Knight Models SWAT Van

[khartoum2]

I really like the Knight Models on the whole but have to give a word of warning re the SWAT van.  this is the first (and last) of their MDF kits that i have done. 

I knew i was in trouble when I cut out the first piece - The laser had not gone through the board enough and I was having to effectively cut the back and front.  Not only did this take ages but ir has lead to some splitering of the back rom the front and rough edges. Plus it has taken an age to do.

To add to this there are poor points in the build design too and I can't see the reason for some of them.

The sides have a space for the door and at the bottom a lug hole for the base - The wood at this point is so fine that it is going to break - no a maybe a definitely

Secondly the doors themselves - When you glue them to the back you discover that as a rectangle they stick out from the side of the van into the arch of the tyrewell and catch on the tyre itself.  I had to remove the spacer on the wheel in order to get remove the cathcing issue.  the door has a very small margin in placing it to avoid gaps. Because of the tyre issue I had to glue the door on later than I would have liked and this meant it could drift before the glue had set properly as other bits needed doing at same time.  The worst of it is the door could have been ethed into the side and had no need to be a seperate piece - The etching is the strong point of this kit.

Now off to finish the last piece - Very slight front panel with radiator glued behind.  Very nervous as have had to stick the radiator on tot he front beofre I can test that they actually fit - couldn't do it while it was slightly wet s the back pece is flat on flat and slips

All in all possibly the worst kit I have ever made - poor parts, poor deisign and the instructiosn could be better too - ne to avoid unfortunatly

[fairoaks024]

Cheers for the review Khartoum!
Very helpful, I've been deciding wether to get the knight one or one of the die cast models
Available.

Looks like it'll be die cast for me then

Regards

Jim

[obsidian3d]

Is it as big as it looks too? The scale of it seems really massive in the few photos I've seen.

[khartoum2]

Its proving better to paint than put together although I haven't got away from a matt finish yet

I'm hopeful of using it in round 7 of the LPL so will put a picture up for scale after then but yes it is a reasonable size