КамАЗ-5350 part 2

Here is part 2 of my post on the Xixili KamAZ-5350 trucks. Now that I've built up the kits, I can offer a bit more commentary regarding the models.

Most of the parts of the kits are the same. I found that changing the order of assembly made construction a little easier.

All the small parts of the undercarriage were added first, but not the exhaust and transmission parts.

The dual wheels were put together with the round side inbetween the two wheels, and the octagonal side facing outwards.

The cab was then fully assembled. The interior of the cab should fit against the fender without a gap (although on some of the models the fit is not entirely perfect, perhaps due to the plastic being slightly warped).

After the cab is assembled, attach it to the undercarriage. Then add the exhaust and transmission parts, followed by the metal rods and wheels.

The two most basic vehicles are the KamAZ-5350, and KamAZ-5350-379.

The side windows of the MM-501 modular armored compartment for the KamAZ-5350-379 were incompletely formed in my kit. They are not individual panes as shown in the instructions.

The single part is supposed to slot into the window openings, but the fit may be loose, so they probably need to be glued in place.

I did receive some replacement parts from the seller, but I have not put them in place yet because I wasn't sure if there is supposed to be a colored tint to the glass in the actual vehicle.

The tanker truck does not seem to be based on the ATZ-7-5350, and seems more like a civilian tanker, lacking the equipment compartment that is seen on most military tankers.

The wagon can be hooked up to any of the KamAZ-5350 models (although not very securely). The front axle can pivot, but the hitch attached to the fifth wheel tends to fall off unless handled delicately.

I'm considering making some amber lights to attach to the top of the cab for the tanker truck, and a spotlight for the Grad K.

The 2B26 Grad-K model is one of the recent kits I received.

Model assembly is not exactly the same as for the previous three trucks, due to the Grad K having a different exhaust layout. The launcher is a bit simplified, but allows the model to be more robust for gaming.

Xixili Grad K vs 4D Grad

Finally, there is the KamAZ-65225 Tractor Unit with ChMZAP-9990-0000073 Trailer.

The KamAZ-6522, while similar, is not the same as the KamAZ-5350. I got the impression from pictures that the cab of the KamAZ-6522 might sit up higher than the KamAZ-5350, but that is not the case for these models. Several of the cab parts are identical between the two.

KamAZ-5350 vs KamAZ-65225

The trailer is not particularly well engineered in my opinion, and does not hitch up to the cab particularly well.

The rear ramps do not move very smoothly, and essentially need to be disassembled and reassembled for raised and lowered configurations. Then again, this may be by design for durability.

The supports for the trailer (red circle) are only long enough to have the trailer in the hitched configuration. Even pulling them out as far as possible from their slots, the trailer tips forward with the rear wheels up in the air.

Red and orange marked image

Also, the wedge shaped chocks (orange circle) should be open frames, and not solid. There are no attachment points or locator marks for these chocks either, so I need to do a little more research before gluing them in place.

The trailer is capable of carrying various tanks, but the ends of the tracks extend past the sides of the trailer. In pictures of the real vehicles though, at least the T-14 is wider than the trailer, so any scale discrepacy is hopefully small.

T-14 vs T-90MS

A while back, 4D Models released a KrAZ-260 tank transporter, but I never got one, since some sellers said that the truck is actually closer to 1/64 scale.

I'm not sure if this applies to the trailer as well, but if anyone actually has the kit and did scale measurements, I'd be interested in hearing about the results.

A final comparison of all the vehicles.

Linear A 3D printed sets

Two of the latest sets from Linear A are 3D printed resin models. One set covers the Indus Civilisation, and the other covers the Roman Bacchanalia.

Indus Culture Set 1

Bacchanalia in Ancient Rome Set 1

The figures in both sets require a bit of clean up with a hobby knife, as traces of the supports remain on the figures in various places. The Indus Culture set however, had a lot more issues.

Several of the figures were wet looking and sticky, particularly on the bases. I wasn't sure if it was uncured resin, so I tried putting them under a UV light which seemed to reduce the stickiness a bit (but it may have just been my imagination).

The stuff didn't seem to wash off with isopropanol, so I scraped the base with a knife to remove the stickiness. This is not a good solution for other parts of the miniatures which were affected though. I may try scrubbing with soap and water later.

On many of the figures, the hems of the garments were ill-formed or incompletely printed.

What was really egregious however, were the malformed scales held by the merchant figure.

I used CA glue and baking soda to build up the bottom of the pans, then filed them into shape using the only properly printed figure as a reference.

The good, the bad, and the restored.

The servant holding a fan comes in two parts. The resin is not really flexible enough to allow the fan to slot into place easily, so I ended up shaving down the pegs on the hands holding the fan before trying to attach it to the figure.

The Indus Culture set consists of 40 figures in 10 poses.

Despite the various printing issues, they are very nice figures. The dancing girl figure is clearly based on the bronze statue of the Mohenjo-daro Dancing Girl. Other figures seem to be based on illustrations from Ornament Styles of the Indus Valley Tradition (Kenoyer, 1992).

The Bacchanalia set also consists of 40 figures in 10 poses (kind of). PSR claims the set is pornography, and refuses to show pictures, but whatever.

According to PSR, the set is based on the movie Caligula, but almost all the figures are completely nude, which I don't really think was the case in any of the relevant scenes from the film.

One of the figures is clearly based on the Priapus with Caduceus fresco from Pompeii, while the tibicen player is perhaps based on the left panel relief of the Ludovisi Throne (maybe).

Given the limited utility of these figures, I think that Linear A should cut down on the number of figures per set, reduce the price accordingly, and increase their quality control.

Earthbound but aspiring

The Dohwar are a race of space penguins from the Spelljammer setting. I don't know too much about them, but even though I am a fan of whimsy in fantasy, I'm lukewarm about Dohwar which seem to have devolved into yet another quirky comedy relief race that populates the D&D universe.

A couple of miniatures of Dohwar appeared in the Icons of the Realms line. There is a standard Dohwar (Adventures in Space #5), and a Dohwar & Space Swine (Adventures in Space #18).

I wonder if the creator of the Dohwar had the flying pig with the motto "To the stars on the wings of a pig" used by John Steinbeck in mind when designing them.

In any event, I was interested in re-purposing the miniatures as giant albino penguins from the H.P. Lovecraft novella At the Mountains of Madness.

Most depictions of the albino Lovecraftian penguins make them distorted and grotesque.

For it was only a penguin—albeit of a huge, unknown species larger than the greatest of the known king penguins, and monstrous in its combined albinism and virtual eyelessness.

I prefer something a bit more unassuming like the Dohwar miniature, but sadly it is only about 19mm tall, which makes it closer in size to Inkayacu paracasensis than the full 6 foot height of Aptenodytes albus described in the Lovecraft story.

I slapped some white paint on the miniatures, and colored the feet, beaks, and horns in a coral color. The result was rather mediocre, and the penguins look a lot like oversized chickens...

Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

Maybe a dark wash, and perhaps a different color for the horns will make them look a little less chicken-like.