Military MAN (KAT 1) from RC4WD Beast II

[MatiR]

Hello Everyone:

It has been some time since I last shared a build. When Tommy and new2rocks posted build threads over a year ago, I had to get a Beast II kit too.

It is built “out-of-the-box” except that I back-dated it to a late 1970’s MAN KAT 1 which involved redoing the front of the cab. I also added the monster muffler and exhaust pipes which are characteristic, a wooden bed floor, custom mirror brackets, and interior. Camouflage is standard NATO and the truck is licensed to the Bundeswehr as I have a 1/16 leopard RC tank with the same scheme. The electronics fit nicely in what would be the engine compartment of the prototype.

It runs a Tekin 55T motor, Tekin FX pro ESC, Castle BEC, Hitec 7950 steering servo, Tactic TS X40 shift servo, Tamiya TLU-01, -02 lighting units, Spektrum SR410 4C receiver, and Reaction 50C 4000 mAh battery (nice and compact).

I finished this about a year ago and kept meaning to post something but didn’t have any decent photos except these cell ‘phone ones. The recent posts about the new RTR Beast II got me off my butt to post something.

Regards, Mati




















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[M J]

That's so cute! Haha. I couldn't resist.

[Huber1918]

Stellar Build! I am in the process of completing the kit right now. I am thinking of trying a camo paint job, never done one before. What recommendations do you have?

[MatiR]

Hi Huber:

Thanks for the comments. Painting camo is a very personal chore. Some airbrush artists like to do it free hand but in spite of having several high quality airbrushes and lots of practice, I never was able to get good enough edges. The real camo is slightly soft at the edges but I used masks of different kinds. Some people use Blue Tac putty and roll it into long cylinders and use that to outline the areas. Didn’t work for me.

I googled the Revell Man Kat1 7t milgl kit instructions and scaled the painting diagrams to approximately the same scale as my model with Photoshop. I cut the patterns out and used Tamiya masking tape rolled inside out to attach them to the model. This leaves some space so the edges are not as hard as using tape directly. In some places I used tape; at times I did do it free hand. It is a big chore and requires a lot of planning to get it right.

The base coat is Tamiya TS-61 NATO green spray can (many of them and expensive but great paint!!). The black and red-brown are Tamiya acrylics XF-68 and 69 which are not as durable as the TS paint, but come in bottles so I could use them with the airbrush. These colours are also available as TS, but spraying around masks is difficult from spray cans. Corrections for overspray were done freehand.

If you google “painting NATO camouflage” you will find a lot of ideas on how to do this and you can pick something that suits you.

Regards, Mati

[The Dark Knight]

Awesome build this! Great work on the camo