Hull basically done, just a few grab handles to apply and a couple of holes to fill in a side bin. References show no holes. Fit here was generally good, although a lot of flash meant a lot of test fitting and clean up, so maybe I was lucky. I have read others have not been so lucky.
I am currently working on the turret. Kit barrel is very poor. You need to remove the locating pins to get the fume extractor and barrel flare right, but you end up with a gap on one half at the barrel butt and a gap on the barrel tip on the other - badly misaligned if you fit so the ends are flush. Also the area between the barrel and and fume extractor is way too wide and missing the recess and connecting rods. I end up closing the gap with .10 x.20 strip and added stretched sprue. A little filler required as Trumpeters parts are offset as I mentioned above. I have filled the barrel end and will sand that when dry. Trumpeter has this area as a truncated cone shape when it should be a cylinder with a notable demarcation. They also give a barrel end that is too short and too fat. I will scribe the join after sanding, or I may even saw off the end and replace with a disk.
As you can see, I took the route of replacing tie downs, which I now regret. I should have gone the smart way Olivier did with his for the 8 wheeler build. I still have the other side to do now…
The clear parts on this kit just do not fit like they should. They need sanding as a minimum, or in the case of the largest single block, being cut down. I cut the rear off the large glass vision block and sanded the bottom and sides, and it fits fine now. No way it was going to fit otherwise.
Another kit fault is the grab handles. Trumpeter gives you ones where the legs of the ‘U’ shape are 90 degrees to the base of the ‘U’ shape, where the pics show the legs should be played outward… I decided to let that one slide…
Mostly done with the main bits. Need to look for some shocks or borrow some from a trashed Italeri kit. Most of the turret bits are just held in place. Needs paint and pe before moving to the next part.
i’ve primed my BMP-3 and begun the painting process. since Tamiya doesn’t make the cream colour i needed i had to make my own, which consists of the following tamiya paints: buff, deck tan, desert yellow and flat white.
Okay, today was a day for finishing of builds. The Trumpeter Rooikat is now ready for painting: Barrel end replaced, barrel detaing added, all the tie downs, etc.
I’m going to try and do the 3 tone camo Bert, for something a little different. Although Olivier’s build makes the overall BS381C:450 BS Dark earth one very tempting.
Ready for base paint! Had it primed about 2 weeks ago and noticed deep sink marks running down the length of the fenders and on the add on armor on the turret. Lost my mojo but finally got back to filing them with super glue and then sanding them smooth.
Don’t you hate it when the primer reveals flaws. I’m interested to see how the stencil slogan comes out. That is some fine threads holding all that together.
Nice work @Mead93. Those stencils look pretty delicate but nicely done. Should great when they are on it. @petbat, without trawling all the way back through this, did I ask you if you could do a medal ribbon for this one and the 8 wheelers build ? I need to plough through both at some point and list those who have completed builds so far …
Don’t ya know that maple leaves are period correct for a 1941 KV-1?!?
The part I’m most worried about on the stencils is the massive bolt heads on the add on armor. Not entirely sure how to navigate those. But I’d have had the same problem with decals too.
Thanks Peter, and yes, it all comes back to me now … The third one was the one people liked… Anyway, I liked it so that’s that lol… And thanks in advance for the 8 wheelers
Here she is masked. The bolts and the gaps in the spaced armor were a bit of a PITA, think I’ll have to touch up around the bolt heads once I spray the base coat
Mead, on the right side view in your pic above, shouldnt the decals be the other way as per the box art ? with the 3 large letters at the front and the 2 words on the rear section ?
Ok guys so we are about 6 months into this build and there have been some great builds and also a ship which was great to see, with Igor @Igor_Bobanovic completing 2 builds !! Hopefully we can get a few more done as they are a few that are nearly there and would be great to have a few aircraft and the Alaska finished…
Builds completed to date are;
JohnnyCh01 @Canmedic - Don @TacFireGuru - Michael @Igor_Bobanovic - Igor x 2 @Cookie - Gaz @McRunty - Rory.
for this one and the 8 wheelers build ? I need to plough through both at some point and list those who have completed builds so far …
