Zeď

Jakko ‌
> I think you win this weeks prize for most heavy duty modelling tool. 😄

Probably, yeah 🙂 It's a metalworking lathe, so a bit overkill for just turning down the seam on those wheels, but I didn't feel like aching fingers from scraping them down with a knife — I get those even when I hold them in a modelling vice, never mind just between my fingers.

> that kind of set up can tool a real bogie!!

Having seen a disassembled Sherman bogie up close, I must say I think this one is a size too small for that 😉

Ben M
👀 fascinating vehicle.

Spanjaard
looks really good, well done
Funny, my first F1 (and only so far), was just the same as you 🙂

Jakko ‌
@bossy122, I told myself I was not going to even try and correct this kit's faults, because it's so far out of my area of expertise. I'm just going to leave it like this, but thanks for the information anyway, it's always good to learn little details like this 🙂

@Spanjaard, Thanks, though it has a lot of bits that could have been done a lot better. Especially by someone more used to car kits and gloss paint than I am 😉 That stuff is hard to spray neatly …

David Taylor
Coming along nicely.

Jakko ‌
Shouldn't be that much longer now … I hope 😉

Rui S
Great work 👍

Desert Marlin
Watch the Cab to Chassis interface on this kit. My GMGC had some difficulty with that!

Jakko ‌
Thanks for the heads-up. I've been dry-fitting the floor and the rear body (main parts already built) and they seem to fit well enough to the chassis, but I won't know for sure until I get the cab built, of course.

Desert Marlin
I was the same for mine! I still think I messed something up. But they look great when finished!

Jakko ‌
I have seen somebody build a Dragon M3 halftrack, and he had some trouble lining up the cab and the back half, so I think it will pay to keep a close eye on fit straight from the start.

John
Nice build log. I was thinking of this kit since I actually live near one of the decommissioned batteries but it's not a must have and the poor fit is kind of a deal breaker for me. Hey, if you build five more and connect them, you can have your own battery!

NLAWScametovisit
definitely a rough looking kit, but your fixes are really impressive.

Jakko ‌
Thanks 🙂 It's not a kit I would recommend unless you like ones that need a good deal of work. The missile is much better than the launcher, though — except for the gaps around the main fins. On the whole it seems pretty accurate, just not that well-designed or -moulded. It is also lacking all of the hydraulic and electrical lines, as well as other minor detail, but I didn't feel like adding any of that. Those who want to, I will refer to ed-thelen.org/#NumDoc which has a whole bunch of technical manuals on the Nike Hercules (and Ajax); TM9-1400-250-10/2 has good drawings of all kinds of stuff. Also, the kit gives you a non-nuclear missile. To make it nuclear, you need to scratchbuild a probe with four vanes on the nose (or the protective cap for it).

As for the battery, the kit's instructions actually mention you can put four launchers together. After having built just the one, I don't want to make a second, let alone any more than that … Though I would have been lucky with this one if I did, because Dutch batteries (which this missile will be marked as) had only three launchers each 🙂

Jakko ‌
Removable, that might have been a good idea, yes … I glued the track to the wheels instead 🙂 My idea is that like this, I can still reach most of the track reasonably well to paint it, and that any unpainted bits will be largely limited to around the inside wheels where they won't be easy to spot. With both rows of wheels on, I have no idea how to paint most of the track at all. (These days, I much prefer workable tracks, because you can paint the model and the tracks separately and only then install the tracks, easily and without having to glue painted track links to painted wheels.)

Guy Rump
Looking good, watching. 👍