The seam in the Sprockets will need filling, you can see it.

With the interior detailing could an interior be far off?

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There's a lot of nice weld detail.


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Finished for now.
Donald

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G'day Donald

Looking good. Just a small suggestion - drill out the ring at the top of the handle on the tow hook where your arrow is pointing.

Regards

Rob

Donald, thanks for taking the time to post this, I for one am reading every word, studying every picture.
I saw this kit at King's in Austin the other day and wondered to myself what it was like, and if it was worth the roughly $50. I think it is, and I think I need one......

Wow, you are building it fast! Nice work and all that detail you make it look easy and it’s not. Thanks for putting all this up here

The Plate one was more common.


With the interior detailing could an interior be far off?



That's all for now.
Donald

The assembly jig is useless

. . .

Then you are supposed to press them down, but you can't without removing the parts joining them together.

Thanks for the pics of your build. I got mine about ten days ago and poured a lot of time into building most of the assemblies. If I can add a few things:

1) I had no issues with the flush mounting of the HVSS vertical plates (A34) to the lower hull side. It was an exacting fit, but I didn't need to remove the 2 guide tabs. Mine fit great.

2) Part A37 of the HVSS is the bar which engages the springs. You should ensure a careful clean up of the end which faces outward. Indeed, most photos I've seen show a small hole at its center. I was careful to sand the outer end flush and added a hole. Even if you want to omit the drilling of the hole, please be sure to sand it flush.

3) My kit sample had a defect. The outer end of HVSS support arm A31 was a short shot. It required my making six shims so it could attach to outer securing part A30. I corresponded with Terry Ashley and none of his three kits had this defect. Donald's seems fine too. Only one other person I spoke with (Don Frandsen) had the defect. Not a big issue but an annoyance.

4) When attaching the engine grate props (A44 in step 13), know that RFM has at 0°, complete vertical, from the side. They should be perpendicular to the slant of the corner engine deck itself. I cut a small wedge off the bottom of A44 and fitted the parts correctly. If you're unsure of what I'm describing, just consider that the opened engine grate doors would rest on the tops of A44. Thus A44 needs to be flush with the open doors. As RFM would have you do it, only a corner of A44 would be propping the open engine grate. Incorrect.

5)Although I'm not done, some final thoughts: it's a great kit and in whole, has more finesse than the Asuka kit (which previously, I couldn't imagine being surpassed). However, the features included in the kit limit one's finishing choices, if only building out of the box. "Paper Doll" in photos had the T66 tracks, not the T80s of the RFM kit. Also, the armored exhausts are extremely rare in WW2 photos. Most have the thin sheet metal exhausts louvers. Asuka's kit gives you both options for the exhaust louvers.

For a more common WW2 tank, you'll need to secure the more common exhaust louvers. For a more common Korean war tank, you'll need to secure a First Aid box, rear telephone, newer gun tube lock and often, the engine hatch torsion bars. I have a deep spares box so I can mix and match. Ultimately, I'm planning on making the RFM kit into a Korean war tank -- this is just a heads up on an otherwise marvelous job by RFM.

As I stated earlier, I thought the Asuka kits were the ultimate version of this 1/35 subject. I'm happy to say I'm mistaken.

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The assembly jig is useless

. . .

Then you are supposed to press them down, but you can't without removing the parts joining them together.

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??? - And the instructions say to do just that I don't think it is fair to say the jig is useless when you didn't follow the instructions for using it.

KL