Just received this one for review/build up. Upon first examination all I can say is WOW! lots of parts, and well cast/molded parts at that. The pile of plastic on the bench will give you some clue. I liken it to Styrene Origami with the end result being a completed Nashorn. Before I get too deep into this, let me preface this by saying I am no expert on the vehicle and have limited resources on it, but my intention is to give you my thoughts on the model and how it builds. I can't and won't comment on accuracy as I don't have the depth of knowledge on the real vehicle. Nuff said on that.

What you get in the box-
Parts...lots and lots of parts...

I didn't want to spend forever and a day photographing each and every sprue so this was the solution. I will pick out various sprues as I go and get some detail shots of those high lighting some of the pieces/parts. For this segment, I thought the road wheels were exceptionally well done so I shot those. The break down of assembly is nice as you are provided with separate pieces for the rubber portions of the roadwheels which will make painting easier. The detail on the wheels includes the manufacture logo, in this case Dunlop.


The pile of parts you see here is the result of about 3 hours worth of work and there is still more to go. There is a lot of clean up on the back side of each road wheel to remove attachment points. Prepare to spend a lot of time here.

The suspension is designed to be workable...

I'm not one to make things work, but wanted to see just how involved it would be to do so. It took me the better part of an hour to do 5 of the 8 bogey assemblies, so not terribly bad. And the best part is, they actually do work.

The tracks are provided as rubber band style, but look very good. Others may wish to substitute in some metal tracks for that realistic sagged look. That's it for now. I'll try to post regular updates as I make progress on this build. Thanks for following along. "Q"

Matt, well done for taking on this beastie! I think everyone will be waiting to hear if it goes together smoothly - the previous Nashorn kit was apparently a nightmare fit-wise. Can you give us a close-up of the tracks?

Tom

Looking to see this being built-first one that I've seen.
Dan

Thanks for the kudos thus far guys. Today I finished up the other three suspension bogeys, installed the hubs on the road wheels and installed the small suspension bumpers along the lower hull on one side along with building up and installing the rear plate on the hull. I have 1 hour a day to work on this so it will be limited/slow going for awhile. I noticed in my instructions there are a couple of parts listed for install in step 7 that aren't numbered. I will have to go through and search the sprues and play the part association game to locate them by shape. I am not looking forward to this. Other than this little hiccup things are progressing well. As asked for, here are pics of the tracks....


rear plate...the one road wheel holder is a bit bent...it was like this on the sprue

Completed bogeys and road wheels...

Left side hull with suspension bumpers installed...

Mystery parts...

Thanks for following along. "Q"

Look on "L #5" for those parts.

Tony the Mutt

Q, thanks for those close-ups! As for the bent wheel hanger, I guess it counts as "instant character"...

Tom

Thanks for the assist Tony, much appreciated. I was thinking the same thing about the hanger myself. No need for battle damage now.. Thanks guys, "Q"

The tracks looks very good. I hope it has some slack for some sag look later. Looking forward to your progress. Keep us informed. I want to get this kit.

Glad to see this thread! I recently bought this kit and it'll be nice to see one built before I do mine.

Making progress with the Nashorn. I have been able to get the bogeys attached, fenders assembled and attached. Built up the upper hull area, and part of the travel lock mechanism. some points of interest so far...
There are some small raised areas on each fender that need to be removed...

easily accomplished with a few passes of a sanding stick.
The underside of the hull is very detailed...too bad it won't be seen...

The inclusion of the radiator fans is a nice touch...

The front bulkhead is nicely detailed on the drivers side, so if an interior is dropped in, this will be one less detail to deal with...

It is starting to take the shape of a Nashorn...

So far, so good. No major hang ups have been encountered as yet, and everything is fitting well.
I scanned through the instructions and there is a lot to be done yet. . Especially with the gun, gun shield, and fighting compartment... Thanks for following along. "Q"

Q, lookin' good so far!

Tom

Great progress I am looking to purchase one of these myself

Ref the below picture of the bent hanger; was this caused by the sprue being packaged with other sprues, or does it look to be an error during the moulding process do you know?

Matt;

I am watching your build only sporadically, but with GREAT INTEREST- much curious about the AFV Nashorn kit and how it all goes together.

Your build is storming right along and looks really nice, IMO.

I do have a comment (request) about that right-side spare-wheel rack...

PLEASE straighten out its welded-on tabs on the hull!

The bent ("battle damaged") mount, itself, looks fine - I'm pretty sure that one could get gnarled by backing into things, etc. But the bend should NOT, I think, include "twisting" those end-tabs where the mount attaches to the hull. Those tabs were welded on at the factory and should probably be aligned vertically with the other features on the rear plate , including its brother to the left. Being bent "in concert" with the bent rod portion comes across just like a bent part was glued on bent!

In all other ways - your build is really cool! Can't wait to see it all together and painted!

Cheers!

Bob

Thanks for the question Darren. It was molded like that. It should be an easy fix that I'll take care of that later in the build.
Well, I got in a couple of hours at the bench today/this evening, but not a whole lot to show for my efforts. I thought the suspension parts were pretty involved until I got to the ammo bins Now, it's not that there were a lot of parts, far from it. It was that they were so small. My sausage fingers were having a hard time holding things while I attempted to clean mold lines etc. I finally decided to clean them as best as I could, assemble the parts, then go back once everything was dry and use my #11 blade and other tools to remove those areas I couldn't get to easily prior to assembly. The ammo bins aren't even completely finished as yet either as I still have to add the folding doors on the front etc. But, they are close. The radios were a little finicky during their assembly. There are two PE handles that are added to the sides if each radio. If they are placed too high on the radio body, they foul the surrounding cage/mount that surrounds them. I had to trim off small pieces to get the mounts to seat properly. Once all the extra hardware is added to the ends of the mounts, the PE handles all but disappear, so one could probably just leave them off and no-one would be the wiser. Mine are on, but they are extremely hard to see.....but I know they are there!! Anyway,,enough talk. Here is the progress for the day. Thanks for following along. "Q"
Three pieces make up each ammo shelf/cradle...there are eight total.

One completed bin...

Both storage bins completed. I changed the hanger arrangement to add a little more eye appeal... little or no ammo will go in these as I want the details of the racks to stand out...

All the various pieces required to build the ammo bin...minus the folding front doors...

My 2+ hours worth of work for the evening... not a whole lot there, but progress is progress. More to follow.....

Looking great Matt, those ammo bins are impressive. I can see why you'd rather not pack them up with rounds. The kit looks to be very well detailed so far, looking forward to the next installment

The kit looks to be very detailed and impressive and its going together really well.

Those radios and shell racks look great.

Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated. Will continue with the fighting compartment once operations continue. Thanks for following along. "Q"

Thank you for answering the question Matthew.

There seem to be alot of mold seams on parts of the model that require careful clean up. Its a shame as it lets the kit down.

I was thinking the same thing, but the overall mold detail is excellent. It just takes some time to get things cleaned up. I'm dreading cleaning up the seams on the rubber portion of the road wheels....all 40 of them. Thanks for the comments folks. More progress soon. Trying to get pushed ahead with home work so I can spend a little more time at the bench. Thanks, "Q"

A little more progress and the first snag in the build....
I finished the ammo bins by installing the accordion doors on the top of the bins, and adding securing nuts along the sides. The small areas that needed removed from the superstructure sides were done and the ammo bins placed accordingly. Here is where the problems arose. There is no positive placement or locating pins or guides and I didn't think about it when I glued the ammo bin in place. I continued fitting the rest of the parts/pieces called for and decided to do a test fit. Needless to say it didn't. The bottom of the ammo bin was fouling on the fender. I quickly got the bin pried off using a #11 blade and set it aside while I tried to think this one through. I tried moving the bin higher and again test fit it...no joy there either. The simple solution is to leave the bins off entirely until the superstructure is complete, then install them. Without the bins installed, the sides fit very well. The bins can be painted separately and then installed at the end. I'm thinking there is a lot of the smaller stuff that could be handled in the same way. I was only able to get part way through one side of the superstructure due to the problems, but knowing what I know now, the opposite side should prove much easier to deal with. Not a huge problem, I'm just glad I caught it when I did, as the bin would have been a real pain to get off had it cured/dried completely. Sooo, without further ado, here's the pics...Thanks for following along. "Q"
Accordion hinged doors and securing butterfly nuts added....

Glue scarring from the ammo bin....ouch...but once the bin is installed it won't be seen...

Plenty of room to work and install the ammo bin once the sides are installed...

Fit of superstructure is excellent!

More to follow as progress is made.

It is looking good, dont worry about the glue scarring as you said it wont be seen.

Again, I am really impressed with this kit.

Thanks Steven,
I realized something while eating dinner last night. I inadvertently sanded off the locating tabs for the ammo bins. I misread the instructions as having these two angled pieces to be removed. When I looked at the instructions again, I could see why I made the mistake. There is a shaded outline of where the ammo bin is to be placed...along the top edge of this line it called for two small locating tabs to be removed. I interpreted it as remove what is inside the shaded line. What is that saying about hindsight being 20/20? lol. Not a huge foul up, so everything is good.

I made a wee bit more progress with the superstructure yesterday by installing some of the smaller items along the interior walls. I test fit the ammo bins in place, and tacked the radios to them making them one unit instead of three. I can hand paint the radios when the time comes. I built up the rear of the superstructure, but decided to leave the doors off for now as I want to display it with these open. I can build them up and paint/install them towards the end of the build. I test fit the front angled armor pieces and the fit like a glove. No gaps are misalignment to be seen. I am hoping to get the rest of the fighting compartment nailed down today so I can begin on the gun assembly. Looking ahead in the instructions I noticed that there is a lot of stuff that is going to have to be painted and then installed, but I guess that is the nature of the beast with these open top vehicles. Here is where she stands as of yesterday...thanks for following along. "Q"

Front pieces and rear plate test fitting. Looking good to these aging eyes....

Rear plate build up minus doors...

Ammo rack and radios joined up...

Ammo racks test fit.....fits like a glove...

same story different side...

sorry for the lag in updates. I took a spill on my mountain bike and have been on the mend as of late. Nothing serious, just some bumps, bruises and scrapes. Should be getting some more work done on the Nashorn shortly. Thanks, "Q"