Convoy!

It’s a pity. Well…for the next time

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Oh no! It’s a pity, as I was looking forward to it. Have you taken steps to get the right parts? Not sure if MA can supply the sprue, or if it can be found on ebay - there are folks there who break up kits and sell individual sprues. I fully expect there’ll be a follow-on Convoy campaign, so it’ll be welcome there if/when you get hold of the missing parts.

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Sorry to hear that, Doug!

I think you should contact MiniArt with your issue- they have probably the best customer service in the industry,

Cheers,
Angel

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That’s a shame. Hope you’ll get the correct parts replacements and continue. When you get around to building it, It’ll be a very nice model. However, from my personal experience, I wouldn’t call it strait forward. :hammer_and_wrench:

—mike

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I have to laugh. This turned into a morning of minor fires. Thankfully, they are now mostly extinguished.

During a break, I figured out what went wrong with my truck model. All Miniart GAZ-AA based vehicles contain frame parts sprue “Ba”. GAZ-AAA based vehicles contain alternate frame parts sprue “Bb”. My model was packaged with sprue “Ba” instead of “Bb”. :face_with_diagonal_mouth:

Thank you for that suggestion, Angel. My instinct was to write off the model but after reading your comment, I sent MiniArt Customer Service an email to see if I can purchase a spure “Bb”. Fingers crossed.

Thank you for the suggestion, Tom. So far, I have not found the necessary sprue on eBay but will keep checking.

Hey, Mike. Thank you for that. It is definitely more challenging than most models in my closet, beautifully complicated.

So…now the plot thickens. When Ukraine was invaded, I purchased a bunch of MiniArt models as an indirect show of support and because MiniArt models look excellent. After fishing through some boxes, I made an interesting discovery.

The top model, based on a GAZ-AA, contains sprue "Ba"of frame parts.

The bottom mode;, based on a GAZ-AAA, contains sprue “Bb” of frame parts.

This confirmed my previous findings. It also means I still have some immediate options for this campaign.

  1. I can abandon the GAZ-AAA and build the GAZ Ambulance instead.

  2. I can abandon the GAZ-AAA and build the GAZ Staff Bus instead.

  3. I can sacrifice the GAZ Staff Bus, plunder sprue “Bb”, and use it to complete the GAZ-AAA. If MiniArt comes through, the GAZ Staff Bus will ultimately be restored.

Really not sure what to do. Getting tired of every model project turning into a stupid soap opera.

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I’d be tempted to choose Option 3…

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A MiniArt customer service representative just responded to my email. I already replied with the requested information including a picture of the model to confirm ownership. Fingers still crossed and my campaign status is back to “Interested”.

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I have base coated my opel blitz tanker. I am a fan of MiG Ammo’s new colored glue. However, the blue color in the glue bleeds through the base coat. It will not be a problem later, but worth noting for others wanting to use this glue.

Next is a coat of overall desert yellow, but I guess the blue glue will not bleed through :crossed_fingers:t2::slightly_smiling_face:

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Sounds promising Doug! And Looking good Jesper!

I changed horses mid-stream yet again. My radio truck and railroad shunter builds are each at a stage that needs some creative work, but coming along the inside rail was a more simple conversion of a CCKW truck with the front end of a halftrack grafted on. It’s based on a pic in the Tankograd CCKW book, apparently done in North Africa, and while it has been discussed on various modelling sites I cracked on with my own conversion using the front of a Tamiya M16 quad-AA halftrack and an Italeri truck.

The inspiration:

My build:

I used resin wheels from Panzer Art for the rear, and DEF wheels for the M3A1 Scout Car for the front. The frames were lined up, and scraps of plastic to shim it all into place. I wasn’t too worried about making it neat as nobody will ever see it…

The beast has been through the paint booth and only awaits final assembly so should be posted this week…

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MiniArt GAZ-AAA: Construction is going well.

Each wheel consists of 8 parts. After building two wheels, I realized all ejector pin marks should face into the tire and that made assembly easy.

Fit of truck bed parts is very tight. Latch parts and tie down hooks are very petite. All bed parts have subtle wood grain texture, completely free of ejector pin marks.

The engine and each rear axle is a mini-model with impressive detail.

There are shallow ejector pin marks on the inner surface of the cab roof and engine hood.

My plan is to completely build the bed, cab, and frame, then paint them individually. I have not decided on a paint scheme.

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Glad to see it coming together so quick!

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That’ll help a lot for my next GAZ from MiniArt!!

Mike

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Nice progress guys! :articulated_lorry:

—mike :grinning:

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Looks really good!

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…and here’s the finished half-truck!

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Nice clean build and very well done on the converting it … great job Tom

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Very unique conversion… beautifully done, sir! :star_struck::heart_eyes:

—mike :articulated_lorry:

It looks great, a flawless conversion. The only (minor) issue I see is the jerry can mounts on the front sides. I would either fill the holes and drill four small holes (in a square pattern) in each or add the jerry cans in their mounts (the more common and easier option). The two huge holes are the mounting pin holes, not how they actually attached.

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Thanks Gino, I realised too late that they should have been removed completely! But they have big sink holes at the back so I foolishly left them in place. I will eventually deal with the holes, but for now I have other kits to finish - so many deadlines in this hobby…

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Very very nice result!!