Scale Military Modeller International – August 2019

patriot

Scale 1:35 / Missiles

Missile System

heller

T

he Heller kit consists of

two main parts, the launch

trailer with missile and the

truck to pull it. I have been

searching the net but can’t for the life of me

ind out what kind of truck it’s supposed to

depict, as it looks a bit like a mix of multiple

American trucks. The most used truck for

the Patriot launcher trailer seems to be the

M983 HEMMT truck, but the one in the kit

looks more like a Chinese WS-2400. The

truck is pretty easy to build, and the nicely

detailed wheels are fastened to the chassis

using steel rods that go through the entire

body of the truck. This makes the

wheels roll when the truck is moved.

Same thing appliers to the with the

wheels on the trailer. The drivers

cabin has no steering wheel, no

seat, nothing, really, and only has

four parts to put together. The

loor and the interior are cast in

styrene, the glass for all windows

in one big piece clear plastic and

inally you have the frame around

the windows and the roof as one-piece. I

guess if you feel experimental there should

be no problem building your own interior

from scratch. The exterior of the cab is not

very detailed either, but you can see the

outline of the doors. You are supposed to

attach the grille, a couple of mirrors, two

antennae, a couple of spare wheels, the

bumper and the headlights. The whole

thing shouldn’t take long. Of course, you

could paint the thing before installing the

interior and the glass, but I didn’t. I painted

the interior black before installing it, since it

wouldn’t be very visible anyway.

The trailer with the launch tubes are also

easily built. Basically, it’s a latbed with a hole

in the middle that you attach the wheels and

a couple of plastic leaf springs. The erector

SNORRE SANDVIKEN BUILDS THE 1:35 HELLER KIT

(^) Patriot

Protector

26 SCALE MILITARY MODELLER INTERNATIONAL