i just got mine last week.  I dont know your background but Im going to go off the presumption that you dont have a big background in Mech or walking mech.   Think of it as a light armored fighting vehicle with legs. 

Ive built the Wave and Nitto kit, and they have their typical issues of puttying seams like every other kit. 

the Mk 44 is a Hase kit, and I expect Hase level of engineering on it. With the many Gundam kits i have built from Bandai (Master Grade kits) there is VERY little putty used---this is my expectation on this kit. 

My advice....enjoy the kit.  This is a split suit kit , which means that it opens up for driver entry.  Determine if you want to go this route, or more of the "buttoned up" look. Mine will be split with two drivers talking to each other.  

Follow the insructions--they are clearly laid out, and systematic.  I always tart with the feet and work my way up. Use an egg carton with labels so you  know which is the left leg, left foot, left arm, etc. 

I always use liquid glue, and Tenax 7r is my new favorite applied with a small brush. I also use Tamiya thin liquid and Testors liquid. Given the engineering of this kit I expect it to fall together.  

A word about the locator pins--on Gundam kits they are supposed to be a tight press fit, and othr than the hips which I always glue for extra strength.  I always cut my locator pins at an angle, and cut them short so I can get it apart for panting individual parts . I glue anyway even tho they are supposed to be press fit. I just run glue along the seam, and it seeps in.  

When it comes to weathering, paint and weather it like armor. Im not too hot on the kit paint schemes.  MOST Ma.K. uses WWII style paint, especially Luft style paint for the Strahl ground forces.  The mercenary forces use this WWII paint style too, but tend to dress their machines up more (like the SAFS Snowman) I will play with some colors and find out what I like, and use the provided sheet as a mix and match for the way I want my Mk44 to look. 

There are a couple of great sites out there and I have links in my own uild topic here in this forum. They are helpful and inspirational. 

have fun with it, and dont let it sit in the box.  Build it--you will learn and have some fun at the same time. 

Thanks, Ti4019 for the pointers! 

Using an egg carton to separate parts out is one of those simple obvious tips I love. Cutting the locator pins at an angle is something I've never heard of and it makes perfect sense! 

I'm using the Tamiya Extra Thin. I'm excited because I've never used it before. When I was younger I used the Testors liquid cement all the time. When I sw the extra thin demonstrated my head almost exploded.

I figured out why this kit seems so intimitating to me; I don't have any point of reference. All the kits I've built in the past have either been armor, aviation or based off a movie. There's no real world reference (pictures, articles, footage) to subconsciously draw from and put it in context. 

In a lot of ways it can be daunting but in others its exciting and challenging. I'm starting today and I can't wait to see how it turns out. 

I'll do a search for your builds.

Looks very cool, please keep us updated. I'd love to see how this goes together. 

I know what you mean about point of reference. I've been staring at a dinosaur kit here for a month. You'd think being able to paint it anyway I want would be liberating but I keep thinking up ways to paint him and then discarding them- need to make up my mind on something! 

Gamera I'll go OT just for a sec here, then I'll get back on topic. Ray Rommel produced a great book on building Dino's and IIRC  Kalmbaach published it.

Brett I'm glad your going to build it. Treat it like armor and you'll have fun with the build. Tomorrow I plan to test paint schemes.

Thanks for the tip, I think I've seen the ads for the book around the magazine. I'll check it out! 

I jumped in hip deep last night and continued with the sub-assemblies. I'm really losing myself building this kit. Last night I sat down but my entire iTunes library on shuffle and had about an hour and a half of Bret-time.

My gripe about mold marks was limited to the aforementioned parts and assembly was a dream. The idea of assembling as you go and then tearing it down for paint and reassembling is still a new concept to me for model until I realized it's what you do with custom motorcycles.

I discovered two powerful new tools. One is taking pictures to discover seams or other areas that aren't quite as nice as you think and need some more love.That said, I don't think I've given a project so much attention in the sanding department.

The other discovery I'll put in a separate post. Oh, and Tamiya Extra Thin Cement rocks. Cheers!

Glued those little rivets on tonight. You know what's fun? Trying to trim those little bastards without sending them flying into oblivion.

Ohhhhhhhhhh, looking really cool so far!

Taking a suggestion from Mike J. Rather than suffering from an emotional breakdown cutting, trimming, sanding and gluing the tiny rivets that came with the kit I opted to use pinheads. This idea was fairly simple and for having never done it before the process I came up with seemed pretty intuitive. Here's how I did it...

1. Using a pin vise I drilled a hole slightly smaller than the straight pin itself.




2. Carefully pushed the pin though the plastic.




3. A drop of Insta-Cure+ CA and shot of kicker to glue it in place.




4. Once the glue was set I snipped of the extra length of pin. BE CAREFUL with this step! The excess will fly off. Hindsight being 20/20 next time I do this I'll put a little blob of Blu-Tac on the end of the pin to prevent it from flying.





It looks really cool and I think the varying shapes of the heads give it some visual interest and texture to the surface. I can't wait to see it primed. Thanks Mike J. for the suggestion!

Nice technique predrilling the hole for the pin shank  

Oh those look neat, much more even and regular than just cementing knobs to the surface. 

Looks great. I love pinheads and use jewelry seed beads as well as a jewelry pin that has a flat vs rounded head. It varies the shape and is easier to cut than straight sewing pins. 

Please continue the progress photos I'm looking forward to starting mine. 

I don't build this kind of stuff, so was going to skip the post; Boy glad I didn't.

This looks really cool and your excitement is contagious. Count me in to be looking in and taking notes

DUSTER

I don't build this kind of stuff, so was going to skip the post; Boy glad I didn't.

This looks really cool and your excitement is contagious. Count me in to be looking in and taking notes

 

Thanks, Duster! I appreciate that. I've been working on another kit to practice my painting chops but I hope to have an update on this build soon.

Great idea with the pin heads for rivets, brett! I've also used something I found at Hobby Lobby called "Steampunk Dust". It's a bag chock full of tiny mechancial parts...really small stuff, and many tiny rivet shaped pieces. Take a look if you see in on the shelf! Really cool stuff!

Hey Bret, I'm just reading this for the first time and want to see the finished Mech! Don't leave me hanging! Did you get it done? I have a MK mech in my stash that I'm both eager and intimidated to work on, so I'd love to see your finished result! Appreciate your enthusiasm!

I have one too! Let's do it!  

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/6/t/175575.aspx