in a flame until it changes to a bluish tinge let it cool down if you’ve done it correctly you should be able to easily bend it because you’ve changed the chemical composition of the metal. You’ve either removed the copper or removed the zinc I’m not sure which one it is but it makes it a lot more pliable
After this was done, I then joined the two pieces of photo etch to the plastic using CA glue then mounted it onto the top section of the tank
Once it had dried it was painted using a mixture of acrylic paint which consisted of silver ,grey ,ochere ,reddish brown and brown that produced the sort of rusty effect that I wanted
After this came the exhaust simple job gluing the plastic pieces together however the lower photo etch piece was far to thick to bend into a curve as it was so we had to anneal this piece
To do this you heat the piece up in a flame until it changes to a bluish tinge let it cool down if you’ve done it correctly you should be able to easily bend it because you’ve changed the chemical composition of the metal. You’ve either removed the copper or removed the zinc I’m not sure which one it is but it makes it a lot more pliable
After this was done, I then joined the two pieces of photo etch to the plastic using CA glue then mounted it onto the top section of the tank
Once it had dried it was painted using a mixture of acrylic paint which consisted of silver ,grey ,ochere ,reddish brown and brown that produced the sort of rusty effect that I wanted
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Coming on nicely
Continuing with the
So first off, we start with the water cans which are made of five pieces 2 of a normal size of what I would call normal size 1 ridiculously sized filler cap about 1 mm across and an equally stupid size handle while they couldn’t mould all this in one piece as a top piece and then just glue it on top of the water tank is beyond me. I think this gecko models is just making pieces for the sake of pieces a word of warning if you do not like tiny pieces and photo etch stay away from this model
Anyway, we eventually got the water tanks together managed to lose two filler caps so they’ve had to be scratched built from a piece of toothpick and one of the handles to disintegrated whilst being bent into shape so that had to be fabricated from a spare piece of photo etch cut from the main sheet
Next you had to mount them in a storage rack here I lost the plot as you can see the 1st long bar is moulded attached to the top section so why did they then to represent the middle split into 3 pieces along with 2 bracing structs and all made from photo etch which fell apart when trying to attached it
In the end I scapped this entirely an replaced it with .5mm brass rod running the whole length
Next on the list was the start of the turret internal structure again a myriad of tiny pieces and photo etch see picture for details
After this construction of the side skirts was begun again more tiny pieces and photo etch can you see a pattern emerging here I did a close up of the smallest piece so far less than 1mm in size in the shape of a Y once these were done I then attached the top section of the body onto the bottom section pathetic is being. kind to the ensuing fit as you can see by the amount of white filler used hopefully when sanded & painted it will look the part
Gecko Models 1/35 Cruiser Tank A10 Mk 1A CS
This time it’s the small parts and impossible to fit pieces and I mean small some of these pieces are less than a millimetre across and involve photo etch as wellSo first off, we start with the water cans which are made of five pieces 2 of a normal size of what I would call normal size 1 ridiculously sized filler cap about 1 mm across and an equally stupid size handle while they couldn’t mould all this in one piece as a top piece and then just glue it on top of the water tank is beyond me. I think this gecko models is just making pieces for the sake of pieces a word of warning if you do not like tiny pieces and photo etch stay away from this model
Anyway, we eventually got the water tanks together managed to lose two filler caps so they’ve had to be scratched built from a piece of toothpick and one of the handles to disintegrated whilst being bent into shape so that had to be fabricated from a spare piece of photo etch cut from the main sheet
Next you had to mount them in a storage rack here I lost the plot as you can see the 1st long bar is moulded attached to the top section so why did they then to represent the middle split into 3 pieces along with 2 bracing structs and all made from photo etch which fell apart when trying to attached it
In the end I scapped this entirely an replaced it with .5mm brass rod running the whole length
Next on the list was the start of the turret internal structure again a myriad of tiny pieces and photo etch see picture for details
After this construction of the side skirts was begun again more tiny pieces and photo etch can you see a pattern emerging here I did a close up of the smallest piece so far less than 1mm in size in the shape of a Y once these were done I then attached the top section of the body onto the bottom section pathetic is being. kind to the ensuing fit as you can see by the amount of white filler used hopefully when sanded & painted it will look the part
Doing a cracking job and well done on that pe I would need a magnifying glass to see all them small parts
Looking good mate.
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