Hobbyboss M1070 Tractor unit and M1000 Trailer Kit
Number 85502
This is a huge kit and is expensive but you do get value for money as there are two kits in one box. It is a multimedia kit with lots of etched brass frets, springs, tubing, bits of metal, rope and wire. The build has lots of quite complex detail and for those who build dioramas or just want to have a go at a huge transporter then this is the kit for you.
Although retailing at around £110 here in the UK you can get it cheaper from china if you want to wait a couple of weeks and hope you can get it through customs without paying the VAT then it is worth a try. Search ebay for the best prices.
This kit has well over 1000 parts in the box and the box is quite big. I had some thinking to do on how to get this home on the back of my motorbike and at certain parts of the journey it acted either as a sail one way or gave a slowing effect another!
On opening the box you are confronted with it being stuffed full of sprues and a smaller box. One side has the tractor unit and the other the trailer.
The green box contains transparencies and the multimedia and detail parts.
The first thing I looked at was in the bottom of the box and is the instruction book, double sided colour and decal placement reference and the decals
http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r392/jamesgoddard_photos/hobby%20boss%20M1070%20HET%20build/review%20pics/colourguide1.jpg
http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r392/jamesgoddard_photos/hobby%20boss%20M1070%20HET%20build/review%20pics/colourguide2.jpg
http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r392/jamesgoddard_photos/hobby%20boss%20M1070%20HET%20build/review%20pics/decals.jpg[/IMG]
The instruction book is split into 2 parts building the trailer unit and tractor unit, treating them as separate models – which they are. The drawings are neat, detailed and some steps contain multiple smaller assembly stages, so you need to adopt a methodical approach and a pencil to cross out parts when added so you don’t miss anything. With this kit a wise builder chooses either the desert scheme or the tri-colour scheme and does lots of painting on the sprues and touches up when the parts are together. There are lots of very small parts and although I am doing this build differently than normal for photographic purposes I would only remove parts when needed under normal building circumstances.
The double sided colour guide also has decal placement details (there are more in the instruction book too) and you have options for two vehicles. There are colour guides for Mr Hobby, Vallejo, Model Master, Tamiya and Humbrol. Hobbyboss favours Mr hobby but for those using Vallejo and wish to do the desert colour then the all over colour you actually need is Model Colour 70819 Iraqi sand. The decals are thin and sharp and should, with care go on well. They consist of mostly stencils but the cab dials are included as well.
On to the plastic sprues.
These are well moulded with lots of very sharp and crisp detailing work and is a credit to both the designers and moulding technology. Minor clean up and nub removal is needed on some parts, but it is very much in the minority and in no way is a detraction to what is a top class kit. A wise modeller examines each piece anyway and does any clean up needed prior to fixing and is part of the building process.
Here are the sprues. Note that some sprues have multiples of them in the kit. They are all individually packaged and some have even jiffy wrapped around the entire sprue or parts to protect them from transit damage.
[IMG]http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r392/jamesgoddard_photos/hobby%20boss%20M1070%20HET%20build/review%20pics/enginebonnet.jpg
Just the sheer amount of plastic will have modellers sharpening their knives and cutters in glee as they begin to realise just how much there is in this kit.
On to the multimedia parts.
There is a wealth of etched brass frets in this kit and both superglue get and liquid will be needed. The Etched frets are thin and well detailed and I would recommend an etched bending tool to help.
The frets are marked up with an M for the tractor unit detail
And S for the trailer.
The rest of the multimedia parts is a mixture of metal guides, springs, rope, tube, wire and small rubber parts. They tyres are very well moulded with no seam and lots of detail.
There are three transparency sprues dealing with lights and the cab windows. These are really well moulded and clear.
Conclusion
This must be a contender for kit of the year. It is huge, bold and really well detailed – you even have to run the hydraulic and pneumatic lines on the trailer! It is not a kit for the novice, but the average and skilled modeller will have a field day with the amount of detail in here and the temptation to just empty the modelling table with a sweep of the arm and get going is just overwhelming. Be warned, don’t jump around or skip. It is also useful to join assembly steps together too, but don’t move out of sequence. Study the instructions twice and the again so you understand exactly what you are aiming at and spend time with a paintbrush/airbrush and the sprues first. Think about what the aim is and make sure you get the tractor unit chassis (steps 1&2) flat and square. The major drawback of this kit is the price, but you are getting 2 kits in one which if they were packaged separately would come out at the same price when bought together.
The drawbacks of this kit are that there is flash (but in reality very little) on some parts and at times the instructions can be a little too complex and not easy to follow which needs time and care to work out. Also there are no drawings showing how to tie a tank down to the trailer (and let’s face it this is why you are getting this isn’t it?). This is where the internet comes in and a search comes up with lots of photos for you to study. Finally, one thing for you all to consider – The British Army uses these too so you CAN put a challenger on the back!
More than recommended – you have to get this just for the experience!