Tamiya 1/35 Challenger 1, oh dear god..

[Rammit]

Do not get me wrong, I love Tamiya for all their faults, however sometimes they seem to be a little lazy. I thought I would try my hand at their 1/35 Chally 1, and all was going well until the turret construction. First off, there is a large gap above the gun into which you can see into the hollow turret, then, as you attach the upper and lower halves of the turret, the upper half is about 2mm too wide for the lower, so a lot of extra thin later, and some epoxy and it is together. However the assembly of the stowage bin at the back requires the back of the turret to be added after the rear and sides of the bin have been completed (according to the 2mm too wide top half of the turret) and then of course that doesn't fit and a lot of cutting and swearing later you manage to fit it and what happens? The top half of the turret rips itself from the glue and hangs off the edge and no matter what you do, either the turret fits together, or the stowage bin. For someone who is new to 'serious' modelling and scratch building, I would avoid this kit like the plague, and go for something like their fantastic Panther Ausf. G or Tiger 1. Hope this helps guys and gals. Now I need to go and hit something with a mallet a few times before I come back to this charlie foxtrot

[chief5437]

Been thinking about getting this kit! Any pics? Cheers dude.

[DC87]

Hadn't really heard anything bad about this kit - sounds like it wasn't an enjoyable build, threaten to dissolve it in vat of contacta glue - usually works for me

Hope you next build provides less problems.

[tachikoma]

Tamiya's early kits, or really any early kits, leave a lot to be desired compared to the kits of today. Their Challenger I kit is from the 80s.

[ICESTONE]

i've just got an airfix buccaneer with similar problems, raised panels i can cope with but the two halves of the fuselage are at least 2/3mm out and there's a curved section that i have basically got to square off to get it to fit. Is there a production date on the boxes anywhere?

[tachikoma]

i've just got an airfix buccaneer with similar problems, raised panels i can cope with but the two halves of the fuselage are at least 2/3mm out and there's a curved section that i have basically got to square off to get it to fit. Is there a production date on the boxes anywhere?

I usually check Scalemates for information like that. It's not always correct, but provides a good base.

[chief5437]

i've just got an airfix buccaneer with similar problems, raised panels i can cope with but the two halves of the fuselage are at least 2/3mm out and there's a curved section that i have basically got to square off to get it to fit. Is there a production date on the boxes anywhere?

I've done that kit, I found the canopy to be too long as well! Unless you pay a fortune for a resin kit, you're stuck with Airfix's Buccaneer. I can't understand why they haven't re-tooled it? They've redone the lightning so I think it's about time for a new bucc!