In Progress » JGSDF Type 87 Recon Vehicle

07.13.07» Sources,
Concepts & Initial Building

This is the JGSDF Type 87 Recon
Vehicle from Trumpeter of China. Having done the
JGSDF Type 74 MBT and the LAV I wanted to do some
other JGSDF vehicles. I searched around and found
this and the very similar Type 82 CCV also from
Trumpeter. Having done a little research I found
that the kit had an aftermarket (AM) photoetch
(PE) set from Eduard. I picked it up with the
kit for two reasons. 1: Never did PE and wanted
a new challenge. 2: The kit is in need of this
PE set as a lot of the details are just not there.
It’s not a bad kit so far, but it does need some
improvements and this should help.

Aside from the aftermarket set I
also picked up some JGSDF paint colors from Tamiya
for the camoflauge scheme. These are XF-72 Brown
(JGSDF) and XF-73 Dark Green (JGSDF). I’ve used
them before and both are great and seemingly accurate
colors based on my references. It took me a bit
to find some good references but the ones I found
are fantastic. To the right you’ll find a list
of them.

The kit itself was pretty cool right
out of the box as far as extras go. It comes with
the upper hull, lower hull, and top turret parts,
a window sheet, 3 green sprues of parts for the
Type 87 and 2 sprues of figures, both driver and
infantry are included. It also came with 3 metal
shafts for the wheels, decals, a small length
of string for the tow cable and a small fret of
photoetch for parts such as fenders, mud flaps,
and turn signals.

My plan for this is to place it
on a snow covered road like base as pictured here.
I also want to try and replicate the tire chains
pictured. This will be done with small chain from
MechaSkunk and should end up being a huge pain
in the butt. In some of the photos from Military
Powers, a stowage rack has been added behind the
turret. The kit does not come with one so I might
try and replicate that as well.

The tires are plastic and not vinyl
so they needed glued and sanded. Luckily the tread
pattern isn’t in the middle to make sanding a
pain in the ass. The hubcap and inside rim are
separate parts.

The suspension is pretty nicely
detailed and has a lot of fiddly parts. Those
all cleaned up easily except for the springs.
Those are always a pain to clean up since you’ve
got all those little gaps inbetween where flash
needs removed. The hull didn’t go together as
nicely as I had hoped. The rear panel left a nice
sized gap that’ll need to be filled. I’ll probably
use some SGT for that. (Super Glue + Talcum powder…
mix to a paste consistency and apply. Dries quick
and quicker with accelerator)

The front also needs some clean-up
as it’s a bit rough where the joint meets. There’s
also some injector pin marks on the bottom of
the hull which will need filled. The front one
will be easy, but the rear is surrounded by those
circular details.

I took a picture of my first real
PE bending for PE specifically made for a kit.
It actually is bending quite nicely thanks to
some engraved lines formed on the parts. You can
see the forst part I bent (A) and what it replaces
in the pics below.

One annoying part is that the gun
barrel is bent. This is due to it sticking out
from the placement on the sprue for slide-molding.
I need to heat it a bit I think to get it straightened
out. Too bad there’s no AM barrel.