Revell Auto Transporter
SPOILER ALERT: I have actually finished this kit, but given its relative scarcity I thought a wip thread may be of interest. I took photos of most steps and have some advice on the order of assembly as I think the instructions are not ideal in some places. The kit came in three large sprues; one with the treads, one mostly with the frame and the other with wheels and other bits. I spend a night snipping pieces from the third sprue to separate wheels etc, then just sprayed the other two sprues as they were. Touch up after removing sprayed pieces was going to be much easier than trying to remove pieces prior to spraying.
Here is the kit box for reference.
Step 1: The instructions are vague on the colour advice and the box art is not much help. I am not convinced the model on the box is even painted. I went for Tamiya TS-81 Royal Light Grey for the main frame, though in hindsight this was a poor choice as it was very close match to the primer I used so coverage was hard to judge. I also did not have a matching pot of paint for touch ups. Construction started with the two main chassis rails of the lower deck. The instructions did not even call out detail painting of the suspension.
Step 2: Adding the cross-beams. The fitment of these would have been perfect before painting, so there was some finessing required to get painted parts assembled correctly.
Step 3: First lot of treads/ramps added. These are sprayed a generic automotive silver. The centre sections - also silver - served to added structural support to the chassis. The centre piece at the very bottom had the supports for the outer treads molded in, which I painted gun-metal for contrast.
Step 4: Spare wheels, also in automotive silver.
Step 5: Spare wheels added to the lower deck.
Step 6: Added wheel arches. These were painted grey, masked and then the silver sprayed for the tread area. Also added the ramps down to the middle section of the lower deck. These are supposed to sit flush with the lower deck but foul the spare tires so sit high. A consequence is very little are to glue the in place, relying only on the contact area with the arches.
Step 7: Adding ramps in the front section of the lower deck.
The build starts heading up from here.
Grant.
Here is the kit box for reference.
Step 1: The instructions are vague on the colour advice and the box art is not much help. I am not convinced the model on the box is even painted. I went for Tamiya TS-81 Royal Light Grey for the main frame, though in hindsight this was a poor choice as it was very close match to the primer I used so coverage was hard to judge. I also did not have a matching pot of paint for touch ups. Construction started with the two main chassis rails of the lower deck. The instructions did not even call out detail painting of the suspension.
Step 2: Adding the cross-beams. The fitment of these would have been perfect before painting, so there was some finessing required to get painted parts assembled correctly.
Step 3: First lot of treads/ramps added. These are sprayed a generic automotive silver. The centre sections - also silver - served to added structural support to the chassis. The centre piece at the very bottom had the supports for the outer treads molded in, which I painted gun-metal for contrast.
Step 4: Spare wheels, also in automotive silver.
Step 5: Spare wheels added to the lower deck.
Step 6: Added wheel arches. These were painted grey, masked and then the silver sprayed for the tread area. Also added the ramps down to the middle section of the lower deck. These are supposed to sit flush with the lower deck but foul the spare tires so sit high. A consequence is very little are to glue the in place, relying only on the contact area with the arches.
Step 7: Adding ramps in the front section of the lower deck.
The build starts heading up from here.
Grant.