Well it looks like its time for another update. I am getting close to the end on this one. There are a few things that have cropped up as I build my way through the kit. I will try to best describe these things and what I did to fix the problems I came across.
First out of the gate this time around, the door and hinge system for the winch on the front of the AEV. The cast resin bar which the hinge would be attached seemed to have a few bubbles in it.
Basically all of the brass pieces on the front plate to the AEV here, I made up. These are metal brackets and standoffs used to hold down various peripheral items.
As for the door itself, the two hinges were all but missing. This is a picture I borrowed from Darren Baker's in-box showing of this kit. I would have to suspect that the hinges rubbed up against something upon transport over the pond to me.
Before the door came around to fixing I went after the bar. When I removed the bar there was a rather large sink hole beneath the exiting part.
After a little filler and a brass rod, the spot was brought up to speed. I also pulled out some styrene to make a pair of new hinges for the door.
Everything seemed to work out really well with the rehab. I did need to drill the two outer holes on the front of the door to accommodate a handle that PSM neglected to supply with the kit.
I have had the chance to add a number of the kit supplied details. Most of these are in decent condition and the PE is of great quality; however, there are a few things missed form the kit maker. As you can see in this head on shot, there are two small brackets i made from styrene at the top of the glacis. This bracket is to hold the pulley for the crane. The kit supplied a small pieces of PE, u-shaped and the instructions called for it to be installed the opposite way than it should have been...plus it was square only.
You might notice the tow support bracket on the side next to the headlight(s), I needed to make up two new ones as the kit supplied plates had bubbles on the out most edge and were very brittle.
You might have also noticed I have made a latch handle as well as a grab handle for the winch door. What can't be seen is since I had to go through the trouble of the extra work on the door, I had to make it work.
I will say, once the exterior parts begin to go on, the beast does come alive a little. After cleaning a few more of the frontal parts, basic tools, bracket and handles were attached to the exterior.
The dozer blade cleats are all cleaned and dry fit to the upper hull. I did feel I needed to add posts for the plates, not installed yet, that were supplied on the PE sheet.
Having a look at the back here, you can see all the brass as it stands out pretty well on the grey field. The brass handles did not come with the kit. There is wire supplied for this task, but it was a bit flimsy to work with. Not a big deal to bend up some small handles really.
Looking at the rear of the AEV so far. You can see I replaced the tow bar brackets with styrene as the kit supplied version were a bit chunky. As mentioned before once or twice, the instructions lack tremendously with this kit. There are several parts that need installing on the entire beast that do not show up, from what I can tell, on the sheets. One of which is some tiny locks for the storage bins on the back and top. As you can see these are not installed as of yet.
So far, things are shaping up somewhat with the build but to be honest, some of the frustration level has been high at times. I do not consider myself of the rivet counting variety at all, but I did feel that many of the alterations and additions were needed and probably should have been addressed by the kit maker before release.
I had a chance to make up some tow cables. The kit comes with more than enough is part, in copper stranded wire to do this task.
The dozer or plow blade was an easy construction. There is only three parts to this unless you wish to install the plow blade clears on the bottom and the side plates, which I installed on the rear deck. These are the half moon object straddling the fan grill.
Before I leave for this evening, I will show some of the crane as I began to clean and install some of the parts. Most of this is straight forward.
The only part so far I ran into was the ring and hook. The hook has been modified but is drying right now, here I managed to add a new ring out of aluminum rod.
I will have to say that is that for now. I still have a few things to finish on the crane boom as well as various smaller items on the upper hull before I get to the tracks. We can discuss that in my next update possibly.
As always, thanks for swinging by to have a peek!!
