Border 1/35 Kodiak AEV-3 Pionierpanzer, Trails and Tribulations

[diases]

Hi Guys.

This beast will be my 2nd entry into the STGB. I will not be starting it till the Mexas is complete though, as my success at finishing builds is really bad.

 

The box art.

 

Inside the box we have

String, Decals, clear parts, poly caps. 3 sheets of PE and vinyl tubing (hyd lines)

 

Interesting that you get 2 uppers depending it your going Swiss of German. the spare will be a nice addition to the Greebly box.

 

Plastic looks well detailed, and really nice

 

The revenge for the Mexas having rubber band tracks. I've built similar before and not too bad.

 

Instructions

They look pretty clear, but will only find out when I start building

 

Colour

Gotta be a classic German 3 colour. It's a leopard after all.

 

So, I'll be starting this soonish

Cheers for looking 

Paul

[Mippie]

Wow that is a beast of a box! Really looking forward to this one!

[modelling minion]

What a great looking subject, could be straight out of Thunderbirds or Star Wars.

It looks to be a very nicely detailed and comprehensive kit and I hope that the tracks don't give you too much bother.

Really looking forward to this one.

 

🇺🇦

[PlaStix]

And so the much anticipated Kodiak has arrived and it does not disappoint!! Awesome looking beast of a kit!

Kind regards,

Stix

[Julien]

Does this use Leo 2 track? if so I might have some spare rubber band ones of you want them?

 

Julien

[diases]

It's OK Julien.

The tracks are pretty easy to build up. Last night while watching a film, I knocked up the first 43 links.

But thanks for the offer

Paul

[Julien]

1 hour ago, diases said:

It's OK Julien.

The tracks are pretty easy to build up. Last night while watching a film, I knocked up the first 43 links.

But thanks for the offer

Paul

No worries, been thinking of getting one of these and looking at your pictures it will be sooner now.

 

Julien

[diases]

On 6/3/2023 at 9:28 AM, modelling minion said:

What a great looking subject, could be straight out of Thunderbirds or Star Wars.

It looks to be a very nicely detailed and comprehensive kit and I hope that the tracks don't give you too much bother.

Really looking forward to this one.

 

🇺🇦

Agreed, as a Fan of engineering subjects, this was a must.

 

I Know I was not going to start till the Mexas was complete, but I felt the need to build tracks sooner than later.

 

Weapons of Choice

Two things are really important. First is the posca pen for counting up the links.

Second is a good set of Single blade nippers. I like these Meng ones, and worth the investment.

 

Notice the way Border has setup the pins in groups the correct spacing, and the thinned sprue for cutting the whole section free without stressing the pins.

I've snipped them off in sections, leaving a quite large sprue attachment point there, then could cut them off flush 

Life's to short to clean them up further.

 

I dont use the provided Jig, as I find the pads are a tight fit, and getting them out is a pain

After placing the top section, with tweezers as I find that theres less chance of movement, I press down on one side with a straight edge (in this case the tweezers)

I can then add TET carefully into the holes.

 

Finally, I've joined up all the sections and snipped off the rest of the sprue

 

After about 5 hours (over 2 sessions), the tracks are done

Fully working, and 84 links each side.

They will now be back in the box till Mexas is done.

 

Can't stress enough the value of single blade nippers, as they give really clean cuts, and saves hours of delicate cleanup

 

Cheers for looking

Paul

[PlaStix]

Wow!! You are track building machine!! They look really good! I still haven’t finished making my tracks and I started just over a week ago!
Kind regards,

Stix

[SoftScience]

Those look like a massive pain! Good on you for powering through.

 

Can you show a close up of the single blade nippers? I'm intrigued 

[diases]

4 hours ago, SoftScience said:

Those look like a massive pain! Good on you for powering through.

 

Can you show a close up of the single blade nippers? I'm intrigued 

To be honest they are pretty good for indy link tracks

 

For the Nippers

Although they are branded as Dspiae, Meng are selling them under their own banner.

These are around £50 in the UK, but you can get trumpeter ones from around £20, up to Godhands at £100

 

So here's the business end. One section is the thin blade, the other is the flat anvil.

 

Examples of a cut, top and left are standard cutters, bottom and right the single blade

Because normal cutters squeeze as they cut from both sides you get the point, and your cut parts are under tension as the cut completes. That's why they ping off.

With single blade the cut seems a lot smoother, with very little tension build up. usually the parts just drop away from the sprue, with little distortion.

 

One word of caution though. They are super delicate, and can snap the blade if your heavy handed.

Hope thing helps

Paul

[SoftScience]

Wow! That's a world of difference in the two cuts. Seems worth the price.

[modelling minion]

Great work on the tracks, they look fantastic.

And thanks for the detailed explanation of how you achieved them, those single blade cutters do look like they give a lovely clean cut.

 

🇺🇦

[diases]

Hi again. Again.

Well as you may have seen, the Mexas is just about complete, so got the wheels and hull together.

 

Wheels are poly cap type, and usual model tank affair. so multiple sprue gates to sand.

I forgot to photo the Drive sprocket sprue gates. Border have made them so they are attached on a flat surface, so you get easier clean up.

 

The Hull was a case of glue in stages, as the 2 sides are a weird fit, and go under some parts of the base plate and over others.

Take your time if your going to build this kit, as the fit is really good, but fiddly.

I put the center supporting plate in after I'd glued the sides. Theres a small lip if has to go under, but the sides flex enough to get it located.

Then the Rear plate was fitted, another really good fit.

 

The Hull:

 

 

The instruction start with drilling all the holes into the base plate, which I did. But then they want you to populate alot of the Suspension units. and rear plate, before assembling the Hull

I have left these bits off and will fit now it's together.

 

The base it's going to sit on has been started

It's going to be on the same base as the Mexas, but I'm not certain what it's going to be doing yet

 

Thats me up to date

Cheers for looking

Paul

[Silenoz]

Nice progress so far... those tracks are nicely designed, only 5h??? I still can't believe that

 

It's going to be on the same base as the Mexas, but I'm not certain what it's going to be doing yet

 

Attached a large chain on the arm to replace some armour or an engine?

Edited June 7, 2023 by Silenoz

[modelling minion]

Not only are you putting some of us to shame with your Leopard build but you're now further ahead with your Kodiak and even building the diorama!

Excellent work.

 

🇺🇦

[PlaStix]

Very impressive progress with this build too! And looking excellent!! I agree with Craig, you are putting some of us to shame! I like the idea of the presentation base too. Well done.

Kind regards,

Stix

[diases]

Hi Guys.

Had a quiet day yesterday, But Car passed it's MOT today first time.

So I thought I'd break out the airbrush.

 

Tamiya XF-67 NATO green laid down over Citadel Colour Death Guard Green primer coat.

 

 

Tracks were sprayed with Mr Metal Color Dark Iron. it's one of the buffable ones, which I'll work on after painting the pads up.

 

And have been hunting around my stash looking for bits and pieces for the base. I had a pack of 6 Jersey barriers which should come in handy.

 

Hopefully, I'll get a bit done over the weekend.

Hope everybodies enjoying their builds, and I enjoy reading about your progress.

Paul 

[modelling minion]

Nice work, great to see some paint going on.

The barriers look good, will be great on a diorama.

 

🇺🇦

[SoftScience]

Have you used the Gunze buffable metallics before? If so, what did you think?

 

I sprayed my mustang with some of the aluminum. It looks great, but four days later still rubs off on my fingers. I suppose I can seal it, but it'll kill the shine.

 

But nevermind, back to the armor at hand.

[diases]

Just the Mr Hobby versions.

They are the paint that keeps giving, but for small areas there great.

Have you tried dry brushing them over a Aluminium base coat, as it really picks out the raised details without the long term mess.

I think I saw a vid about it, I'll try to find it.

[PlaStix]

That really is looking smart with the paint going on! Excellent progress.

Kind regards,

Stix

[diases]

Cheers guys.

Been progressing the build, but little to show. Lots of little bits of plastic and PE to populate the Upper Hull and Engine Deck.

I'll post up a better update when they are fully built up.

Cheers

Paul

[diases]

Well, a week after my last update, and it's been frustrating and successful at the same time.

 

Frustration from the weather. My modelling room faces East, and as I mostly model in the mornings, time has really been cut short. Sweating while modelling is not fun, unless its a different sort of modelling.

Few bit went wrong, a Piece disappeared to the carpet monster, and delicate bits have snapped.

 

Anyway, the update.

Upper hull, is made of 2 sections. 

Engine Deck

The deck is detailed before you add to it. nice texture and everything fits well.

I really like the anti slip areas that have been incorporated. I may add a little more texture after I see what its like under primer.

There is minor distortion to the deck (as you can see in the rear corners) but the fit overall into the lower is really nice.

 

Forward bulk head.

This has been the focus of the last week

 

There must be 200 pieces to this section, and to be honest, everything fits beautifully into place.

The kit has 2 sections , one Swiss and one German, so you need to choose your Country, and follow the instructions.

They are laid out nicely into Swiss or German Build ups, and is pretty straight forward to follow.

A few bits have been snapped during sprue removal, basically the light guard and mirror supports. but they are easy to replace with wire.

While taking the Pictures, I've snapped the other mirror off, so I'll replace with wire.

 

There was a lot of swearing at the carpet monster as the upper hatch hinge end piece went flying during fitment. So I've made up a replacement from plasti card. Luckily, it was this end rather than the other, as its a plain hinge section.

 

Another problem was the 2 boxes either side of the main digger mount.

I read the instructions wrong and had to rejig all the mounting fixtures on the painted one.

 

 

Quick mock up for the album

Looks very WW2 tank destroyer from the side?

 

Well, thats me up to date.

I'm off on holiday Monday (road trip around Colorado area) so wont be working on this ( may Prime it) for a couple of weeks.

I hope everyone is enjoying their builds, and enjoying seeing the results of their labors.

See you soon

Paul 

[Mippie]

10 minutes ago, diases said:

Well, a week after my last update, and it's been frustrating and successful at the same time.

 

Frustration from the weather. My modelling room faces East, and as I mostly model in the mornings, time has really been cut short. Sweating while modelling is not fun, unless its a different sort of modelling.

Few bit went wrong, a Piece disappeared to the carpet monster, and delicate bits have snapped.

 

Anyway, the update.

Upper hull, is made of 2 sections. 

Engine Deck

The deck is detailed before you add to it. nice texture and everything fits well.

I really like the anti slip areas that have been incorporated. I may add a little more texture after I see what its like under primer.

There is minor distortion to the deck (as you can see in the rear corners) but the fit overall into the lower is really nice.

 

Forward bulk head.

This has been the focus of the last week

 

There must be 200 pieces to this section, and to be honest, everything fits beautifully into place.

The kit has 2 sections , one Swiss and one German, so you need to choose your Country, and follow the instructions.

They are laid out nicely into Swiss or German Build ups, and is pretty straight forward to follow.

A few bits have been snapped during sprue removal, basically the light guard and mirror supports. but they are easy to replace with wire.

While taking the Pictures, I've snapped the other mirror off, so I'll replace with wire.

 

There was a lot of swearing at the carpet monster as the upper hatch hinge end piece went flying during fitment. So I've made up a replacement from plasti card. Luckily, it was this end rather than the other, as its a plain hinge section.

 

Another problem was the 2 boxes either side of the main digger mount.

I read the instructions wrong and had to rejig all the mounting fixtures on the painted one.

 

 

Quick mock up for the album

Looks very WW2 tank destroyer from the side?

 

Well, thats me up to date.

I'm off on holiday Monday (road trip around Colorado area) so wont be working on this ( may Prime it) for a couple of weeks.

I hope everyone is enjoying their builds, and enjoying seeing the results of their labors.

See you soon

Paul 

This is looking super cool! I have also been suffering with the tiny piece pinging into the carpet hell 🤣