The main fret is 1mm ply, and the roof stout card. Basic but perfectly adequate instructions are included, and were followed. Wood glue is recommended, however I've used Rokit Card Glue, because I had some handy.
Here's the main body part assembled;
I've started painting the floor and springs in the above photo.
Ready for the roof;
In the above photo the bench rear is missing, I'd forgotten to fit it until the roof was on...
The roof gave me the only problem, all my own fault of course. There's a bend line at the front, and in my wisdom I bent the roof front with the 'line on the outside of the bend, which is of course contrary to etched brass practice. So, the card de-laminated at the fold as it was being bent. Easily fixed with a spot of glue. I'm not entirely happy with the front of the roof, I haven't got the curve quite right, but a coat of black paint hopefully covers up my shoddy work.
It seems that back in the day wheels were quite brightly painted, so I've gone for red. Hubs are attached to the outer sides, and spare hubs are provided. I used the spares on the inner wheel faces as well, to space the wheels away from the body. This meant that the supplied axle came up too short, so I've used 1mm dia. Plastruct rod instead, my only deviation from the kit instructions...
Painting was done using acrylics. The main body is Citadel 'Altdorf Guard Blue', wheels are Revel Aqua Color 'Fiery Red', shafts cab floor and bench Citadel 'Rhinox Hide', the roof Revel black and any other black bits in Tamiya 'Nato Black'. In hindsight the roof would have looked better in a light grey.
The 'orse came with my Festiniog horse dandy, its not the best and won't be used (its just posed to show how the van looks with a horse) but the only other horse that I have is a Slaters one, supplied cut in half down the middle, Damien Hirst style.
I've built this without any extra detailing and only minimal modifications, unusual for me, although I may fit lamps at some stage. It could easily be improved however, I'd start with new curved shafts made from square section brass, and whitemetal wheels. The grain could be filled to allow for a smoother finish, and the hinge and lock detail on the rear improved with overlays made from styrene strip. Better springs could also be added, along with cab detail in the form of a whip, some parcels or boxes, blanket for the driver etc. Not to mention an 'orse! But, sometimes its just nice to build something without thinking about such things. Would I buy another? Yes is the answer, in fact one of these would be perfect for taking on holiday with a small tool kit to build in the evenings.
Paul.
Here's the main body part assembled;
I've started painting the floor and springs in the above photo.
Ready for the roof;
The roof gave me the only problem, all my own fault of course. There's a bend line at the front, and in my wisdom I bent the roof front with the 'line on the outside of the bend, which is of course contrary to etched brass practice. So, the card de-laminated at the fold as it was being bent. Easily fixed with a spot of glue. I'm not entirely happy with the front of the roof, I haven't got the curve quite right, but a coat of black paint hopefully covers up my shoddy work.
It seems that back in the day wheels were quite brightly painted, so I've gone for red. Hubs are attached to the outer sides, and spare hubs are provided. I used the spares on the inner wheel faces as well, to space the wheels away from the body. This meant that the supplied axle came up too short, so I've used 1mm dia. Plastruct rod instead, my only deviation from the kit instructions...
Painting was done using acrylics. The main body is Citadel 'Altdorf Guard Blue', wheels are Revel Aqua Color 'Fiery Red', shafts cab floor and bench Citadel 'Rhinox Hide', the roof Revel black and any other black bits in Tamiya 'Nato Black'. In hindsight the roof would have looked better in a light grey.
The 'orse came with my Festiniog horse dandy, its not the best and won't be used (its just posed to show how the van looks with a horse) but the only other horse that I have is a Slaters one, supplied cut in half down the middle, Damien Hirst style.
I've built this without any extra detailing and only minimal modifications, unusual for me, although I may fit lamps at some stage. It could easily be improved however, I'd start with new curved shafts made from square section brass, and whitemetal wheels. The grain could be filled to allow for a smoother finish, and the hinge and lock detail on the rear improved with overlays made from styrene strip. Better springs could also be added, along with cab detail in the form of a whip, some parcels or boxes, blanket for the driver etc. Not to mention an 'orse! But, sometimes its just nice to build something without thinking about such things. Would I buy another? Yes is the answer, in fact one of these would be perfect for taking on holiday with a small tool kit to build in the evenings.
Paul.
One thing I've found with smallscale laser cut kits is that the engraving always seems to be either too deep or too shallow. Another way of putting that is I find I need to modify my painting technquie to suit the degree of relief. Overall I'm a big fan of them.
ReplyDeleteThe reason for buying this kit, apart from the desire to build something different and quick, was to have a good look at a laser cut wood kit. I like it, and it was fun to build, but I reckon that a bit of filling to 'tone down' the grain would improve matters. As for painting - not my strong point I'm afraid.
DeleteThere is a card type material that seems to work better for smooth surfaces. I would rather start weith something smooth and add grain to taste than the other way around. For a kit like that one I might almost be tempted to deal with it like a 3d printed one, using a sanding sealer and then a filler primer.
DeleteHi Paul, nice to see a build of this kit. I've been eyeing it for a while. The horse is clearly having a bad tail day :-)
ReplyDeleteMine was just built for light relief Mikkel, a little something to while away a few hours, so it would be interesting to see someone build one with some extra detailing, a smoother finish and a more 'finescale' approach.
DeleteThe horse is rather flighty and has delusions of grandeur...