Hi,

Thanks for the info.  I am looking forward getting a copy of this for myself.

Thanks

Pat

Pat,

It looks to be a relatively straightforward kit with a low parts count.  I like that, versus a 1,200 part Panzer IV!

Not sure how picky I’ll get when it comes to cleaning up the bolts on the track ends.  The ones with the sprue connection will need new bolts, but like Ripley wiping down Newt’s face, I’m in trouble if I make a clean spot!

From your photos she looks to be a well engineered kit. So tempted to pick one up for myself. 

BTW: Hope you're going with that insane digital camo in the first camo diagram!!! 

Wow really cool.When I initially saw the post,I was thinking of some tankette from the 1930's

Gamera - I was thinking a 3 tone splinter using blue-greys.  That digicam is too nuts!

Tojo72 - Yeah, it certainly isn’t Wehrmacht fodder!  Although to be fair, it’s just a mock up.  But what a cool looking mock up!

Real G

Pat,

It looks to be a relatively straightforward kit with a low parts count.  I like that, versus a 1,200 part Panzer IV!

Not sure how picky I’ll get when it comes to cleaning up the bolts on the track ends.  The ones with the sprue connection will need new bolts, but like Ripley wiping down Newt’s face, I’m in trouble if I make a clean spot!

 

Cool, I just ordered one off eBay 

Looking at it, I wondered why it had big foot tracks off of a Bradley or AAV, then I looked it up and saw the cv90 mk III was only 35 tons max...

I've been real curious about this kit, looks like it should be a very nice build, interesting too.

Now how shall I complicate this simple build?  

Digital camo? 

Digicam looks spectacular, but it would make the PL-01’s fantastic shape less visible.  Kind of like applying it as body paint on a supermodel.  I’ll give the boys a moment to savor that image...

I have been putzing around with the kit and started to assemble the hull and turret.  Being that there isn't much "stuff" on either is a two-edged sword.  On one hand, it means a fast and easy build.  On the other, the vast expanses of smooth surfaces demand precision fitting and seam filling.

The name of the game is fit and fettle.  The locator tabs for the front glacis and rear hull interfere with fit just ever so slightly, which is a common problem.  I heavily scraped down the contact points and got the outer egdes to more or less align.

The area over the tail lights was problematic, as when I got those areas to fit flush, the area over the rear boarding hatch had an overhang.  I'm going to scrape down the overhang and reestablish the faceting as best I can.

The turret has a two part insert for the recessed gunner's sight, and it fits poorly.  I tried fettling the the contact points inside the turret but still got gaps.  I have some careful puttying and sanding to do.  Not really visible is an ejector pin mark on the upper portion of the recess.  The photo shows the insert installed, but not glued in; I will try to tweak the fit further.

I also started redoing the main gun trunnion.  I cut away the fat short pins molded to the side of the gun and substituted a section of plastic tubing.  Work is still ongoing here, as I am thinking about making the gun slide in after finishing.  A polycapped damper ala Tamiya's new M551 Sheridan will prevent future need for Tank Viagra.

So here are some pics of the mock-up tank model, well, mocked up:

Oh wow she looks very high tech!!! 

Strange she doesn't fit better though. Only Takom kit I've build it their T30/34 but the fit there was perfect. I used some putty but don't really remember any parts that were really off.  

Yeah, the fit overall is kind of wonky.  Not 100% wonky, but just enough to make stuff not look right.  Takom might have rushed this kit to beat out Trumpeter/Hobby Boss and Meng.

We had our monthly "hobby night" at my place this past weekend, so I got some work done.  Because of the annoying little fit issues, I decided that the hull should be assembled prior to painting.  Fortunately, the lower hull and complete running gear can be slipped in as a unit, so when the upper and lower hulls do join, there is only one visible join line at the front to deal with.

There isn't much to the outer surface of the turret and hull, so the detail parts went together quickly.  The remote gun has some ugly seams, so a few parts have not been attached yet.

Now I'm waiting on some articulated AFV Club M2/M3 tracks to arrive in the mail.

Neat looking. What kind of tracks are in the kit?

Thanks Tojo72!

RBaer, the PL-01’s tracks are link and length.  The indie link AFV Club tracks showed up yesterday, so I spent the evening assembling them.  I’m not even half way through, so I’m eyeing the kit tracks again...

I am learning that Ebay is useful for obtaining single items at a reasonable price.  These AFV Club M2/M3 Bradley tracks arrived at my door yesterday, a week earlier than expected from Taiwan.

So I spent last evening cutting and trimming instead of sleeping.  I noticed five things:

1.  The track pads are hard plastic, unlike the M41 set, which is a GOOD thing.

2.  The tracks fit the width of the sprocket perfectly and fit between the hull and skirts.

3.  There is a slight horizontal "bow" to the assembled tracks in one consistent direction when they are linked up.  This might be a problem.

4.  All that clipping and cleaning up of indie links is tiring!  I am considering revisiting the kit link-and-length tracks...

5.  Man, I should have gone to bed when I could have.

Ah, track joy.

I normally clean up tedious stuff like track links and road wheels while watching TV or Youtube videos...

But if I start watching Youtube videos, I can't take my eyes off the screen whenever they play a Gwar song.  I have to stop everything and start singing! 

For me, tedious stuff is best done during the wee hours of the night.  There are no distractions - the insane barky dogs across the street are sleeping, my two stupid neighbors' kids with their Subaru WRXs with the droning exhaust pipes are out drinking, doing drugs and racing on the freeway, no phone calls, etc.

I'm still nowhere near cleaning up all the aftermarket links, so the kit "link and length" tracks are looking better every day.

Can't blame you, a little peace and quiet works wonders.

Considering the skirts cover about 40% of the tracks couldn't you cheat a little?

Gamera

Considering the skirts cover about 40% of the tracks couldn't you cheat a little?

Absolutely.

Real G

Now how shall I complicate this simple build?  

 

Dunno, but the shape of this thing just begs for a six-color WWI-style hexagon lozenge camo

Ha ha Capt Mac, no “crazy quilt” paint for this one!  I’m leaning towards the actual grey-green single color scheme, although the digicam suggested by others is quite tempting!

Oooo, lozenge camo!