Nutso, that didn’t work. Never mind, please ignore. Will try again when I have a bit of time to sort it out.
Okay, let’s try that again:
<a href="www.flickr.com/…/14918236811" title=“HK Tank-01 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr”><img src="farm4.staticflickr.com/…/14918236811_91cf8b4a45.jpg" width=“500” height=“375” alt=“HK Tank-01”>
Ooooo-kay, it worked in the test post page. I really suck at this.
Flickr changed something and made it more difficult to embed photos.
Real G, would love to have a copy of that article! Can you PM me details?
Will do, Robiwon.
Robiwon, sorry but I have to dig for the magazine article. Strangely, only one box of old mags is missing from my storage area - and it is the one with all my Tamiya issues! That figures. I’ll look around this weekend.
In the mean time, some progress pics on the HK Tank (assuming they show up!):
Pegasus provided snap tabs for the trunnions, which will not allow the parts to be separated, so I changed them to twist lock tabs. I’ll do this for the head, body, and gun turrets.
Here is one bogie’s worth of track links. They aren’t finished yet, but I couldn’t resist taking a photo. The kit “rubber band” tracks seem to fit too tightly, and I have no confidence in those greasy noodles. They have four bumps where material was injected into the mold too.
And here is the HK mocked up with rubber bands. The trading figure of Ripley in her Power Loader is approximately the same scale as the HK. I think Pegasus got the size of the HK Tank correct, unlike the teeny Flying HK. I want to be able to add the bogies after construction and painting are completed. The solution involves toilet paper. Stay tuned.
have this and the HKT which is huge. voodoo fx makes a lighting set for the AEK but i will probably DIY it since there are 2 spotlights and 2 running lights. i am building 1 or both for the SCI FI GB.
Waynec, the flying HK also has a belly strobe and a smaller light under the “head”. You can see them in scenes from “Terminator”. Strange that the strobe appeared to be white, not red. Maybe Cameron’s FX guys are color blind - the APC from “Aliens” has blue tail lights!
Good luck with it mate!!!
I finally have a few track links for the HK Tank ready. Now I just have to push to get all 240 links done! Note that the pitch of the new links is slightly greater - this is due to me being lazy and using stock plastic strip. That means slightly fewer links to build. This little project is a crap shoot as far as spacing is concerned. I’ll have to see how the last link comes up, short or long. 
HK Tank-14 by N. T. Izumi, on Flickr
Excellent work so far on the tank. You should cast the tracks in resin when done and give them away to your buddies! wink wink…
I’ve been doing some work on the Aerial HK. I got all the parts trimmed and a few glued together that will not effect me lighting the kit. Glad I got this instead of the tiny Pegasus version.
Robiwon,good to see you working on the big hunk of vinyl! Sorry but i still can’t find my Tamiya mags. But you seem to be doing fine. I remember the article involved a lot of Milliput around the tail to body joint. I don’t think there were any other serious problems with the kit.
I did consider casting copies of the tank tracks, but I’m a lazy bum. Maybe Pegasus will be nice to us and issue some aftermarket plastic tracks. I’d prefer them over having to make them myself. I have around 50 segments done, and have assembled two straight runs so far. I’m too dimwitted to load pictures using a phone, so I’ll post progress pics on Monday or Tuesday.
I test fit the HK Tank’s track last night to see how good/bad it was. I think they might work!
HK Tank-16 by N. T. Izumi, on Flickr 
HK Tank-17 by N. T. Izumi, on Flickr 
HK Tank-18 by N. T. Izumi, on Flickr
The links and lengths are just taped together so the fit is sloppy right now. Hopefully the tracks will fit perfectly when everything is painted up. The final track count is 58 links (16, 14, 10 link straight runs, 7, 6, 5 individual links around the idler wheels).
Okay Pegasus if you are going to tell us a plastic aftermarket track set will be forthcoming, please say so now before I begin with the other three sets!
Darn it, Flickr photos don’t load when I change computers. I suck at using Macs. I’ll try to fix it soon.
Okay, pics are now up.
Wow, those tracks look fantastic!
Thanks Robiwon! I sat down to try mass producing the tacks to see how quickly they could be made. The answer unfortunately is around 12 minutes per link, from cutting the bits out to getting a finished piece. I cannot recommend this approach as it is way too time consuming. I have already committed, (I should be, really) so I will press on.
I hope your FHK is going well. I remember the engines were the best part of the kit. The inlet detail seemed better than the Pegasus kit.
Modeling room has been taken over by us having to empty out my wife’s ex-husbands storage unit and keep it there until the end of the month. Don’t ask, it’s a long story! I can’t even get to my desk right now!