FEATURE ARTICLE Vespid Models 1:72 A34 Comet Mk.1A • Kit No. VS720004
Vespid Models is a new Chinese company that entered the market in 2020 with two 1:72 scale model tanks. Their first releases were the German prototype giant Maus V2 and the British late WWII Cruiser Tank A34 Comet Mk.1A, which is the subject of this article.
Vespid’s Comet is undoubtedly a top-class product, but this doesn’t mean it is completely free from defects or shortcomings. Fortunately, the latter are rare and fairly easy to deal with as you will see in the following pages.
Construction
…and immediately checked if the teeth of the former fitted the openings in the tracks.
My first step was to cut all the wheels from the sprues and remove the remnants of the sprue gates.
The wheels were now temporarily joined using masking fluid.
I then replicated the damage to the rubber rims using a coarse sanding stick.
The wheel surfaces were subsequently smoothed somewhat with fine-grit sanding block.
Afterwards, I glued the sprocket and idler halves… …
In the case of return rollers, they were easier to sand and polish before removing them from the sprues.
The sprockets required more attention. The remnants of the sprue gates had to be cut off using a razor blade which had to be handled with care in order to avoid damaging the parts (not to mention the fingers!).
Fortunately, no problems emerged and the entire wheel set was now ready.
Even though the lower hull is divided into a number of parts, its assembly was hassle-free.