Hello!
Welcome to my another WIP. This time it's the long-awaited styrene M109, meaning you don't have to tackle resin anymore to get this important model in 1:72 scale.
The build starts with the hull, that doesn't consist of the upper and lower half, like in some other models, but every wall is a separate part. That could potentially cause problems, especially if you're not careful, but luckily the Revell parts fit very good. A little filler and the hull is done:
As you can see I have made the grabhandle on the transmission door out of thin copper wire. The road wheel arms are cast together with the hull sides and in some kits they are short-shot (the material is missing), so it's good to check for if you have this kit in stash. Revell replaces the defective parts for free.
Then came the turn for the turret. This also consists of several parts, so it's good to be careful here, too, to minimize the amount of filler necessary:
In some parts you have to drill some holes for American equipment (there's also another kit showing the German variant). I have unfortunately broken off one of the lifting eyes for the turret and it got lost, so I had to scratchbuild a replacement. It's also worth noting, that the fume extractor (that funny round part just behind the muzzle brake) has a flat spot and that spot is supposed to look down. I'm writing about it, because the picture on the instruction sheet has the flat spot up - such a funny thing.
The track is very nice, as are the road wheels that eeven have the correct undercut. Track is link and length, with single links around the sprocket and the idler. I have dry fitted the wheels to the axles and then glued the tracks to the wheels. This way I have two removable track assemblies - I hope this will help me with painting everything.
Now I have to add one more important thing Revell missed - I guess all our M109 experts know what I'm talking about...
Thanks for reading and have a nice day
Paweł