Italeri 1/35 Flakpanzer 38t Finished

Italeri Flakpanzer 38t

Finished at last.Nightmare over. The last thing to give me a problem were the tracks. 

There is a fault with the links that go around the drive sprocket. The teeth seem too wide and too long so you need to file them to make them thinner then clip a bit off and even then they do not want to conform properly around the sprocket.

Flakpanzer 38 t Progress

Progress has been a little slow. You can see all the areas which needed to be filled. I think the open parts on the gun platform are for ammunition storage but nothing is supplied or pointed out in the instructions this means you need to paint the panels under the platform as this can be seen. I went for red oxide.

Again you can see the amount of filling needed on the upper hull. It is worth noting if you are building this kit that it is better to skip to section 6 of the instructions and fit part 33b before fitting 46d and 47d In section 5. This allows you to line up these parts correctly but you will need to fill along the sides as can be seen above.

                                             Fighting compartment painting underway

                                                                   Happy New Year

Italeri 1/35 Flakpanzer 38(t)

I started this kit thinking it would be a reasonable kit, not your Dragon or Tristar but it would be OK. It would be built out of the box with all its inaccuracies and clunky parts and having built a few italeri kits over the years it shouldn't be too bad. How wrong can you be. It has been a fight all the way. My advice to anyone who is thinking of building one is this. Spend the extra money on the Dragon or Tristar kit and if you have one of these in your stash, sell it as quickly as you can or be prepared to lose your hair as well as your sanity. Oh and invest in lots of filler.   

I decided I would like the hatches to be open as you get a bit of an interior so painted it up as per the instructions.         

                               

The problem arises when you come to fit the spare track holder along with the track in stage 14 of the instructions.The track is too wide and over hangs the hatch opening. So don't bother just glue the hatches shut. Well enough moaning for now time to do some sticking. I will win......

Tamiya 1/48 Steyr 1500a

Tamiya 1/48 Steyr 1500a Grossdeutchland Division Russia 1943

I am enjoying these 1/48 scale kits, this was a dream to build