The fit problems are addressed in this post. Here we can see that the grab handle was replaced with a copper wire, the joint behind it had holes, so does the top plate with the rear armoured plate. The spring housings on every single HVSS assembly has problems. So, I decided to liquid putty the whole thing to add mud to it than to waste the whole night filling them and sanding them the second night! Its gonna be a winter tank, so, mud and straw is part of the story anyway!
The rear armour plates had its edges softened with liquid cement and I used the Olfa knife to draw out the cut lines.
Here you can see the drawn cut lines clearly and also see the bad fit on the fenders as well the the tool boxes that needed some sanding. Overall, it entails less work than the Tiger 1 tracks from AFV where I sanded more than 60 parts a side to remove ejection pin holes! You can see from the picture below that the fit of the fenders are quite off!
Here we see that the gaps are filled in with putty and later sanded. I also carved chunks of plastic off the fender and smoothened them with steel wool and liquid putty them to form dents. I also drilled out two holes on one fender and counter sunk them, smoothen the part later with the same procedure with wool and putty to get bullet holes in them.
Here is a picture showing the work needed to fill up the gap in the top plate. Even the turret ring armour plate had a gap that needed a plastic card. This one, however, I cannot sand, so I push in a small piece of plasticard halfway, melt it with liquid cement and then push in slowly and flush it with liquid putty. Even the main gun mantlet joint needed attention.
The tracks needed serious attention too. Even though I bought a Fruil track for this model, I felt that its a waste to put it on since I decided to use those fenders. However, when I had fender fit problems earlier on a dry fit run, I had to fit on the fenders before putting in the tracks for easy assembly reworking. The heat and stub method as suggested in the instructions is really not working well on this model as the track needed to be slided in lengthwise then joined. For fear of damaging plastic wheels and other parts with the soldering iron, I decided to use steel wires to punture the track and hold it together by twisting it and cutting it short. This area can then be turned upwards and hidden on the top of the drive wheel assembly hidden from view by the fenders.
Here we see the wire hidden from view even when we view the model from the bottom. Satisfied.
See also the dented fenders which I discribed earlier. End of week 2.