Gecko Models - WWII British Army 4x2 GS Truck - Construction
So I went down to my local hobby shop for something simple and easy... Was hoping for a Tamiya BT-7 but somehow I opted for this... This has gotta be the cutest truck... But my God it's anything but simple and easy...
Cute Ute with a Caunter scheme...
Front end leaf spring packs added to the chassis... Parts are tiny and there is little purchase bonding them in...
Was a little tired after all the small parts to step 2...! So onto larger elements... Rear diff...
Give you a little understanding of how small this is... My Number 10 scalpel blade looks enormous..
Chassis is only about 125mm long and 35mm wide... The graduations on my scalpel are in millimetres
The D Link to each side of the leaf packs were a nightmare...
Rear leaf packs installed...
40 parts go into building up the chassis to this stage... Still more to go... And this is only up to step 4... Little bit over the top Gecko Models...
Engine being pieced together...
Tiny little 6 cylinder....
21 parts and not much bigger than an Aussie 5 cent piece... I'm starting to question my choices in life... Lol
Diff upgrade... Gecko Models has some extremely small connection points... One being those to the wheels with very small pegs... These are going to break so opted to replace the plastic peg with a solid 1.2mm brass rod... On top of this I'll pin the diff and the front pitman arm into the chassis as again these connections support the entire truck...
Pitman Arm upgrade... The steering knuckles are somehow meant to hinge on each end of the pitman arm... No chance this will work... 0.6mm hole and 0.63mm copper wire past through to create a stronger joint... Even maintains the pivot to control the steering... But why this is moulded in separate parts is beyond me...
Just for reference the copper pin is 0.6mm in diameter... Have a go at the size of the steering knuckle halves...Why Gecko Models...
I'm hoping the tedium is coming to an end soon...
What an insane amount of work this is to get it to this stage... Gecko Models need to go back and rethink their designs... Frankly they've just mimicked how a real truck is put together... It's simply doesn't work from a modelling standpoint... Minuscule connection points and barely no surface area in which to bond things, even with what little keying there is it doesn't any real positive position...
24 parts for 4 wheels...?! Lol...
She's up on all 4's...
Steering linkages are all separate pieces... Insane...
This thing isn't for the feint of heart... Everything is made up of multiple parts... Build ability is a 2 outta 10... But she is cute...
Rear diff and its suspension... Check out the damper levers they're barely 0.5mm in diameter and about 6mm long...
Front end and the engine...
Steering components are too small for the average modeller...
Tiny little radiator... I breathed wrongly and I lost a radiator cap for a while there...
PE Grills to the Bonnet... You'll need to roll these across the short side then pull them around the long side when bonding in place... They are a compound curve which is a little tricky..
Starting to look like something with a bonnet...
Side steps, fuel tanks and fender supports added to the chassis
Some minor detail was lost sanding the fuel tanks so a couple of circles punched from 0.25mm styrene will suffice as a replacement...
Bit of the interior of the cab... Gotta say the steering wheel is pretty cool... Even has the finger indentations on the rear side of the wheel...
Coming along... Man is this a fiddly kit...
So I was just reading ahead and the doors come with individual pivot hinge halves... Items Kb11 marry into the jamb of the truck body and then it's counterpart Kb12 mounts to the door...
Have a go at the sheer minuscule size of the the hinge halves...
This is a piece of 0.25mm wire I use to apply CA Adhesive... Couldn't these have been moulded onto the door..?? Lol
Cab on its way for paint... Quite fragile prices go into making up thr door frames but once altogether it's quite rigid...
Isn't she cute..!
I'm actually really enjoying this kit...
Cab chassis...
The moulding to the tray is quite impressive...
All the tiny tie downs on the tray sides are separate pieces...
Tray sides... Immaculate moulding...
Flat bed..!
Everything is still loose for Internal painting...
Keep on trucking...
I'm struggling to make a decision on whether to keep her a flat bed... Put the side trays on... The side tray and the canopy skeleton... Or side trays with a full fabric canopy... So many choices...!
Tray together... The open canopy components are bent and broken in my kit... So have opted for just a simple open tray...
Interior of the cab painted and masked off... The clear parts to this kit are a complete let down... Very distorted...
Cab all bonded together... A fair bit of scribing involved to bring things together neatly... Although there is a gap between one side of the bonnet and the vertical side which will need to be filled with a styrene strip...
Bullbar on... Replaced the kit parts with brass rod...
Comments
14 30 March, 11:59
TreehuggerPlastic looks really nice, not at all the flash ridden unholy mess I see with some other kit brands. 😄
1 April, 08:12
Eddy MarshallHey Treehugger... Yeah the plastic is pretty good and there is some impressive moulding to some of the pieces... Although the sheer minuscule size of parts is mind boggling... A good 50% of the kit is absolutely tiny and fragile...
2 April, 09:12
Eddy MarshallHey Olivier... Fiddly in the sense that every part is extremely small with little to no bonding area... What keying that has been supplied dissolves at the mere smell of extra thin cement... Lol... Don't breathe around loose parts, they'll go walkabout... I usually build tanks and really wasn't prepared for these microscopic pieces that break and won't bond well when building... None the less I'm kinda enjoying the challenge...
2 April, 09:17
JohnLooking good. Sounds like another challenge with the tiny parts is avoiding the wrath of the hungry carpet monster.
4 April, 11:39
Eddy MarshallCheers John... Hold your breath and tongue the right way on this one mate... Haven't lost anything yet...
5 April, 17:00
