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GAZ Tiger- From Russia With Love?; Meng Model 1/35
Topic Started: May 19 2014, 05:59 PM (15,667 Views)
Karl187
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Ah...my first group build. Couldn't ask to be doing it with a nicer bunch of lads either. So lets get cracking.

First thing I had to do was sort my chaotic work area. I had neglected it sorely while I had three busts on the go, getting them ready for the IMSS Show. This is what it looked like after getting the busts done:

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Most of the those paints in a pile had been on the cutting mat, forcing me into a small triangle of space at the right where the orange sprue cutters are! Anyway, in order to get this build under way I had to sort it.

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Ah, there we are- some order at last! Time to crack on with this kit.

So I'm planning on doing the vehicle itself first and will probably create a small scene around it with some figures. I reckon most of you will probably have seen these Tiger vehicles on the news from Crimea of late.

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In addition to the camo ones a good many in Crimea were also painted Russian green. For this build though I'm going with the camouflage color seen in the pictures above. I've recently bought the 'Modern Russian Colors' paint set from Ammo and will be using them for the painting- hopefully they will prove a bit handier than having to mix and dilute Tamiya paints.

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There's plenty of sprues to be getting on with and a very nicely detailed interior, with camouflage decals included for it! Hopefully that will allow me to dirty up the interior and give it a nice 'lived-in' look- and the doors are, according to the instructions, posable open or closed so I'll be going for some of them open if I can.

A common problem for this kit was a warping of the lower rear headlight frame on the outer body- apparently it was due to the way they were packed in the box. My kit has this warping.

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I'm thinking some gentle heat from a candle will make the plastic pliable enough to sort the shape out.
Anyway, the first page of the instructions beckons!

Thanks for reading.

-KARL187-
Karl N. Hoy

On The Bench:


Ethiopian BMP-1 (Trumpeter 1/35)

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Narayan
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Graham
Great intro Karl, looking forward to this. I must check out my kit for that warping you got.

Graham
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35th-Scale
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Sean
Good Luck Karl doing the only AFV I know with wallpaper! ;)
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Prenton
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Karl187
May 19 2014, 05:59 PM
Ah...my first group build. Couldn't ask to be doing it with a nicer bunch of lads either. So lets get cracking.

First thing I had to do was sort my chaotic work area. I had neglected it sorely while I had three busts on the go, getting them ready for the IMSS Show. This is what it looked like after getting the busts done:

-KARL187-
Slightly off topic I know, but congrats, Karl, on the medals you got at the IMSS show!

Well merited. The work area was clearly used to good effect. :clap:

Best of luck with your build!

Philip
"To boldly go..."

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Padraig
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Modelling for fun
Nice intro, hope this goes well for you.
No longer a SmellyOgre
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Parkadge
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Good choice on the camo karl

Quote:
 
I'm thinking some gentle heat from a candle will make the plastic pliable enough to sort the shape out.


I would try hot water or a hair dryer or even just brute force before a candle- too much margin for error
Pat McGrath

Work to become not to acquire


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Karl187
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Many thanks for checking in with this guys.

Graham- Yeah do check yours as there were a good few affected. They did respond to the issue though and apparently changed the way the box was packed up so yours may not have the same problem.

Sean- Yeap such a weird addition to this kit- and pretty weird for an interior to have a camouflaged finish. Still, should look good with some of the doors open!

Philip- Cheers mate- I'm still kind of buzzing about the awards!

Padraig- Thanks for checking in!

Pat- I was thinking exactly that while I was knocking a few bits of the kit together. I have checked how tense the plastic is in that area and it looks like any brute force type movement will likely snap it at the weakest points or warp it in another direction. I reckon I'll get the hairdryer out and see how that goes- thanks for the suggestion!
Edited by Karl187, May 20 2014, 01:22 PM.
Karl N. Hoy

On The Bench:


Ethiopian BMP-1 (Trumpeter 1/35)

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Narayan
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Graham
Checked mine Karl. Looks like I'm one of the lucky ones. No warping.

Graham
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Karl187
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Construction of this kit began with the undercarriage and chassis:

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Transmission and the drive shaft went together nicely and has some good detail on it:

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I must say up until this point the build was okay- no issues. However, I had found the overral fit of the parts to be not that great- reminded me a bit of Zvezda kits.

After this point came the front and rear suspension. The front, I noticed, was supposed to be workable once finished so the wheels could be positioned. This is a fairly simple thing to include in a kit but is often forgotten by manufacturers. Last time I did a wheeled vehicle with a workable suspension was a Zvezda kit and it was quite simplified and lacking detail but it worked well. This kit was kind of the opposite- plenty of detail but not very well thought out. The instructions here are also quite vague on where exactly the parts should go and how they should look at certain points. It also pointed out the bits not to glue so as to keep the parts workable- the problem was that the parts that were supposed to be glued didn't hold the other parts in place- so the axle kept falling out of place. Later on the instructions have you add the bottom half of the axle hubs- adding these at this point made the mechanism secure. I really don't know why they didn't just do that in the one step- would have saved a lot of fuss.

However, it still felt kind of flimsy even when I had it all together- I decided to position the axle hubs to one side and glued them in place for stength.

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The rear suspenion was more simple since it wasn't to be posable but there was still a bit of needless fiddliness in it. The whole front and rear suspensions did glue nicely to the rest of the chassis though.

While letting those pieces dry I skipped ahead and began assembling some interior bits.

Dashboard:

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Dashboard is a fantastic mould- excellent detail and sharpness. I'm looking forward to painting it.

Centre console:

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Ammunition storage:

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So there's not too many steps left for the underside of the Tiger. The interior I plan to assemble to a point and then paint with sub-assemblies before bringing it all together.

Thanks for reading.

-KARL187-
Edited by Karl187, May 21 2014, 05:45 PM.
Karl N. Hoy

On The Bench:


Ethiopian BMP-1 (Trumpeter 1/35)

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Parkadge
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Powering ahead there Karl. Good idea to turn the wheels, It adds something to the finished kit on show I feel. I can't remember if you have figures to go with this- do you?
Pat McGrath

Work to become not to acquire


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Sean
Yer flying through it Karl.
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Karl187
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Parkadge
May 21 2014, 10:11 PM
Powering ahead there Karl. Good idea to turn the wheels, It adds something to the finished kit on show I feel. I can't remember if you have figures to go with this- do you?
Yeah I have the recent Blackdog 'Little Green Men' set of two figures ordered- sent out today apparently so should have them soon.
Edited by Karl187, May 22 2014, 12:37 PM.
Karl N. Hoy

On The Bench:


Ethiopian BMP-1 (Trumpeter 1/35)

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Karl187
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As I said earlier- I skipped ahead and left the suspension to dry while doing some interior bits. Going back to the suspension and chassis- all that remained to add was some detail for the underside and the hydraulic arms. This gave the suspension some more nice detail I think the hydraulics gave a bit more strength to the whole assembly.

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This is pretty much the undercarriage finished:

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I moved on to the seating next and this is where the kit, thus far anyway, has let itself down more than any other. The seats are very plain with no cover detailing- just 'L' shaped bits of plastic really. The seat underpinnings that see them connected to the floor are also very poor- little in the way of detail and/or details omitted. Obviously there is supposed to be a cover on the seats but, as I said, they are lacking in detail- just plain smooth plastic for the surface of them. The underpinnings on one of the seats also didn't fit right- the mouldings don't countour with the seat shape correctly and have a piece of plastic jutting up- I cut it off, sanded it down and it countoured to the shape better but the seats are still very poor, no getting around that. I have some references as well to go alongside the kit parts:

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I reckon I will probably use tin foil on the seats to give them the better appearance of actually having fabric/cover on them.





Karl N. Hoy

On The Bench:


Ethiopian BMP-1 (Trumpeter 1/35)

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Barry
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Jeez Karl you're flying it..fair play
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Karl187
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Barry
May 22 2014, 06:37 PM
Jeez Karl you're flying it..fair play
Up to now...because now it all slows down a bit as I paint the interior!
Karl N. Hoy

On The Bench:


Ethiopian BMP-1 (Trumpeter 1/35)

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Narayan
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Graham
Great build log Karl. Sounds like there are a few issues with this kit. What you've done so far is very impressive.

Graham
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Karl187
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So progress has, as I said it would, slowed down a bit here as I delved into the interior of the vehicle. It must be said that Meng have really done a stellar job on the inside of this, as I hope you'll see as I go through it. My only criticism remains the simplified chairs- I said i was going to cover these but I decided to just paint them instead.

Here's some of the bits and pieces in primer:

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The seats were fairly straightforward to paint:

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I have to say the dashboard is my favourite bit-chunky and really nicely detailed instrumentation.
Here's a shot of the real thing:

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And now mine with the paint and decals on (not totally finished yet but getting there):
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The side doors are also really nicely done- the thickness looks correct and the build-up is simple and effective. At this point I also discovered my primer (Tamiya Sky Grey) was a close match for the vehicle interior's exposed areas so all I really had to do with the doors was paint the large dark grey areas you see here in on the real thing:

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And here's mine (not quite finished yet though):

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The gear box in the real thing is, strangely, covered in a kind of leather jacket:

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Meng have done really well in getting the texture to look right:

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There are also quite a few ammunition storage racks in this vehicle and Meng have them all done nicely. Here's a pic of some from the real thing:

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And mine:

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Perhaps one of the coolest things Meng have done is include the camouflage fabric sections that line most of the interior of the Tiger. Here's the real thing:

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Meng's decals looked somewhat intimidating- its a large and somewhat fiddly area to cover but Meng got Cartograf to sort the decals so they go on like a dream...and they look awesome too! Here's some being done on the lower and upper surfaces:

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So right now I still have some decaling of the interior to do. I also have to glue everything to the hull floor, seal it and weather it and also think about some stowage!

Thanks for reading!
Karl N. Hoy

On The Bench:


Ethiopian BMP-1 (Trumpeter 1/35)

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Narayan
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Graham
Coming along very nicely Karl. I'm thoroughly enjoying your build logs and reference pictures.

Graham
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Barry
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That dashboard is looking sweet Karl...its going to be some job when finished
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ghengismccann
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Karl,
Nice work indeed, the dash is very well done.
regards
:>
"....the old men shall cause themselves to be carried into the public squares,
To excite the courage of the warriors, to preach the downfall of Kings,
and announce the glories of the Republic"
Convention of the Republic,Paris, Dec; 1793
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