Takom 1/35 PL-01 Prototype

[Guest]

I made a start on this yesterday and wasn't sure about blogging it, as frankly it's a bit dull. Hopefully I can spice it up with the paint job.

More of a concept vehicle, designed by the Polish company OBRUM, with help from BAE Systems (one of my wife's customers), it has an unmanned turret with automatic loading of the main gun, and a remote control module which is shown in the kit holding a machine gun, but other options are available.



There aren't many parts to the kit, in fact apart from the wheels, most of them are used for the remote machine gun. Here are some sprue shots, also showing the rather excessive packaging for the tiny PE fret!

Main hull and side armour



Running gear & tracks



Turret base, guns and rear panel



Turret, track jig and humongous bag for the PE



There's some nice crisp detail moulded into the parts, even though all of these will be virtually hidden once complete.



Construction started with the suspension arms. Here the track jig doubles up to help ensure they are all in line, even though each part is keyed and a tight fit so there's little chance of getting it wrong anyway.



Then the jig is used to aid assembly of the link & length tracks. Probably a straightforward job for most of you but I found it to be like juggling an octopus. When finished most of the track is hidden so you could probably leave most of the top run out if you wanted.



Diverging from the instructions, I glued the track and wheel assemblies into one, so I could remove them for painting.



The MG with it's remote control mount. Following the directions the gun should be mounted within the frame, but I've attached one part of it with double sided tape for now so that I can open it up and insert the gun after painting.



Some kind of sighting system.



The main hull. Very dull, with only the drivers hatch breaking it up. There are also clear lights front and rear, some of which I lost :rolling: that have to be fitted before the hull goes together. The side armour is only resting in place until the tracks are painted and fitted.



And the turret mocked up. The sticky out bits are removable for now, and it needs a bit of clean up on the seams, but that's the whole thing pretty much ready for some primer & paint.

[JR]

Looks to be beautifully moulded Andy as you say. As for the track I like the idea of not being able to see them! My history with plastic link tracks is not the best:fearful::cold-sweat::crying:.
Nice photos by the way.

[Jim R]

Hi Andy
Looks a nice kit of a very unusual subject. Takom have a good reputation and this is a very recent kit. You're off to a good start - be finished by lunch time :tongue-out3:
Jim

[Guest]

the rather excessive packaging for the tiny PE fret!

Why, that bag is just the right size for it, isn’t it?

Then the jig is used to aid assembly of the link & length tracks. Probably a straightforward job for most of you but I found it to be like juggling an octopus.

Did you assemble it around the jig, or flat and then wrap it around the jig before the glue dried?

When finished most of the track is hidden so you could probably leave most of the top run out if you wanted.

That’s what I normally do: estimate how much will be visible, and assemble just a bit more than that. For workable tracks, I sometimes use thread or string instead of the top run to tie the ends together and pull everything tight. It not only reduces the tedium but is especially handy if you intend to build more of the same basic vehicle but with aftermarket tracks, because two sets will often do for three vehicles this way

that's the whole thing pretty much ready for some primer & paint.

Looks like a very quick build, even with those separate-link tracks. Like you say, it looks a bit dull on the whole, so it’ll be interesting to see what you do with the paint job.

[Guest]

Thanks John, I'm not a big fan of any kind of tracks myself. Necessary evil I suppose :smiling5:

Yes Jim, seems like a nicely made kit. Fit was great too but it went together a bit too quickly really. I'm hoping the primer I ordered two weeks ago will turn up today so I can get started on that. If not it might be my first run with Stynylrez :flushed:

I tried both ways Jakko but gluing them in a flat run first was much easier. I could have made it easier still by doing a few length sections at a time and letting them firm up before adding the next, but patience isn't my thing. Juggling the 6 lengths, 2 pre glued curves and 3 individual links seemed like the more masochistic option!

There are a few imaginary colour schemes suggested in the instructions. A couple of the "amoeba" type which I don't fancy, and one very fine digital type which is beyond me. I'll think of something. Eventually.

[Steve Jones]

.... and now for something completely different! Bendy bus to prototype AFV's. Lovin your style Andy. Good luck with the build

[Guest]

Cheers Steve, just taking a break while I get my head around a few things on the bus.

[outrunner]

Nice job there Andy I will be interested to see the final paint job. Looks a very well made kit sadly just not enough bits to make me want one.

Andy.

[Mini Me]

Looks a little "Star Warrish" but I guess that is the future catching up with us....amazing how much "Hollywood can influence armour designers at their drawing boards.:thinking: Have fun with this Andy. Rick H.

[Guest]

Thanks Andy. Yes, it's a bit light in the parts count so not exactly a thrilling build. It'll do me fine as a paint mule though.

Quite futuristic Rick I'd agree. It's got me wanting to paint it in some outlandish Sci-fi scheme :thinking:


I've had a play around with the tracks today. The one I've seen on video had quite shiny steel tracks with rubber pads, so went with that. I found it incredibly hard to photograph them, but believe it or not after priming they had 3 different shades of silver airbrushed on, two colours on the wheels, a wash, yet another silver dry brushed over, a really dark grey on the tyres and track pads, then some very dilute white sponged and smudged on the pads to break them up a bit.

I'll have another look at them in the morning andsee if they need anything else.





Yes I've missed some bits on the tyres, and only done half of the pads, but then this gives you an idea of how little is going to be visible

[scottie3158]

Hi Andy,
The tracks and running gear look good. The boring features will look great when you have worked your magic with the paint.

[Guest]

Thanks Paul, although I'm not sure about magic lol.

Unless I think of something fast it's going to be grey :rolling:

[Gary MacKenzie]

Thanks Paul, although I'm not sure about magic lol.

Unless I think of something fast it's going to be grey :rolling:

Have you seen the paint jobs done on this on ''Andy's Hobby Headquarters'' video on youtube?
Might give you a few ideas :-)

[Mini Me]

Hope you come up with something other than grey...........that would tend to lean towards a land locked battleship.:smiling5: Cheers, Rick H.

[Guest]

Yes Gary, I had to bleach my eyes after I saw the chrome one :smiling5:

I didn't mind the black & white one, and have tried out a few shapes for doing a similar kind of splinter camo in several shades of grey. Might be a bit boring compared to what I could do though if I had some imagination.