M109A6 Italeri

[Olivier Carneau]

Hi all
I recently resumed building this kit which was a holiday build. To upgrade it I have got Blast set for the AFV Club kit and Skunk tracks.
The main issue is that the hull is not a A6 one so you have to cut out the banana shaped piece behing the driver station. Then a number of small mods are needed to get a correct A6.
The other issue is that Italeri omitted some parts (sprockets hubs, pump "exhaust" and muzzle velocity radar). Tamyia has re-released the same kit but with the missing parts!

I have made some progress in the previous days so I can post pictures.











The beast will be painted desert tan and will be set during OIF.

[Mark Aldrich]

I never wanted a Paladin but I had always assumed Italeri had at least changed the hull when they issued the kit. Looking real nice!

[Adam Durrant]

Looks good Olivier!

I’ve been building the AFV club Paladin for over 18mths. It’s all there and seems correct but there are lots of fit issues.

Maybe someday someone will get it right!

[Philipp Gross]

Nice start Olivier! How is the overall quality of this kit, besides the issues you mentioned?

Philipp

[Olivier Carneau]

Philipp,
this is a cheap kit which is a great quality The instructions are a bit vague in some areas, the overall fit is correct and the detail level shows its age. The tracks are good for the bin. Tamiya offering is not better as they still are the wrong type. At least the gluable rubber used by Tamiya helps depict the sagging unlike the stiif Italeri plastic.

Here are my progress or today. Not much in fact. I changed the antennas bases for a Djiti reference, I added a vision block omitted by Italeri (Tamiya gives you the part) and I replaced the plastic tarp over the gun by some bottle collar sheet. It is common stuff in France

[Olivier Carneau]

Slow building pace but I managed to finish the plate bolted over the driver hatch and the muzzle velocity radar.







Now it's time to warm up for France-Argentina, beer and peanuts are the mandatory supply

[Olivier Carneau]

Here are the progress of the day. I managed to add the antislip on the front of the hull, I also made the kind of sleeve on the gun and detailed the brackets of the spare .50 barrel and the mattock. There is not much left before I paint the lower hull and the roadwheels. Afterwards I can tackle the tracks.

[Olivier Carneau]

The build is nearly complete. I still have to assemble the MG and the pump exhaust on the right side of the glacis. The Skunk have been assembled in a 2-day painful process. You need to cut and clean the link and two connectors per link. Then you assemble the parts with some glue as the fit of the connectors is way too loose. The result is quite good however.

[Vincent Power]

You have been working quickly on this build Olivier and it's coming together nicely. The resin pieces certainly improve the look of it too.

Vincent

[Olivier Carneau]

Thank you Vincent. You're right about the resin parts.
Here are some pictures of the last details I've added. Now the build is complete and it's time for painting it.