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The kits parts are thoroughly washed in luke warm soapy water to remove any mould release-agent that will later prevent the paint from adhering properly.
Onto the wheels…
Looking at the drawings of the wheels for the drive sprockets and idlers it was noticed that there was a prominent lip on the dished part of these components where the correct profile being a contour from the inner ridge to the rim of the dish.
I decided this was too prominent a fault to leave un-fixed. So I borrowed a mini lathe from my good friend Jim Balsom and set to work on what I thought was going to be an easy task. Where have we heard those words before?
The rear wheels had a good sized lip on the inner surface and this enabled it to be fitted into the chuck of the lathe. The cutting tool was removed from the stock
and used freehand to remove the offending plastic. Care needed to be taken with the removal of the plastic in that the item was not allowed to get hot from the cutting process and so melt or deform the thin part. Both rear wheels were reshaped in this fashion.
The front wheels had no lip as on the rear ones, so I glued on the toothed inner wheel which had a small ridge on its inner face. This was left to cure overnight and to ensure the joint was secure and would not come apart when the cutting tool was applied to the outer surface. Care was taken to position the wheel into the chuck as not to damage the teeth on the wheel and not to over tighten and deform the plastic.
With the lathe running at a medium rate the cutting tool was pressed into the plastic and the access was removed. Then as more pressure was applied the wheel shot off over my head. This happened a couple of times for each wheel but in the end all worked well.
I think a power drill could have been used to do the same job but it would have had to be clamped to a firm surface to allow the cutting process to be carried out safely.
With this now completed it’s on to the assembly of the hull which comes in flat parts. Read on…
