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Great news! Looking forward to seeing how this one builds up!

Quite quickly fortunately.....The quality of the parts is incredible, and the engineering superb.....I actually wasted a bunch of time last night cleaning up tiny injection points on some of the bigger slide moulded pieces only to find that they would have been covered up by other parts later in the assembly process anyway! :doh:

MainHull01_zps1703f084.jpg

Only one external ejection mark on the entire upper hull part. :thumbsup:

LowerHull01_zps4b42863d.jpg

The fine detail parts behind the sprue attachment points have been seperated from the sprue before packaging. :thumbsup:

This feels like tiny Tamiya! :worthy:

Typically enough I've just settled down to type this and a mate has arrived with a Landrover full of dogs so we are off for a walk.....Back in a bit with pictures and everything! ;)

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My opinions are slightly less positive now, some of the parts are just silly! :mental:

The handles on the drivers hatches are provided as moulded on strips (Yuck! :shutup: ) or optional etch parts....These are truly tiny (part 7 on the etch fret) and the one I removed pinged into hyperspace before I even got started on cleaning up the attachment points.....I had a go at making quick replacements with stretched-sprue, bent over a former:

TinyEtch01_zpsfbc7d40e.jpg

Wasn't very happy with these either. :confused:

Now, meet Part A2.....Can you see it there on the end of the knife:

TinyPlastic01_zps06744572.jpg

WhereDidItGo01_zps45eac2a3.jpg

Can you see it now? :hmmm:

As you almost certainly can see I decided the stretched-sprue driver's hatch handles were rubbish and would have to go.....I will be drilling and replacing with wire (which is what I should have done in the first place). :doh:

Rushing this build will definitely not do it any favours. :fraidnot:

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Now, meet Part A1.....Can you see it there on the end of the knife:

Can you see it now? :hmmm:

Me, me, me .... pick me!!!

Is it the head of the hammer?

Great to see the photos.... It does look a nice kit but I can see your frustration about some of the smaller parts! Don't let it put you off - it's going to be great in the end.

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Yup....It's the head of the hammer & if you look carefully you will see it has a mould seam on all three visible sides that wouldn't be there if they had just moulded it as part of the hull! :mental:

Wire is always the best bet for handles, but I felt like I needed to get a move on, so I rushed at it with the inevitable consequence.....Rubbish results. :shutup:

After all the hassle I've been through to get this kit, I'll be b******d if I'm going to mess it up now.....The plastic is very soft and unforgiving of careless work and while the parts look razor sharp, there are actually an awful lot of very fine seams, all of which will show up like a sore thumb under a wash or two (and I do like my washes). :confused:

So as of now I am doing things at a sensible pace and deadline be damned. :mellow:

PS - One of our neighbours has gone out and left their dog alone, fireworks are going off all over the joint and it is absolutely terrified, I can hear it barking it's little head off.....If I'm not back later, It'll be 'cos I'm up on a charge of breaking and entering! :pirate:

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Cheers Stix.....They're certainly better than my stretched-sprue efforts, but really I could have done with some finer guage wire. That was the smallest guage that I had that was also rigid enough for the job and it took some finding believe me.....Sometimes you can have too much stuff! :blush:

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Glad to see the bits arrived – been looking forward to seeing this come together. It's a bit different from the HaT version, isn't it! Having said that, those HaT Renaults are pretty good for kits with only 7 parts, and you don't even have to hunt through the cornflakes box for them...


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It's a bit different from the HaT version, isn't it! Having said that, those HaT Renaults are pretty good for kits with only 7 parts, and you don't even have to hunt through the cornflakes box for them...

I'm building one of those too, with my nephew Louis.....He's seen Jorgen's build and guess how he wants it finished? :analintruder:

LouisFT-17001_zps24b1df7f.jpg

Not too shabby for a seven year old I think! :thumbsup:

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For all my whingeing, it is still a beautiful kit:

RunningGear_zps5f804f48.jpg

That is some really nice running gear (and that's the inner face)! B)

I was forewarned by one of the lads on ML Braille (Cheers Al! :thumbsup: ) about a nasty seam that runs along the top of the main beam seen in this part.....I've attempted to squeeze a bead of plastic out of the join in an attempt to mitigate it. :pipe:

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I'm really starting to really like this model again now.....The running gear is simply superb (dry-fitted here):

RunningGearDryFit_zpsdee1c905.jpg

It's a bit different to any other small scale AFV kit that I've built and now that I've got my head around it's peculiarities, I'm looking forward to trying more.....The round turret version has just been released and I strongly suspect I shall be ordering some. :whistle:

Having said that, I've just noticed yet another awkward seam.....Look at the spring behind the idler wheel, that's gonna take some fixing. :doh:

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And the oddness of this kit just keeps coming.....Here are the parts for the trench crossing tail:

MoreOddness_zps94eb1d06.jpg

The mounting bracket is a miracle of slide-moulding.....But the simple skid-plate is marred by hideous ejector marks! :shutup:

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