Hi Group,

This is a blog about the IBG 1/72 Toldi IIa Hungarian Light Tank.

This little model is impressively detailed. However, for my tastes, it is over-engineered.

The lower hull shell is a 4-piece affair (actually 5 after the lower glacis is added): bottom, sides, rear. The sides fit to the bottom with mere whisker-thin indentions that are almost impossible to seat; I had to use a gooey glue to hold it until I could set it with liquid glue. CA would not hold it.


The torsion bars are individual. The pins that enter the side of the hull are short so there is not a lot of plastic to hold them in their slots.


Aligning them took lying the hull and bars on a flat surface and then squaring them with a tool.


After they set, they look good.


The road wheels and sprockets and idlers are two-piece assembles, each. The road wheels show pins and slots for alignment in the instructions but it seems that the slots were not molded. Aligning the front and back wheels are by feel.


More soon.

Looks like this tiny kit will be a handful!

Frederick,

A great and very good start to a BLOG of this kit. As I feared this kit so far is living up to IBG’s “reputation” in being a P.I.T.A. and probably not for the faint of heart!😂Looking forward to your further progress and how this kit develops. 😉

Cheers,
Jan 🍻

CA would not hold? What type of plastic is this kit made?

Hi Gang,

KoSp1, it appears to be standard polystyrene. It is 'slick' where the thin indents are meant to accept the next part. I think it was so slick that I just couldn't hold the parts together long enough for the CA to set.

What actually worked for me is old Testors "non-toxic" blue tube glue! It held and I followed up with liquid cement.

So, this model has been challenging.

The eight road wheels are made with 16 halves. As mentioned, one side does not have the slots for the pins that are on the outer halves. Once the glue cured, some of the halves are cattywampus. Fitting the road wheels onto the axles was very tricky because the axles are delicate. The fit is snug, and that bends the torsion bar axles. This is a delicate model.

The return rollers are two-pieces per roller. I attached the inner parts and will put the outer parts on aftre the tracks go on.

The upper glacis fits nicely into the lower hull assembly. Just a drop of Ambroid liquid glue plus capillary action, and the piece is forever set, also reinforcing the sides and bottom.

The upper hull is mainly a one-piece affair. A small engine plate attaches to the inside of the rear, then two round engine vents and the driver's hatch are installed, plus the two stowage bins, headlamps, a raised rail, and the maintenance kit parts completes it.

Toldi's turret is fairly simple. The base and the turret, sans the mantle and stowage bin. The fit of all pieces is great. Sharp-eyed viewers may not that the main gun and co-axial MG look different between the painted and unpainted model. That's because your humble assembler lost his situational awareness and made this a Toldi II (2 cm gun) instead of the Toldi IIa. But let's not think about that.

Here's the model in-progress and after painting, before the tracks go on.




The tracks were given some nice rusty steel treatment.


Okay, that's it for now. Check back soon!

One thing I meant to mention. The styrene seems a tad soft.

Also, I think IBG made this model for the dioramaist in mind. The stowage bins can be posed with the lids open, as can the hatches. And those tiny torsion terrors can be positioned for uneven ground, although that will require some manipulating of the track lengths.

Okay, I tackled the track. (Pix forthcoming.) These make the kit more of a torture device than a model. They are so small and frail that separating the individual links from the sprue is nearly impossible without malforming them. Whether with a sprue nipper or a sharp knife.

This is where the ultra (read "too fine") fine alignment nubs inside the sprocket & idler halves bit me. The teeth of the sprocket are ever so slightly unaligned (by a fraction of a millimeter) so the links do not fit on it. I tried one assembly by setting each link on the sprocket individually; I attempted the other side by aligning all eight indie-links, putting a dab of glue on the sprocket, and rolling it over the links. That led to the very fine links immediately softening and sticking to the bench.

I have an idea. With my other Toldi I'll try this: put the links together and use them as an alignment jig for the sprocket.

Stand by for report!

I want to start upbeat so...

...introducing Toldi! Glossed awaiting decals.


So, how'd we get to here from tortuous tracks? Here's what we have to work with.


Here's a sprocket, subject of previous complaining.


So, I had the bright idea of attaching the links to the sprocket and then "smoothing" them with a straightedge. It worked for the most part. But then came the liquid glue.


Results:

There are 16 individual links and 5 set lengths of track:
- ground base that runs along the 4 bogies

- connector from ground base to drive sprocket

- connector between ground base and idler

- run from idler to rear return roller

- top length along return rollers to the drive sprocket

I think the key is to mount the bottom length first.


Then I think the indie links should be mounted on the idler and driver. Those wheels should be left loose until the the lower connectors are set and fitted from the ground base length to the idler/sprocket. Only then should those wheels be cemented in place. Then one can attach to two upper lengths.

Whether it is a design problem or my substandard assembly, the upper two lengths of track did not fit. I had to cut off part of a link to make them fit. I glued them to the return roller inner halves.


Then I attached the outer roller halves.

As mentioned, removing the indie (individual) links from the sprue is difficult to do without malforming them. The lengths of track fit together nicely. Mating the indie links can be alright is they are not malformed, but there is not much plastic for glue to adhere to, and that causes them to melt.

I think the tracks are the weak part of this model. While the individual/length track link design makes for a great looking model, it was very difficult for me - even with bright light and magnification - to work with them. Especially since the driver/bogies/idlers were so difficult to square up.

I have an idea following along the one mentioned above. The next IBG Toldi I build, I will try to mate the wheels square by using the track teeth as a jig. That should ensure clean alignment and spacing of the halves.

Once the upper hull is on the lower hull, and some nice gooey mud is applied to the tracks and running gear (I used Wilder Russian Soil pigment) to hide the problems, the little Toldi looks pretty good.

Stand by for decals.

What can I say except, now you know why I ALWAYS say that I abhor "indy link" tracks! Congrats on your success and perseverance, you've definitely earned your libation of choice. If you still have a taste for these types of tracks, give IBG's Bren Carrier tracks a go! These should seem like a cake walk compared to them. 😜And the large scale (LEGO, 1/35) builders say there is no challenge to Braille Scale!

Cheers,
Jan 🍻🍺🍺

Gruppe,

These proceedings are closed.

Toldi IIa is graduating today after an education at the Ostfront. I grimy'd it up with a nice rusty-dirty-petroleum wash and then hit it hard with Wilder Brown Russian Earth - both before and after applying a flat coat.

Overall, I judge this model was a highly detailed and sharply molded kit, albeit over-engineered with pieces too small to be practical (track links), with sprue connectors to big for the delicate pieces. The decals are very good, as are the instructions.

I hope this blod has been helpful for those of you considering this little tank.



The diorama grasses are NOCH long grass matts, a diorama made with NOCH static grass and their GrasMaster, and Mathos Models walls and weeds.

Oh yeah, I meant to show these earlier. These are how well the decals work. Well registered, opaque, good carrier film; the decals will curl out of the water but not catastrophically. I do see some film with the images blown way up, but it is not noticeable from normal viewing distance.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! You should be awarded the coveted Iron GluTube with Oak Leaf Cluster for you perseverance and devotion to duty in the face of the enemy. The tank ;looks good, especially the close-ups showing the effect of pin washes on contour items like the hatches and their hinges. Having had experiences with the companies models means I have a pretty good idea of what you've experienced. This company's kits all exhibit some very nice detailing but as with some other manufacturers, they need to refine a few points including the size of sprue gates for the finer/smaller parts.

Cheers,
Jan 🍻

^ yes, what Tread_Geek said.

Very nice finish.