I can fit the gun mounts ok into the sponsons but when I put the sponson tops on (parts E5 and E8) I'm not sure whether to put the gun mounts so they rotate inside the raised semi circle on those 2 top parts or so the gun mount just rotates without putting them in the raised semi circle.

If I put the gun mouts (parts P5 and P13) so they're not rotating in the 2 semi circles then parts E5 and E8 won't fit onto the sponsons very well but if I put the gun mounts so they rotate inside the 2 raised semi circles then parts E5 and E8 fit great but then the gun mounts (P5 and P13) get bent and distorted.

I hope I've explained well but anyone help?

Hi David,

I had the same problem. In the end I shaved the semi circular parts off the top plate. Cut some plastic card and filled the space above.

Have a look on page 2 here:

http://www.armorama.co.uk/features/6208&page=1

Hope that helps.

Al

Strange but I'm building the MkIV right now and have had no problem with the dry fit of the guns, sponson tops, and attachment to the hull (I'm building a static display and have yet to paint the final coat, so I have not yet done a final assembly). I'll have to pay attention to this. Is it possible that on your build the gun mount pivots have not been fully inserted into the poly retainers, hence the bad fit?

I built the Tamiya Mk IV and had absolutely no fit problems at all.

Hi guys,

I found the polycaps push the gun up and away from the correct alignment, hence the change I made. May not be an issue for some. Neither would the shield correctlly turn when the top runners were in place.

Nice kit thought.

Al

Thanks guys. I wonder if it all depends on how you glue parts P5 and P13. Maybe me and Alan should have glued them tighter so they fit in the semi circle?

Problem is because I wasn't expecting this in a Tamiya kit I didn't even think about them not fitting.

David & Alan,
I had the same problem with mine. It was fine until I painted the interior, then nothing fitted! I solved it the same way as you, shaved off the semi circle. I also had to trim down the gun mounts where they fit into the shield. Strangely, it all seemed to snap together perfectly during the dry run. I can only assume the fit was so precision that the addition of paint threw everything out.

Just did the sponson assemblies a couple of days ago and had to sand the semi-circles down considerably as well as remove all traces of paint from the joints and from contact points between the sponson tops and the gun shield tops. Fit quite nicely after that, though. And now I've discovered that I've lost the rear hatch...how do you DO that?!

Thanks Steve and Karl. After looking at it you can see parts P5 and P13 aren't supposed to fit in the semi circle so I too had to resort to sanding the semi circle right back. It's a great kit but I'm surprised at Tamiya making it like that as the semi circle isn't really necessary and is fussy. Same with parts D44 and P2 holding the machine guns in. They're overcomplicated, unecessary and make putting the guns in much more awkward than they should be.

David, agreed on the machine gun retainer rings. Either the interior or the exterior ring could have been incorporated into the mold, I would think. Since the interior ring is painted gunmetal (in contrast with the overall white interior), make it a separate part--I would understand that. But both? Cumbersome. Still, I'm enjoying the build.

Yes I'm heading towards finishing mine and it's a great kit but those things were so unecessary. It's so easy for the machine gun retainer rings to get pushed out when sticking the whole section together whereas if the rings were just part of the outside and not separate pieces there wouldn't be that problem. And the worst part is it's very hard not to get glue on the machine gun when sticking the rings on which can stop the gun being able to rotate.