M3A3 Kinetic 1/35 WiP

[MattSz]

In this threadI will show the build progress with the new Kinetic M3A3 Bradley in 1/35 scale.
I also did the video review of this kit:

In this album I placed the in-box photos if somebody is interested:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/MattSzMinia ... 9067137491
The box art:


I started work with the kit from the wheels. They comes from four five each: the outer and inner rim halves, two rubber tires and pool cap. All plastic parts have four connection points with the sprue so cleaning and sanding them require some time.

The assembled wheels. Details are ok. Sprockets had connection points on the end of tooth so they are easy to cleanup without any damage. Wheels contains the poly caps inside so they could be easily removed for the paint process.

Next I started work with the suspension and return rollers. It also comes together and line up without any problems. Return rollers also fit perfect in their places.

Everything on it's place. It's a pity that side skirts hide almost all suspension details.


Evening work with the track. They doesn't look very convincing on the sprue but overall work with them was fast and the effect is also good. To make them removable for the painting I do not glued the top section, it's just dryfitted.

I shaved off the pinmarks on the inner side of the tracks and just glued indyviduwal sections and separate links together. The separate links used on the sprockets and idlers are a little curved so they look really natural in these places.

I also glued the rear plate with door. I'm very happy how the lower and upper hull fit together. The good fitting between these two parts is important because I can take off the upper hull for the painting and glue these two parts together after paint track and wheels section.

The hull slowly takes a shape.

More soon...

[digger303]

Nice looking kit from kinetic....lots of optic to sort out.

[MattSz]

Next portion of photos and my thoughts about this kit:
A little bit of progress with the build. I installed the side and front BUSK III armour. On the front plate before the additional armour I made bracing for it.

The ERA armour panels fit well, only on a few places I used a little bit of putty. It was not neccessary but I want to make sure that after primer coat there will be not any visible gaps.

The same on the rear. I used putty just to avoid corrections after primer painting

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Next I installed the front lights. They are wll detailed but I decided to add some electric wires to increase a detail level.

When the BUSK III was finished I started to add other details, almost all of them fit in their places without any problems. Only the lifting brackets had too thick positioning pins, so I just cut them off.

The hull assembly process was rather fast, only this step require some time and patience. You need to shave off from the sprue twenty small rivets and glue them on the model. I don't know why the producer moulded them separatelly not on the main upper hull part like the other ones.

There are the "special" separatelly moulded rivets on it's place.

The right side of the hull is not as bussy as the opposite. The big PE mesh parts attract the attention. These parts are really thin and well made.This kit contain only a few PE parts, I do not like espacielly work with them so I'm happy with it.

The hull assembly is finished. I only need to add the front and rear mud guards and periscopes but I paint them separatelly and add after base coat painting.

Work with this kit is a pleasure so far. I'm glad from the detail level in this kit, I hope that the turret will go together as good as the hull.

As I wrote before I leave the upper and lower hull as separate components. It let me easily paint the suspension and tracks.

[schweinhund227]

Looks very nice, Thanks for sharing your build with us.... and Thank god they switched to Grey plastic! Their old Sand Yellow styrene was very WAXY.... and soft even! How does this new grey plastic been feeling for you ?? is it like Trumpeter grey styrene? let me know as I am eager to renew my love for this model company.

[MattSz]

Thanks for comment.
This is my first Kinetic kit so I can't compare this plastic with the previous one. In this kit it 's ok, I don't see any issues with it.

I started work with the turret. The quality of all parts is the same as previous- very good.



I mounted gun barrel, it comes as one piece so it's easy to cleanup and look good, in my opinion aftermarket barrel is not neccessary.
I also drilled the coaxial mg barrel.



As you see all plates fit together very well, I used putty only in a few small spots.

[schweinhund227]

Thanks for the reply! looks amazing.... will add it to the wanted list!
Keep up the good work!

[MattSz]

schweinhund227- I can really recommend this kit. You will not be disappointed

I finished the turret construction. Overall it comes together nice but I got the impression that a little bit worse than the hull. The most problematic was the 2 era blocks that do not fit properly, finally I used putty in this area.

I really like the final turret look. It is very busy and well detailed. I don't installed the periscopes, I will do this after painting.
The assembly process is finished, now I will wash all model in water with detergent and apply primer.

[schweinhund227]

I like what I see..... I might do a comparison build with the OROCHI one... M2A3 but same BUSK armour. thanks for sharing!

[digger303]

marvellous work

[DrSprue]

Wow thats very detailed!

[NorthernModeller]

Very nice construction of the kit Lovely stuff

[Stokesy44]

Superbly put together mate.

With all that surface detail it looks like a painter's dream. And that turret with all the glass and optics looks awesome.

Bet you're not looking forward to masking all that glass though!

[MattSz]

Hi after small break.

I took Bradley to the International Festival in Bytom last weekend where I used it to test Tamiya LP paints.



They are the results:

I spray black and white paints directly to the plastic and pe parts. They work very well and do not required any primer.



After airbrushing black and white I used brush and white color to highlight details.



I did the same on the wheels.
Tracks are primed with Ammo One Shot and then I covered them Vallejo Track Primer paint.