I recently received my pre ordered kits from Accurate Armour, Coyote and the Jackals. As usual they arrived in the stout, well packed boxes.

Several bags of parts contained within each along with the brass photo etch, decals, plastic rod and a nice touch is coloured plastic lenses for stop,tail and turn indicator lights. Full color instructions should help the build.

This weekend I will start on the Coyote 6X6. A small update will follow as I progress. I am looking forward to this project.

Rumour has it that Accurate Armour is already working on crews for the vehicles.

Keith.

Kieth
I will be watching your build. The kits look beautiful built up now we'll see how they go together.
Bill

Damn, dont be such a tease-I wana see some resin!! Cant wait to see some build pics, the AA kit looks awesome and its added to the never ending list of 'to-do' builds.

Don't think I'll be getting one of these anytime soon, but looking forward to watching your build. They are so big and mean and ugly looking that they're beautiful in a perverse sort of way.

Chaps.
I am not much of a photographer so don't expect the high quality photographic build delivered by Alan etc.

However I will do my best to show you the beastie and let you see the progress.

I cleaned up the two body halves and joined them together this afternoon. Pictures to follow, remember, I am 5 hours behind the UK.

Keith.

The box, instructions and parts.
NOTE. The front and rear of the hull have been joined by myself (sorry).



Ready to start the suspension.


A completed front set.

All complete and in place. The brass edging replicates the rubber splash guards.
Done for today, wheels are placed for the picture, they will not be glued until the beastie is painted as a very last step.
You cannot see it but AA has the SUPACAT name on each hub.



More in a couple of days.
Keith.

Nice job Keith.

Any major probs with the suspension we should know about?

No, everything is cleanly molded (new molds no doubt), excellent fit and with very little clean up required.
Very clear instructions help, just ensure you put the steering arms on the left and right sides.

Not certain why enough is included for all six wheels as only the front actually steer the vehicle (I think)?

If I am wrong there is enough room to add them as long as the wheels are not fitted.

I did discover the steering wheel is missing the middle and spokes. If need be I can borrow one from my other kits until the replacement appears.

**This was found during the check of parts against the listing**
Something I always do before starting the project.

Keith.

A bit more completed.
AA instructions suggest building in sub moduals and then assemble them onto the main hull. This will work as some items really need to be painted before putting them in place.

Access will be very limited after final assembly.

I found on sub assembly/modual #5, (page 4) the picture of the seats asks for item 18 to be used for the seats?
This is WRONG !

The picture is of the REAR seats and *item 17. REAR SEAT ARMOUR is shown attached to the seats, this should be a number 17 in the instructions NOT an 18 as shown..*


The seats are now done, weapon holders attached to the inside of the front doors.

I chose to put the front seat adjustable mounts in the vehicle rather than attach them to seat bottoms, they are *handed* this ensures I wont goof it up.

Foot pedals inserted, winch done and IED detectors on the front. Front Bowman antenna mounting in place.


The side step bars, seats, doors and nose set aside as I move on.



The seat belts are molded on to the seats and one of mine is missing a strap, (easily fixed) But the purists among you might want to remove them and add your own, me, I like to keep things simple (out of the box).

However I am surprised they were not part of the Brass frets?

Oh well, more later.

Keith.

Sorry this has been slow but I did get a little more done today. A couple more mistakes with the instructions as well.

I completed the Smoke Grenade launchers for the front and it it should be noted that parts 144 (two of) (marked 144 L & R on the sprue) need to be reversed.

Secondly the mounting bracket is shown as part E18 on the instructions and should be E8.


On page 5 it calls for parts 44 and 45 (footwell armour) to be installed, these numbers should be reversed.



The side vent is on, radios assembled on the mounting tray, front and rear wheelwell armour in place.




This build is very interesting and the painting of the sub assemblies will prove a little more challenging than the normal run of the mill model.

More in a couple of days.

Keith.

interesting build, and nice kit indeed.
I'd really appreciate if you could post detailed pictures of the build process, as it seems very interesting.
thanks

Matan.
That is way above my pay grade mate, not to mention I don't have that sort of expertise when it comes to time and photography.

The only reason I am adding this is for general interest and in hopes that it may be of some help to those who are currently building the Coyote or Jackal 2 or looking at doing so.

No doubt one of the experts will do an item by item build as a feature in due course.

Keith.

Keith
Good of you to be doing what you're doing. It is nice to see this coming together and I'm certain many will refer back to your build to find those problems with the instructions. I am watching this carefully, great project.
Regards
Bill

Bill, thanks for that.
My observations are also sent to Derek Hansen (owner of AA) and he acknowledges the mistakes and is passing them along in order to get things corrected.

No doubt a few more MINOR mistakes will be found as I progress but suffice to say it is almost impossible to place the wrongly noted items as indicated in the instructions......

One has to paint many of the items in the sub assemblies before joining them together as a whole as they will be next to impossible to access after.

The painting guide of some of the items I believe are based on vehicles right out of workshops after having the anti IED suites fitted before delivery to user units, hence different colors. Repaired and refurbished units prior to handover seem to be painted the same color as the main body.

I have some photo's coming from my old regiment (H/Cav. The Life Guards) who have just returned from Afghanistan. Hopefully this will provide me with a good painting and stowage guideline to follow.

My Coyote will NOT be a newbie (parade ready) but a well used one, something that is achieved in a matter of days if not hours...

Keith.

Looking very nice mate.

Hi there
has the progress of this projsct ben halted as its sometime since the last posting.
I was keen to wach its progress

Sorry about the snails pace on this one but we have been away on vacation (Las Vegas) and of course, 4th of July.

I did manage a few hours over the weekend and found yet another numerical parts listing problem (more later). The other problem with this seems to be the quality of the photos in the instructions, they are 'fuzzy' and could certainly be much better. Perhaps the corrected set of instructions will have a nicer set of pictures.

The support legs of the main armament ring are very delicate and care must be taken with the photo etch rings at this point. (pictures will follow in a day or two.)

Another point to note is, the pictures in the instructions are a compilation of Coyote and Jackal two (2) and parts on the sprue can be different. ie. the spare barrel holder (GPMG) in the picture doesn't have any Barrels, the part itself does. Thankfully, the parts were correctly numbered on the sprue (runner).

It is a fairly complicated build but well worth taking your time.

Again, I apologise for my lack of updates but will do my best to add more in the coming days.

Keith.

Kieth, love your work! i have this kit and the 4x4 sitting here next to me, and your pics and tips are very helpful. Anychance of having a look at some of the pics from your old unit?
Cheers!

The chap who has the pictures is away on a course (due back end of next week). As soon as I have them in my hand I will share them with the BB.

I did ask Derek Hansen (Accurate Armour) if he intends to produce an update for the Jackal 2 making it into a Jackal 2a and he said he had recently visited Supacat but the Jackal 2a was still under wraps and not available for photos, no doubt this will change shortly.

The MoD has already ordered the Jackal 2a for Afghanistan.

Keith.

Thanks Keith. Keep up the good work!

Page 4. Item 118 should be 119.


The work continues.


Seats placed for adjustments to the rollover bars.

Skate ring supports in place.



Armament skate ring and GPMG spare barrels (2) holder in place.



The small already built modules will not be joined to the main chassis until each are painted. Once this is complete then the details can be added. Cables for radio comms boxes and antennas etc.

The choice of Jerrican stowage racks in the up or down position need to be decided upon here, before fixing them in position.
The running boards on my model are moveable and can be changed to suit the base. The armored doors can be fixed open or closed (your choice).

Keith.

Kieth
Nice work and tidy build, I am enjoying your progress. Can you show us the modules as you have them built up please?
Regards
Bill

How's the build going? I'm just about to start on mine, and i'm going through the instructions. I'm looking forward to building htis, but not sure how to arm it! I have some pics of the aussie trials version, and also have the new legends mini guns sets. So i got all sorts of ideas!

More work yesterday on my Coyote and again another numerical problem with the instructions?

Page 9. Fire Extinguisher, marked 69 + 69 when in fact it should indicate 68 + 69.

The REAL concern/ problem/annoyance for me is the ECM table.

Nowhere in the instructions is it shown in place nor where the front legs (items 132) locate or join the frame?

Only the assembly of the table, legs and antennas are shown within the instructions !

The ONLY picture showing the ECM table in place is on the box art and front page of the instructions?

I will add some more pictures later today or tomorrow chaps but I am now of the opinion AA needs to revamp the instructions and add higher quality pictures.

WHY? Well many of the VERY SMALL photo etch pins, chains etc are almost invisible in the ones provided.

I will be leaving many of them til the very last so they won't get knocked off during the painting process.

Keith.

Keith: This is very interesting looking. I only have two AA kits as they are quite pricey especially when shipping to the US. I haven't started them as I wanted to develop my skills in resin a bit so that I can do them justice.

I understand your frustration with the instructions, I know that feeling all to well. I Don't know if these offer any help to you, but you may find these links of use-

Supacat's HMT 600 page
Armorama announcement

Most images seem to be recycled across the web. It appears that someone isn't fond of having clear pictures of the interior floating around on the internet.