Part 2: The Build

If you purchase this kit you will want to finish the interior for display. If you finish the interior you will need to be an experienced modeler. The many small parts make this a challenging build. In a few instances the instructions are not clear, and the builder must study the exploded views and the parts to fully grasp how the parts fit to each other. Some manufacturers seem to go to the extreme with detail and often provide sub-assemblies utilizing very small parts when, again one part might do just as well. This Bronco kit has many small parts with some complicated assemblies. This is up to the modeler as detail is a personal thing Starting the build. The first step is to carefully study the instructions and the sprues. Many of the subassemblies are shown within a bubble. The parts are identified by sprue number, and there is limited painting recommendations. As the build continued I was concerned that the sub-assemblies would not fit within the hull compartments, but in the end they did. My most gratifying moment was when the engine, cooling system and photo-etched subassembly dropped into place perfectly within the engine compartment. Always dry-fit the parts before applying the solvent. The removal of the very small parts was a challenge, and much care was required not to lose them. Clean up of the mating surfaces is critical for a good fit. Clean up of the very small parts was especially difficult, but I used a loop of masking tape with the sticky side out to hold the part on my work surface while the parts were cleaned up In part one I noted that the sprues were not identified with Alpha flags as found on Tamiya and Dragon kits: I was wrong. The flags are there, but are not always located in the corners. Construction Step 1--Hull Bottom The first construction step consists of building what appears to be the vehicle fuel tank. The parts are not overly small, but were a bit difficult to handle while assembling. There are two small spigots that are fixed in place side-by-side. The second view for this step shows several small parts being installed, but I deferred this work until the interior was painted. Step 2-- Transmission/Gearbox The first step of the gearbox construction involved thirteen parts, and the transmission itself had another thirteen parts. One small photo etched part is included in this assembly. I glued the gearbox to the transmission and set this first sub-assembly aside for painting and later installation. Steps 3 and 4--Hull Interior I skipped these two step for the moment for reasons noted above. Steps 5 and 6--Engine The engine and cooling system is addressed in eight steps and 74 individual parts. A photo etched bulkhead is installed between the engine and the cooling coils. The connector pipes (eight parts) are quite small and gave me concern about attachment strength, so I substituted soft copper wire threaded through the header and base plate and into the coil sections. The cooling coils sub-assembly was the most challenging step this far. I could envision some serious alignment problems when it came time to fit the engine, cooling hoses, PE bulkhead and radiators together. Step 7--Hull Assembly The hull sides, front and rear panels all use mitered mating faces and were a bit difficult to assembly. Butt joints with locators pins would have been a better solution. Care is required to align the parts with solvent being applied progressively along the join. Step 8--Rear Idlers The idler wheels are two, wafer-thin parts each (parts A21 and A22), and I found that when glued together the parts would not remain aligned without supervision until the solvent cured. Before the idler wheels are fixed to the other parts (2-A32, B2, and B3) move ahead to step 11 to correctly mount these two assemblies to the hull sides. Steps 9 and 10--Running Gear Step nine must be repeated for each side, and for me was the most frustrating part of the build (at this point at least). The parts are small, difficult to hold and clean up, and even more challenging to align properly. After several attempts I eventually was able to get all the parts in place, but not perfectly. Step 10 Three Sub-Assemblies The two, three-wheeled running gear sub-assemblies are aligned with a long "bracket" that is fixed to the hull side. The bracket has two male appendages that are inserted into small holes in the triangular plates, and two that are glued to the hull side. The holes in the triangular plates must be reamed out slightly for this to work. The drive sprocket assembly is two parts with the hub mounting pin being quite small and difficult to hold and insert into the sprocket. A single part would have been a better solution. The mounting pin does form a weak bond with the hull side. There are two mufflers, with each being comprised of two parts. Again the parts are difficult to clean up and hold. I had difficulty getting the join seam to close fully, and ended up using a small amount of filler to close the gap. Steps 11-12-Hull Exterior Noticeable progress is now seen. The vinyl connector hose between the tankette and fuel trailer was not installed here. I also deferred installation of the two mufflers and exhaust pipe. These parts would be painted and weathered and installed later. All the parts did fit, but the instructions must be studied carefully. Step 13-Engine compartment Cover/hatches I fixed one hatch open, and tacked the other closed with white glue Step 14-Tracks The link and length tracks consist of 15 parts per side with several being single or double links parts. I decided that I would assemble the tracks, paint and weather them, and then affix them to the running gear. The parts are small and have limited contact points. Vinyl loop tracks would perhaps been a better choice for the tracks. Step 15-Front Hull Top Details The instructions call for the removal of some raised details from both the crew hatches. The raised details would be replaced with photo etched parts. After my attempt to fold the PE parts I decided to forgo that installation and retain the raised detail. The two, funnel-shaped headlamps are shown being installed in this step, along with the clear lenses. I deferred the clear parts until after the painting, weathering and flat finish application were completed Steps 16-18 Armament Assembly The armament consists of a machine gun and flame thrower mounted side-by-side. I was able to finish this step without too much effort. The machine gun barrel and flame tube and nozzle were fixed to the turret face. A small spacer piece is located between the two barrels, and is quite delicate and requires care to install properly. The turret housing fits into an opening in the face of the crew compartment. In addition the side of the turret face needed to be splayed out before the solvent was applied to glue everything in place. Later, small gaps were filled with white glue. There are four small (very small) parts that appear to be latches that must be fixed to the crew hatches. In addition there are two small (very small) parts that appear to be cranks for the vision port's visors. There are two; again, very small tow hooks that attach to the front of the hull. Because the sequence seemed to be off for me I deferred installation until step 19 was completed. Step 19- Placing the Hull Top The top of the hull consists of the crew area and the engine compartment cover; both include a pair of access hatches. The crew portion is a bit of a tight fit, but was coaxed into place. The front join was held with clamps until the solvent dried. The instructions note that the hull top and engine compartment top could be left loose and removed to display the interior sub-assemblies. I found that when placing to the two top parts on the hull there were significant gaps that would detract from the model, so I glued everything in place, using several clamps until the joints set up. Steps 20-21--Fuel Trailer The fuel trailer assembly went rather quickly. Again mitered mating surfaces are used for the sides, top and bottom panels and care must be exercised to square everything. Step 21 actually consists of three separate subassemblies, and again everything went quickly. I left the wheels off to facilitate the painting of the trailer. The flexible vinyl hose was left off until the painting and weathering was completed. Step 22 With this final step the tankette, fuel trailer and flexible hose are all brought together to complete the work. The vinyl hose was attached with the new Gorilla Glue, which seems to really bond vinyl to other materials. Finishing/Painting The last two pages of the instructions are dedicated to two different paint schemes, while a third scheme is depicted on the box art. I chose the Rome Military Exercise vehicle. Although the instructions call for a flat white crew compartment interior I elected to use a tan mixture to this area, whereas the engine compartment was painted a red oxide primer. The engine and transmission were airbrushed with Tamiya flat black. When dry these subassemblies were dry brushed with silver Rub-N-Buff. This product can be dry brushed with various levels of effort to obtain a light to heavy appearance of bare steel. A wash of burnt umber when then applied to the interior surfaces and the engine and transmission. The exterior was first primed with Rustoleum Painter's Touch White primer. Tamiya acrylic paints were used throughout, with oil paints for washes and weathering effects. The Tamiya paints were thinned with 91% isopropyl alcohol, and the oil paints with odorless thinner. Two coats of Future were airbrushed onto the model in preparation for the decals. The vehicle that I chose had minimal markings. The decals were applied to flat surfaces only, and did not appear to be overly thick. Once dry the clear film appeared to be slightly opaque. Everything was sealed with Floquil flat finish.

Special Tools/Materials Used I used the Touch-n-Flow solvent applicator throughout this build. The needle point was very useful in applying the solvent with somewhat pinpoint accuracy, especially when dealing with the very small parts and subassemblies. Needle point tweezers will be handy to hold the many small parts. Gorilla Super Glue was use to convince the more stubborn parts (tracks and vinyl hose) to stay put. This is a wonderful product. Conclusion This is a rather lengthy review, but there are several, complicated steps to the build, with about 300 parts involved in the effort. The finished model is really quite small. The tankette measures 3 5/8" long, 1 ½" wide and about 1 3/8" high, whereas the fuel trailer is 2 1/8" long, 1 5/8" wide and about 1" high. The overall length of the tankette and trailer is 5 ¾" long. This Tankette is not an attractive vehicle, but nonetheless quite unique. The actual build was difficult at times and challenging, but will be rewarding as the effort results in an unusual vehicle for my collection. Again, this kit is recommended for experienced builders with skills and patience, and willingness to invest the time to build the many sub-assemblies and micro-assemblies. The most difficult part of the build for me was the running gear. I spent about 40 hours to build this kit. I am certain that many of the problems that I experienced were a result of my own ineptness. Many thanks to Stevens International for the opportunity to test my building skills and for the addition of this unique vehicle to my collection.