¹⁄35

A39 Tortoise

Stage three

This stage starts the assembly of the road wheels and return rollers, and with 32 road wheels it takes some time. The road wheels each have two connection points but are surprisingly easy to clean up as there were no mould seams to be removed. The inner and outer wheel mounting arms did need some mould seam clean up, and it is important to be sure the parts are the correct way round, as the half-moon detail is something that stands out on the real vehicle. After assembling the road wheel suspension mounts, leave them aside to cure fully as some manipulation will be needed in the next stage; the plastic rod is the only thing holding everything together unless you opt to cement the wheels in place, which will make painting the road wheels more difficult later. The return rollers are an easy task to complete but remember they are side specific.

Stage four

This stage is really two stages as the two centre wheel assemblies on each side are different from the front and rear wheel assemblies on each side. The only real concern with the centre wheel assemblies is to ensure you install the wheel assemblies from the previous stage the correct way up. The two outermost wheel assemblies on each side have added suspension parts which look good when installed, but which cannot be seen when the model is complete, so it is up to you if you decide to add them or not. Stages three and four will take a good three to four hours to complete, once all the parts are cleaned up and brought together.