Since I missed yet another GB deadline [:$], I figure I’d start a separate thread. So anyway, here is a recap of the build so far of the venerable (1972) Tamiya 1/35 SdKfz.7/1 Flakvierling.
The kit and AM stuff:
Lotsa ejector pin marks to fill:
Modelkasten plastic indie tracks:
Beyootiful Master brass gun barrels and exquisite flash suppressors:
And Eduard PE, used only where deemed necessary:
And that was all back in December!
I rolled out the airbrush this weekend and got some primer on the kit:
Now to address the multitude of unattended seams and mold lines.
Yes, it is still available, although those looking for a more modern kit should consider DML’s. I bought this kit specifically for a nostalgia build, but quickly succumbed to the allure of aftermarket!
Wow I bought that at Orange Blossom Hobbies in Miami when it first came out in the 1970’s. I built it and had it for a ton of years and eventually sold it for some decent cash. It’s looking very good![B]
So I’m refining the filled areas and addressing stuff I missed. I have also started to black out the chassis to prep it for painting.
I like that the brown plastic of the wheels show through the paint a little. I plan on making a custom black-brown paint to use for future jobs like this.
I have kept the model in pieces to facilitate painting in all the nooks and crannies.
The Modelkasten tracks have been test fitted for the first time. The only adjustment needed was to shorten the kit’s metal axle for the drive sprockets.
A nice feature of the Tamiya kit is the adjustable idler axle, so the track can be properly tensioned. One of the benefits of the kit’s motorized past.
The tracks are a little stiff, so I will try working them in abrasive cleanser to see if they will limber up.
They are more cleanly molded than Friul metal tracks, but the “snap-off” feature touted in the MK instructions is complete nonsense. You have to remove the parts like any other plastic kit and clean up the nubs.
The one thing is that if the tracks are of the dry pin type, they are too light to reliably sag on their own. They are also more fragile because they are plastic. I would not use enamel washes to weather them for fear of causing the delicate tracks pins from falling off.
I built this kit, back in the 70s, and the plastic netting was a bear in those day before CA glue was ubiquitious.
I don’t remember the Sd.Kfz 7 ever being morotized, but, that’s likely faulty memory (but, there’s not a lot of room for batteries or for Tamiya’s preferred mabuchi motors. I do remember that lovely fat metal axle, though.
A note for those building the Dragon versions: They come with a detailed engine of elebenty dozen (it seemed like) parts, and no provision to open the hood to show it off.
The Dragon 20mm cannon are pretty nice, and can be displayed without magazines inserted in a statisfactory manner.
Both kits wind up with too thick gun shields, whic hshould have been a nice brass PE accessory. But isn’t. Sigh.
The problem with the PE shields is that their attachment to the gun base is precarious. I bought the Eduard PE set, but will leave the overly thick kit shields alone.
When I started this build, I told myself this was going to be a “fun” build.