The running gear fits the box, but it is a very tight fit with no give or take. So it got damaged while crossing the Atlantic. We shall fix this when time has come.
Added the cupola, fenders, tow hooks and the radiator cover to the hull. The cover is so thin printed it was warped. I fixed this whith a square strip styrene from below. I’ve tried to align the fenders well to the hull, but even while pressing them firmly against the hull there was left a small gap along the full lenght. Filled this with some putty. Done deal. Only 7 parts so far and it looks like a tank (or SPG, that ist):
Here I changed the direction of the build a bit: The SPG showed two cupolas at the factory, but only one at the proving ground (this is written in the instructions). So I left off the left cupola and added a hatch with two rivets and a bolt. 11 parts now. Just 6 more (2 tracks, front support, 2 MGs, gun) and the model has been finished! Not really a high parts count, indeed.
After airbrushing I spotted two flaws, one not-so-well printed corner of the bottom and some irregularities at the lower rear wall. The rear wall was easy to fix by cutting off some printing residues. The bottom flaw was sanded flat and covered with some sheet styrene, then cut and sanded into shape. Nothing complicated here.
Highlighted every rivet and all edges with “Russian WW2 uniform green”. One by one. Reduced the dusty look of the wheels a bit. Painted the tracks black to add metallics next.
The support at the hull for the bogies is misplaced, so I added pins to the bogies. Also one axle of the rear wheels got broken off in transit across the Atlantic, so I made a new one. Metallized the tracks with Ammo metallic pigment:
Right track is in place. The shattered left track is under construction. I use here slow-curing gapfilling superglue. Just a break now until the glue has fully cured. After this just the MGs, gun mantlet, replacing a lost handle an we are don. Maybe I will add a base, because the whole running gear is a bit wobbly given the only 3 mounitng points per side.
How do you find it’s printing quality. I’d like to buy early Christie tank but I don’t decided what would be better - to buy Vargas or Commander’s models conversion for Tamiya’s BT-7
Printing quality is overall OK. Not great, but OK. Surfaces are not smooth like cast resin parts, there are fine printing lines. But for a tank this is OK: The rolled armor steel look for free. Some hatches are really thinly printed, so you might support them from below with some styrene. Every handle is nicely (and threedimensonal!) printed in place, which is a bonus in my book. I would not try to add a chain to the towing hooks, because they are really soft and might droop. All in all it’s up to you, if you want to give 3D print a try or prefer to go with good old cast resin parts.