1/35 "Hell Hound" hover truck - Complete (for now...)

typical Bandi. Thier stuff can be top-notch!

On the parts not wanting to come apart due to the exteme engineering put into these kits, shave the pegs down ( I learned this over at one of the Gundam modeling sites).  Instead ofa 3/8" peg, you wind up with an angled 1/8 inch peg and it works out great.

Please post more pics, I have not seen this oen built up yet!

David

Looks good so far!

Looking forward to up-dates on this project.Any plans to modify/replace the weapons?

Keep up the good work!

Thanks for looking guys. I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Thanks David, angling the pegs helps. The hoverfans have to be at least partially painted before they can be finalised, and being able to assemble and disassemble them helped to determine what was visible and needed paint.

u-boater:

Looks good so far! Looking forward to up-dates on this project.Any plans to modify/replace the weapons? Keep up the good work!

thanks u-b. I think I'm going to stick w/ the gatling gun in the turret, although I haven't really looked closely at the odd missile/drill thingies on the side yet.

The gatling is nicely detailed, and w/ some careful painting should look really good. I plan to put a gunner in the cupola w/ it; that should draw some attention to the detail in that area.

This kit is for an IDF Group Build. I started about three months late, so I imagine it will be a mostly stock kit so I can get it done on time. I just can't resist making minor improvements though...

Heh, J you got 2 top notch gundam modelers on this forum, me and puma.  The thing about bandai kits, is test fitting is... hard.  Some people sand down the sprue, me, personally, I enlarge the hole, exacto goes in, for a spin, then you can test fit.

As far as the inflight goes, for the hovertank it stayed upright, like it would if it wasnt flying, it just displaced alot of dirt.  So if its hovering, be perpared to show that, or else it wont look right

I also happen to have a LEIK HEUGE knowledge of gundam, and where to find info, if your interested on the specs and such for that hover truck here it is

Model number: Type 74
Code name: Hover Truck
Unit type: combat communications support truck
Manufacturer: Earth Federation Forces
Operator: Earth Federation Forces
First deployment: UC 0074
Accommodation: 1 driver, 1 gunner, 1 sonar operator, 1 radio operator, in main cabin
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
Armor materials: unknown
Powerplant: unknown
Propulsion: 4 x hover engine
Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown; underground sonar system
Fixed armaments: 20mm vulcan gun, mounted on roof

The Type 74 Hover Truck was a support vehicle assigned to Federation Forces ground combat units to provide them with battlefield intelligence when radar was rendered ineffective due to Minovsky particle broadcast. Utilizing an advanced passive ground sonar suite to identify targets at long range, the Hover Truck was also equipped with a powerful communications system to penetrate low levels of Minovsky jamming. The Hover Truck was also designed with an open cargo bed for the transportation of supplies. For defense, the Hover Truck was armed with a single 20mm vulcan gun mounted on the turret, primarily for anti-aircraft defense. The standard ground mobile suit team consisted of three mobile suits and a Hover Truck, and these units were deployed all across the world from Asia's Kojima Battalion to the White Dingo team in Australia.

 I myself did something LIKE this.  My first tank kit I did I did the reverse of what you are doing.  Instead of making something gundam, non, I made something real, gundam.  I turned a Patton Blazer (IDF, heh, coincidence) into a Zeon tank.  

So I will be watching this WIP with a marked interest, good luck!

Looking Good!!!!!!!

Yep this is going to be just cool.

Terry.

Bandai kits are engineered to bethe snap-fit kit which means the pins are designe such way when full inserted into the femal part it will lock itself hence eliminating the need of using glue.

When test fitting always cut the male pin about 1/3 from tip at and anhle so you can pull apart the parts afterwards...

By the way very interesting build. ^ ^)b

smeagol the vile:

Heh, J you got 2 top notch gundam modelers on this forum, me and puma.  The thing about bandai kits, is test fitting is... hard.  Some people sand down the sprue,me, personally, I enlarge the hole, exacto goes in, for a spin, then you can test fit. As far as the inflight goes, for the hovertank it stayed upright, like it would if it wasnt flying, it just displaced alot of dirt.  So if its hovering, be perpared to show that, or else it wont look right

Thank you stv. I've been trying the "trim the pin" technique, and it seems to work ok, but I'll try yours too and see how it works. You can never have too many tricks and techniques, I think.

I've built Bandai kits before, and even posted them hereabouts. This one is a little different however. The quality of the plastic wildly varies from part to part; sometimes it's very soft, and sometimes it's very brittle.

Normally, whenever I cut a part from the sprue I reverse cut the gates to keep from marring the parts, but on this kit it just didn't help. Almost every piece had some damage I had to repair w/ super glue. It's very much slowing construction (especially on the small parts) but I think I can get it done on time and on a reasonable budget.

As far as how it hovers, I'm not so much concerned about accuracy. Its gonna have IDF crew and markings after all.   I was thinking at tipping it at about a 5 - 10 degree angle forwards, about 5 scale feet off the ground. I also want to use post shading and weathering to suggest streaks running along the sides. I did something similar w/ a Revel BSG Viper, and got some good results. It will also have a lot of pastel dust on it (I think) that can be slightly streaked to give the same impression. Maybe.

And thanks too for the specs. I'm guessing that bulldozer/plow-looking thing on the front is the ground sonar device? If I change my mind and decide to display it at rest, what does it land on? The box shows it resting on the fans, but there are what appear to be "feet" (for lack of a better term) inside the fan tunnels. Do these extend in the show? Seems like it would be a pretty easy modification to make.

You wouldn't happen to have the specs for the Zeon mobile scout I'm doing in our sci-fi build, would you? I wouldn't mind seeing those too, if its not too much trouble.

I myself did something LIKE this.  My first tank kit I did I did the reverse of what you are doing.  Instead of making something gundam, non, I made something real, gundam.  I turned a Patton Blazer (IDF, heh, coincidence) into a Zeon tank.

LOL! Cool. The Universe retains its symmetry, and all is well. That Blazer /Magach is a sweet looking tank, ain't it? Yours looks good too. For markings, did you use decals or dry transfers?

"Thank you" as well to ssgkopp, terry35 and dj898. I appreciate the support, and I hope to not disappoint.

Well, I'm off to do some airbrushing. More later this week.

-CJ

Ill try and grab you the specs right now for the scout... I'm having trouble.  The Mobile scout was only shown in... one episode of the origional MS gundam.  Its sort of a fan boy thing to have even noticed it.  I dont think they put much thought into the backgrounds of it.  Before the kit it looked like 2 halfcircles (the fans) a rectangle for him to sit on, and a gun hanging.   But as far as purpose goes, it was used like... how we use armored recon.  It has enough speed to get in, scout out, and get out, but it has the firepower to defend itself against stuff it's side if need be.  (A willies jeep with a MG couldnt take out a panzer, but a bit of infintry it could tear them appart kind of thing)

As far as the display positon.  The front and back Dozer things are to brace is when it is in the sonar position.  The front and back drop down, and the spike thats folded on the side extends out and goes into the ground.  It wasnt as much used like sonar for finding subs as its used like the 'put your ear to the ground' method to hear if anyone is following you.  The spike would pick up the tremmors from the mechs moving ( large heavy mechs, alot of vibration ) and pinpoint their location from that.

As far as trimming the pins, unless you are using something like a file, to file the edges down, I find it WAY to time consuming to try and slice or trim those guys, its s much easier to stick the exacto in the female end and spin it (that sounds so wrong, and so violent...)

For my decals I used waterslides.  Specificly bandai's AM Gundam Decals.  There mixed scale, 1/100 and 1/144 but honestly,it doesnt matter when it comes to non words, if you know what I mean.  I'm not a fan of dry transfers.  To many times I got it on straight,tapes it down.  And rubed it till I had carpal tunnel, just to take it up and find it didnt all go down

Ok, here's what I've been up to lately.

I ordered some 1.5 mm hexagonal bolt heads from Czech Masters by way of Squadron.com, as well as some other stuff for other builds. Unfortunately, they were out of them, so I had to look elsewhere.

This sent me to HLJ.com. They had 1.5mm hexbolts by a company called Alder's Nest...

http://www.hlj.com/product/ADNANE-0130

...so I ordered those instead. This meant I would have to wait until they could be shipped from Japan, hence my long absence.

While I was waiting, I decided to work on how to mount the model. My idea is to put a brass tube inside the kit, and then to run a sturdy brass mounting rod up into the model. So I picked out a suitable tube and a rod to fit in it (no dirty jokes now...).

I located a spot on the bottom of the model as close to the center of balance as I could. This is where I would drill the hole for the mounting rod. I didn't want to use an electric drill however, for fear it might get away from me somehow, and my pin-vice was way too small for the drillbit I needed to use. My solution was old school:

It still didn't go perfectly. I hit a support structure inside the model that knocked the bit askew and made for an ugly hole. What to do?

Digging around in the spares box, I came up w/ these thingys. I got them off HLJ too, about 6 years ago. I forget what they are called. I drilled a hole in one of them, and mounted it underneath. It was just the trick.

That done, I had to figure out how to keep the model from spinning on its post.

I took a carbide drill bit, and carefully put a hole through the tube. Then I threaded it w/ a brass rod of appropriate diameter. Next, I used a motor tool to cut a notch in the top of the mounting rod, and widened it w/ a triangular file.

I think you can see where I'm going here.

I then inserted the tube into the model, replaced the pin, and fixed it in place w/ copious amounts of superglue. The pin was bent over on the other side to keep it in place. It sure ain't pretty, but it works. Lastly, I sanded the tube on the bottom so that it was flush w/ the greeblie I had added.

At Hobby Lobby, I used the weekly 40% off coupon and bought one of those big Imex display cases to put the model in. I'm not sure this is how I want to display it, but if I wind up going that way, at least I know it will fit. If not, I can always use it for a Tamiya Me-262 I'm building...

The hexbolts finally arrived in the mail, and I could get to work on those. I started by carefully drilling tiny holes to accept them. The hard part was making sure the drill bit was centered correctly. The few times it wasn't perfect, I used the bit to file the hole a little in the right direction.

Then I started on the bolts themselves. These are made of brass, and have to be cut apart individually and filed smooth. They are very tiny. I wound up using all but three of them.

I then attached the sides of the hull to the model. I suspected that the internal structure might interfere w/ the bolts (or vice versa) if I added them before assembly. Turns out I was right; some of the bolts had to be trimmed to half their length before they would fit.

Then, one by one, I glued them in place w/ SG. The end result.

Whew! Now I can start detailing and painting.

Very cool CJ.  Its lookin good.  I'm sad that I have no time to work on this stuff and no money to buy the kits.  I'll just have to keep modeling vicariously through you.  Cant wait to see this and the hover scout come out. 

Thank you, SG. Really, I appreciate that. Sorry to hear you can't keep your hand in right now, but I'll know you'll have something to share come the summer.  

I did some work on the other one too; I'll try to get something up this week.

Thanks again - JC

Comming along nicely......

Terry.

Cosmic J wrote:

That done, I had to figure out how to keep the model from spinning on its post.

I've had the same problem with displaying aircraft in flight.  Many years ago, I read a tip for this in FSM.  Use two pieces of telescoping square brass tube instead of round.  You can also solder a piece of round rod into the smaller brass tub if you like, and cut the small square brass tube to be flush with the bottom of your model.

I know I'm too late to help, but maybe on your next build?

Looking forward to more posts!

m@

LOL! Its cool, I figured it out.

See the pin that runs through the tube is fixed in place, and the rod has a notch in it that the pin locks into. My bad for not explaining better.

Thanks for the support guys.

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I've gotten a lot done, just none of it flashy or showy.

This kit is well engineered, but it does have a lot of seams that need to be filled and sanded.  Just about every part really. That's where a lot of my time has been taken up.

Here are some examples of what I'm talking about. In some cases the parts don't line up, or the seam runs over some molded on detail. In the case of the smoke launchers, they were hollow in the back. If their backs weren't visible, that would have been fine. They are however, particularly the ones mounted on the turret.

The apparatus for extending the rear ramp is a particular problem (look especially at the first image). There's no way to get sanding sticks down in there, so I'm gonna have to cheat the seams. I got a couple of options I thought of: A) cut some styrene into strips and glue those over the part, or B) cut one big piece of styrene and just cover it all up. B is easier, but might not look as nice. Any advice in this area would be greatly appreciated.

I filled and sanded all the seams I could find and get at, and I filled the rear of the smoke launchers w/ Aves Apoxie Sculpt, sanded to shape. I also had to replace some detail w/ styrene bits. Some examples:

I still haven't figured out yet what to do w/ the rear ramp. No matter how I decide to display the model, the ramp will be clearly visible, so I gotta do something.

Having set the precedent of replacing the handles on the sides of my Hell Hound, I also had to do the same on the top. While I was there I drilled out the headlight stations to accept some MV lenses. For the spotlight on the top, I added a brass tube, the end of which I opened up a bit w/ a dental burr. The resulting hole in the rear of the light mount was capped w/ styrene, sanded to shape.

Earlier in construction, I did some damage to the front hulls anti-skid texture. To repair this section, I took a tip from redleg12 for re-creating the damaged area. I carefully masked off the sections in the front and used Krylon Texture Spray Paint to re-create the surface. I didn't want to go through the hassle of masking and painting the whole thing this late in construction, so I just did the front. It looks a little different than the rest of the model's AS surfaces, but until I get paint on it, I can't tell how much. It definitely looks a lot better than it did damaged.

The rear hull was also received some brass wire tie-downs, and a strip of styrene to cover some gate marks that I somehow missed in the construction process.

The engine mounts are interesting. They have quite a lot of movement to them. I don't see how that would help the vehicle, but could make for some interesting display options w/ some minor work. If I decide to do another one of these, I might use this feature to build it w/ legs instead of hover fans.

So that's where I am. Except for the rear ramp, the model is ready for paint.

I think the leg idea would be really cool. 

looks good so far, I've been interested in this kit for a while so I'll be watching this with great interest.

the thing about photoetched, and mecha metal AM parts... is its such a crime to paint them, they look so cool unpainted.

Have you thought of a scheme yet?

guardsmen22 wrote:

I think the leg idea would be really cool.  looks good so far, I've been interested in this kit for a while so I'll be watching this with great interest.

Thank you. If you have any questions about the kit, please feel free to ask.

John31388 wrote:

Looking good so far

Thank you. So far, so good...

smeagol the vile wrote:

the thing about photoetched, and mecha metal AM parts... is its such a crime to paint them, they look so cool unpainted. Have you thought of a scheme yet?

I think you mean the hex bolts? Yeah, they do look pretty good all shiny like that.

Its going to be Israeli Armor Sand (actually a greenish kind of color) w/ Olive Drab parts and dark grey rubber bumpers on the engine housings. IDF markings all over. Lots of dust weathering.

I was going to display it "in flight", but unforeseen difficulties have me rethinking the decision. I'll try to get it done first, and then decide.

smeagol the vile wrote:

May I inquire to what those unforcene circumstances are?

You may indeed.

I was gonna display the model like it was "in-flight" moving forward at a high speed, w/ some figures posed as if they were riding on it, but I'm having some trouble finding appropriate figs. (I expected to have to mod them some, but I want to avoid the hassle of having to sculpt or heavily modify them.) 

I wanted to put one guy in the turret w/ his elbows up on the sides, one guy standing in the rear (bracing himself w/ one hand and holding his helmet on w/ the other) and a third figure hunkered down against the slipstream on the rear bench seat.

Problems: I can't find any sitting IDF figures, and the Gatling gun sits too far back in the turret to allow someone to fit into it comfortably. The controls and display would jam right up against the gunners face.

Nothing wrong w/ the kit however, just my ambitiousness. I'll figure something out.

SkullGundam: Thank you, you're very kind.

I'm sure you can work your way around the problems and finx a way to do it. 

As far as that Mg goes, praticly speaking, for that vehichle, its most likley not meant to be aimed forward, more for shooting at things higher up then it.

That being said, you could probably easily mod it forward. 

Ok, I know it's been awhile, but I kinda got stuck for a bit. I got really indecisive about some minor details; piddling stuff really. So I just decided to finish the build, and fix any details I don't like later.

I blocked off the seams on the ramp w/ a thin sheet of styrene. It's not fancy but it works.

Next, I began painting. I started w/ the turbine fans. I painted them MM Steel on the outer parts, and MM Jet Exhaust on the inner parts. I thought this might look like oil or grease stained metal. They were very flat looking, so I post shaded the fan blades w/ MM Gunmetal.

I'll apply washes and drybrush them later.

Because metallics are hard to clean out of the airbrush, I sprayed some other stuff that needed to be painted at the same time.

Then I airbrushed a basecoat of MM Israeli Armor Sand over all the major assemblies. Because this is a big kit, and I tend to shoot at low pressure, it took several hours to complete coverage. The model has some wicked undercuts on it, especially on the bottom and in the cargo bed.

I'm happy w/ this color. In these images, or under very bright light, it looks very green, but in shadow it looks almost grey. It's a green w/out a lot of yellow in it.

The hoverfans appear to have protective "bumpers" on the bottom of them, so I painted them w/ a mixture of Black and Aggressor Grey, to look the like rubber used on tires. If I were going to weather this vehicle more, I'd carve some nicks and gouges in them.

I painted the engine housings MM Olive Drab to break up the color monotony a bit. Maybe they were manufactured in the US and shipped over? Who knows?

Then, I post shaded the "bumpers" and engine housings. A little sloppy, but I'll clean that up in the next painting stage. Adds some nice depth to the details.

The next step is the long process of post shading the vehicle hull itself. That's what I'm doing tonight.