I've had the urge to build one of these large missile trucks that HobbyBoss and Trumpeter have been churning out. I settled on SS-21 Scarab from HobbyBoss. This will be my first foray into Cold War/modern subjects. I have yet to see any build logs of this kit yet, so I figured I'd give it a go.

Comes in a nice big box filled with sprues


I plan on doing this camo scheme. I believe there are another 4 choices.


Also comes with an interior painting guide which is a nice touch as I plan to model this in the firing position.


Having a corkboard on the bench is pretty handy for model making


And after organizing the sprues, it's time to get started



The first 4 steps cover the building of the suspension mounts for the 6 wheels. And true to form, I didn't even make it past the first step before I disregarded their instructions. They have you build the entire suspension/drive assembly, and then mount it to the hull. It's a tight fit on an assembly that isn't strong enough to really be pushed in place. So what I did was build each in two parts. The first part gets mounted to the hull like so,

Much easier to press those parts in place. Then I take the rest of the suspension and drive assembly and finagle it in place

The shock absorber and steering linkage can be added after that's in place.


And that's the first two steps done. More to follow.

Looks good, James! I’ll be watch this build with great interest!

will be watching as well, got it on the way

Thanks guys. Got some more work done tonight. The bottom of the hull/chassis is completed


Those toothpicks are there to keep those suspension rod arms in line


I ran into a little confusion when I was building those wheel assemblies in the first couple steps. The instructions would have you place the steering linkage (circled in below) while building those assemblies and just leave it hanging in space...


until step 7, where these guys come along.


And then you have to twist and bend that linkage in place to get it to fit because there's no way you placed it right at first. It may be easier to leave it off, and then drop it in place once E22 & E2 are in place.

I also built the engine

Fairly large but pretty simple. Most of it will be covered even with the missile in firing position.

Next up I'll be getting started on the interior

What are you using for your trees holder?
Thanks, Dan

I believe it's called a 'file organizer' or 'folder organizer' for manila folders. Think I got it off of Amazon, but any office supply store should have them.

Lookin' good, James! I've never done a HB kit. How's it going so far?

Thanks James
D

Got one waiting in the stash. Will be watching this build with interest. looking at the schematics and sprues is enough to induce an anxiety attack. Looks like a real challenge.good luck.

Pretty good. The one thing with HobbyBoss is that the fit can be tight, and this kit is no exception. I've trimmed off a few location pegs already.



No problem. I can't take full credit for it though, pretty sure I saw someone else organize their sprues with one before.



Yea all that painting makes me apprehensive. The solid green scheme is tempting, but I've got enough green on the shelf.

So more progress has been made tonight. Got the interior framing done.

Goes together pretty easily. The assembly is large enough that you can work your way up the ladder with the supports between the frames, gluing them in place as you go without a problem.

And here it is mounted


That's it for now. Should be able to get some more bench time this weekend

Work continues...


Here's the transmission housing, pretty detailed. However, fitting it into place was a challenge. It has to line up with 4 other axles that are already in place from the previous step. Not sure how I'd tackle that step again if I had to.


Error in step 11. H44 and E8 are actually placed towards the edge of the hull, as you can see below


Moving on, at step 13 I had some figuring to do. The sleeves for the hydraulic stabilizers have are made of two parts, and at first it isn't clear where F53 goes, but if you look close you can see.


Also at step 13, there's this part G3, and I have no idea how it's placed.

No locating marks or pins. Further instructions don't show a clear view of the area. It's staying off for now.

Besides that, I've been jumping around between steps to try and get everything that's painted grey in the interior in place

A few more parts to put in and then I'll be able to start the piecemeal painting process.

More to come

Very nice build so far. I know Hobby Boss instructions ça be a bit challenging.
Concerning part G3 I would place horizontally with the short "leg" in contact with the wheel arch.

Olivier

Thanks Olivier. That's what I ended up doing with G3. I looked further on and nothing attaches to it, so it should be good.

The back of the vehicle has been primed grey


Also painted up this small engine. I assume it's an auxiliary engine, maybe for the hydraulics.


And here it is mounted in place


Next up I think I'll paint up the main engine and get it set in the chassis

Great build so far.It is a headache some times with something like this but it is great how we can all support and learn from one another.I will be following this build closely.

Thanks Jason. Biggest pain on this is all the painting, build a couple things, prime, paint, rinse and repeat.

Did some more work the past couple days, painting and installing small parts. When I got to the missile arm I noticed it wasn't fitting right, which led to a small crisis

I installed that circled part facing the wrong way.

Can't come out at this point, so butchery ensues

She ain't winning any awards now. I could just leave the missile arm down where it won't be noticeable, but that's a thought for later.

Despite that, things have been moving along. The missile arm is only dry fitted for now as it needs some touch up paint. I've also run into a few parts being called out wrong in the instructions. I thought about documenting them, but they are pretty obvious, and if you're tackling this kit, you probably know what you're doing and you'll be able to figure it out.







Think I've only got two more sub-assemblies for the rear section, then I'll be on to doing the cab.

I'm back. Got distracted by some other projects and had some other things going on as well. I completed a few more sub assemblies, and to break the monotony of painting, gluing, painting, gluing... I did some weathering. Just chipping and a wash. I'll do some streaks and some pigments as well, but I want to keep it pretty light.







Next up, I think I'll focus on the cab. There are those seats to put in, some more parts on that weird instrument behind the seats, and then some decals for the instrument panels. Looking forward to buttoning this kit up and working on the exterior.

Another small update. There was a disaster with the missile decals.

Lots of silvering as you can see. I was trying out microset and microsol for the first time and thought I could get away without a gloss coat base (I saw it on youtube!). Turns out I'm wrong.

So since the decals are hosed, I can get away with painting over them and going with this scheme:

Which also has the benefit of no masking. I feel like I'm starting to burn out on this kit, so a single color scheme is appealing.

Besides the normal misadventures, the lower half of the build is just about complete:




Next up I'll finish the missile and get the top half going.

Finally made some visual progress. Top half has been built, painted, and dry fitted to the bottom half. Only broke two parts getting it into place this time opposed to the 5 from last time. I'll try to fix it in place and then glue it up and finish painting.





Again, this kit has been challenging. I'm a mediocre builder, and this kit has given me some trouble. Glad I'm going with the single color scheme, having to mask this properly would only add to the difficulty.

Got some work done on this 3 day weekend. Mostly assembled and mostly painted.





That mean looking front end is why I like this vehicle.

Only a few pieces left to assemble and paint, mainly the support jacks, windshield wipers and some tools. Once that's done I may set this kit aside for a bit before I get to weathering. I've got a campaign that ends in 5 months which I haven't started, plus there's an MBV-2 and BM-27 Uragan in the stash begging to be built.

Done!
















Overall it's a good kit. Definitely challenging in some parts, mainly mating to the top and bottom halves together and the missile compartment doors. Fit is tight in some places, and some areas of the instructions are vague or incorrect. Requires more care and patience than I gave it. Plenty of build errors on it, but overall I'm happy with it. On to new kits

Looks darn good, James. I'd be happy with it!

What's your next one going to be?

Thanks Richard. I've got MiniArt's BZ-38 for the logistics campaign that I started, but I'm not that into it. Might jump ship and go with the MBV-2 armored train or the BM-27 Uragan. But the weather's getting nice and I've got a house to remodel, 4 windows getting put in next week. Not replacement's either, re-framing, re-sheathing and re-siding needed. Gotta get the prep work done this week and hopefully me and my dad can bang the rest out in a day or two next weekend. If only I could get paid while not having a full time job, then maybe I'd have the time and resources to do all the things I want to get done

I hear ya, man! I keep holding out hope for that 25 hour day so I could factor in some more model time and still get done all the stuff I need to get done.