Raven101

They are good from both points of view, suffice to say that they are pretty much the only game in town until the promised Meng kit becomes available. Agreed there is the Dragon kit but that has been around since the nineties - back then there was no information on the system - a factor that’s been for the benefit of the Trumpeter kit in the last decade.

First of all we start with the chassis, on the Trumpeter this is all in several pieces but they do go together extremely well - one could almost say it snaps together. The next step is the transfer boxes and transfer shafts - there are four of them and are a fairly easy assembly as is the transfer gearbox the second image shows the dry fit of the chassis parts plus the 8x8 drive assembly arranged as they would inside the chassis but first on to painting. The instructions call out for all over flat black but I’m going to digress from the instructions and opt for Revell’s Tar Black - not quite as deep a black as flat black plus also gives added depth to the chassis - painted chassis assembled plus I’ve also painted and installed the two oil tanks - just to the rear of the transfer gearbox. My references show that they are galvanised steel so they’re done in AK’s True Metal wax coat steel over a primer - references show them also covered in oil and dust, this is after all a working vehicle. This has yet to be done as I’m waiting on a tub of sand and dust pigment to arrive. The engine and transmission was next - both went together extremely well with good positive assembly of both sub assembly - references show that the engine is an all aluminium assembly, only rebuilds are painted in anything the workshop has to hand. Planning on mine is to be an original engine in need of a jolly good jet wash - image is of the assembled engine and transmission and this is of the resultant painted and weathered engine. paint is the True Metals aluminium over a grey primer, weathering is Flory’s black wash and Vallejo engine stains. It’s given the engine an “old” look to it. I’ve just started on the suspension and there are problems with that section, update on that soon.

I first did one of these with the old Dragon kit back in the nineties - back then you couldn’t get anything at all about the Scud as they were still on the old soviet secret list. However 25 years later and things have changed, I’ve had a hankering to return back to this subject and about a month ago I saw the far superior Trumpeter version on eBay for £66.00 inclusive of postage from a Chinese eBayer and a month later it was duly delivered. The box itself is fairly large and weighs quite a bit and is packed with plastic - the legend on the box says that it contains in excess of 1,330 parts and is 38.4 cm long and just over 9 cm wide - this is going to be a complex build project out-of- the-box but I’m also going to add the Voyager Models internal and external multimedia detail sets (35738 and 35737 respectively) as well as the Voyager Model Line Pipe set (PEA 356) and the DEF Model MAZ-543 sagged wheel set. Paints will be primarily Ammo-MIG acrylics with the AK 4BO Russian green modulation set (AK 553) and the tyres will be weathered with the MIG Tyres and Tracks Weathering Set (A.MIG 7105) Now then, on with the build.

Not at all, you’re just offering up the piece to be fitted, tacking it down with a dab of glue would mean releasing it again afterwards. A great place to watch this in action would be Nigel’s Modelling Bench on YouTube, watch a few of his videos to see how he does it - his 1/24 Hellcat build is a great example of the step by step method.

Same here but we’ve both probably learned that the moulding process isn’t perfect and inconsistencies can and do occur - even out of the same mould. Trick is dry fit first, see where the problems are, work them, dry fit again then repeat until a snug fit.

I can see that this gentleman’s issues are the beginners mistake of thinking everything will go together first time - I’d be taking that interior out and starting again.

I’m about to start on this behemoth and am looking for some advice on colour calls in the machinery spaces beneath the cabs - would they be flat black as in the engine bay and the chassis? Also the interior of the lockers behind the cabs - would those be black or the blue/green common to Russian armour. thanks in anticipation on this.