Austin Armoured Car 1918 (MiniArt)

[Scratchbuilder]

So away from tracks and big barrels and waiting for items for my Tiger 1, I dug out my next build...
The MiniArt Austin A/C has been in the stash since it was released and it is now time to build it.


I will not bore you with the parts on the sprues (pics) which are moulded in a softish grey plastic, but beware there are a lot of parts that really do need replacing or at best some very carefull cutting and cleaning up...


As can be seen above some parts just waiting to snap and others to fly off into the wide blue yonder....
There is a small etch set which is used for some of the parts that in theory I would have replaced so saving me a job...

And talking of replacing parts I chose to replace the brake linkages with brass rod rather than spend time cutting, cleaning up, glueing where the parts had snapped...

And so the work begins - to start it was the engine and gearbox assembly where I used 0.3 solder wire for the spark plug leads...


And then it was the chassis (frame for our colonial friends) - no problems with the cross members, just remember which way up it has to be first...


More in the next post

Cheers
Mike.

[Scratchbuilder]

Second post - naughty boy exceeded the amount of pics - only 5 allowed at one time....



The spring ends are very soft, so be carefull when cleaning up, I managed to snap one off the front and one off the rear. I first cemented the broken part in place and then added the rest of the spring and made any adjustments then. You can see the headlight bracket at the front (right side of pic) this unfortunately died a death of big finger on fragile part and has since been replaced with copper wire (pic later). The engine mount frame was put into place now due to the whole frame being sprayed black and where it is now instead of attached to the engine makes for a stress free fit of the engine later which will snap into place instead of trying to juggle three parts at once.



The wheels and tyres have been assembled and given 'flats' so that they look like there is some weight to the vehicle instead of the ballet dancer tip-toe stance...



This is work being done on the front vision hatches, left is the roof one and right is the lower front flap which will be folded down and above you can see the radiator drying out...



This is the floor of the vehicle which is made up of three parts. The only problem here was the locating slot for the drivers floor needed a little cut away so that it would locate
correctly...



Now here is the fun part - on the gun 'tub' there are some missing rivets - 24 to be correct, but MiniArt give you those rivets as part of the Ck sprue, so you gently cut away the rivets and using your magnification device locate the small indentations and with a sharp pointed instrument (#10A scalpel blade) dip into the cement and locate - come on, you can do it....

More on the next post.
Mike

[Scratchbuilder]

And this is where I am today, this is just a dry fit of chassis, floor and hull to make sure it all fits together....



You may be wondering which version I am going to build as there are six versions to choose from. This might help....



More later...
Cheers
Mike

[Jim R]

So Mike you're up and running. If old farts like us can navigate this new fangled forum all them youngsters will find it a piece of cake.
Nice choice. I like these WW1 vehicles. MiniArt are pretty good. Decent detail and a high parts count. Tiny bits though. Bringing the parts count up with individual rivets is a bit extreme.
You're off to a fine start and providing I can find the thread again I'll enjoy following your progress.

[Scratchbuilder]

Afternoon Jim,
True on the old farts...
My initial tries were met with abject failure, trying to put a photo up was a nightmare, remove it, upload again, repeat, so i said to 'ell with it. But here I am again, must be some sort of glutton for punishment.
I think if you scroll down to near the bottom of the 'forums' tag you will find the afv's under construction section, oh! how low we have dropped to be under the others.....

[JR]

Great work and effort on the photos Wibble .

[Waspie]

AFV's have found their place then!! Aviation deservedly higher. Makes sense dunnit!!!!!!!

[A_J_Rimmer]

Good to see you've not dropped out Mike - looking forward to seeing where this goes.

[JR]

He can't AJ , he' my technical advisor .

[Waspie]

And mine JR, I was panicking for a day or so. No Mike - Oh B*gger!!!!!!

[scottie3158]

Mike must have missed this, I have looked at this kit myself and might get one, one day. I'm still struggling to navigate around the new layout but I will get there.

[Scratchbuilder]

Not to worry Paul, I struggle every day to do my zip up. At first I thought NO! this is going to be a nightmare after trying to just get a photo to re-size, but went away and came back and the whole layout was different - and it worked.

[Si Benson]

Always up for a Miniart build

[Scratchbuilder]

No problem Si, I will try to keep it going, but as I said, some of the finer parts need care and attention.

[Scratchbuilder]

So an update on what I have been doing.
The Austin is progressing, but every time I look it appears I have done nothing, so here are a few pics on the progress...


See what I mean.... Brass rod installed to make sure the brake rods fit under the floor, and to get the floor on once painted is a little juggling act between the two steering columns so I do not break off the pedals, the other pedals will be added once the floor is in place....



Vision blocks and hatches now ready for prime/paint... The grab handles are replacements for the plastic ones, I can make new ones faster than cleaning up the kit offerings.



Some work carried out inside the main hull....


And finally the rear of the hull - and yet more riveting....

Cheers
Mike.

[Jim R]

Coming together nicely Mike. Chassis looks typical MiniArt - fiddly.

[Scratchbuilder]

PITA is more like it, over engineered and nothing will be seen....

[papa 695]

Just seen this one Mike, some very nice work indeed.

[Scratchbuilder]

Thankyou. Pleased you are enjoying it.

[Si Benson]

Doing well Mike, lovely details…..looking good ?

[Scratchbuilder]

Update,
Due to me leaving the forum, there will be no further updates to this build
Cheers
Mike

[Jack L]

Oh.....?

[Richard48]

Leaving but why Mike?,Everything ok?
Richard