British Light Tank MKVIB~Vulcan

[Jamie Tainton]

Picked this one up at Magicbox Hobbies today- going to dig in right away- stay tuned!

[Jamie Tainton]

Okay- I've started in on this one tonight- just getting familiar with all the parts and process on this. Took some pics of the sprues and scanned the instructions.
Click the link below for a pdf version

[David Johannsen]

[David Madsen]

I'm looking forward to this one!

[Dan Reed]

I as well!
What's the size? Smaller than a breadbox?!
Dan

[Jamie Tainton]

Glad you guys are into this one- helps to fuel it along. Dan I'd say it's roughly the size of a Panzer I/A. Once I have it all together I'll post a pic with a Panzer I beside it.
I didn't get too much into the sprue thing, one because there are plenty of shots out there already but also my light F-ed up when I was taking the pictures so the session, it was cut a bit short. But I got what I wanted for the most part. I couldn't wait and started cleaning up the parts. The molding is pretty good, initially I had the impression it was similar to the Eastern Block type of thing but I have decided after working with it now that it is actually far better than that standard. Not up to the larger major players but pretty good. Some shots of whats in the box, which is well made. The plastic inside has lots of protection being bagged in plastic. There is a piece of card with printing on it like a cutting mat but this is only used as a way to present the many small plastic bags that contain smaller parts like springs and photo etch etc. It is similar to the Diamond tread plate seen in DML kits.


with the lid off

[David Johannsen]

[Dan Reed]

The parts really look good!
Vulcan keeps on trucking!
Dan

[Jamie Tainton]

Okay without further ado, some in progress build shots. So starting with Step 1 we begin by tackling the rear leaf springs. The molding on these is pretty good and it does not suffer the usual centre line mold seam that haunts these parts in other kits. It does have some flash and mold lines here and there but all in all nice. Careful with how much liquid cement you use on this plastic- it melts pretty good and any excess will fuck up the part. In this pic you can see D27,D28,D15,D16.


This is part C4 and is one of the front bits of armour plate that can either be positioned opened or closed. I have not added two brass parts -add them later to prevent damaging them or losing them.


These are also part of the front drivers hatch- the inside. There is not much to the interior- only a chair really, so most will probably opt to have these hatches closed. C24, C26, C28.


Next as part of Step 2, D36 and D37 are cleaned up and need to be glued to the one piece hull part, X. Part D9 is also part of this step.


The front of the hull gets a wedge added in the form of part C23, with two tow points provided with the assembly of D32, D42. These where actually very nice and smoothly fitted together.



Step 1 & 2 have been glued to the hull.





Here you can see a rear plate, C30 and part C17. This is then glued in place.


Here you can see the top hull part C18 which, if you plan on gluing the front drivers hatches in the closed position, I suggest you leave off until after that is done as it will allow access. I did not do this and ended up having some issues.

[Jamie Tainton]

As you can see here I have glued the top panel in place. in the shadows you maybe able to see the drivers seat.


Here part C33, C35 and the previously mentioned C4. This whole area is a bit tricky. I wanted to display my model with these hatches closed in front of the driver but if you glue C18 in place and maybe even part C33 before you line up and position C24, C25 and C3 you may encounter access problems- I would also suggest using CA glue as opposed to melting type glues- it could get messy. I ended up ripping my attempt out the next day as the alignment was just not good enough for me- I will thus end up having my hatches open. Not much will be seen in the shadows so I think it will look fine. So what follows is my first take on this aspect of the build. Just maybe try a few things out before you commit glue to it.