Hei chaps!

My next AFV blog beside my Railcar is the weird colossus Minenräumer from RPM in 1/35.
After I saw the faboulus build from Chema Cabrero I had absolutly to build one of these monsters



So lets start:

After separating the hull parts from the sprues I noticed that it won't be easy, because the fitting is absolutly bad. I never had such a kit (the few kits I have built were from Dragon or Tamiya).

I had to bend the parts and hold them till the glue had dried. Putty and sanding were absolutly necessary like you see on the pics.







The hull walls were so bevel, that i used sprues to make them straight.





What was RPM thinking with the hatch on the top? It absolutly won't fit, but with cutting, sanding and putty it is ok.





Very time consuming to build such a bad kit but I got very ambitious to get something good out of it. And it is a really good exercise for puttying straightening and so on...

Next will be more sanding, puttying and so on. And I'll try self-made weld beads.

Good and bad comments like always very welcome.

Have a nice evening...

You certainly picked one of the most work intensive RPM kits they make. It either become a labor of love, or hate to bring it anywhere need a decent looking finished model.
Good luck, and keep us post with your progress.

I bought the same kit after seeing Chema Cabrero's build on ML.

Of course mine is still in the stash so I'll be watch your blog and taking notes.

I salute your bravery, sir! I shall follow your build with interest.

Can't wait till you get to the tracks/wheels! I understand assembly of those has made grown men cry.
Best of luck to you,
Charles

Your off to a good start A.W. good luck with it, your a brave man. I can see why you were inspired to build that model, He did a fabulous job on his. I look forward to seeing how yours progresses.

Rob

lol what IS that?

Minenraumer. German Anti-Mine vehicle. Drives through potential mine fields; detonates said mines, clearing a path for the armored column and infantry.

Mike

Hei guys!

NIce that so many of you are joining my build
It's a very awkward vehicle but that's the interesting on this build, isn't it?

After sanding and grinding and filling the hull is finally assembled. I thought it's going to be more bended and difficult to get it right but I think the shape of the hull is now ok. Or what do you think? I even thought it's going to be much more difficult to get it, so all of you with one in the stash: with some love and putty you can achieve a good result

I cut out the motor screens and added some mesh. Next I'll ad some little bits to the hull and it's going to the painting stage.

Thanks for looking and commenting, perhaps I oversaw something!!!

Charles - you are not wrong, my friend.

I tried tackling this dog a couple of years ago - and eventually gave up.

It ended up back in the stash for a while, before I finally unloaded it via feeBay. It's a fascinating vehicle for sure, but a complete horror to build and (I decided) "not a worthwhile use of my time and resources" (or my nerves!).

hellvetier, I admire your preseverance and wish you all the best with your build. But I'll sit this one out, and just watch from the sidelines .

- Steve

I wanted to build one of those for some time, but after seeing your first steps...I'll wait some 25 yrs for Dragon to release it...

@ Steve and John: First I wanted to put it aside and wait like John for the Dragon edition. But will they ever bring it out? Thanks for looking even from the sideline

First coat of paint is on. But before I primed it with Tamiya white primer and painted some shadows especially on the underside.

Next I'll try to make some gradients and highlights. The exhaust panels are going to be painted separetly. in a n other hull red to give some contrast. The color is a little bit darker, but the added clear made it very reflective.







Thanks for looking!

Hi AW:
I built one of these kits last year-lots of sanding , putty etc., to get it together but it is an interesting beast. It looks like something from a sci-fi movie. I will try to post some pictures of mine on the site. I too was inspired by the few I saw here and elsewhere. Good luck -I will be following this blog with great interest. So far it looks good-keep up the good work !

Rich M.

Quite a project you've got there. Great progress though, what a difference from the first couple of pics to the last ones! Nicely done sticking with it! Keep on trucking!

Cheers -

Tim

I echo what Tim said: Looking really good now - a lovely cleanly-built look to the hull.

- Steve

looking good!!
keep on going

Thank you guys for your support! would be nice to see some more beasts and how their builder managed to get the kit right

I added some gradients to give more contrast to different panel sections. But with filters and weathering it won't be so obvious.

Next will be the turret and some details picked out by brush.

Tell me what you think...

Ok here we go with the next steps:

Assembly of the turret was awful... But there it is, painted on some gradients and highlights. Hatches are going to be painted by hand in lighter colors.



Details of the hull have been painted by hand and all parts are on now.
Watching Adam Wilders DVD I followed his instructions. So to give more contrast I painted some corners (ex. front left besides the turret) with a red oil color and blended it in. I didn't want to over-do-it so perhaps it's not too visible. But I think many details even if you don't see them on the first look add much to the appearence.







Tell me what you think.