Thanks, Stefan! Yes, the Hussar wheels look pretty good but they were not as well made (cast) as I thought they would be. They don't even include axles so you have to cut the ones from the kit's wheels to make them work. It's not really noticeable in the pics, but I also sanded down the treads as they stand out too much.
Regarding the shield, yes, you are correct. These were early shields and they were in two pieces (left and right). I found out about them after I had glued the kit's shield in place so I didn't feel - at the time - like scribing a line...I may still do it though at some point. The main issue is that there isn't much of a space to put some tape down as a guide for the scriber due to those bolts being in the way so I'll see what I can do.
Since you have this kit in the stash you may want to know that now that I have finished construction, all I can say about it is that it was an unexpectedly difficult kit to build. The plastic is very soft and parts don't align very well. There was lots of clean up and filling to do to blend some areas as well. I was actually planning to get the ZIS-3 to complete the series but now that I have built this, I'm not so sure I want to try again
It was a good kit in that I was able to put some new building techniques into practice so all was not lost. I do have a couple of Hussar's two-spoked wheels left over as the set comes with 4 so if you want them, I'll be happy to send them your way.
Cheers!
Rob
