Matthew Lenton fires up Roden's latest 1/72 Maultier variant, the 8cm Raketen-Vielfachwerfer.



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Thanks!

Very nice review, and a nice build to go with it. I'm almost finished with mine. I think the vinyl tracks are too short as I've stretched mine to the breaking point trying to get them around the suspension and they still don't quite fit, which won't allow any sag. I had to use a small shim on the front axle to add some space as the wheels were against the hull and fenders. It does require some extra care, but it's a nice subject and like you mentioned, a great price.

Russ, sounds a bit worrying re: the tracks, but thanks for the forewarning. That is partly why I mentioned some disappointment in the review that they are vinyl, to me they always tend to be trouble, more so on braille kits I think, due to the necessarily more delicate of the running gear. I'm sure we've all had the idler or sprocket come adrift while trying to join the tracks up. Wonder if it will be possible to move the idler in a bit to give more slack?
An alternative is that I have a set of resin tracks for a PzKpfw I, which are the same pattern, and were originally bought for my scratched version of this (but arrived a year after I ordered them - though that's another story... ) although I haven't been able to check out the actual length for fit yet and I suspect they may be short as well.
Cheers

Matthew,

Very concise and extremely informative review. The numbering of the pictures to tie the subject to the text was extremely helpful. While a very interesting vehicle I cannot but be wary after all the difficulties that you and Russ have pointed out about the kit. However, I did see one of these like the one Russ did at a recent show and it looked extremely intriguing so I guess that one might just have to bite the bullet and give it a try. With articles like these at least we can be provided with fair warning about any pitfalls.

Cheers,
Jan

Jan, I really do appreciate your appreciation, especially as this numbering thing went wrong first time and I had to re-do it... I think I've got the hang of it now!



Aah, well I re-checked the photos you sent for this one and picture was there none! Shame; I was scouring the web earlier trying to find a photo of a completed build of one of these, but couldn't.

Matthew

Matthew,

There was none of these at the last show I attended so there was none in the pictures I sent. The pictures are from the Guelph show that I did not attend. A fellow club member went to that show and at my request took about 60 shots and I hope that one of this vehicle will be amongst them.
Another fellow that was at that show has put up a series of pictures and has them copyrighted so I will have to provide you with a link to his page. Lets see if this works.

http://miniarmour.net/wellcome-2012/#wpcom-carousel-2769

The above should send your browser to his photo carousel and display the vehicle in question. BTW, the section that it is in has several of the Braille scale entries. Amongst them is a Bedford Portee that won Best of Show.

Cheers,
Jan

EDIT - I haven't got all the pictures from Guelph yet but a received a few and this one was in there.

It's reviews like this that keep me coming back. Thanks for the insights. While it really looks like a cool subject I'm not up to this type yet. Pictures were great also.

Regards,
AJ

AJB and Jan, thanks very much for the feedback on the review, it is really appreciated.

Jan, it was remiss of me not to thank you before for the photo of the SdKfz 4 MSchlepper, still the only photo I have seen of this Roden kit totally complete, and I have to say I found it quite encouraging, it looks pretty good.

Now, in a shameless piece of self-promotion and just in case anyone missed out, here is the link to the BUILD LOG for this kit.