pingvuiini
Member
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2012
- Messages
- 123
Just finished initial build and primer coat of Panda Hobby's 1/35 scale Russian 2S6M Tunguska AA. This is my first Panda Hobby kit and I was very curious to try a new manufacturer, and I was also severely inspired by a video (just listen to them guns!)
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=21d_1361597415
The assembly ended up being pretty messy and aggravating. A number of parts are misnumbered in the instruction sheet which had dire consequences later on, especially with the PE. The rear of the upper hull was warped as you can see in the rear view photo. But more than anything I got the feeling that PH goes by the (possibly misguided) notion that the more parts there are the higher the quality or value of kit. Many of the subassemblies required 8-11 parts that would probably 3-5 parts on a Tamiya or Italeri kit. Lots of the pieces are ridiculously tiny which made it very difficult if not impossible to remove from the sprue without damage. Some of the larger PE pieces had no scoring to assist with bending, which kept me from completing the left rear hull panel since I don't have a PE bending tool. On the plus side, all the parts on the sprue are in numerical order making it very easy to find a particular part, but this is not so of the PE. The styrene was good quality and not a crumbly type of plastic like I experienced with the RPM Beobachtungswagen I posted about earlier. But the over-engineering made it frustrating and unpleasant and I ditched this project a few times in favor of simpler builds over the last few months.
I have openly professed on this forum that I am not much of a builder and it may very well be that the Panda Hobby kits are beyond my abilities as a builder. Still, I definitely think that PH could do with some re-engineering and simplification, eliminating the need for so many impossibly small parts. I think some of the tinier plastic parts would be better suited as PE and some of the PE details molded onto the plastic.
Anyways, here are some photos of the primered build and a couple of embarrassing photos of the initial build. Everything is loosely assembled so it looks droopy and crooked. I will say that the primer coat really cleaned things up and re-inspired me on this project, especially since its just painting and weathering. But I think I've had it with RPM and Panda Hobby and I really look forward to some nice, simpler kits from the more established manufacturers.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=21d_1361597415
The assembly ended up being pretty messy and aggravating. A number of parts are misnumbered in the instruction sheet which had dire consequences later on, especially with the PE. The rear of the upper hull was warped as you can see in the rear view photo. But more than anything I got the feeling that PH goes by the (possibly misguided) notion that the more parts there are the higher the quality or value of kit. Many of the subassemblies required 8-11 parts that would probably 3-5 parts on a Tamiya or Italeri kit. Lots of the pieces are ridiculously tiny which made it very difficult if not impossible to remove from the sprue without damage. Some of the larger PE pieces had no scoring to assist with bending, which kept me from completing the left rear hull panel since I don't have a PE bending tool. On the plus side, all the parts on the sprue are in numerical order making it very easy to find a particular part, but this is not so of the PE. The styrene was good quality and not a crumbly type of plastic like I experienced with the RPM Beobachtungswagen I posted about earlier. But the over-engineering made it frustrating and unpleasant and I ditched this project a few times in favor of simpler builds over the last few months.
I have openly professed on this forum that I am not much of a builder and it may very well be that the Panda Hobby kits are beyond my abilities as a builder. Still, I definitely think that PH could do with some re-engineering and simplification, eliminating the need for so many impossibly small parts. I think some of the tinier plastic parts would be better suited as PE and some of the PE details molded onto the plastic.
Anyways, here are some photos of the primered build and a couple of embarrassing photos of the initial build. Everything is loosely assembled so it looks droopy and crooked. I will say that the primer coat really cleaned things up and re-inspired me on this project, especially since its just painting and weathering. But I think I've had it with RPM and Panda Hobby and I really look forward to some nice, simpler kits from the more established manufacturers.
