NEWS: RFM 1/35 M109A7 Paladin Howitzer

I don’t want to do their research for them. (Everything they fixed happened to be on my thread. Everything they didn’t - wasn’t) :thinking:
I’ll PM you instead.

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I belive this is the look we’re going for with an engine - entire access panel removed:

Anyone care to convert the Meng Bradely engine?

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Now on sale. Who will be the first?

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After your thorough review of the kit; I’ll wait until all the issues on the kit are corrected. I might try to find a Tamiya A6 or just buy the Italeri repop if I am desperate enough.

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Ordered one today. Supposed to arrive in 2 weeks.

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Decided not to buy the RFM M109A7 a few weeks ago due to this thread.

However, it feels wrong not to support my favorite small manufacturer despite what we’ve been shown.

To resolve that disharmony, bought one to likely donate to the club for the raffle in April.

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Ive always wanted to build a late model Paladin. I got half way through the AFV Club A6 before I was stopped in my tracks (sorry for the pun) by a warped hull. I may try and fix it with putty and persuasion but most on here know how I feel about AFVClub kits anyway and honestly, I wasn’t really feeling it. It wasn’t an enjoyable kit.

Meanwhile I LOVE RFM and would quite happily give this a whirl, although I have to be honest, those tracks look a real bear at first glance. Anything where you have to glue on the guide horn gives me the kinks. Not saying I wouldn’t, only that I likely wouldn’t enjoy it.

Anyway I’ll be buying this one next month.

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Or you can wait until a kit with proper details comes along.
Early bird gets the worm. Second mouse gets the cheese.

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And it’s not like I dont have 400+ models in the stash queue waiting, right? :wink:

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add a zero …
:neutral_face:

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Thios is what I’ll be doing. Wait until RFM does an updated release with all the corrections you mentioned.

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Don’t forget there’s another one coming from Zimi. My money has been, and still is, on that one.

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We’ll see what happens with the Zimi kit. I hope it gets everything right.

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I think I’m first. Ordered it from EvilBay in November and it just arrived this afternoon. I’m fine with this version and might get Zimi or an updated RFM later. If I manage to finish it, it will never see any contests nor a veteran who served on one - so I’m happy.

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Ah, so you got the worm,.
Another thing I noticed early on was that the suspension arms are not correct. Mort people (including myslef) probably don’t care but it points to the level of “research” actually done.
All suspension arms should have a shock mount, whether a shock is mounted or not. It makes replacement much easier in the field than to just have the one kind.
The missing/incorrect detail underneath the hull probably won’t mean much to most either. but as posted above, it’s the same as the old Panda kit.

The incorrect hull plating behind the wheels is visible, however. As a shelf sitter, none of that matters, I suppose. I’m still bothered by the engine deck though. I do occassionally still build for guys assigned to the vehicle I’m buiding.

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I got mine a few days ago – fast shipping from China. Looking over this thread, I thought I’d post a few pics of what seem to be problem areas identified with the RFM kit.

What’s in the box:

Engine deck (I assume the main issue is the lack of detail/bolts with washers in the area between the large grills.)

Lower Hull (the add-on hull plating seems to be accurate when compared to some reference images, but I am not sure if those are of a prototype or production vehicle.)



Suspension arms (missing the shock mount on the rear side)


Road wheel tires (I think these will look OK when compared to references with some light sanding and/or Mr Surfacer application to reduce the prominence of the “lip”)

I can take more pics of other parts/trees if anyone is interested.

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Thanks for posting.
It’ll build into a very nice M109A7 - much better than than the Panda version.
The engine deck is not just missing bolts - it’s missing the entire hatch for the radiator filler cap. This could be done using my references, or those found online, if any.

The bulges on the lower hull are far too large - they copied the Panda kit. It’s also missing a slew of bolts, and welds that run nearly the entire length of the hull. That won’t bother most people. Honestly, it doesn’t even bother me that much, but knowing what it should look like makes it stick out for me.

The missing shock mounts probably won’t bother most folks either, although they are potentially more noticeable.

The shape of that side armor on the hull is indeed off, but again, students attending the school of “Close Enough” won’t care.

The wheel lips can just be sanded down. I’ve been doing it on Bradleys for decades. Why stop now?

I"m sure we’re all interested in how easily the tracks build up.

Any indication of an oft predicted interior? Outlines/mount in the hull or turret?

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For the engine deck, yes, I looked at your pics in the Panda kit correction thread, and I can see what needs to be added to that space. It does seem like a fairly easy fix/update to make.

For the add-on armour on the lower hull, I think the main problem is the representation of the bolts securing it to the hull, they are way too recessed when compared to the reference I found that clearly shows that area (though this pic I believe is from 2015, so I assume does not show a production vehicle)

I think this plate would look OK if it were lightly sanded down to reduce its thickness slightly and if the bolt holes were redone, either by reducing their depth with Mr. Surfacer or filling them and remaking them.

For the rest of the lower hull, if there are missing welds and bolts, I’d be up for adding them if anyone has a clear reference that shows them. However, the shock mounts on the suspension arms seem like a bit of a task and a half to fix — if I had CAD skills and a 3D printer, it’d be easier, but I don’t. I wonder if any other kits have the correct arms that could be transplanted to this kit. I know this isn’t a detail that would normally be visible, but if one is going to detail the lower hull, ideally the arms should be fixed too.

From what I can see there aren’t any marks or mounts for interior components, so maybe there are no plans for an interior. (pics below)

Here are some more pics of the turret exterior:

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