Well, fitting of the front and rear hull plates has revealed a wee problem: all the joins are beveled, and the fit is not great. After thinning the plates to get them to sit as flush as possible, remaining gaps are filled with Vallejo plastic putty and lightly wiped with a damp Q-tip or my finger to remove excess putty, hopefully leaving the gap filled. Only primer will tell. 

IMG_2565 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

IMG_2564 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

There's a fair amount of details at the edges of the joins, making cleanup and sanding a tedious process, but as the original was amphibious, I'm thinking I need virtually seamless joins here. It's still a fun build, just not the shake-'n-bake I had initially thought it might be. And the ejection pins: some are huge, like a leak in a sprue gate. I have also found evidence of a short-shot here and there on the edges of the hull panels, more putty required.

Oh wow, never built a Tiger kit but surprised a new kit would have fit issues. Looks like you have things under control though. Very cool AFV. Where's Waynec? He's a big war wheels fan.

Looks great!  May have to put this one on the wish list.

It's a decent kit, makes me think of an older Tamiya kit maybe, or old Dragon: decent detail, not a whole lot of parts and fair to middlin' fit.

As soon as I get my whiffle in paint I'll be back on this, it's fun. 

The look of wheeled afvs have really grown on me. I bet it sure is great not having to deal with tracks with this kit.

In one way, yes, it's going to be a quicker build not dealing with tracks. But, and it's a big one, part of the reason I build tanks is that I have always had a thing for stuff with tracks.

Six of one, half dozen of the other I guess. At least it's got a big gun.

Your progress is looking great!  Are the kit's tires vinyl?  Are you going to keep them or switch them for resin or 3-d printed tires?

TJS

Now that's different,coming along g great.

I'll keep the kit tires. They're some sort of soft plastic, easy to get the center seam off of with only gentle sanding.

Thanks Anthony, kind of out of left field for me.

Ready for primer, which I'm sure will reveal lots of things to fix- the tan plastic is kind of hard to see for me. I had a few slight fit issues with the turret, nothing major, I think. Only primer will tell.

IMG_2847 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

IMG_2846 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

'Scuse the lousy pics, I managed to aggrevate an old back injury and I'm not particulary steady-handed at the momnent.

Looks cool! 

Hope you feel better soon Russel. My back hasn't been feeling that great lately, no injury- I think it's just getting old... 

It's ...   orange. funky base color, but it IS French.

IMG_3286 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

Yeah, you're right- I guess the French would call it tan but it does look more like a light orange. 

I haven't done any brush work in a long time, and needed to get my *** back before I do either one of the Challengers, so this thing was perfect. This is just the first coat, no clean-up at all.

IMG_3479 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

Kind of garish now....

Still pretty bright, but done. All in all a nice kit.

IMG_3492 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

IMG_3490 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

IMG_3493 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

I have no idea where this thing may have been deployed, so I kept the weathering to a minimum.

Ohhhhh, that's cool looking! 

Nice work as always! 

Thanks G. I can't call it one of my best, too many construction booboos that I didn't catch when I was building it, and then I kind of forced the finish just to finish it. Long story there, I'm better now. 

Sweet!! Gotta love all those big wheeled warriors that we don't see enough of in various subjects. Very well done!

BK

That looks great. Excellent job. I like it.

Thanks y'all.

I may have gotten off on a tangent: I have a Tamiya LeClerc on the way.....

Looking forward to the LeClerc. The French build some cool looking hardware. I've got an AMX-13/90 that I've bogged down on getting the camo finished. 

"Cool" or just goofy?  I've got a Tamiya AMX-13 and some Friuls sitting around, waiting for some motivation and a couple of bits to make it IDF. I figured it would display well next to an M-51.

RBaer

"Cool" or just goofy?  I've got a Tamiya AMX-13 and some Friuls sitting around, waiting for some motivation and a couple of bits to make it IDF. I figured it would display well next to an M-51.

 

I dunno, it's a little odd looking but I'm not sure I'd call it goofy. 

I can't help but think of it as a toy tank, but I'm probably a little different..... 

RBaer

I can't help but think of it as a toy tank, but I'm probably a little different..... 

 

Well it does look like an armoured car with tracks instead of wheels.

I used to hate them in World of Tanks, running around everywhere- I called them French cockroaches.

Gamera

 

 

RBaer

I can't help but think of it as a toy tank, but I'm probably a little different..... 

 

 

 

 

Well it does look like an armoured car with tracks instead of wheels.

I used to hate them in World of Tanks, running around everywhere- I called them French cockroaches.

 

That's funny. Mine will be IDF, still thinling about ordering the stuff from FC Modeltrend to make the mods, or just do it myself. 

Awesome looking wheeled "tank". These big wheels have been a favorite of mine.

Thanks Rob. I've been eying a Trump Cinturato I have in the stash....