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Modeller Build Logs
Alan Pz.II J |
| By Leo Lee | | Started: | May 6, 2004 | | Updated: | May 12, 2004 |
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I am always fascinated by small tanks. May be it is a sub-conscious thing rooted from my childhood, because I was doing lots of AFV in 1/72 or 1/76 scale back then. I built any Airfix and Hasegawa I could afford. So when I switched to 1/35 as an adult, I buy many small vehicles. Among them Pz. II variants are something I always want to do. Tamiya Pz. II F/G was my first 1/35 AFV, when I was 14 or 15.
I already have a couple Alan kits in my closet, recently I got the excellence Tasca Luch, and again, a Tamiya Pz. II F/G, which I will do some detailing. The Tasca Luch is so good that I can’t wait to start building it. Save the small parts, it is basically finished now. While I was working on the Luch, I thought why not work on another Pz. II variant at the same time? So it is the topic of this blog, a project that takes up most of my building time, and slowed down the progress of the Luch. |
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| Chapter 2 - Fixing the Warped Hull | May 9, 2004 |
The quality of the Alan kit is quite good for an Eastern European manufacturer. (nowhere near Tamiya or DML of course, and compared to the Tasca Luch I was working on at the same time, I have the feeling of watching a VCD and a DVD side by side on 2 adjacent screens)
To begin with, both kits have multi-panel hull, but the fit and details are like from heaven and earth. The fit of the Alan kit is not bad at all, but some putty and surfacer are needed. The most conspicuous difference is the surface texture. The Luch is one of the very best out there, while the Alan one is very “primitive”. You can see the traces left by machining. So sand paper is a must, and afterward treatment by cement and surfacer will be required.
But before that I have to take care of the warp. Many people will use a hair dryer. What I did was pressing the lower hull panel on a hard, flat surface, in this case a big piece of glass. And then glued three 5mm square plastic rod on the inside with tiny drops of CA glue. Then I strengthened the joints with Tamiya thin cement.
Then it was left overnight for complete curing before I added the side panels and the front. The side panels were glued inch by inch. I started from the front. I glued about one inch, left dry for 2 hours. Then I secure the glued portion with Tamiya Masking tapes, then pressed the middle portion into right place and glued the middle. I hold my finger there for 5 minutes before I taped the middle with masking tape. 2 hours later I repeated the same procedures on the rear. Again overnight drying, and then I filled all the joints with a big dose of Tamiya thin cement. Now all the panels are in the right place at last.. |
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