"I'm French! Why do you think I have this outrageous accent you silly English Knighits" (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
Work has begun on my Tamiya 1/35 Char B1 bis. I must say this is a really interesting vehicle and has sparked my interest not only with the early days of Germany's Blitzkrieg, but also French Armor, which at the time were more heavily armed and armored than Germany's tanks. I spent a good part of yesterday working on the kit and so far it's been very enjoyable. The research has been fun too as I had known virtually nothing about the Char B1 bis until now.
The wheels weren't too difficult. The sprue attachement point on each wheel is right along the edge of the thinnest part. Why they engineered it that way that way I'll never know because it made cleanup a bit tedious as you have to sand the outside of the thin rim, the inside and the outer edge. However....... the wheels are pretty much hidden so you don't have to get too carried away with the cleanup because no one will ever notice. I cleaned them up carefully anyway because... well, I felt like being a bit anal about it and it was good practice.... ya, that's what it was.... LOL
The running gear was a little tricky as you have to set the lower hull section onto the rail just right, then carefully flip it all over so it can be glued. I just slid the folded instruction sheet underneath the wheels/rail to keep them from flying everywhere while carefully holding the lower hull section so the wheels stayed put. To keep it simple I did one side at a time.
The 75mm gun assembly is very simple, but as always, when there are two barrel halves involved there will be seam work. I carefully cemented the barrel halves together being sure to line them up to minimize the sanding work to keep the barrel round. I used Mr. Surfacer applied with a toothpick which I laid along the seam lines, waited for it to dry then carefully worked away to smooth everything out and keep the barrel round.
The gun assembly attaches very positively into the lower hull section so you'd really have to go out of your way to not install it properly. The lower skirts, skids and hatches were attached at this point as well.
Here are a couple of photos with the hull dry fitted to the lower hull assembly. There are 26 holes that needed to be drilled in the upper hull to provide locating holes for the various parts that will be added in the next steps. If you have a pin vise with a 1mm bit this will go very quickly. There were indentations on the underside of the upper hull section which made it impossible to drill a hole in the wrong place.... in theory.
