Started to clean this up this morning - separating the parts from their blocks for the first step. Typical Verlinden as this was not difficult with their small blocks.



Typical resin kits - alignment vs. warpage vs. small parts. I do like their "multi-level" PE though.



All in all, so far, not a bad small resin kit. Heck, I think it's the only thing out there in 1/35 for this gun other than the Tamiya metal kit. (wouldn't it be nice to see one in styrene?)

Mike

Always wondered about the Verlinden kits...purchased some of the Civil War subjects for a friend of mine, but never one for myself.
Are you planning on displaying with figures or any vignette ideas on the horizon?

Pasi,

Soooo looking forward to following your build of the diminutive little Panzer IA.
I purchased this same Tristar kit on Ebay years ago at a price I couldn't pass on. It included a bunch of aftermarket PE, decals and even some tiny brass turret machineguns!
I explored the contents of the ol' box again after seeing your submission pics.
Only now, I fear, I'll have to purchase an electron microscope to have any success at assembling the dang thing!

Jeff - Your frame is an impressive piece of work! I had never even known there were vac kits of vehicles outside of aircraft. I have a few of those DEEP in the pile somewhere! Let's hope the body & bed do hold things in alignment.

Goof - Great start on your Panzer II. Its nice to have a simple build once & a while. The tracks a individual links, are they the glue together type of the snap type?

I built a set of Fruils for a Tamiya Panzer II a few months ago and they came out well.

Welcome Pasi! Your Panzer I kit looks like a fun project. I look forward to your progress shots.

Irvin - Welcome aboard with your Tamiya Panzer. I just built the old Tamiya Panzer II kit in Afrika Corps markings a few months ago and found it looks pretty good despite its age. Your spanking new kit should be be a huge improvement!

Well, as I got further into this and needing to align axles and shields and other things, I've come to realize this kit is a dog. And, the wheels are warped (squished from top to bottom and unsalvageable).

So, consider this thing chucked into the pile of parts. I'll see what else I may have or can come up with.

Oh, and I was wrong...there are several makers of this little infantry gun; from styrene to white metal to resin.

Mike

Some impressive builds going on. Of course missing quite a few of you, but some reactions:

@Raul: i have built the Italeri 232 a few years back as well. When not worrying about accuracy too much, it's a nice build.

@Jeff: vacuform is something i haven't tried yet... and honestly am not looking forward to either

@Pasi: i have the Late version from Tristar. Looking forward to see how it turns out.

@Mike: sorry to see the kit go

@Paul: the tracks glue together and aren't workable. They do fit nicely though, after clean-up. Nice to see the guide-horns are hollowed out like the regular thing

Had a few hours to spare on Christmas evening:



Wheels were bit wiggly so had to glue them to the axles, which complicates painting a bit. But otherwise this is easy kit to build. I'm building the tank all buttoned up, but the kit has complete interior which would make it possible to leave hatches open.

Panzer I had an issue with engine cooling and they had air scoops installed. There are two at rear (not visible in photo) and curved armour plate at rear of engine deck. These improved air flow over the engine. I'm not sure whether they were used in Poland, but I assume that might have been the case.

Tracks are as glue-on separate track links. I think I'll order Friul's tracks for easier assembly and painting.

Anyway, seams need cleaning and most of the small parts are missing, which what I'll need to do next.

Paul, Thanks. There are two major issues with vacform kits: 1- parts with sharp corners, like turrets and stowage boxes, tend to be weak spots as the plastic gets stretched; 2 - The detail is not as sharp as injection molded kits. They also require some minor scratch building techniques to reinforce joints, etc. Below are two photos of a vac conversion, by Tonda, to build a Finnish 6-tonner from 7TP.

Pasi - great start on your PzKpfw I!

Mike - Sorry to hear this kit turned out to be a dog. I hope you find something else to build soon!

Pasi - That Tristar kit looks great! Kits that look good in the box don't always build well. Things like the detail on the exhaust pipe leading into the muffler stand out to my eyes.

Thanks for showing the vac Finish 7TP conversion, another one I did not know about.

When I bought my 7TP kit at a model show last year it came with a resin conversion to make a Soviet T-26! The resin bits fit well and look pretty good. I can only guess the last owner saw the new Hobby Boss T-26s and decided to build one of them instead. I have a spare 7TP kit and may decide to do the T-26 just for practice with resin.

Will be starting soon with Revell's Pz.Kpfw 35(t)

I have the Mirage kits of both of those. Mirage did kits of all the Vickers 6 ton variants based on that 7tp kit. The Finnish one is interesting as it was salvaged Russian guns on modified Vickers tanks.(or at least according to my Eastern Front armor book)

Nice starts all around, makes me wish was doing anything other than Mirage/RPM tankettes. Crude and blocky. I am doing the tracks now.

Linus - A great subject, these little tanks got a lot of use. How is the Revell kit?

Stephan - I'm glad you are sticking with the tankette. They were an important part of Polish resistance and I'm happy to see you bring one to life. How are the tracks going together? They must be very tiny. Have you shot any pictures?

This will be my official entry.

Hey Dustin, great choice. I have some of these Eduard kits and have found them to be pretty nice.

Here are my start up photos.
The Kit is Dragon 6186 Pz I Ausf B




Tom

Tom - That Panzer I is perfect for this campaign. I have a Dragon Panzer I but with a different box sitting on the shelf waiting for its time in the sun. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress pictures!

As you can see by my phone I started a month ago. But it took this long to post pictures. Real life schedules and then the holidays.





I am doing both the RPM/Mirage TKS and TK-3. They're tiny and share a lot of the same parts. This will be an OOB build as the budget doesn't allow for any aftermarket.



They go together fast the only time consuming bit was adding all the rivets they missed because they molded the whole superstructure as one piece. Without slide molding all the detail is lost at the bottom.



The TK-3 has the interior and also offers a few detail bits including new visors so I added them.



According the website on Polish armor referenced earlier the interior was painted the same yellow ocher as the exterior camouflage. So I painted the TKS exterior as I did up the TK-3 interior. Hand painting as I have nowhere to air brush.



Completed interior. Very chunky and hardly complete. Just the absolute basics. Since the TK-3 had the accordion folding hatches it got the interior. That black thing behind the driver is the radiator. The thing behind the gunner is the fuel tank. The big thing separating them is the engine.





Aren't they cute? The TKS is armed with a 20 mm cannon. Only about 20 were rearmed before the invasion though it was a very simple conversion. That 20mm cannon could knock out nearly any tank the Germans had in 1939. This is before I discovered that the muffler mount is completely wrong on the TK-3. A problem with the kits sharing so many parts.

The track is put on. RPM in their wisdom did not give any single links, only double pieces to fit around the sprocket and idler wheel. The track is about the size of 1/72 link and length so I am accustomed to it after so many RoG and ESCI kits back in my youth.



The TK-3 with half the track on. Note the muffler is re-positioned. And a ruler to show how tiny they are. The TKS is in the post 1936 camouflage which was sprayed. The TK-3 has the pre-1936 camouflage with sharp edges outlined in black. Seems the earlier schemes endured?