Junior Modeling By Aaron and Matt Bittner

As I mentioned in my editorial, getting the younger generation interested in building models can be difficult. However, when you have a willing participant (or participants) it's good to be armed with the knowledge of what types of models are available for the younger sect. I start off this series "backwards". Normally you would start out with a snap-tite and ultimately "graduate" with a full-blown, glue-together kit. Since we already had the glue-together kits, I thought "no time like the present" and started off with the glue-together build.

The Kits

The HaT Armourfast 1/72nd tank kits are definitely the easiest glue-together models I have ever seen. The Sherman consists of seven parts while the Jagdpanther consists of thirteen. Since these models are geared more toward the war-gaming market they tend to have less parts are be relatively quick to assemble. Perfect for the beginning modeler. Plus, each box comes with two complete tanks.

Construction

Naturally one needs to have the proper tools to assemble models. In the case of these HaT kits, all one needs is some type of glue (my son - Aaron - used plastic liquid cement), if applicable an applicator for that glue, plus some means of removing the parts from the sprue (in Aaron's case a set of Xuron part's nippers) along with some means of cleaning up any residue from the sprue removal (a set of Flexi-File sanding sticks).

Since the instructions - printed on the back of the boxes - are pretty spartan, there was no problem having Aaron snip all the parts from the sprue at once. Naturally there is some clean up of the nibs from the cutting, but that was handled with relative ease using the Flexi-File sanding sticks. Construction then proceeds with the gluing of the tread/wheel assembly to the lower hull. This is a pretty simple way to attach both the treads and the wheels to the tank, when it's all one assembly per side. Once those are glued on then the upper hull can be attached to the lower - we found out you need plenty of glue for this step. Next time, we'll use tube glue to attach these two major pieces together.

While there isn't a way out of the box to make the guns traverse, I'm pretty sure you can do it with some ingenuity. You'll just have to figure out how to glue a piece of plastic to the end of the barrel that sticks into the turret. Since the turret is one piece, this assembly goes quickly - at least with the Sherman. Since there is no turret on the Jagdpanther, this step is actually easier.

The Sherman has the barrel, the separate gun mantlet and a piece of round plastic that is used to fit the turret to the hull - and also lets the turret move. Once those pieces are on, and the turret added to the hull, the Sherman is finished.

The Jagdpanther, on the other hand, requires more parts to be added - fuel tanks and exhausts to the rear of the hull; something round to fit on the left side of the hull (maybe to hold the barrel?); and then, even though not on the instructions, there are two flat, thin pieces that appear to make up the thin fenders. Aaron decided to leave these off.

Now that both tanks are assembled, and dry enough, painting can commence. Since I had the paints anyway, I decided to let Aaron spray Vallejo acrylics through the Iwata Revolution airbrush. This is the only time I stepped in to help. I mixed the paints and set the airbrush to a state that he would only have to push down on the trigger, and not pull back. My thinking was that I wanted his first airbrushing to be relatively pain-free. I believe it worked.

Naturally using the Iwata spraying Vallejo painting - by even a first-timer - is relatively easy. Point the airbrush at the subject and push the trigger (since I already set the needle for a set paint flow). I thinned the Vallejo with windshield washer fluid until the paint was a "milk-like consistency".

Now that the painting is over, and he doesn't want anything else done to the tanks, this project is finished. From start to finish - two tanks - this whole process took approximately one hour. Not bad!

Conclusion

HaT Armourfast kits are a great introduction to glue-together injected-molded kits. Not a lot of parts to them, and they still look great when painted. I definitely would recommend these kits to the first-timers looking to build their first glue-together injected kit.

Not only did I have fun watching my son build these models, but he had fun as well. I've let him build more "complicated" kits in the past, and watched his frustration level rise when parts wouldn't fit or the instructions just weren't very helpful. The HaT kits are really well molded and the instructions are definitely adequate.

Now to get Aaron to stop me asking when he can build more…

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Roll Models for supplying the HaT kits; R&K Productions for the Vallejo paints; and Iwata-Medea for allowing us the opportunity to use their awesome airbrushes. Both R&K and Medea had no idea their products were going to be used for such an endeavor.