Easily one of my favorite kits from my college years. Who loved the Testors yellow boxed kits like I did? Those instructions with history and detailing guide were the best!
I did get the Takom one.
Yup, those yellow box Testors kits are great. Good decals, good clear instructions, and usually a nice kit at the end of the build. I can see why you like this one Rob, it’s a fine kit.
This kit (1978) and Italeri’s Leopard 1A4 (1977) are thought of as two of their best armor kits and each is still a respectable build 45 years later. And have only been surpassed in recent years.
Stik the wires and hoses really add some zest here. I bet It’ll gives it a really nice 3 dimensional effect too through those engine grates.
That is really looking good stik. These older Testors kits are nice. I have a couple from the 80s in the yellow and black box and are very nicely detailed. I like what you did with the electrical wiring details.
It’s interesting . . . Italeri 1/35 armor kits are generally maligned but the old Testor’s kits were “nice kits” or “great”. They are one and the same, except for those kits that Italeri have redesigned or retooled. I love them.
Rob, the Italeri Leopard kits are still considered by leopardclub.ca as being among the best on the market, with disappointing reviews of the newer Meng and Hobby Boss offerings. I just finished their Leopard 1A2 kit and am very satisfied. There are minor detail problems as with any kit, but it built into a very respectable A2.
Bill
Chad and Steve, thank you. I figure two more bench sessions on upgrading and plumbing the engine compartment, then a paint session, and it’ll be all ready to install and close up.
Bill I agree. I love the old Italeri armor kits, and their Testors boxing’s. I’ve always had good results with them.
It is virtually impossible to classify Testors yellow box kits as “all nice” or “all bad” since they were all reboxes of other companies’ kits. Their armor kits could be Peerless Max from the 50s or Italeri kits from the 70s & 80s. There were even some Fujimi car and plane kits I believe.
The Peerless Max armor kits were okay, just old. They included the M3 White Scout Car, the WC Dodge series kits, GMC 6x6s, Chevrolet tractors and the 105 mm howitzer.
The original Italeri kits like the Leopard, M24, M47, Willys Jeep, Puma, Crusader, etc. were not bad for the time.
Yeah I really like the added plumbing in the engine compartment. [Y]
Think I’ve said it before- my first 1/35th kit was the Testor’s yellow and black box Panzer IV F/G. Waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy back in the dawn ages when I had much more hair but no internet…
Guess I’ll have to put my two cents in on the yellow Testors boxes as well. They were some of my favorite kits through the 90’s. My most memorable being both 1/72 scale kits of the Stuka and a Spitfire Vb with the clipped wingtips.
I also have a fond memory of the 1/48 Gee Bee racer that I desperately wanted to paint in yellow and black like the one from the movie “The Rocketeer”. Unfortunately I never could get a good finish with gloss yellow Testors enamel and a hairy stick, lol.
I love what you’ve done with the plumbing! I’m eager to see it painted. [:)]
Thanks Mike. I’ve been looking hard at photos of the engine and surrounding items to figure out the next phase of gizmology in that area.
The Rocketeer GB sounds very cool. You can still build it. Im sure that you’ve gotten better with applying yellow.
“The Rocketeer” One of my favorite all-time movies, and a great paint job on that GeeBee.
Lol, yes I’ve become much better at applying yellow.
I have never successfully painted yellow coats with Testor’s enamels, or using any brand of paint. Yellow is a difficult color for me!
Bill
Yellow tends to airbrush ok, it just takes more applications. Ive had good luck with Testors, but better results with Humbrol, like on my M46 here.
Try spraying a desert tan or sand color first, Bill. That’s how I’ve been able to get good results with yellow since trying it that way. It will be a lot less troublesome with a base layer of a similar tonal value and you won’t have to build up the color as much to achieve a good coverage. Just make sure you don’t use any gloss for that undertone color of desert yellow or tan.
That should help you out.
Thanks, gentlemen! I will try these recommendations soon. Carlos, that is a beautiful M-46! FYI . . . there is such an M-46 (with Tiger stripes) at the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, MA.
Bill
Thank you Bill. I hope that you saw my comp,eyed M46 last month on here. BTW, I airbrushed on the Insignia Yellow directly over the Olive Drab, no coat of white or whatever underneath to brighten it up. I suspect that the Yellow goes so well over OD is because OD is supposed to made from a mix of black and yellow, so yellow is part of OD’s pigments.
Andy of Andy’s Hobby Headquarters once mixed Olive Drab on video by mixing black and yellow. It works.
Bill
I have to agree strongly with Mike, tan or sand as an undercoat makes yellow cover FAR better.
I still hate spraying the stuff but the undercoat makes it at least workable.