Modelik - Maz-543 + SS-1C Scud B

[jaffro]

Thank you both for the kind words, one thing I can say is never say never.

I too used to look at some of the awesome builds on this and other forums and think I'd never be able to attempt some of the stuff some of these people were building (Including this kit). While I always feel I could do better, the help and advice I've found on forums like this have inspired me to keep trying new things and to keep pushing myself to get better and better. I'm doing things now I never thought I would, it just takes a bit of practice. Never be afraid to try something that may seem too hard.

[jaffro]

This time it's lots of progress with minimal effort... thanks to the pile of parts I had mounting up waiting to be painted.

Assembly of the suspension went relatively well, although I rolled the outer tube parts for the shock absorbers too tight, so after painting they were quite stiff and don't allow for much travel. A few misplaced drops of superglue during assembly also made for a couple of sections that aren't going to move much. I don't think it's going to be a problem getting the thing to sit level though.

As Greg found, installing the halfshafts between the diffs and wheels is rather difficult if the diffs are attached first, which is pretty much the way the instructions lead you to believe they need to be attached, once again I'm left wondering if anyone at Modelik actually built this thing before approving these instructions to be included with the kit. Thankfully, I could see this coming and rectified it by installing the shafts first.



At this point, the front steering wheels all pivot and most of the suspension still moves up and down a little, I had to customise the way the shockers attach so the steering arms weren't hard up against them. Speaking of steering, there's some shafts that attach the steering arms on the wheels to the steering system in the chassis. I mentioned customising these to allow me to pivot the whhels, basically for posing the model later of for photos or whatever. At this stage I'm considering leaving them out entirely, as I don't think it matters too much and looks fine without them.



Up next... Diffs, driveshafts, gearbox and transfer case...

[jaffro]

So before moving on to the diffs and driveshafts, I decided now might be a good time to start weathering the inside of this thing, before it gets too hard to access it all. I've never weathered anything before but I've seen some nicely weathered versions of this kit so decided early on that I want to attempt to weather this thing. I've been watching some youtube videos and on a recent trip to a hobby store I armed myself with some supplies to give it a go.

I started by adding some weathering to the gearbox, transfer case and diffs, then worked on the inside of the chassis.



I've used some gunmetal and chrome highlights, followed by a rust wash and some black wash. It needed a couple od goes with the washes, then I thickened the black wash a little to paint and splatter some oily stains around where the engine, gearbox and transfer case all go.



I think I could have done a bit better with the highlights and chipping but overall I'm pretty happy with the result, for a first attempt. I'm going to watch some more tutorials and try some other new techniques on the outside of the model but for now, I'm really looking forward to seeing what I can do with the engine.

Next up, I have a few small bits and pieces to finish off that I've skipped up till now, then it's on to the engine.

[Vinalssergio155]

Impressive work in all that, how detailed. And the painting work is great. You're right, someday who knows, what I've learned in these months since I joined the forum greatly improved the quality of my finished works and encouraged me to Try things you did not do before. It's amazing what you learn by watching others work. You are doing a fabulous job in that "monster".

[jaffro]

Originally Posted by Vinalssergio155

You are doing a fabulous job in that "monster".

Thank you, again.

It really is a monster of a kit. I've always known it's big, but the level of detail in some areas has to be seen to really appreciate it. I've seen lots of build threads and pictures of it under construction but having it sitting in front of me makes me really appreciate what an awesome beast it is. I try not to look too far ahead as it can seem a bit daunting, especially with all the extra detail I'm planning to add, I'm just taking on one small section at a time and treating them as smaller individual models.

[Mike1158]

I find it extremely encouraging to see this progress, thank you for keeping this thread going. Nicely done, Sir.

[GWC]

I am completely gobsmacked. Incredible work and attention to detail and gluing!

[jaffro]

Thank you both for the feedback, your comments are much appreciated. It's actually turning out better than expected, I'm really enjoying adding the extra details and have a lot more planned for the engine.

[jaffro]

Just a minor update, work on the engine has begun, I've got a couple of days off work this weekend so I'm hoping to get stuck right into it.



Just the cooling fans done so far, with a hint of the type of extras I'm planning to add. It's annoying that the fans have to be built before you build their housing, so just in case there's going to be fit issues later, I've extended the metal shaft and not glued the upper fan heads to it so it can be adjusted later if it needs to be.

[jaffro]

Engine is going together better than expected, it's been a lot of fun to build.

I wanted to add some extra detail here but wasn't expecting to add as much as I eventually did. I've got some decent reference shots of the real thing, so I've based a lot of my additions on what I can see in those pics. I'll also be using one of these pics as a reference for the colour scheme, instead of painting everything silver as it comes in the kit.



As far as extra detail goes, I've used a lot of rivets and nuts, around 260 on the various engine parts for the rivet counters, bringing the total number of rivets and nuts added so far to 904 (yep, I'm a rivet counter). Other detail has been added by just using thin strips of card and random pieces cut to shape, to give 3D detail to lines that will be covered by painting. As a side note, I've added more parts to the engine than the total number of engine parts that came with the kit. I didn't bother counting those though, nor do I intend to.

Here's some pics of the various parts that make up the engine, I'm keeping them separate for now until I give everything a base coat.



Also, a pic of how it all looks when assembled. This was just a test fit, not everything is attached and some of it isn't straight but it gives the idea of how it's going to look.



There's still a bit more to add, just some minor details with some pipes, hoses etc. I'm really happy with how this is turning out and can't wait to see how it looks after painting and weathering.