A little something to clear the head

Before getting into this blog entry I just want to take a minute to thank all of those who have sent e-mails, PM's on forums or posted comments here. I'm not usually one to share my personal downfalls online and burden others with my problems but I was pleasantly surprised with the reactions from many of you. Thank you all, your words of encouragement are greatly appreciated.

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I took my current projects and gently placed them on the shelf above my bench for the time being. I needed something fresh, simple and relatively fast to clear my head and remind me why I am involved in this hobby in the first place. I took a look through the stash and found the perfect candidate.

With the recent flurry of releases of the 222 series of armored cars from a couple manufacturers, I no longer had any reason to hold off on the old Tamiya kit in my closet. I had long planned on updating it and fixing this and fixing that but that all seems to be a waste of time with the superior releases now hitting the market. What better kit to build out of the box, with out a care in the world about accuracy, details or corrections just like when I was a young kid.

This kit was built warts and all. Yes even those horrid, solid handle Jerry cans and clunky details and everything else that 1970's models share. I had built both the 222 and the 223 Tamiya kits as a child but this kit was acquired more recently as part of a trade package on a modeling forum. The kit was described as 'mint in open box' but upon nearing completion I discoverd that the grenade screen frame had been snipped from the sprue. Shame on me for not looking closer when I innitially received this kit in trade. *note to self, pay better attention when trading online. Luckily I had another in the spares box from an older kit and some photo etch screen from K&S. Although this went against my strict, self imposed 'out of the box' rule, I felt it was better than shelving the kit and simply moved forward.

If these ugly Jerry cans upset you, or perhaps my markings or paint scheme isn't correct for this vehicle feel free to me know it via the comments here, :) I am sincerely sorry for my actions on this build. Truth be told, this was done strictly for fun and I had no interest in being 'correct' this time around.

Like I've said before, build how you like, like how you build.



Without getting deep into detail of all the steps Here are the final pictures. I took a few pictures during construction, mostly force of habit but they didn't tell any sort of cohesive story and I thought what the heck, I talk enough as it is. Lets just look at how it came out in the end.