tiking

My latest addition. It is a 1/72 scale Fennek. As a matter of fact it is my very first small scale model after 1/35. I have great respect for those who model this scale as a norm. I do not think I will do another one but you never know. This was just a test, to see if I could achieve the level of excellence those 1/72 hobbyist achieve in their builds. I personally think it is nowhere near it but I am satisfied as a first timer.

Thanks guys.

Continuation:

I went ahead and got me, my first CAT 140M 1:50 scale grader. So here is my very first 1:50 scale model. The model look pretty good but it needed details. As you all know, detail, is what I strieve for in all my builds regardless of the type of model. So I did some minor scratch building and used some parts from my 'Misc. Box' to create some of the instruments I have seen on most graders around the world. So, here is my redition of the CAT 140M if you are wondering what the steel netting at the back of the window is for; I got the idea from construction in areas that were in war stricken countries where angry mobs would throw stones on foreign vehicles. These nettings were a way to protect the driver from being injured by stones or smaller projectiles by angry mobs. Before pics: After Pics: Now I have added hydraulics hoses to the most visible areas (I'd had a little more but the location was a bit tight., I'll just satisfy myself to the ones I already have installed. I think the extra stuff has made the model a little more fun to watch. At least I think so. A thing that would have to be even better, if you could take off the cab and add and paint some details in there. However, it was impossible to pick off the cab without ruining it. So the cab as it is. Untouched.

Oh a definite.

Thanks for that Mike. Much appreciated.

Haha...thanks.

Thanks. The grill fit because I hid the imperfection( at least I thought was an imperfection) Thanks. glad you liked it.

I've been looking for this model for a while and finally got it. The fittings were 'ok', but the worst part was the grill which did not fit together very well. I've seen the real vehicle and they do have a reasonable amount of space between the front cab and the grill but not that much. Although I have seen pic with the space slightly large, it was still hard to get it to fit snugly against the cab front. That pisst me off. :evil: If I have flushmounted the grill it would have shorten the area where the Volvo insignia was suppose to go. So I mounted the gril with as is and glued two pieces of strips, to play the part as extra add-on accessories, just to hide the non-flush mounted grill against the cab. ;I usually dismantle a model if I am not 100% satified with it, as I have done in the past; but since this was a hard-to-find kit, I decided to live with the imperfetion this particular kit had. Another grip is the dashboard on the driver side. Have to ask. In the instructions it is stated to be so but there is a gap between the side of the dashboard and the door( you can see the gap I am referring to in the WIP interior photos). So you do see the inside of the outter cab. Is it really so on the real F16 models? Again, it just bothers me and again, it is something I have to live with but although I am not too confortable about it. The decals for the dashboard was also bad. I had to use dry transfer that I had bought eons ago for my 1/35 scale military modeling to use instead. To my surprise it worked out pretty well. Another issue was with the windshield. It was near impossible to get it to fit the cab frame. The frame was actually wrapped. Just my luck. In short, it was smaller than the cab frame. So I came up with the idea to add tape on the passenger side to give the effect that it needed some maintainence. Anyway, the build went together nicely dispite these two issues. I had to replace the fuel tank due to a mishap with the original. That is why it is shorter. We'll just assume there was a slight accident and the crew had it replaced with another tank until a new one could be delivered. I wanted to add a reasonable of details on this model and that's why you see many addictional parts. I used a lot of parts from my misc. box for various areas. Added another storage box on the passager side as well. I scratch built the upward ram( do not know what it is called) to the fifth wheel. I always though these look better. I decided to also do a well detailed interior( hard to take pics of the finished interior while mounted). I should have taken it before mounting it( stupid me) Anyways, I took a cuple of it before mounting it but only in the WIP phase. I scratch built things like the seat arm rest, seat adjustments control on the driver side. I do hope you like the final build dispite these few issues.

Haha..Thanks Ron.

Thanks Darren. Good to know. Thanks for the story.

Thank you. I achieve the seats with pretty basic method. Not pro, mind you. But hopefully close. 1. I cut off the back of the seat from the other half. Then smoothed down any sharp areas. 2. Used thin Tamiya tape and placed it on both back and lower parts of the seats. 3. Then primed 4. Then sprayed with a brown paint from a can( do not own an airbrush) 5. Took a sharp Xto knife and carefully made slits in the tape and opened them up a little. 6. Then I took insulation fibers collected at work and stuffed it in all openings. Then went over everything with black pigment and real dirt. That's it. The unprofessional method.

Thank you.

Thanks Terry. appreciate all of the above comments.

In regards to the bumper, I've seen this before on the road but never bother to ask why. So there. As for the crackle, well, maybe it is a bit out of scale. So I'll see what I can do. I'll probably remove it all together. Thank you for your critique. And thanks to all of you that responded.

...but I promise this is the last one(fingers crossed). When I bought a second one I had something totally different in mind but decided bot to do it. So I just went ahead and built it as is. Nothing fancy but the usual theme but more mobile than the last one. The downside with these hasegawa models is that there interior detail is poor. So most of the parts, like pedals, knobs and brake handles had to be scratch built. The seats are not perfect but will have to do. The hand brakes is not typical for this model but I decided it would have been changed to make shift part, due to lack of spare parts. Anyways, the entire hand brake frame is not seen when the chassi is put into the body frame. The crackle paint effect was an idea I got from someone doing an unprofessional paint job. After-all this van was imported from a not so developed land, so I think this concept would pass. The diorama is just a temporary placement for the model as I have not 100% decided on it or if I would just have it sitting on a plain base...

Funny you should post this. I am in the process of correcting this area as well. Thanks for the pic. It'll help even more.

Thank you Vaughn.

Ken, you are a huge inspiration for me and one day I will get close to achieving your abilities to model like this. Thank you.

Thank you Romell

Some more updates. Sorry for the photos. The storage compartment door is closed halfway and the back right lights(broken are in place. Also toned down the rust on the on the right side a little.

Thank you to the both of you.

Decided to take it one more step. So I cut of the area that represented the closed sky view canvas and replace it with 3 braces and worn out canvas. Hope you like it.

Appreciate you took the time to view this thread. Thanks for your comment.

I've been looking at this with awe. You sir are my new HERO. Really amazing work. I'll be following this build closely and see if I can get ideas that I can use. Darn fine work K.