¹⁄35

Henschel of the Eastern Front

Assembly of the engine is very simple and was done with no problems.  The engine manifolds, though, were warped and virtually unusable.  Since the only part of the manifold that's visible after completion is the final 3 mm of exhaust piping, I cut these from the rest of the manifold and attached them after the model was finished.  The cowling for the engine, on the other hand, was one of the tricky parts of the kit.  The cowling is molded in two pieces that come together to enclose the engine.  It just so happens that the joint where the two halves meet splits the humps on the cowl in half.  Before I glued it together I knew there was going to be some serious seam work to be done.  Trying to think ahead so I wouldn't need any filler, I applied liberal amounts of Ambro ProWeld liquid glue to the joint to ensure I got plastic oozing from the entire circumference of the joint.  I let the cowl dry overnight and tackled cleaning up the seam the next day.  My plan payed off because after about two hours of work with a triangular needle file, I was able to remove all the excess plastic and a near flawless joint.  Buffing with a four-step fingernail buffer finished the joint.  The four-step fingernail buffer has probably become one of my most handy tools.  They come in several varieties and can be picked up at any drug store in the cosmetic section.  I have about five different kinds that I use.  The hardest thing is keeping my wife away from them!