1/35 TACO "BEETLE"

Building a 'Junk Tank Rock" Resin Re-cast Kit

For a long time I  had seen built versions of this kit on various modeling sites, and I had always wanted to build one, so when I saw one offered on Ebay, I decided to buy it. Unfortunately being new to the JTR line/models, I was not aware until after it arrived, that the kit I had purchased was a re-cast. I am aware of the issues surrounding re-casts, but seeing that at this point there was nothing I could do, I hope you can still enjoy the build for it's spirit, techniques and process.

THE BODY

 I thought it would be a quick and fun build.........but I should have known better.

The Whole top was out of whack, about 2.5mm higher on the left than the right, and about the same front to back. So the first step was to get the top parallel to the bottom. The body was fastened onto the mill bed from below, with a screw, and the top was then milled down as needed.

At this point, the part was still too heavy for what was planned, so much of the interior of the body was hollowed-out (thus reducing the weight by about 1/3). The interior will not be seen, and the hollow depth will also help with the eventual commanders figure.

The broad surfaces of the body and leg shield pieces were quite unevenly cast. They were cleaned up and evened-out as much as possible, but still ended up not being perfect. It was decided that the slightly irregular surface would be really well suited for a "cast iron" look. Using a cut-down brush, "Mr. Surfacer" was stippled onto the surfaces. Once dry, #'0000' steel wool, and a fiberglass pencil, were used to soften the texture and create wear areas.