I have commenced my build of the Type B, this is my first ICM kit and I have been putting it off as I didn’t like the tilt tie down points, they were moulded on and would have look awful if I had just drilled a small hole through them and fed the string through these, so what to do? After some pondering I decided to replace the tie downs and got to work.
Before I get into it this is an enjoyable kit to build and while the part numbers are high, I reckon this would not be a great challenge for a lower intermediate builder as it would build their confidence to tackle more challenging aspects of the hobby.
The chassis as it sits in the photos has about 69 parts but the way the instructions map out the build makes this a very simple task.
The engine consists of about 25 parts and as it will be cover I won’t be doing any additional work to it as all that will be visible is the sump, but again a nice piece. The exhaust pipe is a single unit and I have applied a base layer of real rust and as this is very visible will add more rust towards the end.
When completed the chassis and engine running boards etc. will consists of around 134 parts.
The fuel tank is 6 parts and while cleaning it up I removed some of the strap and decided to take it all off and replaced it with about a 1.5mm wide stripe of beer can, they come in handy I go through a couple of cans each year, and a few more for my gut.
The wheels when completed consist of four parts; I drilled out the holes on the wheels and dabbed on some green stuff world putty on the tyre to give the impression of wear on the rubber and when dried I smoothed of the high points with a broad flat piece of metal.
Next couple of photos are of the engine cover and driver’s area; the horn that sit on the front bulk head is cast as a solid piece and I have hollowed it out.
Lastly, my replacement tie downs for this was my first attempt. I used some thin beading wire wound around 1.5mm rod but I wasn’t not happy with the result so I did another lot and wound some more wire around a 1mm rod and cut it into individual rings, I then cut some stripes of beer can 2/50” wide fed this through the rings and super glued it together; much better.
As mentioned in the thread I completed the kit about 2 weeks ago but again I got caught up in life.
The colours used were from Mr Hobby, I first sprayed the body base colour H52 OD and over this I spayed H79 Sandy Yellow and H333 Extra Dark Sea BS381C/640; the grey and green were a bit of a problem as I had some difficulty in seeing the paint’s demarcation line so brush in hand I painted the camouflage outline with Vallejo Black and holy %$&^ the grey just jumped out. For the tilt I wanted to give a slight appearance of bleaching and again using Mr Hobby I painted the tilt with H52 and about 10% of H313 Yellow FS33531 and used 313 in place of H79, the Dark Grey was lightened with about 10% white and outlined with Vallejo Black Grey.
This particular vehicle had no decals but in order to protect the paint work a coat of Pledge one go was applied and allowed to dry for 24 hours. The next coat was a matt poly urethane 50/50 mix with white spirt and again given a few days to harden before I commenced the weathering.
Overall, this kit was a delight to build, everything when together with no trouble and the only problems I had were operator errors (which thankfully were minimal). The tie down to me look good and hopefully over time the string will become more natural in appearance.
Mate that’s a very nice build! Great colours and subtle weathering. Excellent! Nice woodwork colour on the steering wheel and tools too.
Only one minor suggestion; for the rope ends could you twist them with some glue so the frayed end is smaller or looks like the rest of the rope? The fraying ends just look a touch out of scale. Suggestion only.
Thanks for the suggestion I’ll give it a shot, I have bee looking at the rope and not happy with it especially at the rear, the other thing I was thinking of is using some kitchen twine thinner, more even and less prone to fraying. this was my first ICM kit and it wont be the last really enjoyed the build.
Tan sewing thread? Usually holds together long enough to tie a knot.
Use excess thread, tie the knot, soak the cutting point with a tiny drop of paint or
matt varnish before cutting off the excess
