WIP: 1/35 'Walrus' APC...

...from Industria Mechanika. As you might know I occasionally move up the scales to indulge in the the building and painting of larger 'vehicles' and figures and this is a pretty large one and one I couldn't resist! Compared to the couple of IM vehicles I've purchased before (the Rook and The Kastor) the 1/35 Walrus is a very basic kit just comprising of a few resin parts the biggest of which is the very large and heavy casting of the very cleanly cast main hull. To this is added the six double wheels (12 parts) and the various fittings on the front of the hull (manipulator arms and close-defense weapons each comprising of several parts each). There were a few casting blocks to remove but these won't be a problem to those with a little experience of building resin kits. I did manage to take a little too much off the one at the front of the lower hull but the application of a little putty will remedy this. The kit does come with an instruction sheet which is very clear but it doesn't offer a build sequence and in my haste to put the kit together I made one or two problems for myself by fixing some of the parts out of order - dry fitting very much recommended! My kit had suffered a little damage in transit (although very well packaged) to one of the weapon mounts and two of the small fittings in front of the vision ports (?) on top of the hull but again easily fixed/replaced.
I would have liked a bit of 'fluff' to accompany the kit (Is the engine situated at the front under what appear to be the vehicles front 'windows'? How many crew/passengers can it carry? How do the wheels steer when there is little or no room in the wheel wells for turning? There is only minimal ground clearance at the front of the vehicle - how does it negotiate obstacles over a few inches in height?) but I won't let that mar my enjoyment of painting the model. There is also a set of futuristic troopers available to accompany the vehicle - Porpoise Shock Troopers - and these are excellent in design, sculpting and casting - but more about them later. Here's some pics of the Walrus with it's base-coat applied.

and a pic with a 1/35 IM Pawn Brigade Trooper for scale purposes.