From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

I looked around for a bit—there is hardly anything left! Just the three machine guns in the steps below.

So, step 13:

Here I was supposed to assemble the remotely operated machine gun. I can safely say that the only “drama” was gluing on the little handle A30—everything else was straightforward. Well, attaching the machine gun to its mount took a little effort too, but I managed it. I have not even glued it to the mount, so it can still move…

This was even easier—I chose the version using parts A28, so I would not have to get frustrated with the little handle A30 again, twice this time. Again, they are not glued to parts A11, so if I feel like it, I can easily assemble two more machine guns of the other type.

So, after about 35 minutes of work, this is where I got to:

I will check again to make sure I have not missed any parts, but it looks as though it really is time for the airbrush…

From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

Actually, not quite—there is a little group of board gamers at Nadya’s office who play after work every Tuesday. She asked me to refresh our memories of Brass: Birmingham so they could play it next week.

We played half a game (Nadya got a little confused about discarding cards, and we had already remembered how to play anyway). At 14:15 I started clearing the kitchen table without any particular hurry, and around 14:20 I sat down to build.

I am continuing with the steps, though not quite in order:

The two pages of the instruction booklet happen to open at these steps, so I tackled them in whatever order was most convenient.

First I did step 9—no problems at all. I was even surprised by how clear the headlight lenses T14 stayed. If you did not know, when you glue clear headlights with ordinary model cement, its fumes can turn the lenses milky white. There are even special cements to prevent this, but this time I managed without one. Still, a note to myself to buy some…

Then I decided to tackle the photo-etched parts. And here—a problem! All right, a “problem.” The part numbers in the instruction booklet turned out to be mixed up and did not match the numbering on the fret. Or perhaps I am just too stupid and could not match them up…

On the other hand, even I am not quite that stupid, so you can easily work out which part goes where from its size and shape.

I glued the two parts labelled W11 in the booklet to the hull, then continued with the two side panels, W6 and W2. Apart from the inconvenience of working with cyanoacrylate glue, there were no problems. I left the two panels unglued to the hull, though, because all the parts should be painted first. The question remains why so many small photo-etched parts had to be glued to the two large photo-etched parts, but let us not get into that…

I continued with all the other small parts that attach to the hull, again leaving the machine guns—they need painting before they can be glued onto the hull too. I also skipped the two mudguards A24. They need to be painted separately and attached only after everything is painted and the tracks are fitted; otherwise, fitting the tracks will be extremely difficult.

So, after about an hour and 40 minutes of work, this is where I got to:

When I will continue is unclear. It may have to wait until next month (in other words, Saturday and Sunday), because it is time to get the airbrush out…

From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

In brief—Katya, my youngest daughter, turned 11 today. I made burgers, did this and that, and had a few more beers than is sensible when building models, so there will be no progress.

But!

A little explanation nonetheless

If you remember the build in step 8, you may have wondered why I did not glue on the tracks.

Well, I did not glue them on because they are vinyl. If you do not know what that means, they are tracks made of vinyl (something like rubber), which is almost the worst choice for these parts—they look quite unnatural and, well… just avoid them if you can!

For this model, I have decided to replace them with aftermarket metal tracks, specifically Friulmodel ATL-01 OMSh tracks.

And if you think about it, what is the best way to represent a tank’s metal tracks in 1:35 scale? With 1:35-scale metal tracks for that tank—what a surprise!

Friulmodel is one of the world-famous manufacturers of aftermarket tracks for models, so I think I have chosen well…

Advantages: they look like the real tracks! They are made of metal, after all!

Disadvantages: they take time to assemble!

So, let us see how I get on assembling this:

From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

So today, again, after the family had dinner and Elena and Nadya shared an orange, I started clearing the kitchen table at 20:40 without any particular hurry. Around 20:50 I sat down to build.

I am continuing with the steps in order:

An easy and enjoyable assembly, with a small surprise. More on that below…

I was a little surprised here—the periscope “covers” are labelled as parts T2 through T7. Why the surprise? Parts on sprue T are generally clear and represent glass—in other words, I was being told to glue glass “covers” over glass periscopes. I could not quite believe it. I thought it was a typo and looked for the appropriate parts on the other sprues, but no—they really are clear! Gluing them on, though time-consuming, turned out to be quite easy.

I decided to try fitting the assembly from step 9 to the hull and… realised I had forgotten to glue on part E36 in that step. No big deal—I found sprue E and… well, that little part turned out to be absolutely tiny. Anyway, I carefully cut it off, applied two little drops of cement, picked it up carefully with tweezers and… off it flew. I searched and searched, and just as I gave up—ha! There it was on the table. Amused, I applied two fresh drops of cement, picked it up even more carefully with the tweezers and… it flew away again. I searched and searched… Preslav came for a drink of water, so I enlisted him too. Nadya arrived and joined in, but alas! The Carpet Monster’s first victim on this model. Hopefully the last, too…

Assembling the upper cover of the troop compartment was not difficult either, except that the holes in parts A5 would not line up with the locating pins on parts A7. I had to do a little work with the knife, but now they fit perfectly!

I will use part E34, but decided to glue it on only after priming and painting to make things easier.

Here I ran into a hatch arrangement I really dislike, especially those ridiculous little parts B5. It turned out the problem was elsewhere—in part E14. Its attachment to the sprue makes cutting it off awkward, and I almost split it in two with the cutters… Fortunately, the damage was not beyond repair. A little cement and some time to set put everything right. Parts B5 themselves turned out to be surprisingly easy.

I approached part E3, which is even smaller than E36, with extra care, but it went on at the first attempt. The remaining parts are quite large, there is no confusion about where to glue them, they fit beautifully, and I had no problems.

I have not glued on parts W4—photo-etched parts—because I want to paint the plastic underneath first. I also left off part E10, because I have not yet decided whether to use it or go for a very realistic aftermarket antenna…

So, after about an hour and 15 minutes of work, this is where I got to:

The model is still only partly assembled—held together with a little tape and the fit of the parts—but I may well start with the airbrush on Saturday!

From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

I had mentally prepared myself to build last night, but Nadya and I had bought some chicken steaks for Doro Wat, so I started cooking it instead. I began around 19:00 and kept going until midnight… At least it turned out delicious

So today, after the family had dinner and Elena and Nadya shared an orange, I started clearing the kitchen table at 21:00. I hope I will soon stop having to clear the kitchen table, but more on that soon!

So, I am continuing with the steps in order:

I am not particularly fond of moving parts on models, especially hatches and the like. Their “hinges” are usually such tiny pieces that it is almost impossible to fit them correctly to the hull without covering everything in glue, so I simply glue them shut. Not this time, though! Assembling them so they could move was a piece of cake!

Step 8 was no problem either. As I said, fitting the hatches so they could operate turned out to be very easy. Still, I think I will glue them shut—this model has no interior, so I see little point in being able to open them. I will decide that later, though.

So, after about 40 minutes of work, this is where I got to:

The model is still only partly assembled—held together with a little tape and the fit of the parts. It will stay that way until I prime and paint it.

From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

I last worked on this model—or any model, for that matter—at the end of October last year. Since then, right up to today, I have been too busy at work, too tired, too lazy… Just too much of everything. Today, though, I decided to get myself together.

I came home from work, rested a little, and put some tagliatelle on to boil around 19:30. Elena came home around 20:00, we had dinner, cleared the table, and Nadya loaded the new dishwasher. Around 20:50 I had a little time to myself—just enough for a little building before bed.

So, I picked up the steps in order from where I had left the model:

The only part left here was W1—a photo-etched “damper” for the troop compartment door. I expected it to be more difficult, but it was surprisingly quick and easy: one fairly simple bend (of course I bent it the wrong way the first time), two drops of superglue and… done!

Step 6—the upper hull. A little cutting and filing away excess plastic, then gluing in the periscopes. It looks difficult at first, but after a little filing on each periscope, they all fit perfectly in their intended positions. Parts C11, D1, and D2 are typical MENG: a little trimming and polishing, and they fit perfectly—nothing complicated. The same goes for the two parts A17—they fit perfectly into their designated “holes.”

So, after about 50 minutes of work, this is where I got to:

The model is only partly assembled—held together with a little tape and the fit of the parts. It will stay that way until I prime and paint it.

From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

It has been quite a while since I posted about what I am doing on this “front”—model building. Not that there has been much to post about: I threw the M1931 B-4 and Namer models in the bin, started a new AFV Club model—a CJ-5 Tolar—got about halfway through and threw that in the bin too… I just could not get into a rhythm. Or perhaps I did—a rhythm of throwing away half-built models Anyway, I hope that is behind me now.

Yesterday, after the children had breakfast, Nadya and I settled down at the kitchen table. She started painting a landscape, while I took out my most recently purchased model—MENG SS-003—and we got started.

The kit represents an early version of the IDF’s Achzarit heavy armoured personnel carrier in 1:35 scale. The history of the real vehicle is quite interesting:

During the Six-Day War, the Israeli army captured around 200 T-54 and T-55 tanks from Arab countries in almost undamaged condition. Apparently unable to bring themselves to “throw them away,” they converted them and put them into service as Tiran-4 (T-54) and Tiran-5 (T-55) tanks. As Merkava tanks gradually entered service, the IDF’s older tanks were retired. Some Tirans were sold, while others were converted into Achzarit heavy armoured personnel carriers.

MENG makes kits of this APC: the early version I am building now, and a late version that includes an interior and is “maturing” somewhere in our bedroom.

So, I started in numerical order—of the steps:

At this point I took a break for a beer (when building, I forget to drink it even though the glass is right beside me on the table), then continued:

As you would expect from MENG, the kit is very high quality, even though it is already 11 years old—it was released back in 2013! The only thing that “bothered” me was the vinyl tracks, but this is a fairly old kit. Fortunately, Friulmodel is back in business, and a set of ATL-001 tracks will make a great aftermarket addition.

I had an interesting “problem” with two of the type A wheels in step 1. The mould used for my kit must have been defective or something similar, because the polycaps would not fit into the recess in part B6 on those two wheels, and I had to cut them in half. There was no such problem with the other two wheels! Anyway—a minor nuisance…

I think this is a very suitable kit for beginners. There are only 14 steps, and I managed to complete five in a single day—quite unusual for me. From the quick look I had at the remaining steps, they seem no harder than these…

So, after about three hours of work, this is where I got to:

For now, the model is only partly assembled. You may be able to see some of the tape holding the rear wall to the hull. In fact, the inner wall, rear wall, and mudguards are not glued on—just held in place with tape so I can prime and paint them in the base colour, take them apart, paint some details, then glue them permanently. When that will happen, though, we shall see…