Continuing on the In-Box Review of the L.3/35 Lf Italian tankette, I'll start this build log to see how the kit construction goes. This being the first Bronco kit and early Italian AFV for me, any help and suggestions are more than welcome!





Step 1 starts off with the crew area, a fairly simple step involving the fuel tank, crew seats and flamethrower conduits. The plastic used by Bronco seems a bit softer than what I'm used to, and any clean-up was easily achieved. It also seemed, to me at least, that the parts didn't want to 'tack' quickly, but once the glue dried the bond was very strong. The first step was a good learning step for things to come

All these parts were off the B sprue, with the exception of the 2 'hoses' which came off the flamethrower specific G sprue. Parts B35 and 36 are mis-marked in the instructions and should be B28 & 29, no big deal as they're easy to spot. I have the firewall in place to help line things up, and used Mr. Surfacer 1000 to fill any small gaps. A trick I learned here on the forums is to apply the Mr. Surfacer, wait a couple of minutes, and smooth out with 90% isopropyl alcohol...works like a charm.





Made a bit more progress, but that'll be for tomorrow

Hi James,

Look forwward to the build, interesting little vehicle.

Al

Thanks Al, I had a feeling that this might catch your eye...with the British ancestry

Before getting too involved, I wanted to check how the hull sides were going to fit. They have some good size 'plugs' that need to be removed, and with a light sanding came out pretty smooth. The keys used to line things up seemed to be problemic, and were making a tight fit difficult.....so they were removed. I'm hoping to assemble the hull before dropping in the drivetrain components, but we'll see how that goes.





Step 2 deals with the tranny and drive, which went together easily. I tried to make sure everything was lined up and square, and left off parts D23 as these can be fitted after it's set in the hull. The driveshaft, D24, was left off for now also. This involved using the first PE part and it's found out quickly that the PE is very thin and soft. Cutting it from the fret was easy, though care is needed to not mangle it. No bending guide is shown in the instructions, so I freehanded it to where it looked right.




A test fit was done...



And just to give an idea of the size of this tankette.....



Engine up next

Looks like an interesting "little" build, James.

Was that fuel tank position generic to all CV3? Or was it specific to this flamethrower version?

Rudi

As far as I know, the fuel tank acted as a backrest for the driver in all the CV3's....coupled with the thin armor, well......the versions with the flamethrower liquid stored in a tank over the engine compartments must've been interesting, to say the least

Yeah, that's pretty much what I was thinking...

Off to a great start with this little guy James. I bet the driver had to have nerves of steel...

Very detailed little guy!
Dan

Rudi, Bill and Dan...thanks for checking in!

Progress continues, as this is one of those kits that I find hard not to work on. Steps 3 & 4 were skipped for now, as they have the transmission and other items installed on the hull floor which I'm not ready to do yet. I'm hoping to get the hull tub assembled and the interior painted before dropping the components in place, so I'll be deviating from the instructions a bit.

Step 5 is dedicated to the engine assembly, which again went very smoothly. Of course, the entire build process is requiring me to wear my Optivisor due to the small size of the parts. The only PE part here is the coil strap, the belt will be installed after the engine is painted.



One thing I really like that Bronco does with the sprue attachments is has them in areas that are easy to cut & clean, such as on the flat area rather than the curved part. Makes clean-up a snap.



The parts laid out and ready to clean for the engine...minus the spark plugs (and the other unknown....even smaller...things!)



The sparkplugs are a bit tiny, I handled them by touching a toothpick to my tongue and using the toothpick as a 'magnet'.



And the assembled engine...as far as step 5 is concerned...





Once the glue sets, I'll clean up the parts a bit more and add a little filler where needed. Cool looking radiator up next

Nice to see I'm not the only one who uses the "spit and a toothpick" method. Works great for small PE parts too. Engine looks incredible in the level of detail, especially considering how small it is.

I probably picked up that tip from one of your builds....at the same time I was asking myself 'is that too much information'

They did a fantastic job on the details so far, shame most of it will be unviewable. The engine would make a nice display outside the tankette on a stand or something. The radiator, with it's 40+ parts, will be completely covered by the rear of the engine deck.....I'm still glad that manufacturers are including more and more interiors.

Looking great! Definitely getting one of those. Might get that Italeri L6 out as my next project (one of those "it followed me home kits"...)

Keep up the good work!

Oh, and thanks for the toothpick method! The things you learn on here...

Thanks Stefan, that L6 is a cool little tank, may have to have one follow me home too!

Step 6 has us build the radiator, which is a neat addition to the kit although it will be completely hidden with the engine deck in place. Consisting of 40+ parts, it has you construct the four 'cores' and then try to line everything up. The inside surfaces of the core halves have some protruding ejector pins which need to be removed to fit them together properly. I built this on a flat surface, one side at a time and let the glue set before flipping it over. This assembly is totally unnecessary unless you plan to show this outside of the vehicle. I'm also having difficulty photographing lately, so excuse the poor images.







Jumping ahead in the instructions, I assembled the hull tub without the drivetrain installed. I have trouble getting this type of hull together after it's been painted (read sloppy gluer). This way I did most of my interior painting in one shot, giving the inside of the hull a flat white, and the engine, transmission and radiator a metallic gray base coat. I then painted the trans with a gray green acrylic and used a brush dampened with water to clean some of it off. This got a wash of gray followed by a pinwash of black. The engine/radiator just had black washes, with a few small details painted black and aluminum. The white interior just has a quick sludge wash of brown. The partition between the engine and radiator is provided in PE, which also was painted flat white. Some small details still need to be painted on the interior, which will be followed by a light dusting of pigments.

Good progress James. Amazing amount of detail in a small interior. Would also be great for a wrecked version.

Thanks Frank, a wrecked version or workshop environment would suit this one very well

Great wrok James, i doubt weather there will be a wreck left after those fuel tanks go up

Looking GREAT James !!! Spark plugs!?!?!!! WOW !!! What a level of detail on such a tiny subject. I'll probably try the tooth pick trick in the next hour or so. Thanks for sharing with us.

Thanks Martyn and ivanhoe6

Steps 8 thru 10 deal mainly with the running gear, which is quite complex for such a small vehicle. The idler has a hex shaped pin and socket to align the 2 halves, which I could not get to fit together. I ended up cutting the pin off and just eyeballing them, and left the tensioner off as this and the idler need to be lined up on the hull. Also, be careful cutting the idler/tensioner support from the sprue, as the connection point is on a bolt head and that detail is easily lost.

The instructions could be much better in this area, and has you looking ahead a few steps to make sure that everything is being placed and lined up properly. I drilled out all the holes as a few of them were a bit shallow, and assembled the wheels/suspension in sections, using the hull as a guide to line everything up. Parts A31 shown are not used, have no idea what they would be used for, just use A32 & A33. With care, either the wheels or the suspension can be left unglued to move, which isn't pointed out in the steps. I chose the wheels........in hindsight I should have chosen the suspension

I added the engine deck to make it easier to handle the model, which didn't seem to have enough overhang on the sides...even though the hull sides were butted tight against the rear plate and firewalls. The only other item to note here is to trim the sprocket hub pin to length, and use a section of track to line up the support, parts A42, on the storage boxes. All in all, I'm glad that area is complete!













Last look at the engine.......



Say goodnight Gracie.......



Getting near the end of the construction phase of the tankette, still have no idea of how I'm going to paint the tracks........

great looking kit, great work so far too!!

Great work James. Nicely done with the interior, will 2nd the comment that it's a shame the majority of it will be hidden.

Keep at it, like how you're proceeding. Thanks!

Cheers -
Tim

Making good progress James! Shame that the engine detail is all hidden away from view in the end.

James, Tim and Bill......Thanks! That engine is packed in there pretty tight, so even with the hatches open not much can be seen. Also, due to the crew hatches opening over the engine deck, the viewing options are limited by design. On this one, none of the interior will be visible, as I'm closing up all the hatches, which is why I didn't spend an awful amount of time finishing in there. I just like putting them together

With the bulk of the lower hull completed, work started on the upper section. First thing to take care of here is modifying the crew hatches to the later style, which involves removing the ports from the center of the hatches and adding the supplied PE ones.




The upper hull was smooth sailing, clean-up of the parts was a simple process and everything fit very well. I used the mantlet to form the PE rain shield, and left the clear lenses off until later.



I gave the running gear a quick coat of paint to get the nooks and crannies that the tracks would make difficult to access, and then started assembly of the tracks. These are link and length with 15 pieces per side, and went together pretty good considering the size. The guide teeth are in about three different sizes, which to the naked eye can hardly be detected. I would imagine that they could be filed down to a uniform size if someone has that kind of patience.....surely not me! Some small items still need to be added, which will be done after the initial painting is complete. A dry fit of the upper and lower sections to check everything out, and it's time to start work on the trailer.

wow that front end really looks odd. great work on the folding of that Pe as well,
it does look a interesting kit. it would have been on my to by list if i hadent spent to much on this plus models car

Yeah, she's an odd looking thing, nice personality though...

I've given up on the PE for now, it's so paper thin that everytime I touch it, it gets mangled! I'll wait until I'm ready for paint and then make sure everything looks pretty straight.

Quick update...
The trailer went together perfectly, kudos to Bronco on the engineering all the panels fit snug. With that complete, it was time to get some paint on. The base coat was a mix of Dunkelgelb and Olivgrun, with the 'spots' being Gunze Khaki green. At first, I was going to attempt to spray the camo on, then sanity took over and I brushed the spots. Using a '0' brush, the pattern basically took shape with whatever music was playing at the time

The tracks were sprayed with Rotbraun for now, a couple of coats of 'Future' and decals applied. Now I'll get some flat clear on and start the detail painting and weathering process, which I'll try for a dusty appearance with very little wear and tear.

Looks great! Great Cammo Work! Definitely getting one of those...

Cheers
Stef

James,

I guess I missed this one being completed. Looks good. Any close-up photos though?

Rudi

Stefan, thanks...definately a cool little kit which went together well.

Rudi.....this one is still being weathered, a slow process for me which is also very hodge-podge! Just applied a light airbrush dusting today, and since it'll be in relatively 'good' shape it will only be getting some pigments to finish off. Should have some photos by the weekend

Hi James,

Sorry, thought it was done since it was removed from your sig line

Looking forward to the update

Rudi