Daimler Mk. II Armored Car

Manufacturer: Hasegawa(Kit # MT24)

One of the easiest modelsI have ever built. The kit went together in about a half hour andwas ready for paint. According to the measurements provided inthe kit instructions, the finished model scales perfectly to1/72nd. The kit is well detailed, but for some strange reason,the finished item just looks too "clean" to me. As ifit needs rivets all over it, or something like that. I'm sureit's only my imagination.

The hull has a strangeconstruction sequence, and care must be taken to make sureeverything fits correctly. As I have done in the past (and amsure to do again in the future) I screwed up a little and endedup with a gap on the right side of the hull (not in the picture:). This was due to my habit of using superglue on all my models,when I really should only be using it on multimedia stuff. Ohwell.

The wheel axles are twometal rods that insert through openings in the chassis, whichallows for the wheels to move freely. Since I don't intend on"driving" my Daimler around the apartment, I opted toglue my wheels in place. The undercarraige is pretty welldetailed, and a spare wheel is included to attach to the side ofthe car.

The turret hatch can beglued open or closed, but the inside of the hatch has absolutelyNO detail on it. If you decide to leave it open, and use thehalf-figure of the vehicle commander, you might want to add somedetail to the hatch. Smoke grenade launchers are attached to theside of the turret, and I drilled out openings into theirbusiness ends. The main cannon and coaxial MG are fixed in place,and do not allow for any elevation.

I used the decals for the7th Armored Div. in Egypt. I painted the vehicle Middlestone (oldPolly S - which didn't stick very well), and sprayed a very lighttan "dust" over everything. The decals were wellprinted, but the carrier film was very thick. They silveredconsiderably, but that's probably because I didn't first put downa coat of clear gloss. Perhaps others will have better luck withtheir decals. What would really make this kit come alive is aplethora of hull stowage. Boxes, cans and especially cloth rollswould help immeasurably. My finished product looks too"new."