Trumpeter 1/35 JGSDF Type 87 RCV

[Gav0909]

Update 1

Hello and welcome to my project log for my entry into this Sig, theJGSDF Type 87 Recon Vehicle from Trumpeter in 1/35.

So first of all, a bit about the kit, and some shots of the box contents.

This is an older offering from Trumpeter, in the older box style, with the parts moulded in the green, somewhat brittle plastic of old. However, general detail around the parts looks good, they seem mostly cleanly moulded and there are some hints to the use of modern moulding techniques. The kit is presented across 3 sprues of green plastic, with 3 separately moulded parts. These are the turret, upper and lower hulls. Two of the sprues are the wheels and suspension parts, with the other being turret and hull detailing parts.

A nice touch is the 1 piece gun barrel, with the fluting and muzzle brake nicely rendered, hopefully negating the requirement for a metal replacement. There is a small PE fret included as well as metal axles for the 6 wheels. You also get pre cut transparencies for the various view ports. The kit also includes a set of 5 figures, two of which are figures for the two turret hatches. The other three are infantry style poses.

So onto some pics of the kit.










That's the kit I will be building. Now some info about the real vehicle.






The Type 87 RCV is a small, 6-wheeled vehicle designed for forced recon and scouting duties. The type was introduced to the Japanese Ground Self Defence Force (JGSDF) in 1987. The vehicle is operated by a crew of 5, and is armed with a 25 mm machine gun and 7.62 mm machine guns. Power is provided by a 305Hp 10-cylinder diesel engine which drives all 6 wheels.

At the moment, that's all I can find on the vehicle. I will do some more digging and get some more info on it. Seems a pretty neat little thing though, and should be a nice wee build.

Ciao for now.

[Gav0909]

Update 2

Time for a quick text update (at work so can't sort pics). Over the last few nights I have put together the wheels (two half plastic ones), which when glued with TET, so that a small bead of plastic oozes between the halves means they sand down with no seam, so not all bad. They have nice detail on them as well, so other than no weight effect, they are quite nice.

I have made a start to the various suspension components on the lower hull as well. So far part quality is good, very little flash, and fit is good. Having the metal axles is good, as it helps to ensure the parts all line up where they should, so it should be easy to ensure all 6 wheels touch the ground.

I do have pics of these stages and will get them posted later on. Next steps are to finish the suspension, sand down the wheels and then I can move on to the upper hull. Looking through the instructions, it seems most work is around the suspension and lower hull, and then around the turret top with the sights, hatches etc. The upper hull looks like is just a case of some grab handles perhaps etc.

Cheers

[Gav0909]

update 3

So as promised here are the pictures of how the build is coming on.

The build started with the wheels. These were in 4 parts each, two tyre halves and the inner and outer wheel. Detail is good and with some TET in the seam, they sanded nice and smooth with no hint of the seam left.



The build then moved onto the suspension for each wheel, again this was nicely detailed.







This is where the first bit of kit PE was used. Two parts together to make up the front mudguards and vehicle mounting step. The PE is quite thick, but not out of scale for the parts they are representing, and it makes it a little easier to work with I find.


Another bit of PE and some grills for the front lights. Just been looking at some reference pics and it seems the grills are flush with the hull, but the kit part sits proud, so will need to double check that and perhaps see if I can redo the kit parts to be flush.


And the lower hull all complete. There are a few grab handles to attach, but I think I will replace these with wire, I will also replace the 'step' on the front lower hull.


That's the build for now. Next will be to build up the rear hull plate and install that. Then it will be the upper hull.

Cheers for looking, your comments are welcome.

[MarkVerploeg]

Nice work so far Gav
Keep up the good work

[schweinhund227]

Good old "early days" of Trumpeter and interesting subject....

Good luck and keep up the good work !

[Gav0909]

The top hull is now attached to the lower, I thought this would make handling it easier when attaching the various parts to the upper hull. Fit was ok, needed a bit of filler around the rear where the upper and lower hull meets the rear plate. But nothing major.

Update over the weekend with some more pics as I may have some more to show than currently.

[Gav0909]

Update 4

So lets see if anyone is following this

The main build is more or less done now, with just headlight gaurds to add (but I need to paint the lights first). So let me show you some of the pics covering the build to its current stage.

Upper hull in place.


Rear hull plate in place, nicely detailed. Added the PE rear mudflaps as well, a nice detail.



I had to fill a few gaps around the back of the rear where the rear plate attached, but nothing bad.



I took the decision to replace all the grab handles with wire, I tend to break the plastic kit ones when I remove them from the sprue. So best to replace them!



Tow cable was replaced with twisted picture wire.



Hatch grab handles were replaced with wire as well. There were some ejector pin marks on the insides of the hatches, which I filled as I plan to have the crew in the hatches so the inside will be visible.



I then moved onto the turret and started with the smoke launchers, lifting eyes, antenna mounts etc.




And then she was done. So at this stage its ready for some primer and paint so will get on with that when I get the chance.







That's all for now. Hopefully the next update will include some painted pics.

Comments are welcome, be nice to hear from you if your reading this.

Cheers

[Gav0909]

Just a quick update.

Got some Vallejo grey primer down on the model the other night. Its had a few days to cure now, so will give it a slight rub down to smooth any rough bits, remove any dust etc. then I will get some pre-shading done in prep for the base colours.

I am unsure what colours to use, I think I may need to refer back to my Type 90 build and remind myself what I used there. I do have the "official" JGSDF colours from Tamiya, but found the green way to light compared to reference pics, so I think I used a combo of a Vallejo paint for the green and the Tamiya JGSDF Brown.

Hopefully another update in a day or two with some paint WIP pics.

[gaz45]

nice work mate

[Gav0909]

Hellloooooo............


Cheers Gaz.

So I cracked out the paint on this wee thing yesterday. But after a few hours of masking with white-tack and painting, I came away a bit peeved off. My airbrush has been spattering quite a bit lately, and so its not possible for me to get nice neat freehand lines just now. And I have found that with Tamiya paints, there is a big difference in the finish between airbrushed and brushed paint. So when I tried to correct the overspray etc. I just made things worse.

I will be re-doing the camo job on this, but not until I have got some new parts for the airbrush.

Cheers for now.