So basically this thing has about the same parts count as an early 70s 1/35 Tamiya kit like their M41 or T-34/76. But these parts are sure molded to modern detail standards. I see that 1/72 has come a long way since I last built one. But in typical Dragon fashion, the fit has some issues. I needed a few swipes on some of the road wheel holes with a needle file to make sure they would go on. These things fit tight! Anyways, in abou 20-25 minutes of snipping, sanding stick swipes, and gluing, I got the running gear on and Step 1 completed...

Step 2 tomorrow....

Gotta luv the braille scale stuff!  Looking good stik!

bufflehead

Gotta luv the braille scale stuff!  Looking good stik!

 

Thank you sir. This new age Braille scale stuff is indeed impressive! A far cry from the stuff that I built long ago.

Nice start Stik, look forward to seeing more. Which scheme are you going for.

Thank you sir. The box top green and black scheme is what I’ll be going with most likely, Bish. Any suggestions of a paint color for the green used on those? All the faded/weathered Brit stuff that I used to see in Banja Luka used to look like Tamiya Khaki Drab to my eye...

The official colour for British army vehicles is a bit of a tricky one to pin down. Some say NATO green. I always use Deep Bronze green and then by the time i weather it down a bit its a pretty good match to me.

I built the Iraq 2003 version way back in 2004. It was a pretty decent kit, but I remember the tracks being a little too short. The fixed the issue with the DS tracks (tan), but if you have an older one with black vinyl tracks, they will be slightly too short.

There's a couple ways to deal with this; first is if you can relocate the idler wheel and or sprocket inward to create enough slack to have the tracks fit properly.

Second way would be to let the gap in the track be hidden some place up under the side skirts. Connect with some string or staples.

Also if you have the black vinyl tracks, they were notorious for not taking paint well. My first Dragon armor kit with black vinyl tracks the enamel paint did not dry and remained tacky to the touch. I would use craft paint or acrylic paints.

Put the tracks on before adding the upper hull since once the side skirts are there it is tough to deal with the tracks.

Thanks for the heads up on the tracks Rob. This kit came with the DS tracks. But I was planning on adding the tracks before I added the upper hull and lower hull together. With those side skits and the add on side armor blocks, hiding any track fit problems will be best behind those!

So today’s update was step 2, adding detail parts to the turret top and front. Test fitting, needle file swipes, fit and glue... lots of little things that I thankfully did not lose...

stikpusher

Thanks for the heads up on the tracks Rob. This kit came with the DS tracks. But I was planning on adding the tracks before I added the upper hull and lower hull together. With those side skits and the add on side armor blocks, hiding any track fit problems will be best behind those!

 

You should be okay then. Some DS tracks on 1/72 scale kits have a bad habit of deteriorating in the box or the sealed bag before you get a chance to use them. The Sherman ones seemed to be from the "bad batch". If the ones you have now are good, you probably have a good set.

While Dragon's 1/72 scale kits are pretty good, they do have quite a few dogs in the line up. Their Abrams kits are based on battery controlled toys with holes for wires. Avoid any that advertise diecast metal hulls. The metal on many have started to crumble on completed kits as well as unassembled ones still in the box.

Their Panther hulls were notorious for this, but fortunately, the bargain basement old Lindberg, Hasegawa and Esci lower hulls fit perfectly to upgrade thes kits to an all plastic constructed.

Im keeping my fingers crossed on the tracks. I bought a set of DS tracks for a different kit project that sat sidelined for a long time... they disintegrated over that time...

This afternoon, I finished up the turret. The fit of the turret floor to the top was not the best, and of course there was a major mold seam line on the main gun tube needing clean up... plus a few holes to be drilled for the CIP panels... this was a bit longer of a bench session. 

Step 3 complete... next session, the upper hull.

Looking good stick, hope your tracks are still good I have a few kits in the stash with DS tracks and they are so stiff that they break when you try to bend them. One of my 251 kits came with some DS storage stuff (boots, coats and some tank mines) same way they break and disintegrate hope dragon moves away from the DS stuff.

Thanks Rambo, I checked the tracks earlier today, and so far they are pretty pliable. 

The DS stuff does have nice crisp detail like resin, and looks good for things like mantlet dust covers and such. But I really wonder about its‘ durability and longevity.

Today was a bit more progress. First up, Step 4, the upper hull detail parts. That went quick. The biggest speed bump was cleaning up the mold seam lines on rounded bits. They are more prominent than on any flat surfaces...

Then I deviated from the instructions. In the advice of Rob Gronovious, who has built this kit, I added the front plate and idler wheels so that I could add the tracks. The instructions have you add the tracks as one of the last steps. No thanks Dragon...

And tracks on! The DS plastic stretched a bit at the glue joint... 

I then started construction of the dozer blade, but ran out of time before work...

Coming on very nicely Stik.

Thanks Bish. I certainly see the allure of these modern tooling small scale armor kits. The quality is sure present.

I built the Revell 72nd Warrior a few years back and that was very nice. I'd certainly consider doing a few more.

stikpusher

And tracks on! The DS plastic stretched a bit at the glue joint... 

I would be very apprehensive with letting DS tracks stretch like vinyl tracks. I also tend to paint them prior to installation, although that's just me.

Rob Gronovius

 

 

stikpusher

And tracks on! The DS plastic stretched a bit at the glue joint... 

 

 

 

I would be very apprehensive with letting DS tracks stretch like vinyl tracks. I also tend to paint them prior to installation, although that's just me.

 

Believe me, I am apprehensive.... I have had too many of the new gluable vinyl tracks from Tamiya and AFV Club snap after completion. I miss the older Tamiya tracks that had good detail on both sides, more flexible than anybody else’s, yet never snapped. I glued the joint to the last road wheel... just in case.

Bish

I built the Revell 72nd Warrior a few years back and that was very nice. I'd certainly consider doing a few more.

 

I would too under the same set of circumstances. If I come into possession of a 1/72 AFV or Softskin kit again by fate or fortune, I won’t get rid of it. But I’m not going to go out and start a 1/72 collection again...

Looks good!

Good luck with the DS tracks, so far I've not had any problems with them (crossing my fingers).

Thanks Gamera! I will keep my fingers crossed too!

When this thing is all done, I think I’ll pose it for a photo with my 1/35 scale Challenger, for a good comparison of scales. I don’t have a 1/35 Challenger II built... yet. Just one in my stash.

So last nite, this was the point that I was at...

today I built up the rear plate

Then I glued that in place and and added the side add on armor

and lastly I completed the dozer blade- except for one cylinder, that in typical Dragon instruction sheet fashion, does not show exactly where that item goes... and looking online at photos has not turned up any good photos of that area or detail either...

So,my last updates for this project for a couple of weeks: first up, based upon a best educated guess, I added the piston, and reworked the dozer blade a bit based upon the online photos that I did find

and here is a better shot of the rear plate in place

and the I clipped off the front tow hooks but glued their mounting points in place, again a deviation from the kit instructions. They will give some support to the dozer blade once mounted

and lastly, everything as it looks up to this point....

Lookin' good! I have to say, for 1/72, the detail is amazing.

That is coming on very nicely Stik, and agreed, the detail is amazing.

RBaer

Lookin' good! I have to say, for 1/72, the detail is amazing.

 

Thanks RB. I agree 100% about the detail. Small scale armor has come a long way from what I remember.

stikpusher

 

 

RBaer

Lookin' good! I have to say, for 1/72, the detail is amazing.

 

 

 

 

Thanks RB. I agree 100% about the detail. Small scale armor has come a long way from what I remember.

 

Just remember, not all 1/72 scale kits are created equal. Italeri does some "fast build" kits designed for wargaming with one piece track assemblies (bogies and track all one piece) as well as highly detailed kits. Some of their kits contain two, one a fast build and one regular.

You can't even trust "one manufacturer" since they all have dogs and gems in the same line. Some old kits are awesome and some newer kits are horrendous.

Photo etch details and resin wheels help dress up some of the more basic kits:

And here is an issue with a fairly new Dragon Panther with diecast metal hull. Never got built because you can see the unused hull starting to crack and crumble.

SP: Looks great! Really like the scratchbuilt work on the dozer blade. 

Rob: Ouch, I built a few Tamiya 1/48th kits with the metal lower hull but that looks just plain nasty. 

Thanks G! Although it was more a case of adjusting kit parts as opposed to any scratch building...

Well now that I have a chance to get back to my workbench, I was able to do the final steps to finish up construction...

first up, a back base onto the lower hull and running gear, before I got the upper and lower hull glued together. And since I had some extra paint left in the cup after, I used that up on the turret...

once the paint had time to dry, I glued the upper and lower hull together, added the dozer blade, the final bits to the rear hull, last add on armor side plates, and the PE bits... the PE bits seem like overkill to me, as the molded on detail in those areas is pretty nice...

and where everything stands now!

let the real painting begin!!!