The instruction book is split into 2 parts building the trailer unit and tractor unit, treating them as separate models – which they are. The drawings are neat, detailed and some steps contain multiple smaller assembly stages, so you need to adopt a methodical approach and a pencil to cross out parts when added so you don’t miss anything. With this kit a wise builder chooses either the desert scheme or the tri-colour scheme and does lots of painting on the sprues and touches up when the parts are together. There are lots of very small parts and although I am doing this build differently than normal for photographic purposes I would only remove parts when needed under normal building circumstances.
The double sided colour guide also has decal placement details (there are more in the instruction book too) and you have options for two vehicles. There are colour guides for Mr Hobby, Vallejo, Model Master, Tamiya and Humbrol. Hobbyboss favours Mr hobby but for those using Vallejo and wish to do the desert colour then the all over colour you actually need is Model Colour 70819 Iraqi sand.
The decals are thin and sharp and should, with care go on well. They consist of mostly stencils but the cab dials are included as well.
On to the plastic sprues. These are well moulded with lots of very sharp and crisp detailing work and is a credit to both the designers and moulding technology. Minor clean up and nub removal is needed on some parts, but it is very much in the minority and in no way is a detraction to what is a top class kit. A wise modeller examines each piece anyway and does any clean up needed prior to fixing and is part of the building process.
Here are the sprues. Note that some sprues have multiples of them in the kit. They are all individually packaged and some have even jiffy wrapped around the entire sprue or parts to protect them from transit damage.
Just the sheer amount of plastic will have modellers sharpening their knives and cutters in glee as they begin to realise just how much there is in this kit.
Onto the multi-media parts…
There is a wealth of etched brass frets in this kit and both superglue get and liquid will be needed. The Etched frets are thin and well detailed and I would recommend an etched bending tool to help. The frets are marked up with an M for the tractor unit detail
