Finely moulded parts, excellent
fit, beautifully done tracks, clear instructions and a comprehensive
decal sheet; 5 things that have nothing whatsoever to do
with this kit. Definitely a model for those with masochistic
tendencies, which apparently would be me since I built the
thing.
The kit fenders needed to be scraped down to a thickness
that would make a microbiologist green with envy in order
to get them to fit, and as I have the patience and attention
span of a Ritalin kid I elected to replace them with PART
photo etched fenders. I used the set that was intended for
the Munitionspanzer, but PART also does a set for this kit
which includes a whole new gun shield. Of course, that set
was out of stock when I wanted one so I was forced to enrol
the overly thick kit part in the "scrape and sand weight
loss clinic". Sometimes you have to wield a firm hand with
the plastic you love. I need to get out more.
The gun barrel, exhaust and gun lock were
weird mutated things, so I made new ones from plastic rod
and tube. The track teeth were taken from the aforementioned
photo etched set and these went on much more easily than
I thought they would. They improve the look of the poor
kit tracks dramatically - well, from a distance anyway.
Finish was Humbrol enamels and the kit decals were used.
The decals are actually quite nice - thin with good adhesion
and density and the black and white of the balkenkrueze
are printed seperately to avoid register problems. I have
no idea if they're accurate however. Since the exact same
decal sheet seems to be included with all of Attack's 1/72
38(t) kits I highly doubt it.
This model took ages to build because it kept being put back
in the box in frustration, but I must admit I'm fairly happy with the end
result. And the good news is that I have a nice stock of mutant plastic
bits left over that I can feed to the annoying yappy mutt that lives next
door. And you thought modelling was anti-social.