BT-7 Model 1937 Early

william wise
ill be following this one George i have seen this kit and have contemplated getting it as the Tamiya kit is really expensive

George Bacon
Welcome aboard William! This kit seems to have good detail, but I have a large photo-etch set to go with it. I hope I won't have to use much of it, and mainly got it for the screens. We'll see😉

H K
NOOOOOOOOOO. For a long time I am tempted by the Tamiya BTs. If you do your magic with this kit, I am doomed 😄

George Bacon
H K 🙂. The deeper I get into this kit, the better the Tamiya sounds. The Eastern Express instructions are vague and unclear to me. I am actually following an internet "build log" on the Tamiya kit to see how parts are suppose to look and go together. 🤔

H K
Multimedia kit building 🙂

George Bacon
Making progress 🙂

Frank Krause
Nice George! I take this as a reference for my BT-7s.

Brian Geiger
George, you seem to be completely undaunted by crappy kits. I would lecture you about not loosing time doing all these home-made corrections but your pace is also undaunted. What's your secret?... Deal with the devil?

George Bacon
Better than a deal with the devil.... Wife's out of town 🙂

George Bacon
This is slowly becoming an Eduard photo-etch kit held together with a few Eastern Express parts 😄

MICHAEL WOODHOUSE
Very nice George - I like the Irwin persuader - I am with Brian on crappy kits but then its better than scratch build I guess! Yours will probably be better than real thing as they were 'rough as old guts' in reality I think.

Hunter Cummins
Im in

George Bacon
Thanks Michael. I've found lots of reference photos on the internet. That helps🙂.
Hunter, welcome aboard😉. Hope you're settled-in and building!

Brian Geiger
Yes, there is a lot of metal showing on the hull. I'll be curious to hear how the workable tracks work.

Hunter Cummins
I am very comfy and got my kit ready to rock and roll😄

George Bacon
Brian, the Hobbyboss workable tracks are a little like Dragon "Magic Tracks". They come on a sprue and need minimal cleanup 🙂. They do snap together and "work", but the connection pins are pretty small and the connection is weak. I only tried five to see how they fit around the sprockets. Some will have to be glued to stay together 🙁.

George Bacon
Started painting, using Tamiya's white primer via airbrush to both prime and texture😉.

Brian Geiger
Thanks for the update & info the tracks George. Sounds like it's moving along. I started a car model last weekend and have yet to start painting. It's close though.

H K
👍

George Bacon
Decals are on. I have to say, Eastern Express has wonderful decals! 😉

Vlad Shatilov
Like it very much!

Lionel Marco
So do I!

Frank Krause
Nice progress, George! The decals are really that good? They must be pretty old already or have you got a reissue of the kit?

H K
Looking good 👍

Fabian D.
Seems you like the old 'n crappy kits..😉 great work on this one

George Bacon
Thanks Mates! 🙂.

Frank, I bought this kit maybe 5 to 10 years ago "used" on eBay. I've had it in my stash since then. I was very leery of the the ancient decals, so I tested one on the bottom of the tank. They are super-thin, strong and disappear with a gloss coat (undercoat and overcoat) 🙂. They may be the best decals I ever used! For a manufacturer, they don't say anything except "Eastern Express" on them. Enough for 4 or more vehicles 🙂

william wise
Nice job George, your making this kit look pretty good maybe a nice substitute for the overly priced Tamiya kit

George Bacon
For all those interested in the Hobby Boss track links, they came up one inch (6 links) short on both sides 🙁. Fortunately, I was able to use links from the kit to fill the gaps. Had to modify and create guide teeth to match the Hobby Boss.

Hunter Cummins
I will not buy hobby boss kits tracks lol

william wise
thats not very cool at all at least you were able to complete it with the kits tracks, thanks for the heads up

Michael Razz
nice camo u have there,and that light on that left well done!!

Alan Rush
Hi George. I have followed the step by step and the finished model looks great. The PE adds a lot to the kit and the finish and weathering look great.