Mazda T2000 kit - Part 3: All done.

Job done. I hadn't planned a blow-by blow account as I didn't do anything special on the model. As I say, the plan had been to glue the bits together and slap a coat of paint on. Despite those limited ambitions, the the end result looks pretty nice. 

This is a working machine, so I started the weathering with a wash of ink, but it didn't seem to stick properly, so this was wiped away and I hit the model with powders. Some of these were wiped with a damp cloth to turn them liquid so they stuck in the nooks and crannies.

 

The load bed (not quite as mahoosive as the photo makes it look like) is painted with Lifecolor wood effect paints. Probably a bit brown, but I'm experimenting. That's what you do with a model like this. 

 

One feature I'm not happy with is the canvas tilt. The two parts don't fit together well, and even lashings of filler don't entirely cover things. When in place, it makes the lorry look massive too. I think that one day I'll build some boxes to tie down in the back and ditch it. 

 

The kit is well worth the money, and some. There are part fit issues such as the dashboard which just has to be glued in as best you can, accepting the steering wheel won't be at the right angle. The lights are hopless, almost as though they are from another kit. Maybe the designer though they would fit into holes in the cab, but I had to hack 2mm off the back with a saw. OK result, but it shouldn't be necessary. The front wheel support needed trimming to tuck under the bonnet too. 

 

However, as a bit of fun, it did the job. I'm sure a better and more comitted modeller could really do something with this model and it would look really terrific, as well as being very different from everything else in the collection. Put it in a suitable street scene diorama and you have a winner. 

Mazda T2000 kit - Part 2: Build the chassis and start painting.

 

First impressions - this is a whopper of a kit. It might be 1/32nd, but the chassis measures 17cm long and seems really chunky. OK, the prototype can carry two-tons, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised, but I am. 

Working out exacly how the parts go together is made tougher by the tiny diagrams in the instructions, but I think I managed to work it out. The fuel filler comes in at a a funny angle, the end hanging on the corner of the fuel tank, but most of the rest is easily guessable. 

Despite my best intentions, I did drill out the end of the tailpipe, but otherwise the bits have just been stuck together with Contacta cement and washes of Mek-Pak. 

A blast of Halfords black paint was followed by a dry-brush with dark grey and rust. This is a fairly basically detailed model, but this just brings is alive a little. 

I really did stick to my plan to brush paint the body. A fresh pot of Humbrol 144 - Intermediate Blue - an excellent colour for jeans on model figures by the way - was stired and coats the main parts. For some reason though, it didn't seem to want to stick to the cab. Does this complex mouding need mould release to get it out of the machine perhaps? 

Anyway, after wiping the paint off again, I shot it with the airbrush which worked well. I'm obviously too finescale and picky nowadays!

Mazda T2000 kit - Part 1: Look inside the box

 

Time for another kit from the Plaza Japan pile - this time the one that started my spending splurge, the Arii Owners Club Mazda T2000. 

If you aren't familair with this vehicle, and they are pretty rare outside Japan, read this article on Ptrolicious which descibes it.  The thing that piqued my interest originally is that this is a three-wheel truck, with a two-ton load capacity. In the UK, when you say something has a wheel less then normal, we think Reliant Robin or Bond Bug, nothing with a serious load capactiy. 

The T2000 exists for the same reason that the UK three-wheelers proved popular, tax benefits. But the Brits decided that loads needed more rubber on the tarmc, not so the Japanese. 

Inside the box is well filled with bright blue plastic parts along with some green "canvas" bits to cover the load. There is flash visible, but then that's what a kit costing under a fiver is likely to show. Not much, but to anyone used to modern injection moulding, it will be a shock. The cab is a seperate single-piece moulding not in the box. Presumably it is produced on a different machine. I'd expect it to need a higer presure to mould then the flat sprues.

Rubber tyres and a sheet of transfers are also in the box. And instructions. One side of A4. With tichy, tiny diagrams to peer at. 

My plan is just to stick this thing together. Brush paint it, and weather to cover up the brush marks. This is not going to be a serious modeling project, I'm just doing it for fun, and to get my modelling mojo back...