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Achzarit Heavy APC - 1:35 Meng


Mike

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After reviewing the kit the other day, I thought I'd crack it open and build it to break my year or so hiatus of armour builds. It's going to be as close to OOB as I can manage it due to time constraints, and so far it's gone together very well indeed. The wheels are simple to clean up, just needing their sprue gates choping and sanding back, but I added some nicks and damage to the edges to give it a little more "lived in" look, then glued them together, remembering to put the poly-caps in between the halves. The suspension is easy enough to do, but don't be tempted to cut off all the swing arms at once. Do them piecemeal because there are different parts for different stations, and it's easy to get confused. Each one is keyed to the correct angle and direction, and it all fits together well, with just a few mild sink marks on the front of some of the arms, which are easily removed.

roadwheels1.jpg

I'm now 100% convinced that an interior was planned for this kit, because whilst building up the interior panels, there is a slot near the front where the driver's bulkhead would be, plus a box-shaped location point and a number of holes that could only be used to carry the driver's seat and controls. The detail in the sidewalls is just too nice to have been done so that it would never be seen. The sections go together really nicely, with plenty of mating surface and tabs to ensure everything stays together over time. I'm really pleased with how quickly it has gone together, and so far I've only needed to fill two ejector pin marks near the rear door, plus another two, one on the bracket of each of the rear mudguards. Very nice indeed :)

hull1.jpg

hull2.jpg

The door has been added on its two hinges, and moves freely up and down, and the upper hul is a click-fit on the lower, even before the side skirts are fleshed out with the inner parts. Superb design and engineering so far :)

hull3.jpg

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Who knows? :shrug: Anyone have a good pic of the early remote GPMG installation? Even with the Alclad "armoured glass" on the two lenses, you can still see plenty of nothing inside the box :hmmm: I'll fabricate something up if I can find out what's in there.

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We can but hope :) I did a quick test of gluing the tracks together last night, even though I think I'm going to use some Friul units instead, and you'll be pleased to hear that not only do they glue with ordinary liquid cement, but they stick well. I clamped mine using a tongue depressor on the outer face and two lengths of coffee stirrer on the inside run, then a couple of clamps on either side overnight. There's no sign of any weakness in the joint, and the two ends seem to have fused nicely. :thumbsup:

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I had a couple of hours uninterrupted today and decided to do a short run of Friul tracks to ensure that they fitted on the drive sprocket, as they were patterned and intended for use on the Tamiya T-54/55/62 kit. I kind of forgot I was only supposed to be doing a short run, and just over an hour and a half later I had a full run done. I am pleased to report that the tracks fit the teeth, with perhaps a little fettling, they could be made to fit perfectly, so I made another run in what seemed like a fraction of the time, having got "into the swing" of the process. The trick with Friul tracks is to cut your wire into pieces of the same length so you have a little stalk sticking out of each link once you're done. That way you know when you've got your wire to the end of the link. Then add a small drop of CA to the end with a toothpick/cocktail stick, and nip the ends short with some side, or end cutters. Run a sanding stick over the cuts at the end of the job to flatten the heads off and you're sorted :)

It takes about two and a half to three hours to complete both runs, so the important thing is not to mind. Put on a movie, or chat to the family. In my case, I had a gab with a friend who was feeling a bit sick today, and the time went by quickly. When I moved however, I found out that my muscles had seized, and my pain killers had worn off. Cue an hour on the sofa trying to straighten out! :lol:

I think the effort was worth it, but you judge for yourself. I've put one kit track on to compare, and to show that the OOB tracks are also ok :)

tracks1.jpg

tracks2.jpg

tracks3.jpg

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They do, don't they? :) They also add some substantial weight to the build, making it more resiliant to movement. Do remember to wash your hands after handling the tracks though, as you will get some metal residue on your hands, and it's not that good for you.

The only downside of using the Friuls is that I now need another set to pay back the Tamiya T-55 with AA ENIGMA kit that donated them :rolleyes:

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It's amazing what you can do when someone is chatting away to keep your mind of things.

Oh well if you were chatting to Dave I,m not surprised the tracks went well he can be a bit boring :bleh: when chatting away

The tracks look well but is it worth it when you got track guards hiding the top run ?? You can get a decent sag with Fruilsso seems a shame to hide it

Any way cadging time do you want those tracks from the kit?? If not I can find a use ?

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Just to confirm Dave, the sag is still visible from side-on, as the skirts don't hang down that far. The rear third is also visible through the PE mesh panel that has yet to be installed... and speaking of tracks, I tried something new today, which was the blackening, or burnishing fluids that you can buy these days to turn your shiny white metal tracks a more realistic shade of... well, grimy, rusty and weathered. I used a bottle of the AK stuff, which you dilute 1:1 with water, and drop the tracks in after a scrub in soapy water. After about 10 minutes they were a pleasing grey brown with a nice variance in tone between the links. You have to tap the container on the desk and dabble a stiff brush in the recesses to get the bubbles out from them too, or you'll end up with a shiny patch. Rinsed in water and dried off, they look pretty good as a base on which to add local soil/sand colours. A quick rub with a narrow sanding stick along the contact patch brought back the shine to replicate the wear of the road wheels on the tracks, and another sweep with a rough stick on the high-points of the tracks did the same where they wear against the road.

tracks4.jpg

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Any way cadging time do you want those tracks from the kit?? If not I can find a use ?

Sure... I'll send them your way when I get a minute. I need to get some more Friuls for the old Tamiya kit too, so the rubber tracks from there could be yours for a cheeky smile too ;)

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That top one is written by the guys (Desert Eagle Productions) that helped Meng with the research and decals :)

I'm working on some references, so should have my info on the remote turret shortly. Meantime I'll be painting up the interiors (the parts that show), hopefully today if I get some time :pray:

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I am building it, yes ^_^ Slowly :shrug:

The majority of construction is now complete, and I've given it a coat of black primer as a step toward getting the paint on. I decided that as I was using aftermarket tracks that it would be churlish not to use some spare links to depict the spares carried on the lower glacis plate of the Achzarit. On looking at the kit parts, they have moulded in the ladder-like retaining bracket, so out came the razor saw! :unsure: I cut off the sides of the tracks, leaving just the central section with the ladder moulded in, and then thinned the rear with Dremel and a rough sanding stick, finishing off with a knife to tidy up the edges. I was left with two ladders that fit nicely around three Friul track links :) I'm going to have to paint up the retainers separately as a result, but that's much easier than trying to paint some plastic "links" to match the burnished metal ones. I also had to flatten off the two large location blocks on the lower glacis, which was done with the Dremel and the same sanding stick :)

spare-tracks.jpg

glacis.jpg

hull4.jpg

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