Sorry about the long delay with this build report. I have a new camera that Im trying to become friends with and when I actually took the first photos, I got a virus on the computer. When my neighbour helped me clean that away, the whole computer had to be rebooted, so all software etc had to be loaded up again ... and then to top it off, I got locked out because I tried password retrival too many times. A comedy of errors if there ever was one. Thanks Magnus for helping me get in again!!
Theres a lot to admire about this kit ... molding quality and finesse, scale thickness of parts, detail quality and price .... 28 euros including postage to Sweden, for the T20 and trailer (special edition kit) is a steal. There is also a pretty complete interior and engine.
Downside is parts are not consecutive as they are placed to optimise the molding process and/or bulk and no tub parts as all sides are flat plates. There is a high part count with many small parts ... but anybody who loves details will not be disappointed.
When the kit arrived, I was shocked at the size. Its not much bigger than a Dragon figure box in size, but it weighs twice as much. The box is full and optimised which I believe is becoming more important today to modelers as postage costs increase and anybody with storage issues at home knows its not fun to have large boxes filled with air. Its clear to me that Libor listens and is aware of what is being discussed on-line.
The parts are molded beautifully and there is so much finesse in the details. I have never seen a kit that is molded to finely and wall thickness is amazingly thin. There is very little flash for so many small parts. Weld lines are mostly invisible, but for those that are there, a light scraping with knife/scalpel will quickly clean them away. The plastic is excellent. Very little cement is needed to get a good quick bond. I use Tamiya fine with the green lid.
As the parts are so fine and wall thickness is so thin, this makes the build a little more complex and time consuming. Care is needed to line panels up properly, as location points are also very very fine.
The kit offers two options ... model 1937 version and model 1938 early. According to some Finnish guys on Facebook, the side fenders are wrong for a Russian T20. Those in the kit are Finnish. Wasn´t aware of this when I started, and its too late now to make this change.
As I mentioned previously, the packaging is surprisingly small, and its no wonder ... this is a small vehicle. The image below is the lower hull placed beside ICM´s Henschel 33 D1
Below are some images of what I had completed 2 weekends ago. More images and updates after this weekend. The biggest challenge now is to build it in such a way that I can build it in sub=assemblies so I can paint the interior, attach the sub=assemblies and paint the exterior without having to build more.
After I started, I noticed that LZ Models have released an etch set for the interior including some grill panels for the backside, so rather than stop to wait for parts to arrive, I attempted to scratch build them instead. Tune in later for more.
