Should be a pretty fun and easy second build. You might want to cover the battery/motor mounting holes in the bottom of the hull and putty them over but otherwise she should be mostly decent built right outta the box. 

Gamera

Should be a pretty fun and easy second build. You might want to cover the battery/motor mounting holes in the bottom of the hull and putty them over but otherwise she should be mostly decent built right outta the box. 

 

Toshi

Yes, that is a very nice little model. The detail is pretty good, and the figgies are nice.

Here's something funny! The painting on the box lid shows the BACK of the tank, with the turret turned around so that the barrel fits in the travel rest.  It gave me a fit the first time I built the thing because I couldn't figure out front drive or rear drive!

GMorrison

Yes, that is a very nice little model. The detail is pretty good, and the figgies are nice.

Here's something funny! The painting on the box lid shows the BACK of the tank, with the turret turned around so that the barrel fits in the travel rest.  It gave me a fit the first time I built the thing because I couldn't figure out front drive or rear drive!

 

Toshi

Great! For instance, on the box art the tracks are "backwards". I.E. if seen from the front, the pattern is flipped upside down.

GMorrison

Great! For instance, on the box art the tracks are "backwards". I.E. if seen from the front, the pattern is flipped upside down. 

The easiest way to think about the direction of the tracks is to remember that the point of the "V" on the track shoe points downward when looking at the tank from the front.

GMorrison

Great! For instance, on the box art the tracks are "backwards". I.E. if seen from the front, the pattern is flipped upside down.

 

Toshi

Phil_H

 

 

GMorrison

Great! For instance, on the box art the tracks are "backwards". I.E. if seen from the front, the pattern is flipped upside down. 

 

 

 

The easiest way to think about the direction of the tracks is to remember that the point of the "V" on the track shoe points downward when looking at the tank from the front.

 

Toshi

Here is what's been done this evening.

Toshi,

Just a suggestion, but if you're up for a little extra detail, if you look at the box-top pics, you'll see the stowage boxes on the hull sides have elongated "X" shaped reinforcing ribs which aren't present on the mouldings (due to moulding limitations at the time). These can be easily added using thin plastic strip.

Phil_H

Toshi,

Just a suggestion, but if you're up for a little extra detail, if you look at the box-top pics, you'll see the stowage boxes on the hull sides have elongated "X" shaped reinforcing ribs which aren't present on the mouldings (due to moulding limitations at the time). These can be easily added using thin plastic strip.

 

I suffered TBI Traumatic Brain Injury, I have just learned to utilize my eye hand coordination.  Maybe as I get better I can incorporate scratch building. At this time, I know I'm not ready for that yet.  Thank you for the suggestion!  That's something I can look forward to in the very near future.

Toshi

I love these old kits. I haven't built this specific one yet either but I'll stick around and watch your build. OOB builds are my fav

Bish

Nice subject, should be a nice fun build. have not built this one, but those old Tamiya kits can scrub up nicely.

 

Toshi

SprueOne

I love these old kits. I haven't built this specific one yet either but I'll stick around and watch your build. OOB builds are my fav

 

Toshi

It still needs to be weathered and things need to be cleaned up.  But this is how far the build has gone.

Toshi

Toshi- the right side track is on backwards. Pop it off and turn it around.

You need to make the join seam on the front plates top/bottom go away. Probably you still have the two halves loose, right? Be sure to glue them together as it was designed that way to change the batteries, but that's not an issue here.

Good clean workmanship so far.

Nice work so far Toshi.

Just a few more suggestions for you.

1: The seam on the barrel could use a little work

2: When you come to weathering, the mufflers (the box-like structures on the fenders at the rear, either side of the engine deck) could use some rust effects. They got pretty hot and the paint burned off them. You can get an idea of how this looks from the box art.

3: On the left side fender, there are three sprue nubs left over from the manufacturing process. A few swipes with a sharp blade & some fine sandpaper will take care of this. Just beware of the two tabs on the muffler, they should be there, like on the other side.

Keep up the good work..

OMG Toshi! You have definately mastered building straight from the box.  :)

My advice, since everything else has been covered lol, is to go crazy with the weathering and have some fun. You can almost never go too dirty with armor lol.

Enjoy yourself thoroughly my friend!  :D

GMorrison

Toshi- the right side track is on backwards. Pop it off and turn it around.

You need to make the join seam on the front plates top/bottom go away. Probably you still have the two halves loose, right? Be sure to glue them together as it was designed that way to change the batteries, but that's not an issue here.

Good clean workmanship so far.

 

Toshi

Phil_H

Nice work so far Toshi.

Just a few more suggestions for you.

1: The seam on the barrel could use a little work

2: When you come to weathering, the mufflers (the box-like structures on the fenders at the rear, either side of the engine deck) could use some rust effects. They got pretty hot and the paint burned off them. You can get an idea of how this looks from the box art.

3: On the left side fender, there are three sprue nubs left over from the manufacturing process. A few swipes with a sharp blade & some fine sandpaper will take care of this. Just beware of the two tabs on the muffler, they should be there, like on the other side.

Keep up the good work..

 

Toshi

M. Brindos

OMG Toshi! You have definately mastered building straight from the box.  :)

My advice, since everything else has been covered lol, is to go crazy with the weathering and have some fun. You can almost never go too dirty with armor lol.

Enjoy yourself thoroughly my friend!  :D

 

Toshi

Hi Toshi, I knew you were building this kit, and I wanted to tell you it was one of my only armor builds as well and had to say, it was a very fun build.  I knew it wouldn't take you long to have it together and I'm sure you had a smile on your face the whole time you were building it.  Now, go have more fun and weather it.  Hey, its a tank, what can go wrong weathering a tank?  I think its a pleasure getting to slap mud and make rust.

scottrc

Hi Toshi, I knew you were building this kit, and I wanted to tell you it was one of my only armor builds as well and had to say, it was a very fun build.  I knew it wouldn't take you long to have it together and I'm sure you had a smile on your face the whole time you were building it.  Now, go have more fun and weather it.  Hey, its a tank, what can go wrong weathering a tank?  I think its a pleasure getting to slap mud and make rust.

 

Then comes my weathering situation.  I'll see how that comes up.  Thanks for following my builds!

Toshi

Here I have the completed Bulldog with my only other armour of which is a Abrams.  I hope I did justice to this build, I know I had fun and was very surprised on how well it came out.

At first I took apart the Bulldog to make the proper adjustments.  Then came a simple and subtle weathering with some Tamiya pigment (They look like cosmetic items, I have A,B, and C.) and some black wash (Testors CREATEFX Acrylics).

Toshi

She looks pretty darn fine to me Toshi!

Very nice build. The weathering fits the subject matter perfectly.