PT-76B

Ingo F
Cool PT-76. How is the kit, any issues so far?

EnsignExpendabl
I built the precursor to this kit a long time ago, maybe I should strip it and have a go at it again now that I've improved.

Dan M
The kit is simple to build, doesn't have a lot of parts and the detail is very good. The fit is also excellent.
It has the pieces to make the plumbing for the water jets (between the floor grills and the rear outlets). The trim vane (the piece at the front that gets elevated when the vehicle is in water) has moded-in details on both sides.

Now having said that there are a couple of nagging issues, nothing very serious though, just me being very critic 🙂 :
- the barrel is two-piece and requires some cleaning, unfortunately not very good at this so mine looks kind of bad
- the tracks are in vinyl, the detail is so-so, better than old Tamiya kits but inferior to recent AFV Club vinyl tracks. I did consider getting the separate workable track kit from Trumpeter however it costs about the same as the entire kit and i'm not very fond of the idea of gluing all the guide horns, not only the track links
- i didn't pay attention when gluing the two halves of the drive sprockets and now the teeth are not aligned; this is going to be a major headache when fitting in the tracks
- there are no clear parts in the kit for the periscopes!!! I couldn't believe this, there are just empty spaces
- the trim vane has detail on both sides but i had to glue it down since the pieces that hold it in are only for the closed position and the central hatch periscope cannot be elevated. Fortunately this can be fixed with a little work if desired
- the water-jet outlets are also as separate pieces but it requires a little work to glue them open instead of closed.
- the turret hatch can be glued open but the turret interior is very spartan, with only part of the gun interior being provided (and it's actually funny, the interior is mobile, however the way the mantlet piece is designed it will not allow the gun to elevate)
- the towing cable is supplied as a string rope and I would have liked some brass wire.

Like i said i don't think any of this is very serious especially considering how cheap the kit is also the fit and details are very good.

Robbie
I have this kit in the stash. In your first (and 4th) picture, I would have really enjoyed watching how you folded the PE 'cage' around the headlights. It is one of the things holding me back on ever starting this kit.

Dan M
Hi Robbie, on the two A sprues you have two pieces that are not numbered (they are right next to A1 and A3, right on the margin of the sprue). These have actually the shape of the headlights guards (and these are the ones shown in the instructions when it comes to the PE folding). You can use them to fold the PE around them, it's very easy. I just wish more kits had stuff like this.

Robbie
@Dan M - I dug through the stash opened it up and wow you are correct. Found the part you were talking about on the sprue. I also looked at the instructions and saw the mysterious greyed out part (with my old WTF notation I must of put in awhile back) and now it is all clear. Many thanks😎

Dan M
No problems Robbie, glad I could help.
@James: thank you! With each model i'm slowly learning how to handle the airbrush and control the paint flow better. This is my third model painted with the airbrush, I still have a lot to learn.

Dan M
Well, managed to paint some details, the tracks and add the decals. I decided against painting the white stripes and went with an all-green appearance. No weathering yet, well, except for the tracks. And speaking of the tracks, they were really awful and I truly regret not buying an after-market. Had to go old-school on them and staple them as they kept breaking up, the tension was so high that the drive sprocket is not sitting right either. So i'm kind of fed up and will probably leave the kit as it is.

Roberto Rocat
Very nice 👍

EnsignExpendabl
Looks great!

Dan M
Thank you all!

@James: gonna take your advice and let the kit rest for a while, then come back with the weathering, I have started painting the Priest anyway might as well finish that. I don't know if I will replace the tracks though as i've already glued them and the wheels (otherwise they would not sit). I'll see later on anyway.

Yves Orlent
Nice shadowing

Dan M
Thank you Yves!