The lids are on.


I, know that there should be a cable or something connecting the propellant rocket to the explosive charge line.
Does anyone know where it is fastened to the rocket ?


I'm finished for now.
Donald

There are two lugs at the bottom of the rocket the cable attaches to. The other end attaches to the end of that middle line of explosives. Check out this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmvG_CMsge4
I'm currently finishing up the DEF conversion.
Still from one of the Youtube vids:




Jim

Thank you Jim , I'm sure a lot of modelers that want to build this will find the info. useful .

On installing the Bins to their rack, there is a problem with the fit.

The guides on the bottom of the bins don't fit between the tracks on the frame, maby the instructions have the tracks reversed ?

I trimmed the edges like so.

They fit now.


I'm having some problems with my computer now.
I'll get back to this later.
Donald

The Computer's working again.


The Markings on the sides of the Bins look great, unfortunately wou won't be able to see much if any of them when the side armor panels are installed.

The instructions call for installing the Side Armor Panels at the finish, I thing it's better now and finish off the main part of the turret.
There are 2 pins where the panels hinge, they need to be trimmed off.
They don't do anything and are in the way.

There's a small bracket that holds the rear bottom edge of the panel
The instructions have you glue it to the frame in an earlier step.
T have found out that it's better to assemble it and glue it to the backside of the armor panel. I had to break it off the frame because it wouldn't line up.

This is what I mean.

I made the mistake, so you don't have to.
Here the side armor is installed .



I'll be touching up the paint and installing the small parts at the
final assembly .

That's it for now.
Donald

Looking really good so far.

Looks great. I'm collecting mine next week.

I'm starting the Lower Hull now.
I left off the torsion bars as they don't do anything , at slightly too long and interfer with the fit of the swing arms.

The arms are keyed, but the fit is rather sloppy .
I used a ruler to raise the hull bottom from the bench.

Then glued on the arms They have 3 different numbers, but are really all the same.
Make shure to keep them level and straight.

You could level the 4 corner arms first, then add the inner arms after they were set up.

The front idler adjust is really a lot of fun (NOT)
The instructions are very confusing about which part goes where.
This is the left side and how it should look. The short adjuster goes on the left side and the longer goes on the right side.

Note where the adjuster attaches to the first arm, the odd shape of the end goes down.


That's all for now.
Donald

I think keyed suspension is optional, since some people don't like movable suspension. Probably it is possible to cut out piece of plastic at suspension part and have it workable.

You probably could make the suspension workable, BUT you would need a set of workable track. The track that comes with the kit are Link & Length. The fit of the torsion bars into the swing arms is very loose, also there isn't a torsion bar for the idler arms.
You could remove the keys on the arms if you were positioning the model on rough terrain .
Regards.
Donald

Part C46 goes on both sides it's only shown in the instructions on 1 side.

You need to enlarge the mounting holes for the tail light guards.




That's all for now.
Donald

I am watching with great interest . So far really nothing major wrong , awaiting how you tackle the mine dozer, every time I am looking at the instructions I get more confused. Hurry up HA

You're doing a great job identifying all the little quirks associated with this kit. Thanks so much for sharing this useful info and keep up the good work!

if any one want to know the dozer blade for the the M1 assault breacher is the same as the one the Brits use on thier Challenger II MBT

The blade yes. The mounting hardware, not so much.

Donald,

Excellent WIP Blog thread. Very detailed information.

I've been painting the lower Hull.
Here are the Wheels & Sprockets.
I painted the insides of the Wheels Steel to simulate the wear on the metal from the Guide Horns.

The Belly Armor has been installed & the Lower Hull painted.


This is a lot easier to paint before assembly.

The Kit gives you clear Caps for the hubs on the Wheels.

I painted the inside where the Hubs go with Testors chrome after gluing the wheels on.
( NOTE The center hole on the wheels need to be drilled or filed out as they taper slightly and will not fit all the way on the axles )

I glued the Hubs on using Testors glue for clear plastic then painted them with a mix of Tamia Clear Red & Green to make the Brownish color of the oil that would be visible through them.


I'm working on the Track next.
Donald

Very nice build! Unfortunate that the minor fit issues were found after painting, but you sure seem to have addressed the accordingly. Great job!!!

Real good job, I think that people that have this kit(myself included)really appreciate all the work that you have done in warning us of the pitfalls ahead!, I am waiting for the book by SABOT publications to arrive before I proceed with construction,although anything posted from the usa to uk seems to take forever and is sometimes prohibitively expensive when postal costs are added,

Nice touch with the clear paint to get that grease look on the hubs.

Well I finally have the Link & Length Track cleaned and partially assembled.
Man what a POS The plastic is easy to work, but you would probably be better off with a set of Indi Track. The links need a lot of fitting to get them together and the top lengths are just too long of I screwed up big time.

The top length on the right side came out 1/2 link too long.

On the left side it is 1 link too long.



What I'm probably going to do is cut the track into sections and use a piece toward the front and rear. Once the side skirts are on you'r not going to see much of this anyway.
Now to paint the darn things.
Donald