As I've put this together to use as a proxy German tank while playtesing, I thought I'd put a detailed article about assembling it online to give people a hand, as the instructions that come with it are a little vague.
For £15 this is a pretty big kit. The resin body stands over 4 inches high on its own, taller than a GW dreadnought or War Walker or a Mongoose Marauder. It consists of a resin hull and 14 metal parts, with a base as part of the model.
My first step was to prep the resin hull, check all pieces were there and build a base for it to rest on. To build the base I used 4 GW cavalry bases and some thick card, together with some pre mixed all purpose filler. I laid the cavalry bases side to side, checked the base cast as part of the resin piece fit easily on to them and did not overlap, and then drew round them on the thick card. Using a sharp modelling knife the card was cut out and the bases then glued edge to edge to it. I deliberately cut the base a little large, as if it is a little large it can be trimmed down, if it is a little small you’ve just wasted the card and have to start again. Once the glue is dry (I used superglue for this) I trimmed the excess card off using a sharp modelling knife. This now gives you four cavalry bases stuck to a bit of card. This is not really any use until you fill in the numerous openings and voids in and between the bases. A good big dollop of all purpose filler and an old craft knife, and soon all the blank spaces were filled in. The filler was left to dry (putting the base next to a heater will speed this process, but don’t put it in the oven or anything silly like that). The filler shrinks slightly as it dries. Excess filler was trimmed off with a sharp knife.
The resin hull was next to receive attention, and it is the most important piece to prepare correctly. Check the entire hull for mould lines, flash or any misalignment in the mould. I had all three, and five minutes with a sharp knife resolved them. Mould lines across armour plates must be dealt with and any misalignment in the moulding corrected. Fortunately this was not serious and only affected one leg. Soon all the armour plates were smooth, and I then washed the resin hull in warm water and detergent in order to remove any leftover mould release agents and dirt that the hull had attached. There remained some discolouration on the front of the hull, but this was impossible to remove after scrubbing with a toothbrush, and likely down to the model spending a couple of months out of its box and under my desk. I allowed the model to air dry while I began examining the metal parts.
The first step when looking at the metal parts is to sort them into three groups, the right arm, left arm and body. Each arm has four pieces, and the body six. I will assemble each arm, then attach the metal pieces to the body, and then the arms. This should minimise handling of the hull and allow me to concentrate on each step.
The left arm is the MG arm and comprises the arm, Mg pod, ammo pod and shoulder. The first step is to dry fit these together. Unfortunately for me, the MG pod would not fit into the socket for it on the arm. I drilled the socket out using a 3mm drill bit, and it then fit perfectly snugly. The ammo pod was almost flush with the arm, but not quite. Knowing that I would be using green stuff anyway to assemble the model, I mix some up and use it to seal the joins. I attach the mg and ammo pod to the arm and the shoulder to the resin hull.
The right arm is a little more problematic. The 75mm gun and its attendant parts need some bending, and the first two to attach are the gun support and gun. Some bending of the pipe on the gun support is most likely necessary. The pipe does not perfectly fit the hole, do not worry about this unless it is easy to get it into place, as green stuff hides a multitude of sins. Glue the gun support into place and then take a lump of green stuff sufficient to fill the gap between the end of the pipe and the hole it should slot into, and using a knife wet with water to shape the exposed green stuff into place. Using horizontal cuts, shape the green stuff to match the pipe.
This leaves only the gun shield. It will likely be necessary to drill out the hole that the pin on the gun shield goes into using a 1.5mm bit, and once this is done a little green stuff pushed into the hole and a blob of super glue should hold it quite adequately. Leave the gun assembly to dry. The shoulder is glued directly to the body.
The body parts are either far simpler or more complicated, depending on how you wish to proceed. The optional main hatch mechanism and pilot can be thrown directly into the bits box, or you can construct an open cockpit. This would be very complicated, and I have chosen not to do so with my model. The exhaust pipe holes are not deep enough, so I deepen them by drilling them out with a 1.5mm drill bit until the exhaust pipes do fit. I then glue them into place with a smidge of green stuff, leaving only the main hatch to attach. By lining the edge of the hatch with green stuff and glue, and then holding it in place until the glue takes. Any green stuff that overlaps the side is then removed using a sharp knife.
The model is then almost complete. The arms are assembled but left off, and the main body and shoulder assembly is complete.
I lightly score the bottom of the rein base, and pick up the base I made earlier. A liberal amount of glue is applied to the base and the two are pressed together. It is then left to set. Again I used normal superglue, but you may wish to use an epoxy cement.
With that step, all that remains is to glue the arms to the shoulders and base the model.
I recommend using all purpose filler to blend the edge of the resin base, though basing is matter of personal preference. Once you are happy with the base, you simply glue the arms into the pose you want. You also have the option of adding stowage, either 1/48 scale or 1/35 scale. Once that is done, the model is ready for undercoating.
For £15 this is a pretty big kit. The resin body stands over 4 inches high on its own, taller than a GW dreadnought or War Walker or a Mongoose Marauder. It consists of a resin hull and 14 metal parts, with a base as part of the model.
My first step was to prep the resin hull, check all pieces were there and build a base for it to rest on. To build the base I used 4 GW cavalry bases and some thick card, together with some pre mixed all purpose filler. I laid the cavalry bases side to side, checked the base cast as part of the resin piece fit easily on to them and did not overlap, and then drew round them on the thick card. Using a sharp modelling knife the card was cut out and the bases then glued edge to edge to it. I deliberately cut the base a little large, as if it is a little large it can be trimmed down, if it is a little small you’ve just wasted the card and have to start again. Once the glue is dry (I used superglue for this) I trimmed the excess card off using a sharp modelling knife. This now gives you four cavalry bases stuck to a bit of card. This is not really any use until you fill in the numerous openings and voids in and between the bases. A good big dollop of all purpose filler and an old craft knife, and soon all the blank spaces were filled in. The filler was left to dry (putting the base next to a heater will speed this process, but don’t put it in the oven or anything silly like that). The filler shrinks slightly as it dries. Excess filler was trimmed off with a sharp knife.
The resin hull was next to receive attention, and it is the most important piece to prepare correctly. Check the entire hull for mould lines, flash or any misalignment in the mould. I had all three, and five minutes with a sharp knife resolved them. Mould lines across armour plates must be dealt with and any misalignment in the moulding corrected. Fortunately this was not serious and only affected one leg. Soon all the armour plates were smooth, and I then washed the resin hull in warm water and detergent in order to remove any leftover mould release agents and dirt that the hull had attached. There remained some discolouration on the front of the hull, but this was impossible to remove after scrubbing with a toothbrush, and likely down to the model spending a couple of months out of its box and under my desk. I allowed the model to air dry while I began examining the metal parts.
The first step when looking at the metal parts is to sort them into three groups, the right arm, left arm and body. Each arm has four pieces, and the body six. I will assemble each arm, then attach the metal pieces to the body, and then the arms. This should minimise handling of the hull and allow me to concentrate on each step.
The left arm is the MG arm and comprises the arm, Mg pod, ammo pod and shoulder. The first step is to dry fit these together. Unfortunately for me, the MG pod would not fit into the socket for it on the arm. I drilled the socket out using a 3mm drill bit, and it then fit perfectly snugly. The ammo pod was almost flush with the arm, but not quite. Knowing that I would be using green stuff anyway to assemble the model, I mix some up and use it to seal the joins. I attach the mg and ammo pod to the arm and the shoulder to the resin hull.
The right arm is a little more problematic. The 75mm gun and its attendant parts need some bending, and the first two to attach are the gun support and gun. Some bending of the pipe on the gun support is most likely necessary. The pipe does not perfectly fit the hole, do not worry about this unless it is easy to get it into place, as green stuff hides a multitude of sins. Glue the gun support into place and then take a lump of green stuff sufficient to fill the gap between the end of the pipe and the hole it should slot into, and using a knife wet with water to shape the exposed green stuff into place. Using horizontal cuts, shape the green stuff to match the pipe.
This leaves only the gun shield. It will likely be necessary to drill out the hole that the pin on the gun shield goes into using a 1.5mm bit, and once this is done a little green stuff pushed into the hole and a blob of super glue should hold it quite adequately. Leave the gun assembly to dry. The shoulder is glued directly to the body.
The body parts are either far simpler or more complicated, depending on how you wish to proceed. The optional main hatch mechanism and pilot can be thrown directly into the bits box, or you can construct an open cockpit. This would be very complicated, and I have chosen not to do so with my model. The exhaust pipe holes are not deep enough, so I deepen them by drilling them out with a 1.5mm drill bit until the exhaust pipes do fit. I then glue them into place with a smidge of green stuff, leaving only the main hatch to attach. By lining the edge of the hatch with green stuff and glue, and then holding it in place until the glue takes. Any green stuff that overlaps the side is then removed using a sharp knife.
The model is then almost complete. The arms are assembled but left off, and the main body and shoulder assembly is complete.
I lightly score the bottom of the rein base, and pick up the base I made earlier. A liberal amount of glue is applied to the base and the two are pressed together. It is then left to set. Again I used normal superglue, but you may wish to use an epoxy cement.
With that step, all that remains is to glue the arms to the shoulders and base the model.
I recommend using all purpose filler to blend the edge of the resin base, though basing is matter of personal preference. Once you are happy with the base, you simply glue the arms into the pose you want. You also have the option of adding stowage, either 1/48 scale or 1/35 scale. Once that is done, the model is ready for undercoating.
