The rattle can was shaken but not stirred!

Sometimes you take a risk and it works out. Other times it doesn't! I took a risk in trying to paint the cab of the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4. It was dry. The temperature outside was about 8C. The rattle can was shaken but not stirred and so outside the cab parts, rattle can and I went. 

Unfortunately, whilst it was dry, the air was moist so the paint bloomed which is what happens when the paint absorbs moisture as it leaves the rattle can and lands on the object to be painted. The effect is that what should be glossy dries matt. Not the effect I was after! However, it is at least a base coat which will take another coating of paint on a dry, moistless and warm day and should dry glossy. When that day will come with the current weather forecasts is something that maybe some time off!  

No wonder it is called the Gigaspace Cab!

It's now time to think about the cab itself on the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 kit and the main parts make up an entire sprue.

I could not resist but temporarily put the cab sides, back and top on to see what it looked like on the chassis. Big is the word. No wonder it is called the Gigaspace Cab! 

Having got that far it almost seemed rude not to put the front end on, temporarily held together with some masking tape. It looks even more impressive!

I did learn something from all of this though. As I suspected it will not be possible to slide the cab interior into a built cab! That makes painting interesting but I think I can get away with the sides and back glued together and then painted. Then add the other parts already painted and hope that the joins do not show!

Mrs. Woody prefers to avoid my advice on décor and colour combinations!

One of the reasons why Mrs. Woody prefers to avoid my advice on décor and colour combinations is perhaps best explained by the colours I have painted the bunk of the truck cab in! They look rather fetching to me but then that is my view! Anyway, the cab interior is on its way with the major parts assembled

With the interior top glued in place there are just a few more smallish parts to add.

I now need to put some thought to the assembly and painting of the cab itself. Normally I can assemble the cab and slip the interior into it after the external painting. However I have some concerns that this may not be possible with this kit which could make things interesting and complex! 

They looked like they were still in their PJs!

I could not help but smile and take a photo as I parked my bike up at a village store whilst out on a cycle ride this morning and these two poked their heads around the corner. They looked like they were still in their PJs! 

Back at WMD HQ and in the Man Cave, the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4, kit comes with a veritable array of decals and this is just one of the two sheets! There are enough number plates to decal up a fleet of trucks!

Now I am not at the stage of being able to use them until the cab is assembled and painted but there were five decals that I did need for the interior - numbers 1 to 5 logically enough! Small they are but they will make a difference.

Close up digital photography is very unforgiving as this shot illustrates but you can see the detail of the decals.

 From normal viewing distance the whole cab area looks a lot better and it certainly looks a lot more comfortable with th seats installed..

It still looks grey but just a bit less!

Moving onto the interior of the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4, it all looks a bit grey at the moment so to add some variety, I cannot say brightness, I have added some black panels to the seats. Looking at online images of the real truck, there appear to be as many differences in colour schemes as there are locks on Mrs. Woody's purse! So I have taken the easiest route gone with my take on what is suitable for the interior and given up trying to get into Mrs. W's purse!

The dashboard is also getting some detail with the air vents painted black and the screen painted a translucent black.

It still looks grey but just a bit less!

The chassis fit up starts on the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4.

 Following the WMD film crew's YouTube production these are the rear light units of the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4. Initially, the backing to the light lenses was painted silver to give a 'backing' to the translucent lenses. 

The lenses themselves were treated to Tamiya clear red and orange to depict the rear lights and indicators.

Once fitted using varnish as shown in the YouTube video they looked just the part.

With the mudguards done it was time to start fitting all those parts that I have prepared over the last few days. So on went the mudguards, the left hand fuel tank, the ad blue tank and front mudguard. In addition the front and rear hub covers have been fitted to the wheels. Hopefully tomorrow will see some more progress but it is certainly looking very truck chassis like"

All small jobs but they do take time!

There are so many small jobs to do on the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 which take time to do but are important to achieving a realistic model. The fuel tanks are an example. The tanks themselves are aluminium and are painted as such. They are however attached to the chassis with steel straps which are moulded as part of the overall tank. These need to be painted in the chassis colour of Gunmetal Grey. Not the easiest to paint so out came the masking tape.

Now this is a risky thing to do as the aluminium paint can peel off with the masking tape when pulled off. I found that out several times in the past! I had already coated the tanks in semi gloss varnish so that would help prevent this possibility - hopefully! Masking tape was applied leaving the straps ready for paint. I brushed painted them rather then using the airbrush. After a couple of coats of paint it was time to see if I would be making a swear jar contribution as I removed the masking tape!

Fortune was with me and the aluminium paint remained in place and the straps looked good! Just need to add the filler caps, paint the feed pipes and then apply some more varnish! All small jobs but they do take time!

 The WMD film crew have been busy with another epic production! 

How do you attach transparent kit parts without glue marks is the subject of this video!

Slow work but nice to see something emerge from a pile of plastic parts!

Time to actually get the wheels permanently attached to the chassis. Italeri, do mould the parts such that the wheels rotate. Now much as I could just glue them solid and make life easier for myself, I like the challenge of keeping the wheels rotational! The secret is careful application of the glue to the plastic ring that fits on the end of the axels. However, not being careful but being a bodger, I do make life a bit easier by applying some petroleum jelly to the parts that I don't want the glue to adhere to!

With the front wheels in place, the rears were next to deal with. As the wheels are twins on either side two need gluing together. This new moulding by Italeri of their wheels makes life easier but care is still needed. I had to clean the paint off from the backs of the pairs of wheels so the glue could actually work. Gluing paint is never going to make a strong joint!#

I need to let them set now before adding the retaining ring to the axel but I did place them back on the chassis so that they were straight as the glue dried..

Slow work but nice to see something emerge from a pile of plastic parts!

Looking more like a truck chassis!

I have got to the stage with the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 kit where I can temporarily put the wheels on and see if I have built the chassis straight and flat - i.e. all the wheels sit on the ground.

The good thing is that they do which is a relief!

All in all the chassis begins to look like a truck!

Next up is permanently attaching the wheels so that they still rotate as well as stay on the axels!

In the shadows!

Much as people think that I move in a shadowy World, the types of shadow that I am talking about here are the ones that are created on a model to accentuate detail. The two wheels in the photo below are an example. On the right is the 'before' wheel where the detail of the wheel nuts and studs fades into the overall silver colour of the rest of the wheel. On the left is the wheel where some dilute black paint, in this case Nulin Oil from the Citadel range, has been pin pointed applied to create a shadow around the base of the nut which just adds that extra highlight. Look at things in real life and there is that shadow no matter how clean they are! Well that is what I tell Mrs. Woody when she questions me after I clean up the house!

I did all six wheels and then moved onto the chassis where the raised nuts and rivets on the chassis received a similar treatment as did parts of the engine which is now mounted in the chassis and connected to the drive axel by the propshaft.

Taking a closer look at the chassis the subtly but effectiveness of the shadow effect can be seen.

And even more so in this picture.

Now it is time for me to get back to my shadowy World! 

All in all a good amount of preparatory work for further progress!

With some warmer weather it was time to do some paint spraying. A lengthy session resulted in many of the parts for the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 receiving paint. The wheels are painted and ready to be assembled. The cab interior panels, seats and dashboard are in their base colour of dark grey and now require the details to be picked out in contrasting colours. The rear mudguards are ready to be fitted having been given a coat of black followed by some semi gloss varnish which was also used to give the chassis some sheen. The fuel tanks just need their attachment straps painted in chassis colour and they can then be fitted along with the catwalks. All in all a good amount of preparatory work for further progress!

Gunmetal grey!

The instructions for the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 kit suggest a gunmetal grey colour for the chassis. Normally the types and era of truck that I model call for a traditional solid colour to complement the cab so I was not too sure about this gunmetal but I thought I would give it a try and see how it came out.

Being a metallic colour, the gunmetal paint is best applied over a black undercoat so that it reflects. The chassis was given that black undercoat and then the Vallejo paint was applied. At first I thought that it was a disaster as it looked washed out but it just needed three applications to build up some depth to the colour.

Now I have got used to the colour I think it looks good. The chassis needs a number of parts painted in different colours, such as black for the rubber airbags in the rear suspension, so that will take some time but at least it looks more like a truck chassis!

It can steer!

It can steer! Well to the right anyway! The steering beam axel has now been fitted to the main chassis of the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 kit. The linkages have been added as per the instructions and the stub axels turn to the right but not the left! The design of the parts just does not allow the axels to steer to he left but this is something I have come across on Italeri kits truck kits before so I am not overly surprised. The important thing is that it turns in one direction at least!

The chassis is just about ready for paint. I just need some warmer weather!

The cab interior takes shape!

 With the underside of the cab sorted, my attention now turned the the upper side cab interior of the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4. Temporarily putting the parts together I can get an idea of what needs painting and what is the best way of doing that.

As truck cabs go in the UK, this cab is rather spacious for the driver hence, no doubt, why Mercedes term it as a Giga cab.

The moulding for the bunk has that strange hollow pillow from underneath! A thin piece of plastic card will solve that though.

Just need to wait for the glue to dry before cutting it to size around the original moulding.

Its 'wheely' great to get the wheels started on the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4!

Its 'wheely' great to get the wheels started on the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4! These are slightly different to the wheels which usually come in these kits in that the drive hub is a separate part which actually is a lot better for detail and painting.

So far I have just assembled the wheel rims which are now ready for the paint shop.

Also getting ready for paint is the cab starting with the cab base.

Whilst the upper side is nicely detailed, the underside suffers from both ejector pin marks and holes where there should be a solid base. The ejector pin marks were filled with a plastic filler and smoothed off.

The holes were 'plated' over with some thin plastic card which will at least prevent the 1/25th scale drivers belongings falling on the engine when he puts them in the storage lockers above!

Power plant altogether now!

The power plan to the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 kit is now altogether and splendid it looks too! Well I would say that as I built it!

 I think that looks quite realistic too, especially from this angle. The addition of the cooling fan and radiator certainly add to the illusion

It even fits into the chassis frame. Just temporarily for now as I still need to finish the chassis build and paint it.

Things are moving on!

A bit of colour!

Time to bring some life and interest to the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 power plant in the form of some detail painting. The fan is in light grey with a black centre and the various hoses and fan belts are mainly black with a few red parts. I have no idea why they are red apart from the instructions and online photos of real engines show them in that colour! I will be putting a coat of varnish over the various parts before gluing them together.

Painted in aluminium and very shiny it looks too!

The engine block and gearbox are now painted in aluminium and very shiny it looks too! Once the paint has dried it will be time to paint some of the detail such as the fan belts and hoses which will bring a bit of contrast to it.

Looking sinisterly almost somewhat mushroom in shape I can only presume that it is a man made cloud from a fire or similar or as Mrs. W enquired, did I leave the cooker on?

With things a little warmer and the Man cave warmed with the heater on it was time to add some paint to the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 engine and gearbox as well as the other associated parts. As described before a black undercoat was applied. Once dry, this will be the ideal colour to overpaint with the required aluminium coloured paint.

Whilst I am waiting for the undercoat to dry I got back to some kit construction with the front steering beam axle. 

Not too complex, just a few fiddly parts and I had to watch where the glue went as the stub axles turn so you can pose the wheels. As you can imagine, once this kit is built I will be sitting on the floor pushing it along going 'broom, broom' so steering is important! Now that would draw a comment from Mrs. Woody!

What did bring comment from Mrs. W. was the rather strange looking sky as we drove back from the Rocks By rail Members Day. 

Looking sinisterly almost somewhat mushroom in shape I can only presume that it is a man made cloud from a fire or similar or as Mrs. W enquired, did I leave the cooker on?