This is an old kit from Italeri. This is a US Army M-977 HEMTT, a 10 ton truck.
First of all, it’s the same as the usual truck plastic model that I build from the frame of the body length. The parts are somewhat distorted.
The work around here, the chassis frame and the axle are bonded. There are many wheels and many axles are connected. Considering the fine adjustment with the grounding surface, I would like to reinforce it with superglue after positioning the equilibrium with the ground after assembling it. At this stage, I think I can make fine adjustments by twisting with a little force.
Is that the engine in the back of the driver’s seat? And parts of the lower part of the car body such as the fuel tank are attached.
There are a lot of tire parts. This time, in addition to the 8-wheel truck, there are extra tires on the right side, so there are 9 in total.
(2025/05/25)
The reason why I pulled out this old kit is because I wanted to put on Michelin tires that were cast from Bronco and Trumpeter track plastic models a long time ago. Now that I think about it, it was quite troublesome to make a mold like this. I don’t want to do it anymore. But I had a spare tire that I cast in bulk before, and I’m glad I didn’t throw it away when I moved. I mean, if I had a preference for tires when I bought a kit, I should have bought a kit with my favorite tires from the beginning.
I lost the part of the handrail in the process of assembling it, and I couldn’t find it, so I made my own with an extension runner, and I found it soon after it was installed. I lost the part of the handrail in the process of assembling it, and I couldn’t find it, so I made my own with an extension runner, and I found it soon after it was installed. It’s a little annoying to find the original after making a replacement myself.
Each tire is a lump of resin, so it is quite heavy. As expected, the strength cannot be maintained by pointing with the axle, so I made a hole in the middle of the tire with the same diameter as the axle and pierced it. I plan to cut out the protruding part and shape it before painting. Even if there is a bump in the middle, it looks like a bolt installed, so I don’t think I need to worry so much.
As always with trucks, the inside of the driver’s seat is painted first and then sealed by gluing glass windows. Is it true that the inside of the car was designated as dark green? I was going to make a car for the Iraqi war, so the outside was dark yellow or sand yellow, so I painted the inside dark yellow. The seats are olive drab and the steering is painted black.
Masking the glass part, which takes a lot of time, is troublesome later, so I did it now. The headlight parts were surprisingly good.
(2025/05/28)
The box was old and worn out, and the accuracy of the parts was not so good, so I made it without thinking about the details. But as the assembly nears completion, it is powerful and looks surprisingly good. I was surprised that the box was small but the assembled body was quite big.
It will be more powerful if the tires are big and wide. Because I cast it myself, there are some parts that didn’t shape well and there are many air bubbles, but I filled them with putty as much as possible.
A large crane is installed at the rear of the vehicle. This is stretchable, but the rope hanging from the pulley is attached, so if I stretch the crane too much, the angle of the pulley will be strange, so it’s better not to move it.
If I look carefully, this truck has a high height and seems to be able to climb over some obstacles. It looks like an off-road car with deep anti-skid tires, and it’s a little more durable on non-paved roads.
The side mirror protrudes so much that it comes off right away when I bump it when I turn it around.
It’s a very big carrier. I’m going to put an imaginary cargo on it with stylo foam and put a sheet over it. I think it’s cool to be carrying something like a working car.
(2025/05/31)
I’m thinking of cutting the stylo foam suitably, putting it on the loading platform, covering it with tissue, and soaking it in diluted woodworking bond to harden it. If I pass some nylon string over the top, it will look like packing. I bought a woodworking bond at a 100 yen shop before, and the inside of it separated and became unusable within a few months, so I chose a Konishi Bond brand product this time. I might have been unlucky with the 100 yen store, but the price is only a little different, so I thought this one was more reliable.
I thought a thick one would have been better than a tissue. But I think it would have been better to use two tissues and four thin sheets of paper. It will be a little stronger.
I primed it with black once the package dried. I also primed the luggage part and it became a pretty strong cloth. However, it was a little difficult to put the color on because the car body color was bright when it was primed with black.
The rope holding the luggage was tight before painting, but it seems to have loosened a little after underpainting. Do they stretch with thinner? It’s nylon yarn. It’s not cool if it floats too much, so I modified it to look a little bit stuck to the luggage. It took a lot of time to paint after putting a lot of rope. I put a waterproof cover on the whole load, so I couldn’t put a lot of decals on the loading platform because they were covered.
I painted the luggage cover in the image of a truck that normally runs in Japan.
The drive transmitting part on the underside of the car body is complicated, and it is quite difficult to paint. However, it is a part that cannot be seen at all to leave it usually, so it is difficult to decide how much to paint. This kind of transport vehicle is likely to be used up until it is worn out, so I think it would be better to use heavy weathering. After that, it will be complete if weathering and small parts are painted.
(2025/06/02)
コメント