Models for a Movie

[TankBuster]

That looks fantastic, cheers.

[Greg W]

It's pretty interesting to see how the the cab mounts to the frame. There are large sheet metal shrouds which drop down from the cab floor, that box in the engine (not shown).

 

Test fitting shows really good fit of the the cab elements and everything easily drops right down on the chassis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Greg W]

In the following pictures you can see how the cab, fenders and hood come together.

 

The hood tilts forward so the engine compartment can be seen but strangely, Trumpeter does not include a engine in the kit. The M1070 builder will be looking to the aftermarket for something behind the radiator.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Greg W]

The fenders have a variety of nicely rendered details. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I particularly like the way Trumpeter does the lights for its military vehicles. They are crisply molded, super clear and to me, look like quite realistic. An option is often given for different styles of marker lights too. 

 

 

I start by painting the back of the lights with Testors 1146 gloss silver enamel.

 

 

After drying overnight, the lights are flipped over and airbrushed with Tamiya tinted clears like X-27 clear red. The lights pictured below, received a mixture of mostly X-24 clear yellow darkened with a little X-26 clear orange. I will change the mix, to make the color more yellow, orange or amber, depending on the color of the light on the vehicle.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

These will dry overnight and tomorrow, I will mask the clear lens portions with tape and spray the exterior color.

[Greg W]

Below, the lights painted and fixed to the fenders and the fenders permanently glued to the chassis. The kit comes with pre bent steel wire which replicates brush guards for the front lights. A nice touch.

 

The fenders are really tricky to fit, so be forewarned. I spent some time aligning the fenders and making sure the gaps between the hood and cab were even. 

 

I felt the plastic tow shackles looked to small, so they were replaced with RB Models 4mm brass shackles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Out2gtcha]

Looks great!

[dodgem37]

Fantastic.  Love those lenses.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Greg W]

 

On 7/13/2021 at 3:28 AM, TankBuster said:

That looks fantastic, cheers.

 

On 7/21/2021 at 10:11 PM, Out2gtcha said:

Looks great!

 

Many thanks gentlemen!

 

On 7/22/2021 at 9:08 AM, dodgem37 said:

Fantastic.  Love those lenses.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

 

This way of doing the lights reminds me of a series of articles that used to appear in Fine Scale Modeler: Basic Techniques / Advanced results. 

 

Isn't it great when something so easy yields such a good result?

[albymoore]

That is turning out to be a very neat build (the amount of parts in that kit was mindblowing to me). I hope to get to see it in person before you deliver it to Dan. 

[Greg W]

2 hours ago, albymoore said:

That is turning out to be a very neat build (the amount of parts in that kit was mindblowing to me). I hope to get to see it in person before you deliver it to Dan. 

 

Lots of parts for sure! Definitely a marathon rather than a sprint.

 

As always, you have an open invitation to come over.

[mustang1989]

Oh wow!!! A Super HET!!! I'll be in on this one for damn sure!!! 

[Greg W]

On 7/25/2021 at 7:23 PM, mustang1989 said:

Oh wow!!! A Super HET!!! I'll be in on this one for damn sure!!! 

 

Yeah, it's a very cool model. I'm glad your interested in the build. 

 

If I built this for myself, I would want to put it in a diorama. It is without a doubt, the largest and most involved kit that I have ever tackled. Not in size but in part count and complexity. 

 

Definitely a project for the experienced modeler, mostly because:

 

1) the way the instructions are rendered.

 

2) the finesse it takes to get the many, tiny fragile parts off of the runners intact.  

 

Vaguely indicated locating positions on many parts is a common issue and the suggested build sequence was not designed by a modeler! The builder is instructed time and time again to glue parts to the model way too early in my opinion. Parts like the fenders that need to be positioned in relation to other important things like the cab and hood, need to be test fitted. The instructions tell the modeler to glue the fender mounts in place quite early in the construction of the chassis. Fitting the cab comes way down the road. You get the point...

 

I have wanted to deviate from the instructions many times because intuitively, I suspected there was a better way to go. The previous builds in this series helped me out because I am primarily a model aircraft builder. If this was the first kit I was asked to build for the movie, I would have been in big trouble! 

 

Having said that, overall this is a great model. I think Trumpeter/Hobby Boss is to be commended for producing a kit like this. A lot of people worked hard in order to bring it to fruition. 

 

I never would have built most of these models, so this project has made me a much better modeler by expanding my horizons in a big way.  

Edited July 27, 2021 by GDW

[Greg W]

I have started to build the platform behind the cab. Five pages of the instructions are devoted to this portion of the model. There is way to much going on in this area to build it up and then paint it all at once. I am doing it in layers. Below, you can see more of the very nice photo etch being applied so I can paint it, before the next round of details are added. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The anti slip sections on the steps and tread plate on the rear deck are very well done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Greg W]

As I have been preping all of the parts to add to the platform behind the cab, I've not been sure of its precise location on the frame. The instructions seem oddly vague regarding placement.

 

Turns out, once the exhaust system is assembled, it determines where the whole rig locates. The builder, if gluing the platform before knowing this, will be caught out.

 

The pictures below show how it goes together:   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by GDW

[Greg W]

Two shots showing the finished bottom of the truck while it is still safe to flip it over and not damage anything.  

 

Really detailed right out of the box. The only changes made are the movable tie rods on the front and rear steering.