belugawhaleman

This came today........or rather this evening as UPS was the deliverer. At least it got here! Anyway, it's from Dragon. This is only the second kit from Dragon I have owned. The first being a 1/6 scale German military bicycle. From their Black Label line it's their British Armoured Car Saladin MK.2. I came across a video on YouTube that featured this Kit and it looked interesting..... So I ordered one. It looks pretty good. Right off the bat, I tried the fit of the upper hull to the bottom and they fit together perfectly. I think I'm Going to set aside the kit I started and start on this one. This is the third British vehicle Kit I've purchased recently preceded by Tamiya's Matilda and Valentine kits.You might notice that I buy a lot of armored car kits.......I just think they're cool. The Saladin, with its 6 wheels definitely is! I'm pleased to see that the tires in my kit are molded in black and not the funky tan color that I saw in the reviews. Well perhaps I'll do a build log on this and maybe........ Some weathering?

Thanks , didn't have a problem with them. I used Walther's Solvaset , took my time, and they went on without any issues.

Got to agree with Harv, Cool!

It looks good to me. My panzer 38 is admittedly under weathered, but that's the way I like to do my kits.

Turned out nice. Coincidentally, I've been looking at the Hobby boss and Tamiya kits Of this vehicle this week and downloading the instructions from Scalemates. The Hobby Boss kits look pretty good with detailed engine and chassis. I decided on the Tamiya M3 Stuart this week which came today.

What kit is that? Tamiya? By The way,I finished the panzer 38 its in finished armor.

While I like the "off the trodden path" subject matter of the kit the poor quality of the kit is definitely off-putting. I hope their future releases will be better. I would like to see a Devastator or perhaps........ The much rumored 1/18 Hobby Boss/Pegasus Brewster Buffalo collaboration.

Looks great John! Despite your struggles with the beast you produced another great model. Well done!

Again, another kit came. Purchased from nearby Tower Hobbies, I ordered this yesterday and got it today. They don't have a big selection of model kits but they have Tamiya kits and their shipping is cheaper than other places. Anyway , this time I got the Tamiya U.S. Light Tank M3 Stuart Late Production. (35360). This is not the older kit but a retool from 2018. It's supposed to be a pretty good kit, and a look inside the kit box confirms this.

I'm partial to French military stuff as well. I used to own a MAS 1936, a model 1944 auto rifle and a '49/56 rifle. I also owned a Chassepot 1866 needle fire rifle that I made the Paper cartridges for. I regret that I never found a good Lebel or Berthier to buy. I'm currently building an AMX 13 by Tamiya, although my builds don't attract much enthusiasm apparently. I think it's cool that you can trace your ancestry that far!

Perhaps you could recreate the bungee system with lead wire while at the same time it would reinforce the assembly. Just a thought. Anyway nice work so far.

Cool! I bought the Avro version of this kit. I'm looking forward to viewing your build!

I've got to hand it to you, John, I've given up on much less challenging kits or as I say, Put them "on hold".

Nice work! I especially like your figures!

Man alive! That's a challenging kit!

Thanks

Thanks, I'll look into that Lifecolor set.

I finished this little Panzer 38(t) I think it came out OK despite breaking off the driver's machine gun sight off the glacis plate while fitting the tracks. Its a pretty nice little kit. The fit is excellent, including the link & length tracks and it was a fun build. Next time I'll paint the rubber tires a darker color when doing a German grey tank; I painted them Tamiya NATO black which is kind of close to the German grey. Oh well, what's done is done. The markings depict a tank of the 19th Panzer division, Russia, 1941 I highly recommend this kit. here are some pictures I took about 12:50 am today.

My UPS deliveries finally came; three packages. From Tamiya came their VALENTINE MK. II/IV (35352) in 1/35. This one of their newer kits and it looks like a nice one. It has link and length tracks which I'm really beginning to like. It can be built as a British or Soviet version. I like the Soviet version because it doesn't use the fender skirts......I like the way it looks this way. From HOBBY BOSS I got their M706 Commando Armored Car in Vietnam (82418) in 1/35 scale. I've , for a long while, had a liking for this armored car having had a diecast model of one of these made by Solido as a kid in the 70's. The kit looks nice and I'm sure it will be a fun, slightly nostalgic build. Incidentally, my little diecast Commando was left in my dad's car after he totaled it back in '75 and I never saw it again☹️Dad was fine by the way.....it was a Mercedes, after all. Last, is the kit I ordered from Kitlinx. Honestly, the experience wasn't as bad is I thought It would be, but beware items listed as "One in stock for immediate shipment". I found that the only thing " immediate " about ordering from them are feelings of regret and distrust. Anyway the kit is the Tamiya/ICM Panhard 178. Tamiya offers this model as their FRENCH ARMORED CAR AMD35 1940 (32411). Although the box looks Tamiya, it looks like its packaged by ICM. The box is not shrink wrapped, and all the parts are in one big bag, not the individually stapled Tamiya bags. For some reason the Tamiya boxed kit, when you an find it, is cheaper than the same kit sold as an ICM kit. Anyway, it looks like a nice kit. The parts are nice and crisply molded. The Tamiya version has a figure and accessories included that are probably from one of their other kits. It occurs to me I could build this in the Ukraine section. Update: found a picture online of a Solido commando like I had as a kid!

Been working on this little Tamiya panzer 38(t) shown here in primer. The kit goes together well, fit being excellent. The tracks are link and length. I built them while the fenders were off the tank divided in two lengths so that I could paint them separately. I then glued the fenders in place. With a little effort I can add the tracks with the fenders now in place ( I've tried it). The only misshap was that I broke off a small antenna thing off the glacis plate while working on the tracks. I tried gluing this back on after a lengthy search for it but I messed it up so much that I decided to leave it off. Update: I've since learned that what I thought was an antenna is said to be the "driver's machine gun sight" although I can't see how this was used given it's location.

Currently reading; Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose.

After all this trouble, UPS.....the outfit I always have trouble with... Said the delivery attempt.... "Failed" and I'll have to wait some more. This always happens on Friday afternoons or if the delivery time coincides with the driver's lunchbreak. This has Happened 3 times and I've always been at home during the "attempt". One time, they delivered my package to a neighboring apartment building; A package with a $160.00 model in it. Fortunately, the building's manager discovered the mistake and brought it to me. We'll see what happens to this, and the two other packages that they were supposed to deliver. The last time, I had to drive to a CVS pharmacy to pick up packages that were supposed to be delivered on a friday.... Friday the 13 it turns out.... I had to go the next day and the following Monday....two trips.... To pick up packages that I paid to have delivered to my home! When I picked up first package, the girl at CVS stated " we get a lot of this with Friday deliveries ", and seemed to know who the deliverer might be! I used to think FedEx sucked, now I have a better opinion of them, no problems lately. The postal service,....no problem. It's UPS that is setting new standards of shoddy service and laziness in their deliveries. I wish you luck with them, I have had nothing but problems lately with them!

Had to look it up. COOL!

Welcome!

From Tower Hobbies, this came today: Tamiya's U.S. 2 1/2-Ton 6×6 Cargo Truck.(35218) I thought it would be a fun build.