Received the Panda Models M1235A1 Maxxpro today along with the Harris and SINCGAR radio sets and AN/VIC-5 Intercom Set from Mike's MS Productions By Michael Goldberg via Shapeways.



Along with the build/review I will be doing of the Maxxpro, I will also be giving a tutorial which radio is which and how to wire them correctly. I also managed to have an extra FBCB2 screen, keyboard, CPU, DUKE box, and DVE screen in the spares box. These are all missing in the kit.





There is already a video here on Armorama showing the contents of the box, so I won't bore you with all that stuff again and get to the nitty gritty.

Of course we started with STEP 1. Before attaching anything to the main hull floor, part D12, I went ahead and added the non-slip material on the floor. Tamiya tape was used to mask of the area where the coating is supposed to be. Mr. Surfacer was stippled in the exposed areas with a cut down flat brush.







The rack between the drivers and passengers seat was next. The photo etch bent easy and fit well. The HARRIS radio set will be on top and the FBCB2 CPU will be on the bottom of the rack. Panda Models had I don't know what molded on the bottom rack, so I removed it and filled in the hole with thin plastic sheet and Squadron White putty.





On the real vehicle, there is a cable conduit between the drivers and passengers seat and runs along the right of the passengers seat. There is nothing on here between the seats on the Panda kit.



You can see the conduit here on the Branco instructions sheet.



We will add that before we add the seats using plastic stock. I will show that in the next update.

I ended this session with the seats. There is one minor and two major issues with the seats. As far as the seats themselves are concerned, they are nice. The minor issue is that they lack seats belts. I was thinking about using the seat belts from Eduard MRAP set, but those are 3 point harnesses. These are the seat belts for the Maxxpro:



I will use Tamiya tape and plastic stock for these and find something for the buckles.

The two major issues with the seats are that the lack the rope and mesh ratchet system that holds the seats up and the attachment points for the seat belts and seats on the floor.



Here are the seats:









Well, that's it for tonight. Next update will be STEP 2 and after that I will start tackling the COMMS and the issues with the seats.

****NOTE: In my kit, Parts F56x2 where both short shot, but it really didn't hinder the build. I will show a picture in next update.****

nice start!
i'll follow your thread.
thanks for sharring.

Thank you for sharing.

I like your military strictness, it will be a very interesting built for sure.

I've ordered a kit of this MaxxPro a few days ago, and would like to make it soon if I have the time.

A future set of resin wheels for this kit is listed on DEF Model website.

Pete, glad to see you're finally doing this. I will be watching closely as I have one waiting to add the Legend TOW turret to. Now I need to find out how all of the TOW electronics are mounted in the MaxxPro.

Regards,

Eric

Second update with STEP 2.

No issues as far as fit with step 2. The major issue I found here was with the photo etch. A couple of the parts where not etched all the way through in the lower right hand corner, to include Part PE4. I'm not sure if this is just the set in this kit, or in all the first run kits. Careful scoring along the lines of the part helped remove it, just don't use a new blade because it will dull it quick.



Also, Part PE4 did not have any bend lines, so measure the part or use eyeball accuracy to bend it. Plus, glue it to the angled side wall first, then attach the completed rack and glue PE4 to that.



The radio rack and "AC" unit went together well with out any filling needed. One problem here though, there is no option to have the gunners platform in the up position, so you can't add a gunner figure to the model.







The dash board is really nice and detailed. I didn't take a picture of it yet because I wanted to add the FBCB2 screen and keyboard, that is NOT provided in the kit, first. But here is a few pictures of the steering wheel. I will probably add some lines and cables under the dash to the steering wheel column once attached and before i attach the dash to the body.







Lower interior ready for cables and radios. Again, dash and seats are left off for ease of painting and to add missing stuff like seat belts.



STEP 3 has you attaching frame, lower body and upper body together. This is going to have to wait. The interior ceiling has several punch marks to deal with, 3 holes to fill, and is missing a lot of details. This will be done after I am finished with the lower interior., so stay tuned.






That's it for tonight, questions and comments are always welcomed.

This looking really nice.. Looking forward to see what you put in the photo etched rack on the second photo and all cables.. How are the radios from shapeways?

Nice start. I don't have any 1/35 Maxxpro kits in my stash yet as I was holding off to see what the new kit will bring for us. So, a must following along for me as I really like this vehicle and want to build one soon. Also, glad you will show us what radio to add and how to wire it correctly

Since there needs to be a lot of work done to the inside of the upper hull, I decided to jump aheadto STEP 4, 5, and 6. In Step 3, all I did was attach the fender flares and part B43 to the frame. Then I went ahead attach the frame to the bottom of the lower hull.







In Steps 4, 5, and 6, you are attaching all the parts to the frame such as , suspension, axles, and muffler and such. I left some assemblies off for ease of painting and ease of adding hoses and cables. The muffler and bottles on both the left and right center were left off. I added air hoses and brake lines will be added later along with other hoses and cables. In Step 5, I didn't add Parts B29, B30, and B36 because they attach to the upper hull, so that will be added after the upper and lower hull are mated.

***NOTE: There are NO differentials on the axles. Don't know how this can be fixed with out some major scratch building and or surgery.***

I also went ahead and added the bumper in Step 7. I only left of Part C11 and C12 along with the clear parts GP6x2 for ease of painting the clear parts.



























Lots more to come........

I've been trying to figure out how I am going to do the seat belts and the harness/mesh behind the seats, so i decided to jump around a little bit on the instructions and get other stuff done.

I went ahead and painted the dash board and steering wheel and added the decals. No problems here and the decals went down easily with Solvaset. Probably going to add some wiring under the dashboard around the steering wheel column after i install the dash.

***Note: The PLGR. FBCB2 monitor and keyboard, and Fire Suppression system switches do not mount to the dash board, but instead to a bar that is welded right under the window frames. This will be added once i start on the inside upper hull.***












I added more hoses to the vehicle frame, this time to what I think is the fire suppression system bottles for the wheels.





I also added the hoses that go to the steering modules.



Next for the underside will be brake lines to the wheels and the fire suppression system hoses and the underside will be done. In the mean time, i am back to working on the interior, minus the seats, and will probably have paint on it in the next few days.

Until then, questions and comments are always welcome and don't forget to see my Communications tutorial blog.

Thanks Pete, looking very good.. How is the kit to build? Can you show in photos later where all the cables go on the chassi ? I mean where they begin and where they end.. Looking forward to your next updade here and your radio tread..

great work so far..have this kit in the stash, but will be moving soon,so hobby room gets packed up this weekend... subscribing though to follow along

What gauge is the blue wire?

Richard,
It is wire wrap wire used in electronics. You can get it at any electronics store. I am not sure what gauge it is, but I think it is 30 gauge.

Excellent job as usual, Pete.
Should anyone want to trim the gunner's platform off of that frame and mount it in the "up" position, this should help:

Thank you.

Small update tonight everyone.

Nothing great tonight, just worked on the ramp and rear wall.

The rear ramp is movable, but it locks in place when closed. Parts B21 and B22 locks onto Part B17 when the ramp is closed. If you want to open the ramp from the closed position, you would have to reach in the rear roof hatch, and apply a little pressure up on part B17 to release the ramp. With a little work, you could make the locks on part B17 movable by cutting off the lock on B17 and drilling holes in them and sliding them onto round plastic stock.









If or when you go to my Radio Tutorial:
US Modern Radio Tutorial
You will get an explanation on what the box is mounted on the rear with the "soda straw" cover over the antenna.



I decided to use solder on the rear photo etch fuel/water can racks instead of super glue. it was really easy to do since the parts bent perfectly. The only issue with these photo etch racks was the slits for the tie down strap. They had a little bit of photo etch in the middle of the slit and was very difficult to cut away with out damaging that area. I tired one side and decided to leave it along and figure out how to add the strap when it comes to adding the cans.





Like I said, small update tonight.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DON'T YOU HATE IT WHEN YOUR TYPING AND ARE ALMOST FINISHED AND YOU HIT ANOTHER KEY BY ACCIDENT AND EVERYTHING YOU TYPE IS GONE, WELL THAT JUST HAPPENED.

Sorry guys, gonna go type again, but in WORD and then transfer it to here. Be back shortly with a big update.

Sorry guys and gals for a long while since the last update. I just finished the 3 Legend Productions Review, one just needs to be submitted, and came onto a speed bump with the Maxxpro build.
The speed bump is this, the new Panda Models Maxxpro DASH DXM kit, I’m sorry to say, is not a Maxxpro DASH DXM, but just a Maxxpro with some DASH DXM extra’s. After going back and forth with pictures from Robert Skippers excellent CD walkarounds and pictures from the WWP Maxxpro book, I concluded that the kit is not a DASH DXM version. While the outside of the vehicle looks like a DASH DXM, it’s the interior that is incorrect for the version. The difference is the AC unit that sits right behind the passenger’s seat. The DASH DXM version has a lower profile AC unit with two distinctive conduits coming from on top of it and the addition to the AC/DC power converter placed on top of it. The other speed bump is the lack of spall liner that is all over the inside top of the interior. And a small speed bump is the lack of seat belts and the mesh harness that is behind all the seat.



While trying to figure the speed bumps, I went ahead with the build where ever I could, in other words, I jumped around a bit. I jumped to step 15 and 16, the turret, since that be completed as a sub-assembly. There are some punch marks in side the turret walls that need to be filled.





A hole for the cable that goes to the rechargeable batteries in the rear of the turret to the turret control box needed to be drilled. Also, some nuts and bolts where added to the inside rear corners of the turret walls.



Missing detail such as the holes that the bolts for the windows go through are missing on the inside walls of the turret. This was added by drilling shallow holes opposite sides of the actual bolts. I also added missing nuts and bolts in various locations. Also note that there where no locating marks or pins for the photo etch handles. I simply held the turret up to the light and marked the location associated to the locating marks for the mirrors.



Two holes needed to be drilled in the circular plate on part M28 to accommodate the cables from the batteries and turret remote control. Thin lead wire was added for the battery cable and turret remote control.





A cable from the turret control box to the turret motor was added. I don’t know how I forgot, but I need to add the small cable connector at the bottom of the turret control box. I will add that before I paint the turret and post a picture of in another update.



Another jump was adding the missing hoses for the tire inflation system to the axle frames. “Zip ties” need to be added to the hoses.





I also rerouted and secures all the other hoses on the frame.





I started working on the spall liner issue by re-doing the cross-beam members inside. I also added the missing plates that correspond the other side.





And for the liner, I used Milliput to simulate this. I am going to use some putty so smooth out some of the cracks in the Milliput before I add paint. Nuts and bolts need to be added the plates also.





Hopefully next update will have what I decided to do with the AC unit inside, so till then, questions and comments are always welcomed.

Pete, I'm watching this with great interest as I will do one of these at some point. I'm going to do it with everything closed except the turret hatch on Legend's TOW Turret. The view of the inside will be very limited but I will have to rough in a few of the shapes. I'll have to add everything they left out of the driver's cabin that can be seen through the windshield as well. I have Robert's photos too. I haven't gone through them all because there are so many. I'll run in to issues trying to find photos of the TOW components and missile storage. Keep up the good work.

Regards,

Eric

Eric,
I found a picture of the interior with TOW stuff, but I forgot to save it and forgot where I saw it. But I do remember that it had a very loose, quilt type spall liner on the inside roof.

Thanks Pete! That's one thing I will not have to tackle as there's no chance of the roof being seen if all the doors are closed. Robert told me he'd keep an eye out for the TOW version in his travels. Hopefully he comes across one! Again, keep up the great work.

Regards,

Eric

Sorry again for a long time between updates. Had some time to think about the issue about the seat belts, mesh behind seats, and the AC unit.

Let’s start with the seat belts. I was going to buy some Verlinden photo etch seat belts, but because of the style of belts the MAXXPRO has, I was going to need 3 sets of them. So, I went ahead and tried to scratch build the buckles out of very thin plastic sheet and Tamiya tape for the belts. I really don’t like how they turned out, but with the vehicle all closed and just the doors and hatches open, they look ok.









Next was the issue of the mesh behind the seats. The mesh is attached to a rope and ratchet strap system. Neither the ratchet system or the mesh is in the Panda kit. While researching for this build, I did find two pictures that helped in the decision of the mesh. In both these pictures, the mesh and rope/ratchet system are not present. Also notice that in one of the pictures is a whole different seat it has head rest.





So, I decided not to try and replicate the mesh and rope/ratchet system.

Last big issue was the AC unit that is located right behind the passenger seat on the right. In the DASH DXM, the AC unit has a lower profile and the Power Converter, that is usually stored in a side bin, is now located on top of the AC unit as in this picture.



Also notice the air duct system. In the original MaxxPro, it was just on duct that was located between the front of the cab and the rear compartment. In the DASH DXM, the is two separate ducts, one to the front cab, and one to the rear compartment.



Creating the duct system and AC unit would have been no problem with plastic stock, but because this is a review and I wanted to complete this in the time frame that is in the review rules, I decided not to. One more thing that is/was missing from this kit that is noticeable from reference pictures, is the fire extinguishers that is located in the rear right of the vehicle. These fire extinguishers are part of the fire suppression system. Again, this can be replicated by using plastic stock or spare extinguishers from other kits.



On to an addition and continuation to my Comm’s tutorial. I did wire up the main control unit for the DUKE anti-IED system. The remote-control box will be wired up and added later, but only because the attachment points for it, along with the FBCB 2 screen and fire suppression box, is located right under the front windows and that is part of the main upper hull.









The kit also provides the antenna for the Symphony anti-IED system.



But like the DUKE system, no control box is provided. There are two versions of control units that I found on the internet…





And here you can see the 2nd symphony unit I showed in the rack of a MAXXPRO DASH.



In the next update will be completed and painted pictures of the interior of the vehicle. I hope to have the inside of the upper hull of the interior completed as well.

Until then.

Impressive patience to make like this the belts and very good result.

Not a method for nervous peoples !

What an interesting thread.. thanks for posting Pete.

I am stunned and amazed at the fact that here we are, 2018 and we have a new kit with short shots and incomplete etching. I believe Panda are a wing of AFV club, so you'd have thought the quality control would be better.

I remember when I built the now stalled panda MRAP the fit was "OK" but the part clean up was patience testing and the instructions were worse than Dragon!

Still, this looks like a great kit when all is said and done? How does it compare to the Bronco kit?

I want to apologize to everyone for not updating. As I mentioned, Panda kits are good, but not for the beginner, and this kit is not, for sure, for the beginner. I am having issues with the interior, as i mentioned, this is is NOT a MAXXPRO DASH DXM, but a MaxxPro DASH DXM exterior with a regular MaxxPro interior. As this is a Build Review, not only am I showing you what is wrong, but what needs to be fix.
Since I am on a time frame to turn this review in, some of the things that need to be fixed will not be fixed, but mentioned on what need to be fixed. I had to make some decisions on what to fix and show you and what not to fix and just mentioned in the final write up.
I am waiting on a couple of aftermarket pieces to come from a fellow modeler, to complete the interior and close her up and continue with the build. Should have an update by the end of next week.