1/35 M76 "Otter"

[Frank3k]

This is the Gecko M76- a weird little Duck - "Otter" but apparently it was effective and was well liked by its crews.



I decided to make this a post-Vietnam vehicle, after seeing these 1/72 M76 kits. (The Scalemates links show other pages):

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/mil-mod-mm-072-131-m76-otter-plus-second-waterline-late-type-usmc-vietnam--1457984


https://www.scalemates.com/kits/mil-mod-mm-072-121-m76-otter-early-and-wrecker-other-users--1457981


The wrecker and cargo hauler versions are tempting, but I haven't found pictures of the real vehicles and in any case, they seem like major surgery. I'm leaning towards something like the yellow or red vehicles.

The kit has a fair amount of tiny PE bits, but it isn't at the Hobby Boss or Bronco level of annoyance.  The assembly is rational (unlike Broco/HobbyBoss) and they are nicely detailed and marked in sequential order on the sprues (there are a LOT of sprues, though)

It took a while to get to this point. The tires are plastic and not vinyl (yay!) but all those wheels took a while to assemble and clean up:



One issue is that the prop should be angled up when not in use; I'll have to break the joint and angle it.

The kit has an option to add radios (which are pretty nice). After I built and installed them, I realized that they wouldn't be a good fit for my civilian version so I took them out.

Some of the PE is ridiculous, though - like these wingnuts in the driver's compartment:



I've knocked a few off, but luckily have only lost one.

Here is where I left it today. Some of the parts are just press fit in place. I'll paint it before attaching the tracks; I checked and they will fit in place with the rest of the superstructure in place:

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Nice to see you taking on the Gecko Otter.  It is an interesting vehicle.  My own exposure to the Otter was a very long time ago on a beautiful island paradise,,, 
With the draw down of forces near the end of Vietnam conflict resulted in the U.S. Navy sending a number of those Otters to Naval Station Adak, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands while I was living there.  The vehicles were shipped in on an aircraft carrier (I believe it was a short hull Essex class) which was quite a surprise to see docked at Adak since it was such a small harbor and the carrier was quite large.  The Otters were intended for the Marines stationed there to provide an all-terrain vehicle capability for the Marines tasked with guarding the nuclear weapons facility and defense of the island if invaded.  I do not recall ever seeing any of those Otters operating while I was there and things were all stored in a very derelict hangar at the end of the east-west runway which also housed the doggy jail for animal control.  My dog was a frequent visitor to doggy jail, 

[Frank3k]

Jeff - I hope your doggie lived a happy life.

I'm making slow progress on the interior and tracks. I started with the link and length tracks, but what really bogged me down was putting together the tiny plastic parts for the steering mechanism in the driver's compartment. The otherwise excellent instructions are vague in this step.

I painted the interior white (some vehicles showed OD interiors, but a couple of original vehicles show a white driver's compartment). I painted the whole interior white, since this is going to be a civilian vehicle (or at least not front line military).



Detail of what took forever to assemble. About 15 parts (including the pedals) in that tint space:



There are a couple of loose cat hairs and I noticed one of the wingnuts almost got knocked off.

[Old Wombat]

There are always cat hairs, even in houses that have never had cats, & of course every wingnut has to be a separate piece! 

Looks to be coming together nicely! 

[Buzzbomb]

Nice work so far on what looks typical Gecko to me, very fine/fiddly detail to make a highly detailed miniature replica of the real thing.

Still, it is an interesting vehicle

[LemonJello]

Having recently added one of these to the stash, I look forward to seeing how yours goes together, Frank.  So far, it looks like a good kit.

[Frank3k]

Now in the weeds with adding small details and PE parts. One issue with this kit is that the walls are very thin - usually commendable - but the engineering tolerances are very tight. In some sections, it feels like you have to test fit large sections of the model just to make sure one part glues down correctly, since 4 or 5 other parts depend on it being within 0.5mm of its exact location. The engine cover/side panels/interior engine walls are particularly sensitive to this. I had to pick the least annoying spot for a gap. The very front seemed the least bad. Hopefully the gap will be gone once I remove the excess putty:



Getting it this far has been difficult, with clamps, gluing down small sections at a time and even using CA as a clamp in some spots just to close some of the gaps (which I hate to do):



Note: The decals for the placards on the radiator/air intake have very poor adhesion, even after using a decal softener. This may be a problem with the rest of the sheet. I noticed that one of the placards on the other side had fallen off, so once I reapply it, I'll have to coat all the placards with a clear satin coat to keep them on:



One set of decals that did come out nicely are the instrument panel dials. The dials have a clear coat, so they're sealed in:

[Old Wombat]

Good work, Frank!

Of course you steer your (very) light armoured vehicle with bicycle handlebars!

[Dr. YoKai]

It's amphibious-of course  it has portholes... This is a nifty looking little build. I am a little surprised this didn't see some broader civilian use. It seems like it would have had a lot of agricultural and exploratory uses.

[Frank3k]

Wow, this kit is revealing itself as the monster it really is. The warnings start quietly - tight tolerances and fit, then it hits you with a myriad of tiny parts and HobbyBoss/Bronco level of stupid, insane PE parts - many of which could have easily been molded in plastic.

The worst part about the PE is the inconsistent use of fold lines etched in the brass. Parts that are trivial to bend without fold lines have them. Parts that really need fold lines due to the complexity of the bends… don’t have them. I was tempted to leave some parts off or replicate the in plastic. It’s turning into a demotivating build.

[Buzzbomb]

Oh my... not really what you expect.. but sort of what you expect with some manufacturers. Perhaps a bit rushed to market.

Still what is see look quite good so far, you will get it done.. we have all seen what you can do.

[Claymore]

Such a shame to hear Frank. 

I don’t know why certain companies feel they have to do this (Bronco take note) - they obviously feel that microscopic is best but it is their annoying lack of consistency that is the most frustrating.

Nevertheless, your build is looking great and your level of patience and forbearance impressive! 

[Ramba]

Odd looking vehicle but cool all the same. Great job on the interior. Are you going to incorporate the shark mouth onto the version you are doing?

[Frank3k]

Thanks guys. The inconsistency is what gets me. If you've built ICM, Miniart or some of the better Trumpeter kits, demanding but "honest" kits are fine builds. This kit starts out like that, but at some point they seem to have brought in the HobbyBoss/Bronco team to design the PE and some of the plastic. They even tease you by giving you the option of using PE or plastic parts for the engine hood handles; here was one spot where the PE handles were perfectly designed. I'll power through with this, but it's not fun.

@Ramba - of course I'll use the shark mouth!

[Frank3k]

Yesterday, I spent at least an hour trying to get these four pieces of PE right. Of course, they moved just before the CA set, so I had to remove them and try again, which bent the PE quite a bit. I finally had everything to the point that they were on and the damage could credibly be blamed on wear and tear:



Looking closer at the left corner, I noticed that it had split a bit. I used pliers and tweezers to squeeze it back together before adding more CA into the gap:



I applied the CA, squeezed... and one of the panels started popping off. Sign. So I peeled all four off and removed as much of the CA as possible. These are the four pieces of PE that really needed fold likes, since the location has to be exact... but no, you have to guess, with predictable results.

 I'll add some bolts to replace the missing ones, maybe a loop and call it a post-war mod. The tools (shovel, pickaxe, extra handle and head for the pickaxe) all have tiny, thin PE belts to hold them in place... I'll find some other way.

The rest of the day was spent attaching tiny handles to doors (the contacts are all flat, round and sub-millimeter in diameter). Hopefully I can finish most of the construction tomorrow. Then fill in some of the gaps and prep for painting.

[Old Wombat]

Oh, happy daze!

Stick with it, mate! You'll win out ... Eventually!

[Kerick]

Yeah those PE parts could just as easily been molded onto the plastic panels. I think some companies think high parts count and a bunch of PE are selling points. I like detail as much as anyone but making it super complex to build is not a selling point to me. I was thinking of trying this one but maybe not.

[Frank3k]

If you look closely, the PE parts are LESS detailed than the plastic areas around them. The metal fins sticking up could have been an extension of the plastic walls below. Few would have complained about the slightly thicker plastic.

[Buzzbomb]

Agreed Frank, fairly typical modern kit over engineering to get a parts count. Two swipes with a sanding stick to thin those extensions down would have been so much easier.

I still grin when I hear people griping about resin kits being hard and complicated to then to go and build a mega parts count injection and PE kit with impossible part breakdowns to replicate the real component.

[Frank3k]

I copied the PE edge plates onto thin styrene, cut off the top bars/extensions off and added some bolt heads. I may add larger tow hooks or something over the reinforced sections.  till not 100% convinced this will work.:



The mess is Tamiya surface primer. I just have to clean the rest off.

I'm so tempted to:

Power through until it's finished
Close the box on this and pretend it doesn't exist, or part it out.
Cut the rear off and turn it into the cargo hauler version:



This kit is zero fun.

[Kerick]

I think I would go with the last option. Just remove the problem.

[Old Wombat]

I quite like what you've done with the corners. 

Be a shame to waste that skilful work - I vote power through!

[LemonJello]

Sorry to hear about all these issues, Frank. Keep pushing through, I'm sure it'll look great under some paint/weathering. 

It makes me leery to tackle my Otter, but I'll  give it a shot and hope mine comes out half as good as yours.

[Frank3k]

Ken - I followed your suggestion. After looking at this wretched model for a bit, hating it even more, then looking at this again:



I decided to put it on the chopping block. It was either that or part it out and throw the bits into the spares box:



Ironically, the open cargo version was my first choice for this build, but I thought cutting the plastic was too drastic. However, since the walls are thin, it took less than an hour to carefully remove the glued on bits I wanted to save, mark off the cuts, measure and start chopping. The cuts behind the cabin pretty much have to go where they do since they avoid some hinges and vital areas. It makes a nice alcove for the two fuel tanks:



They're mounted on a styrene sheet and will be raised a few mm to provide access for the drain plugs. I'll add a couple of fuel fill lines (silicone coated wire) going to the roof.

I don't have an image of the original cargo version (other than that fuzzy drawing), but that doesn't matter in whif-world.

I still have to clean up/cover the cuts and former fuel tank locations and glue the side walls again and reattach the cut rear, but that will be a lot more fun than continuing the original build.

[Kerick]

It’s great to have a new plan. I would hate see the work you’ve done go to waste. As long as you enjoy this it will be a win!