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Building the Italeri 232 6-Rad

the kit
This kit is available in two versions. The subject of this build is without the resin bits and pieces, but it’s also available with the resin bits and pieces.....at a much higher cost. I’ve seen that one for sale at £34, and had a good look through the box. Get this one if you’re going to build this kit. Doubling the price of the kit is not on for the amount of resin you get in the other one. You would do much better to wait for one of the aftermarket companies to put out a set if you absolutely must have an interior!


Open the box and you’ll find 4 sprues, individually bagged up, of dark grey styrene. I always find Italeri styrene too ‘shiny’. The moulded on detail is soft, some of the very small parts such as hinges are poorly moulded. More on this later. Two of the four sprues are the same, containing wheels and their associated parts. The instructions are typical Italeri, including a parts map, and simple but adequate instructions for painting in Model Master colours.



stage 1
Construction begins with the mating of the upper hull to the lower hull! There is a nice radiator to insert that can just be seen through the radiator louvers when the kit is finished. There are four markings options in this kit, and if you choose ‘German Army, Unknown Unit – Poland 1939’ be aware that you need to paint up the radiator now.....as it has a decal on it, and you won’t be able to get at it later! The other three versions don’t, so if you choose any of these then you can continue with the build.


On the instructions, stage 1 looks to very simple and very quick. It actually took me hours to complete because all the doors and hatches are poorly fitting. Some very careful sanding and dry runs are called for if you are going to get the best from this kit. Be very careful indeed when removing the parts from the sprues, especially the two ‘domed’ structures for the roof. They are very easily ‘nicked’ when removing the attachment points.


The fit of the major parts was very nearly perfect, with just a touch of extra-thin super glue run into the seams, a quick application of accelerator, followed by a light sanding to maintain that ‘sharp’ angle between the upper and lower hulls.

  • 6Rad_002
    Instructions
  • 6Rad_003
    Instructions : Inside
  • 6Rad_005
    Sprue 'A'
  • 6Rad_004
    Sprue B
  • 6Rad_006
    2 x Sprue 'C'
  • 6Rad_007
  • 6Rad_008

About the Author

About Vinnie Branigan (Teacher)
FROM: ENGLAND - NORTH WEST, UNITED KINGDOM


Comments

Very nice Vinnie. Nice article, nice build.
NOV 02, 2005 - 03:49 PM
I agree, nice little build and article. Thanks for sharing Vinnie!
NOV 02, 2005 - 04:54 PM
Nice build Vinnie As with Jim's AB41 build review , it seem italeri are really coming on strong. And thankyou for explaining the oil paint spotting filter method , Ive heard of this before but was never sure exactly how to do it , now i cant wait to try it (on an old kit first though :-) ) Ian
NOV 02, 2005 - 05:40 PM
nice work there. it made very interesting reading.. I have this kit along with several other early german thingies that should be gray.. I may try your filter technique on one of them it looks interesting...
NOV 03, 2005 - 02:00 AM
Very nice article Vinnie, thanks for sharing. I have the same kit in the stock and your article will be very helpful.
NOV 03, 2005 - 08:33 PM
Great article Vinnie. Loads of good tips and things to be aware of in advance, and is exactly what is needed for anybody wishing to build this. If a good article means you are inspired enough to want to build the vehicle afterwards, then you succeded! Nice one.
NOV 03, 2005 - 11:18 PM
Great article Vinnie. Very nice build, very nice indeed. Applying filters, using small dots of oil's, I definitely have to try.
NOV 03, 2005 - 11:23 PM
Excellent article Vinnie (and excellent 6 Rad too) Skipper EDIT: still on the filter technique: You can also "cheat" on this using the base colour of the inicial spots according to the type of colour break that you need; meaning if you pretendo to have the top surfaces more "sun burned" white and yellow dots should be more - for areas where there's more darkened colours, reds and burned sienna outnumber the other colours. This is great to break the monocromatic colours of some craft, vehicles whatever you are working on! I don't want to change focus on Vinnie's 6 Rad but here are some examples:
NOV 04, 2005 - 12:01 AM
Nice article Vinnie, Ive been looking at this kit for a while i love those six and eight rads, also thanks for explaining the filter tech, now i understand how its done.
NOV 11, 2005 - 09:17 AM