Okay all…My Tamiya Tiger went so well that I figured I’d post pics of my weekend build too. Literally, I slapped this together on Saturday and Sunday.
It’s a terrible kit. Marketed as Dragon but manufactured by Alan Models in Russia. Absolutely full of flash, short shots, sinkholes, silvered plastic and shattering decals. Some parts simply don’t fit where the instructions show them fitting, and in at least one instance the instruction sheet actually contradicts itself (direction of the rear leaf springs).
The good news? It’s a pretty simple build. There are only 140 parts in the kit, with no leftover parts (except those that wouldn’t fit). And the detail is passable, I guess. Overall, it reminds me of a poor copy of an older Italeri kit.
The carbine propped on the running board is from a Tamiya figure kit.
Great weekend slap-together! I think that it came out really nice. I’m quite sure that I couldn’t do that on a Saturday and a Sunday!
One thing with those doors though… and this applies to most truck-type kits… if the fit isn’t all that good… well, if it isn’t perfect, leave them open just enough so no one would ever know.
Nonetheless, I just love it. You pulled off a good job on this but a little sanding of the tire’s tread surfaces would have added greatly to the realism.
I’m gonna do one of these sooner or later… well, later I guess.
Another nice build Jt i built this same kit last year and know exactly what you mean on the quality issues the biggest problem i had were the tires, the seam was terrible and impossible to clean, in the end though they do turn out looking nice, good job.
*edit, just read Steves reply above, the tires are made from some horrible rubber substance that cannot be scraped or sanded i used a hot knife to melt the seam down lol
It’s actually worse than that…The tires in my kit were stuck to the frame of the truck. So when I opened the box, the rubber tires were actually embedded in the frame. So, if you were to pick up the finished build and examine the frame, in six different spots it would have tire treads pressed into it.
[:O] Also, the tires - I don’t know what kind of rubber they’re made of, but I don’t think it’s from Earth - they wouldn’t take paint. So what you’re seeing is the original glossy black of the tires as they came out of the box, with as much red-dirt pastel dust as I could get them to accept.
Anyway, thanks for all the comments, guys! I really appreciate it. I did think about leaving the doors open, but the fit problems with the interior aren’t any better - [:D]
I’m envious that you can take a dog and build it in one weekend. Man, that puts me to shame.
I think it turned out really well considering some of the shortcomings. As long as they don’t bother you, then no harm done. I wish somebody would release an updated version. We need more non-armor choices.
Nice looking build. Weathing looks great, not too over the top (even though Soviet troops weren’t know for taking care of their vehicles).
Only suggestion I have is that the red pastel ‘dirt’ doesn’t match the groundwoork (which is also quite nice). I’ve found that matching the two does a lot for a diorama or vignette to create realism.
What a beauty! I love this! Amazing work for a “quicky”!!!
I have to say that this would be an AWESOME kit to rust-up and junk out, sitting out in a field somewhere, just rusting away, bulletholes and all…(lightbulb goes off! [:O])
can’t believe you went there…[:O]…well, maybe I can…
By the way, I’ve found a pic of this truck in real life with the seams on those tires. I posted it to my build blog here: http://panzerpantry.blogspot.com/2008/08/dragon-zis-5.html (I just left them there because I couldn’t scrape them off, but there they are in real life…).
Wow, one weekend and you finish a monster of a kit. Wish I could work that fast. Just have to say you did a FANTASTIC job, on such an awful kit.[bow][bow]
Nonetheless, I just love it. You pulled off a good job on this but a little sanding of the tire’s tread surfaces would have added greatly to the realism.
