I have already closed the hull – physically and figuratively. This means that the interior will not be exposed. Hence, the hatches at the front of the vehicle remain closed, which, for the rest, will make it easier for us to paint the camouflage. Here, the biggest disadvantage of the Meng kit is revealed, i.e., fitting the armor plates by touch without any pins for guidance. I’m not too fond of this solution, especially since my side plates were bent; it was probably my fault for misplacing the frames in the box when I put them in after looking at everything after purchase. The box lay under pressure from others for many months, which probably caused the deformation of these large components; I would hardly blame the manufacturer here.
I advise gluing one side first and only getting down to the other after it dries decently. Putting the top cover on at once, in my case, was too frustrating and probably simply impossible because while placing the mask on, at the same time, I had to straighten the side armor, which was slightly bent. However, I fit it nicely by gluing the left and right sides one at a time. It’s important because the upper armor will be visible, unlike the “floor.” It would have been useful to sand and level the joints there properly, but I let it go because there would be a thick layer of mud there anyway.
I also made a schoolboy mistake; through haste, I glued the whole shock absorber together, that is, to the part that covers it, which is pasted onto the hull. We can not glue it here because the shock absorber will not work. Fortunately, I quickly got my head around it and managed to unglue this part. On the turret, using a tool for exterminating plastic – my wife’s electric nail sander, I imitated a ricocheting bullet’s trace.
I pasted 2 more metal screws into the center of the tank. These will be, first of all, two attachment points for my proprietary, super hyper-invented magnetic mounting stand. What and how will be in the video. Second, I think this should be done for any tank or car. The increased weight will press the tracks or wheels to the ground if they want to “levitate” for some reason. Here, the weight should not be exaggerated, so 2-3 large nuts spread over the entire floor area, in the case of such a small vehicle, will suffice.
Despite the decision to close the vehicle so as not to work on the interior, I decided to open the doors on the tank turret. They are small enough that the interior remains immersed in darkness anyway. Still, I am pleased you can see at least some interior chipping. As for the chipping itself, there will still be a chance to talk about it in the video because we will do the upholstery on the armor using the same technique, that is, on the chipping medium.
In the meantime, I am training in the not easy art of video editing.
A continuation … coming.
