1/72 MAN 8x8 Truck

[Jim R]

Hi Andy
Looks a nice little kit. As for the engine - what's a couple of cylinders among friends :smiling2: Nice to see the chassis in a single piece, makes getting 8 wheels touching the ground easier :thumb2: Can't remember seeing a Model Collect kit built before so this will have added interest.
Ji

[Guest]

I thought that at first glance but the chassis is actually in two halves, with bits of spruce joining them together. I can't see a reason why as it would have been just as easy to mould it in one piece, but maybe that will come to light as I progress.

[Jim R]

Hi Andy
Yes its clear with a closer look. So a bit more work :smiling:
Jim

[Steve Jones]

Looks a great kit Andy. Off to a nice tidy start. Good luck with the rest of the build

If you are struggling with the sanding sticks I find this usually does the job for me :smiling5: :smiling3: :thumb2:

[Guest]

Could have done with that on the Zvezda build! :smiling5:

[Guest]

A bit of detail painting of the engine, transfer box and radiator yesterday and tonight.

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And test fitted the two halves of the chassis together to make sure the main components fit. A little bit more sanding to do on the main chassis rails and a couple of small ejector pin marks to fill on the underside, but nothing major.

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And I've got a bonus day off tomorrow. My team cracked on and got a 4 day shifts worth of work done in 3 (12 hours today) so we could treat ourselves to a Bank Holiday Monday off for a change! That means a bit of extra bench time before the family and I go for a short camping break on Tuesday.

[Allen Dewire]

Really nice work Andy. You definitely have good skills and in all scales at that!!! Drive on Sir and enjoy your holiday!!! See ya on the other side……….

[Lee Drennen]

Not much to show tonight, just started painting a few parts, but thought I'd show you the mini sanding sticks I'd made up. I have tons of various sandpaper so I use a bit of double sided tape to stick it to various things.

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Smallest ones are the new ones, should be just the job for this. I'm going to experiment with double sided foam tape to see if I can make some "softer" sticks.

Andy
I do the same I have my daughters buy sanding sticks and other stuff from there beauty supply place and use it on my models save me a lot of money

[Guest]

A bit more done today. It's slow work at this scale but I'm enjoying it more, taking my time rather than rushing to get it done.

Firstly, you've got to be kidding me with the size of these:

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So small even my phone couldn't focus on them :smiling5:

I'm sure it's nothing special for many of you experienced guys but it's smaller than anything I've worked with before. 16 of these little beauties to fit, we'll see how many are left on it when I'm done. Couldn't even find a decent way to clean them up after cutting from the sprue but found that once fitted, if I wiped them in extra thin glue it softened the plastic enough for me to smooth out the imperfections a bit.

Two of these shackles are fitted on each axle, then the rest on the chassis

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I then airbrushed the axles and springs, dry brushing a bit of silver on to pick out the details, then hairy stick on the dampers and mounting brackets. I was concentrating hard so didn't get any pictures but here it is with all the suspension and prop shafts fitted.

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A quick check with a ruler and they all seem to be in line, so hopefully it won't be cocking any of it's wheels in the air when finished!

On that note, I've wandered from the instructions a bit. I should have fitted the wheel hubs at this stage but there is quite a bit of play in each one so was worried about the wheels all being cockled when I fitted them on (wheels are a tight fit on the hubs) . So I've left the hubs off and will fit them as an assembly with the wheels, so I can get them all in line. Made sense to me but I'd like to know what you guys think.

[Guest]

Wheels are best fitted as late as possible, is my experience. If you add them when the instructions tell you to, chances are you can’t get paint everywhere it needs to go. With a vehicle like this, I think I’d probably add the cab and load bed to the chassis first, and only then install the wheels.

[Guest]

Sure, as with the other kit I'm building I'll be leaving the wheels themselves off until the last minute.

However with this one there is a separate hub element that fits between the axle and the wheels. The instructions would have me fit them now, but unless I get them perfectly aligned the wheels won't be straight when I fit them at the end of the build. So I figured gluing the hub to the back of the wheels instead then fitting them as an assembly later on would give me more chance of getting things in line.

[Si Benson]

Hi Andy,
Coming along very nicely. I like your logical approach to the asssembly. well worth looking ahead to see how something goes together, something I often forget to do.

[Tim Marlow]

With small parts like those U loops it is usually easier to clean them up as much as possible while they are still on the sprue, then you only have the sprue scar to clean up after removal....I usually clip them off with some sprue attached so they are easier to handle.
Looking good so far though......

[Guest]

Thanks chaps, and sprue scar, I was wondering what to call it!

That was all the cleaning up they needed to be fair, the rest of the moulding is very clean on most parts.

[Guest]

I figured gluing the hub to the back of the wheels instead then fitting them as an assembly later on would give me more chance of getting things in line.

Not having built or even seen the kit myself, I’d say that sounds like the sensible way to go about it, yes.