Got a few hours at the bench and got both wings glued up. Right now I’m struggling with the prehistoric decals who are refusing to budge from the backing sheet. I think I might have to paint the markings 
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That would be an interesting option! Of course there is also the trusty aftermarket decal sets. Plenty to choose from. Just saying 
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I’ll be joining in with this 2009 Matilda, It’s not the first Tamiya kit I “built” but I got it for Christmas and I’m excited to get started on it!
I’m planning to redo the armor textures and maybe redo some weld beads, and I’ll go for the scheme on the box art.
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I have been waiting to start this campaign as a build for 2026. I certainly can’t recall my first Tamiya kit but I do know I built this kit in the early 1980’s. I bought this re-issue version in about 2010, along with a few other of these Tamiya F1 kits as I got back into modelling.
Still in nice shiny plastic bags
One thing is clear that from a kit that is close to 50 years old there is a lot of cleaning up mold lines and injection marks. So starting at the front of the car a couple of hours of scraping and sanding I have a forest of parts ready for painting and completing the front suspension.
Nice and quiet time of the year to be building.
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The Type 16 hull is assembled and I’ve begun to assemble the suspension and transmission elements.
All fit like a glove. Exactly what you are expecting from Tamiya.
Olivier
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It certainly is. I have always enjoyed the peacefulness of the post-holiday season. Empty days for quality bench time.
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Except when you’re chasing around crumb crunchers.
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So true! I had my fill of that duty this season.
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I am building the Merkava for this campaign. It will also give me the chance to try the AK anti-slip texture.
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A friendly heads up. I had a hard time getting the AK Antislip “cement” to work in my favour. If you have better luck, please share your secret. I eventually gave up and used slightly thinned Tamiya clear flat…. and then applied the sand to that.
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Is this better than the old-school glue stippling?
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There’s no need to waste money on most of their products. I have used wet paint and diluted white glue with equal success.
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…and to great effect!
What did you use for texture?
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The salt from a pacifist’s tears.
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I may have used Chinchilla sand or marble dust. It was back in ‘95 or ‘96. Whatever you do, don’t use baking soda.
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Nice crisp detailed kit.
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Thanks for the heads up, Evan. I will try it out, but skip the glue if it does not work. The sand looks very finely grained, so that will probably be very good to fit the scale.
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I remember grinding whatever I used, and using a sieve to separate the larger pieces I didn’t want.
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Chinchilla sand is available at any pet store and is so fine it is almost a dust. It is perfect for 1\35 anti-slip texture. You can apply it with thinned PVA glue.
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Chinchilla sand it is. Thank you both.
And its just fun saying the word chinchilla.
I’m easily amused.
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