In this part of the tutorial we begin the building of the tank and I show you some standard techniques for building a plastic model.

Let's take a look at the parts. This piece is called a sprue. It has a variety of parts on it.

Each part is numbered.

And each sprue has a letter designation. The sprue you see in the picture here is "B".

Let's take a look at assembling some parts and how you do it. It is important to take your time with the assembly instructions, particularly with this model because there are quite a few moving parts that you don't cement in place.

Here is the first step in the assembly. And we will start with the first piece. It is labeled B8. That means it is part 8 on the B sprue.

So let's cut that part off the sprue. You should always cut parts. Don't twist them off. This is to prevent damage and distortion, particularly with the smaller pieces.

Inspect the part for damage, particularly where you cut it. You can sand down any bumps or burrs with an emory board.

Before you actually cement the piece in place you should test fit it without glue. This is to make sure you have the right part in the right position and orientation.

This is a good practice for all parts.

Once you have test fit it and you know it is good you can then go ahead and cement it in place.

An interesting thing about this tank build is that there is not much in terms of sub-assemblies. This makes it a pretty easy and straight forward build. So if you are looking for a nice model that is pretty easy this one is a good choice.

This is a sub-assembly of my Huey Helicopter build. It is the cockpit that will go inside the helicopter. It is a good example of what a sub assembly is like.

We quickly move into an interesting part of the build with the wheels and tracks.

The various wheels and tracks on this tank all freely move. And this makes it a bit of a different build.

For this part of the build we use this sprue of black parts. You can see they are different than the rest of the parts. The material is different. It is kind of like a slippery plastic.

This is great. These parts work as bearings so the wheels can freely spin.

So let's assemble the various wheels.

The majority of them are composed of three parts like this. And that little black ring will go right inside those two pieces that get assembled together.

That piece goes inside then the two green parts are cemented together.

Then the assembly is press fit onto the frame of the tank. There is no glue at this part. The black bearing is a flexible fit. It squeezes onto the tank. And now that wheel assembly will spin freely.

We repeat this process with the other wheels.

And press fit them all onto the tank. Test them to insure they spin freely. At this point if you get one that sticks or doesn't spin freely it is ok to take it off and adjust it, clean it or reglue it to fix it.

Okay, Let's continue with the build

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