Hi guys,

I was hoping someone might give me a bit of advice with a problem I've just run into with this kit.

I've attached the suspension arms as per the instructions and that went beautifully, but I've come to put the wheels on and they aren't straight. If you look at the vehicle from the front the wheels are angled inward slightly.

I'm guessing this isn't an accurate detail and the real thing isn't like this and I'm not sure how to handle it. I think the only thing I can do is cut off the tip of the suspension arms that go inside the wheels and try to cement the wheel on straight.

This is my first Trumpeter kit and I was really impressed with it until now. It reminds me of the old Dragon kits back in the day and the headaches I used to have with them.

Anyway if anyone can offer a solution I'd appreciate it.

I have one other problem. And this is embarrassing but as I was sitting there pondering this problem I reached out for my Tamiya extra thin cement and knocked it over... right onto the pile of road wheels! At least half of them got covered with it. I'm thinking I can maybe cover the damage up with mud when I come to weather it, but would anyone know if you can get hold of replacement parts from Trumpeter?

Thanks guys.

I have this kit on order, so I'm reading your post with great interest.
Never heard of anyone ordering spares from Trumpeter.
You might consider a set of aftermarket wheels from fe Miniarm or Panzerart.

Good luck!

While I haven't built this kit yet, I have noticed that with Hobbyboss and Trumpeter kits, you need to take care to make sure they sit right on the road wheel arms...even with ones that have the polycaps. For example, their Leopard kit required some adjusting to get the wheels perpendicular to the ground. Are yours glued on or polycapped?

Trumpy's BMPs don't have polycaps. You need to fashion some sort of jig to align the arms and road wheels when you glue them. Still it comes out a bit off. It isn't so obvious once you put on the tracks.

Ok...let first talk about the replacement issue. Trumpeter/HobbyBoss HQ are in mainland China and their factory, storage zone are also in the same place. which means what you got for replacement part service is not from HK Special district but from mainland China(aka international parcel). All parcel come out from mainland China will cost at least 3 times expensive than the kit price.As far as I know they are working on to solve this issue caused by postal service(whatever you choose to post doesnt matter, price is the same) and custom offices around the world.

here is my cheap advice to make the fix. a bit risky but worth trying.first is why no poly caps? the thickness of bmp roadwheel makes it impossible to add poly caps inside of it. so. be careful when you glue the wheels in case you wont glue them out of direction.
Solution(risky!!!!): cut the roadwheel you are not satisfied(or suspension bar) off from the area...then you need to trim the touching surface to make it flat. then this is the key to make it easier: drill hole on both bar and roadwheel center to insert a copper wire（or whatever metal wire/stick you can find）in the holw to make them fixed when you finally glue the wheels on. hope this can help you.

This is a potential problem with ALL brands to varying degrees. That's why it's one of the specific things considered during AMPS judging: It's a good measure of the attention and craftsmanship applied during the build.




I've done that myself. I suggest you a) epoxy a thin, rigid, disk (metal, MDF, plastic sheet) about 5 inches in diameter on to the bottom of the bottle. b) get a can or container about 5 inches in diameter and cut it to be about the same height as the square part of the bottle. Put the bottle on a 12 inch square of cling wrap and pull the wrap up and tie it or tape it like a wrapped candy. Mix up some plaster of paris and pour it into the container, then plunge the wrapped bottle into the center. After the plaster sets cut the wrap and remove the bottle and the wrap. You now have a nearly un-tip-able "inkwell" for your cement.

KL

If you're not on a budget, maybe you could replace the damaged wheels with some AM ones (Panzer Art, Masterclub, Miniarm...) ?

H.P.