... and on with my TATRA 813 8x8! After I finished the BAT-M and the P-50 Trailer its time to start the towing vehicle I guess.

The basic kit is from czech manufacturer MMK. It's the only model of the Tatra available in 1:35 so there was no choice: since I wanted this one to be my towing vehicle, I ordered it (140,00 Euro... *puh* ) The material is all resin. In the kit are added three sheets of PE (nicely detailed!) and some decals (won't use them, since I have better ones from TL-Decals)

Here's a picture of the original vehicle. My painting scheme will probably be a bit different but thats a topic for later:




Last weekend I started with the central frame. There I had the same problems as with the trailer: a lot to putty and sand... well, I got used to it but it s... (especially when you paid such an amount of money for it)
Because there will be only another small frame to hold everything together I needed to be carefull when adding all the details for the wheels (axles, suspension etc.) At the end everything fit together quite ok and I was happy, that it was geometrically sound.

Steering:
I knew from the beginning that I wanted to have the front wheels turned a bit. So I just cut the front wheel "holder", built movable ones with plastic sheet and fixed them with some wire: "tada"! Now the front wheels are working as in reality and I can choose my own way to display them later.

Brakes:
The instructions from MMK left only question marks in my head when it came to building the break system. So I just asked my Dad (a former Officer for automotive engineering in the NVA) and searched for some material in the german NVA-forum. It turned out, that the pneumatic cylinders for the front wheels don't fit at all. Meant some more work, but finally it was something that I myself called at least "ok". Afterwards I added the pneumatic pipes (as my detail-photos of the real vehicle showed me).

Thats it for now. Next time I need to build the rest of the frame.... but I'll have to rebuild the whole thing, because the part from the kit is . But that'll be another story. For now I wish you fun with the pics and as always: don't hesitate to comment

Look Really Cool
140 Euros I can feel your pain my Man
cheers
Seb

Hello,

I too feel your pain. I purchased their Mack Bulldog Truck and spent most of the time filling in air holes, repairing miscast parts and such. I have a coat of paint on the kit but put it on the shelf due to the frustation with such an expensive kit and poor quality.

Keep at it,

Rob

maybe it helps if I say you will not be seeing much of the suspension when you have completed the assembly. I have to warn you about the position of the axles. I have build 2 Panzershop vehicles based on the Tatra and with both models I had problems when I mounted the cab and mudguards. I strongly advise you to do some some dry fitting before you glue it all. The wheel clearance on these vehicles is minimal.

Good luck with your build. I saw Tatras with the trailers driving when I was in the Czech Republic for work and these things are truly impressive.

Matthijs

Mat, I can imagine what you are talking about with the wheel clearance. I still can change the position of the wheels a bit, but there WILL be al lot of dry fitting, believe me I will give my best and thanks for the heads up! I'll keep you posted on this one.

By the way: Mat. which models did you build based on the Tatra 813? I can imagine the RM-70 Rocket Launcher... but which one else?

perhaps, but the basic tubular chassis structure stays the same and therefore the potential problem. The 815 is only an improved version of the 813, not a complete different design. I did not think it was worth mentioning

Some progress on the Tatra done!

The U-frame was really bad in quality so I just decided to build a new one from "Evergreen" styrene-profiles. First some pics of the original kit frame (to prove, that there was no point in using this warped piece of something):








So I went to an arts shop in my town and got the "Evergreens". Cutting was no problem, here are some pics of the pieces prepared for glueing:






Afterwards I cut the original frame to use all the small mounted parts on the new one. They were of good quality so there was no need to scratch them as well. The engine was mounted quickly and with no problems.

Another problem was the steering linkage. I cut the kit parts, because I needed to show it turned (like my wheels I want to display turned). You can see the result of the new linkage on the picture taken from above.

Thats it for now, I hope to get some hands on it this week again. Here is the rest of the pics with the mounted new frame. Enjoy and feel free to comment!

the other one was the Dana which was a nightmare because of all the big chunks of resin that had to go on the frame with very tight tolerances. Did MMK not also have one with a pontoon bridge on it?

Your resin frame rails look like bananas. I still think it is crazy that they dare to put that stuff into such an expenisve resin kit.

Where did I hear that there is going to be a plastic Dana??? I hope it will be the start of a whole series of Tatra based vehicles

Hi Marian. Looks to be a very dissapointing kit ... especially as it cost €140. You maybe need to look at the axle placement .. especially the back axles. They are not in line, and could cause problems later with fender placement, and lining up the body. See image below

Hi Frank,

thanks for the comments on the axles. I mean, that they're not in line is original... and the kit itself displays this fact quite ok (one of the few "goods" on this kit: it is definitely the right scale, means sizes and measures are good!!).. But I think you know it, too...!? (Means: hope I got u right!?)

Well the cabin and platform placement will be another story. Will need to dry fit, dry fit, dry fit I guess...

Some more work done on the Tatra. I just recognized that the new frame sits a bit too high. Means I won't have problems with the wheel clearance, but it is obvious, that the overall look will be not sound. It's not that much of a problem, but I just need to be careful when mounting the body later... means a bit more work but well... aren't we doing it only because its a challenge sometimes!?

...and on with some added details. They are as following:

- gas tanks with fuel pipes and an improved cap for the tank

- complete exhaust system

- back side: winch control, preparation for GDR or better NVA lamps and some more detailed back search lamp (the kit's part was kind of awful again)

And finally I cleaned the cabin... this kit part is fortunately quite well cast and it was easy to work with until now... lets see how it turns out in the end.

hey there... I just brought this built back to life! (Was moving and starting a new job... that was more time consuming than expected) But I've done some work on the Tatra, though.

What did I do? First of all I had a look at the doors... and they are miscast and warped as so many of the other parts. But I was loosing my patience here, so I decided to give them a shot anyway... will try to bend them until they fit... lets see...





After that I concentrated on the inner parts of the cabin: seats (not in the pics but still there: seat frames), pedals, gear stick, steering wheel (also not in the pics right now) and glueing together the bigger parts. Afterwards a heavy putty and sanding job again... well...








As I want to display the service hatches in the front open I had to search for some nice reference of the air filters... after that I went to my local hobby shop, got me some new styrene and aluminium profiles and afterwards cutting, drilling, sanding and all the other stuff again... and finally: here they are:




Now it's time for the upper cabin part again... the cast quality is quite ok, but could be better though (as it is the case with most of the parts of this kit ) But with some work it will be fine. I added some details like the lamps, the fitting for the roof lamp, some handles and the hatches... more to do, but thats it for now...












Finally I had a look at the platform parts and can only say: "spooky" So another look to my profile box and there they are: wooden stuff for the planks: great imiation since at the original vehicle you can find wooden planks as well so I don't have to worry about the grain... its not finished yet, and has to be sanded at the edges as well... but thats a sotry for later. For now, enjoy the pics and comments are welcome as usual.

Good job so far Marian. I am building a similar kit from Panzershop. These are probably the most complex kits on the market, i hope I will find the motivation to finish it...

I'm still working on the Tatra (unbelievable but true ) and hope to get to the paint shop stage soon...

Here are some pics of the progress. Spend the weekend constructing the oil coole and radiator grille. Those parts weren't included in the kit and since I decided to go for open hatches I just scratched 'em. Well it took a while and I also replaced the original kit's parts of the front grilles, because they were awfull (what a surprise, huh?!)

Now the cabin is more or less finished construction wise. Only the (awfully bent) doors left, windows and then I'll give it a try with a first layer of paint. I already primed the front grille to see if the different materials fit together and if there are any marks, holes or such to clean or fill...

Have an nice sunday and see you soon with hopefully some more progress (I really want to finish that one...)

Very interesting, thank you for sharing this with us. There have been a small handful of Tatra vehicles that I've wanted to build, unfortunately as you pointed out there isn't much of a selection out there for the time being. I can tell this is a challenging build, keep on it

Here we go with some news on the cargo deck: as I said before I had to replace almost all the parts from the kit, since they were just... well, lets say "useless". Here are some in progress pictures from the built of the new cargo deck and the whole thing together before painting... I will try to put some color on the parts as soon as possible... but still a long way to go I think...

The rest of the story lets tell the pictures

Have fun

Okay, now you see some first paint on it... its only a dry fit so far, nothing's glued together yet. No major fit issues, but especially the cabin needs some attention and a lot of more work... but there is some progress at least.

I have to admit, that I'm not very trained with painting and weathering and I guess never will... with only one model a year its not too easy to become a skilled painter... well I'm trying and it stays a hobby.

Comments welcome as always.

It's been a while... again. But what can I say: due to another job change I moved last winter... again And that meant packing all the stuff, moving, unpacking and getting back to the work bench finally... good news is: everything survived moving to the new place. Bad news: the kit stays a pain in the ass

Some small update for now: reworked most of the cabin, joined the two halves, putty and sanding as usual, painted it again, decals.. well all this *usual* stuff.

But eventually the worst part was still waiting for me: creating 16 (!) windows out of some clear plastic sheet: 16 pieces which I knew would never fit *porperly*, no matter what I do. And so it was: I hate to say it: I did my best, but it wasn't enough... getting tired of that kit, don't like the window job at all... but it'll stay this way for now. Will try to but some dust all over it, so you wouldnt notice the gaps and the misfit of the window-pieces... but now it's time for the pics (don't worry, I'm still eager to finish that one... I'm soooo close...)

Yes it's really really bad kit there but you're doing fine so far Marian....Good luck for the rest.....

Hey Marian,

glad you are back on this one! Keep up the work (durchhalten) comrade!

Best regards,

Andreas

That's what I call modeling !!
But why did you spend so much money on the resin kit to rebuild it nearly entirely
It's a shame to sell kits like this.
Congrats for the job and good luck for the following steps !

Olivier

Thanks for the heads up, guys, it's much appreciated!

Let's see how all this ends, I'll keep you posted