It IS a poor kit, but that's what I love about it. Thanks to an "anonymous" email questioning whether I
d even done anything to it at all, I decided to pull it down and re-examine it. I haven't messed with it in years, but now that I'll have some time soon, I'm interested in getting back into it.
Here's a side by side of the original loader's hatch with one I fixed. If there were more of these kits still floating around I'd think of casting it:
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![[linked image]](http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o110/18bravo_photos/USSOCOM%20MRAP/DSC02795.jpg)
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Here's the hatch opening after corrections:
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![[linked image]](http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o110/18bravo_photos/USSOCOM%20MRAP/DSC02797.jpg)
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The texture on the hull and other pieces is not the worst of it. It sands right off. Turret ring bolts are my own:
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![[linked image]](http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o110/18bravo_photos/USSOCOM%20MRAP/DSC02798.jpg)
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Why the bolts? Because I've started on the interior as well:
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![[linked image]](http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o110/18bravo_photos/USSOCOM%20MRAP/DSC02799.jpg)
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Yes, the track is incorrect, but an easy enough fix. I'll just fill in the rectangular holes inside the track. Since I have to make new sprockets anyway, the teeth will engage the track connectors as they normally would:
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![[linked image]](http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o110/18bravo_photos/USSOCOM%20MRAP/DSC02800.jpg)
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Since I now can do my own lathe work, I may just turn the wheels and get rid of the very badly done reinforcing ribs and go with the older steel wheels. By the way, while gikkicky, the sprung suspension works very well. Not for running it around on the floor, but if you bolt it to an uneven base a la Shep Paine in his book, the ssuspension conforms ver realistically:
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![[linked image]](http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o110/18bravo_photos/USSOCOM%20MRAP/DSC02802.jpg)
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A few of the blazer panels. Finished ones with sheet metal edges and bolts are in another box somewhere:
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![[linked image]](http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o110/18bravo_photos/USSOCOM%20MRAP/DSC02796.jpg)
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The reason I started this project to begin with is so that I could do a Beirut scene and not be limited to one or two 1/32 scale Snap-Tite models. Now I can use the Italeri Land Rover and any other 1/25 scale cars and trucks I want. Poor kit? Most certainly. Unworkable? Not in the least.