Looks great Pawel! I assume you're adding some tools and parts on the work shop tables? That's all it needs is some clutter!

Mark, Gamera - I'm sorry for replying so late and thanks a lot for your kind words!

In the meantime I was working on the interior of the workshop. The work was draggin' on and somehow I didn't make in-progress photos... Until now - so here's where I am with the workshop:

How do you like it?

Thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

Looks great Pawel! Nice work on correcting the windows. And I know only the most basic skills of soldering- your work looks perfect to me. 

I like the look of these Brutish looking Trucks and you are doing a lovely Job on Him.....Cheers mark

Hello everybody!

Thanks a lot for your comments!

Gino, Cap'n, Eaglecash867 - thanks a lot for the soldering tips, solid advice I'll use next time I'll tackle something like this!

M1GarandFan - Thanks a lot for your kind words!

Vladimir - somehow this is such a cool foto! You can see that ICM has created the box art based on it and yet they didn't go with that paint scheme... Maybe because of the window configuration?

That shelter with three (instead of six) windows on the side is a command post shelter (as opposed to a mobile workshop shelter) but I will put the kit supplied workshop interior inside, anyhow, because it is so nice.

Any idea why it's called kung?

And no, I don't think I will use any photoetch here, I try to keep this build on budget.

I started to fill the unwanted windows with two layers of 0,5mm styrene sheet:

Thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

I absolutely agree with the other posts here. Outstanding work on the guards. They look wonderful, as does the rest of your work on this project.

A little liquid flux brushed onto the area to be soldered helps tremendously too.  It makes the heat transfer more efficient so the solder flows without having to get the whole piece screaming hot.

HeavyArty

use an alligator clip

I also use the micro-sized "bulldog" clips, too.  They can be more "grippy."

I agree  that it's interesting model and good job has done. Paweł, you found  interesting real model for idea. 

Will you use photo etching and what about interior of kung?

Great job on the light guards.

A soldering tip: Use an alligator clip between the two solder joints and you will be good. The alligator clip acts as a heat sink and keeps the heat from reaching the previous joint so it doesn't melt the solder there.

Gamera, Brandon - Thanks a lot for your comments and for your kind words!

The work is slowly going on.

Among other things I tried if I can improve on the kit's (pretty nice) headlight guards.

I took some copper strip and wire and started soldering...

As you can see I'm using masking tape to help me position the wires, and I bent the wires in an U-shape so that they hold their position relative to each other. After some cutting and bending the result looks promising:

When doing work like this the main concern is that when you heat a joint to solder it the next one can get hot and let go - that's why each wire is only soldered at one end and glued with CA on the other end. The place where the "rim" joins is also glued with CA.

So here's the comparison with the kit part:

There is some progress and I wonder if I could away with using thinner copper wires and strip - but I'll stay with what I got so far.

Thanks for looking and have a nice day!

Paweł

Very nice work. The Zil is such a cool looking truck. Looking forward to seeing more.

BK

Yeah very cool Pawel, the grill cover looks great! 

Thanks a lot, Gino!

Looking good.  The winter cover for the front came out great.

lurch, Tom - thanks a lot for your kind words!

I'm moving on with the build. As you can see on the real thing photo, it has a winterfront - I decided to get me one, too! To do this I mixed some Miliput, rolled it to a flat "pancake", then cut it to size and draped it over the kit part. Worked like a charm:

It was almost a pity to paint the black part, it matched the black vinyl so well... But I put some primer on and repainted it anyway. At the same time I installed the winch. I wound some nice thread around the drum and painted it "Leadbelcher" from the Games Workshop paint line. I have to find a hook yet, the kit doesn't include one:

 And with the hood on:

I hope you like it - thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Excellent progress Pawel!  She's really coming together for you.

tjs

The engine bay looks great.

Hello!

Thanks a lot for your comments!

Gamera - thanks a lot and yeah, give it a try, motor are a lot of fun!

Tiger II - weathering the yellow seems to be a challenge, there are many models online with the box just painted plain yellow and that doesn't look good. And thanks a lot!

Cap'n - yup, it's an Ukrainian company.

Have a nice day!

Paweł

Isn't ICM a Ukrainian company? 

Wow, I want to echo Gino's comments on the exterior paint job. But I like how your engine is coming along. Good job so far. I'll be looking forward to the box being done.

Looks great Pawel! I never open the hood/engine bay so I've no experience with that type of stuff- I really need to try it one day. 

Gino, Gamera - thanks a lot for your comments and for the kind words!

As I wrote the kit isn't very detailed, at least when it comes to the chassis, so I've been strugglin' to make the engine bay look a little more like the real thing.

Here's what it looks like OOB:

To even think about installing the engine after the fenders have been installed together with the remainder of the cab (this is contrary to the kit's instructions) you have to cut off the drive shaft and the funny "pot" on the rear of the engine - I read on the net, that it's a centrifugal oil cleaner, but I'm not sure if it's true. Since it was already cut off I decided to make a new one that's not so conical but more cylidrical. Out of the box the air cleaner is upside down and there's no trace of he carburator, neither. So I started detailing the engine and it's bay and here's how it looks like now:

It's still far from perfect, but it starts to give off the right vibe, so to say - and I'm leaving it like that now.

Thanks for reading and have a nice day!

Paweł

That's so cool Pawel! And coming along great! Love this! 

Looking good.  The painting is coming along nicely.  Can't wait to see the box all painted up and installed as well.

lurch, Cap'n - thanks a lot for your comments and for your kind words!

I got a chance to use my airbrush in the last days and this is what I managed to do:

First a little Tamiya primer from a spray can:

On top of that I put some red - Humbrol 60:

I masked the hood stripes with 5mm Tamiya tape strips, I have also masked off the doors. Then I sprayed satin olive green - Humbrol 163. After taking the masks off it looked like this:

I installed the windshield (to protect the fragile upper edge) and started thinking about mounting the cab on the frame. But the fenders, especially the front edges were a little crooked. I used a little CA to glue a popsicle stick across to straighten them out, and I hope that when I glue everything to the frame and let the glue dry really well, then maybe it will stay somewhat straight:

The popsicle stick will then be removed, of course. Then I can also intall the engine and winch and the front axle.

Thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

Excellent work--and we don't really get to see eastern European vehicles other than AFV that often.

Cool subject matter. I like it. Coming together pretty good. You are doing a great job at it.

Hello everybody!

Thanks a lot for your comments!

keavdog - it's not a medical vehicle, it's a mobile workshop, used for emergency response in case something breaks, in this case in service of the heating network in Kharkov. The cool thing the kit has all the workshop equipment inside.

Gino - thanks a lot!

Tom - thanks a lot, and yes - despite some problems this is a very nice kit. I generally recommend the ICM kits.

Bill - good catch, it took me literally months to catch that window thing. In the moment I have no idea about the other side, because I couldn't find another photo of this machine showing it. My guess is they bought this machine from the military that used it for some special equipment that interfered with the windows so they were deleted. Sometimes they do it so that the sunlight doesn't interfere with radar screen reading. Unless proven otherwise I plan to keep all the windows on the other side to show off the interior better.

Thanks again, and have a nice day!

Paweł

Co0ming together very nicely.

Notice the windows on the cabin are different than the kit. I wonder if both sides are the same or not?

Bill