AMX 13 Tamiya

[Olivier Carneau]

Hi all,
As I enlisted for this campaign, it's time to start my project! Considering the short period of time which till the end (yes the PRAM took me more time than expected at first), I chose the Tamiya AMX 13. It is not the most detailed but it will allow me to stay within the campaign timing.

Here is the box:


The main flaw of this kit is the lack of mesh covers on the engine grilles. So I'll use some extra PE mesh but I promise this will be my only "not in the box" addition.

[Philipp Gross]

Good choice

I haven't seen much of this particular kit being built yet, so I'm very curious how it'll work out

Philipp

[Jan Persson]

This should be a walk in the park after your latest project.

Good choise

[Olivier Carneau]

This should be a walk in the park after your latest project.

Definitely, the hull and running gear are already done! It was a fun to assemble, no fitting issue, no gap to fill, no parts to replace I just thinned the headlights guards and added pieces of plastic to simulate the glasses of the driver vision blocks. I find it strange that Tamiya do not provide you with the usual clear film.

I'll post pictures later.

[Olivier Carneau]

Hi all,
here are some pictures of this tiny tank after a couple of hours building.







It is a delight to assemble!

[Philipp Gross]

What a difference compared to the resin monster

I really don't know why Tamiya still doesn't add some basic photoetch to their kits...

Philipp

[Vincent Power]

Great start so far Olivier.

Vincent

[Olivier Carneau]

What a difference compared to the resin monster

I really don't know why Tamiya still doesn't add some basic photoetch to their kits...

Philipp

In fact, you get the round engine fan grille only. It is steel PE which is suitable for flat parts but a pain as soon as you need to bend it.

Thanks Vincent. Yesterday night, I worked on the turret. While it is really nice, I modified it a little bit because when you assemble the dust cover of the "mantlet" the gun is too much elevated. I managed to keep all the original parts unmodified and generate a gap under the bustle to fix the elevation. I roughly filled the gap with sprue bits. Tonight I will make the missing dust cover part with some epoxy putty. The rest of the turret will be a piece of cake!

[Olivier Carneau]

Here are some pictures of the turret prior to fixing the dust cover. You can notice a gap on the side and the rear where I glued some bits of sprues.





Tonight I've filled those gaps with epoxy putty which I will shaped when it is fully cured tomorrow.
The white bit of styrene on the turret rear wall is to fill the positioning hole for the NBC decontamination bottle that I don't want to use.

[Olivier Carneau]

Hi all
this little beast is assembled wainting for some overall green paint. I added the missing grilles and glued the cat's eyes on the rear fender unlike what is stated in the instructions (most of my ref pictures show them there). The tracks are not glued and after painting I'll have to represent some sagging on the last section.