Armada Hobby ZIL-130 Dump truck

Another Armada offering -a really cool little dump truck. This trusty heavy mover is quite widely used still in more former Eastern Bloc countries, so I really wanted to have a model of it.

Now, the model is -as I keep saying- your typical small resin model, so the instructions are less than perfect. Also, great care needs to be taken to make sure everything is well aligned -and in this I admit I failed. There are some places where the model is visibly crooked -the bumper and the cab do not align perfectly, for example. I also could not align the container perfectly. Oh, well. The detail is good, and someone with better skills in this department could make it much better. I am still content with this little truck.

Once I primed it, I used Citadel paints to paint the base color, then went on rusting/dusting the model using the ‘usual’ methods…

Armada Hobby JVBT-55TK

Another one to finish… The JVBT.

OK, I really like Armada Hobby models, but the instructions are, well, less than ideal. (And the parts are not numbered…) This makes assembly a tad more difficult that it should be. These models have the usual “small-scale resin” issues: flash, warped parts, the occasional bubbles, but they are not much of a problem. The instructions, however – well, let’s just say, in order to finally finish the model, I just put everything together as best as I could. (I am fairly certain the top platform is not correctly placed… and I have some leftovers, which make me a bit uneasy that I left some stuff off, although I could not say what.)

Yeah, I need some more practice with resin tracks; that is entirely on me.

On to the painting…

I used soldering wire for the chains – unfortunately I could not straighten them out to look convincingly weighted.

Other than that – I am quite happy with the results. (Gluing the models onto GW’s little bases for weathering and finishing was a godsent idea -it really minimizes damage from handling.)

Armada Hobby – Dutra D4K

A magyar ipar remekei: A Dutra D4K, az „Orr”

This is one cool looking tractor- so when Armada Hobby came out with it, I obviously wanted to build it. It does have a certain Warhammer 40K feel to it.

The model is pretty good. It comes with PE, which is nice, the build is reasonably straightforward -although the instructions are not always clear on what goes where. (The parts are not actually numbered on the pouring block, so that is also an extra challenge…)

There are no clear parts included, there is no decal provided for the Dutra sign on the side (and it is not molded onto the surface), and the steering wheel is somewhat smaller than it should be. But these are small gripes; in this scale the model looks very good. (Not to mention you do not have any alternatives.)

Looking at the photos, I will need to do some refinement, but I quite like the results. (To be refined: the edges of window frames need to be smoothed out -did not see that with naked eye-, the grass needs to have some more hues added -brownish, yellowish-, and the gap between the mudguard and the cabin needs to disappear… The results of late-night modelling, I guess. (The gap is not really visible only under the strong LED light I used to take photos… Beh.)