The kit came to me in a plastic bag with a single sheet of instructions (which is also the inventory sheet). I generally do a quick inventory but since this is a review, I laid out the pieces and verified that I got everything. Clicking on the image to either side will give you a larger image. The interesting part about laying it out as in the right image is in thinking about how this was designed and how the structure of each piece was determined. I have been told by a few people that one of the things companies value in a sculptor is their ability to visualize the breakout in a manner that makes it easier to mold and cast the miniature!

This is also a good time to determine how you want to build the RAT- do you want it stock or do you want it highly modified. Look in the GB Gallery for a couple of examples of what you can do with this miniature.

I used regular Superglue on the miniature when assembling it. I changed a few things on it to give it a different look from a stock model. The left leg is moved back a tad so it implies a little motion. I also leaned the cockpit to the left to aid in that impression. The cockpit rests on the join of the legs as shown in the picture to the right. I left this as is to provide better handling ability (as in being handled by fumble fingered wargamers like myself without breaking.)

I added the arms once I was convinced that the chassis was secure and would not fall apart on me as I was adding the arms. The issue I was struggling with was how to hold the blasted thing so I could paint it! I placed them at different angles than was shown in the RAT picture on the West Wind website. This was pretty easy to do with no cutting or filing. I just filled the join with superglue and once dry, it holds fine. The danger is that in handling, the arms may be bent if the handler does not realize how slender they are! 

Adding battle damage or external pieces such as stowage is a good way to customize your mecha. I tried to add blanket rolls and a pack to the mecha but so many of the surfaces were rounded that I could not find good attachment points! I settled for adding some battle damage to the front gun shield. I did a nice little 30 second video showing how I did this but when I edited it, I discovered that the camera was too close and all you could see was my blurry hands waving some blurry thing around some blurry piece of metal! In short, I used a pin vice, lightly marked out a trail where a stream of bullets was likely to have gone, and then went back and drilled the holes out. The drilling needs to result in irregular holes in the shield as the angle of attack for the rounds is not constant. When I painted the damage, I painted the camouflage first and then added paint to the holes. The first color was a dab of Vallejo gunmetal folowed by small bits of Reaper MSP silver to show damage to the metal.

I could not figure out how to put a clear cockpit on the model so if anyone has some suggestions I' like to her the. I tried various pieces of plastic from blisters and so on but could never get them shaped properly. They all looked like pieces of plastic heated with a hair dryer (which is what they were!)

The crewman that comes with the RAT has a lot of character. Beret, walrus moustache, headphones, all contribute to making him fun to paint. This was the easiest part of the model to do. Mounting him will be another story, however, as he just doesn't fit quite snugly on the bottom of the cockpit.

Camouflage was frequently used in WW2 by all sides. In the SOTR1949 world it is even more important due to the more deadly nature of the weaponry employed. There are a number of ways to paint camouflage but here is how I did mine. First I used a black brush-on primer from Reaper. I then outlined where I wanted to put the pattern using diluted brown liner from Reaper. (If you want to know the difference between Inks and Liners, look at this post on my personal wargame site .) This sets off each element of the pattern. Once i was happy with the way the pattern looked, I coated it with GW's brush-on Hardcoat. Once the hardcoat dried, I sprayed it with Dullcote. You can see the difference in the pictures below. The first three have the shiny coat, the next three have been hit with Dullcote. There is some indication that Dullcote yellows after 20 years but my eyes will age at the same rate so I still find it to be the best matte coat.

I chose to paint only the front pieces in a camouflage pattern as I felt the legs were more like roadwheels and would suffer too much wear and tear to be painted like the rest of the vehicle. This meant that I had to do some shading and detailing on the legs I did not have to on the front of the RAT. The interior is painted a light yellowish tan color. Doing this in armored vehicles accomplishes several things. It allows for more light reflection and better visibility in the confines of the vehicle, it shows any spills or hydraulic leaks that might occur before they become a problem, and, in this case, highlights the fact there is a crewman present.

British and American vehicles were blessed with the ability to communicate using radios. I added a tank antenna from GW's armor kits on a lark and like the way it looks. Unlike other pieces I thought about adding, this one fits snugly on the top rear of the cockpit.

The final assembly was a bit difficult as I had not been too thorough in checking how the crewman would fit with the canopy on. The hands are just a tad too wide and I should have filed them off before painting them. As it was, I had to fit him in a little higher than the floor of the cockpit and fill in the gap. You won't notice it on the game table but it is frustrating to say the least! 

I used a yellowish ochre to highlight the legs and solid green portions of the mecha in an effort to show weathering and how "lowest bidder" army paints tend to degrade. I think it came out well and I am happy with the look. (You can see a bit of it on the legs in the right hand picture below.)

I went back and made sure that the panels were all outlined with brown liner so they would be seen from a distance. I used a small Kolinsky brush and Reaper's MSP brown liner with a little dilution. Before the applying the decals, I coated the model thoroughly with GW's hardcoat. I like the brush-on type because I can ensure that I get it on specific areas that will be handled. Before the final spary with Dullcote, I used some of the decals I had in my "stock" from previous projects. The kill markings and the name "IRONCLAD" came off of Forgeworld decal sheets Ihave had lying around for almost 10 years! I bought them right after Forgeworld started up and have not had the time nor inclination to continue the project for which they had been purchased. The Yellow Griffon and Blue Star on a black background are custom decals I made using an inkjet printer and decal sheets from Tango Papa Decals . Although he specifically states that this paper will not work with inkjets, I found that it did OK in my little HP Inkjet. The only issue I had was a tear on one corner that I was able to slide back together. I recommend buying a sampler set if you choose to go this route as specific printers may or may not work depending on the inks used.

Inside the cockpit on the pilot's left, there is a pinup decal I had hoped would be able to be seen from the outside. Unfortunately, the decal was too small and so it doesn't show up well. Another small quirk I found with the clear decal paper was that you need to apply colored decals to a white background to allow them to be seen well. There are certain decal sheets one can buy with a white work surfcae but you have to laboriously cut the decal out. On the unit symbol (Yellow Griffin on Black) I just painted a white square on the model before placing the decal down. This really brought out the yellow and blue which were otherwise too subdued. 

I am pleased overall with ho the R.A.T.came out. It's a good size for a tabletop game and stands up well on its own. I plan on basing it later but I want to take a look at some options for it before I do. Here's some things I *would do differently, however:

1) use a decal setting solution (I have misplaced mine and so the decals don't look as good in the photo as they do in real life)

2) mount it on an 50-80 mm base for stability and better handling when painting it

3) filled in the cockpit and painted on the glass (I did it this way as I enjoyed painting the crewman!) - this would have been a better looking option tactically.

Comments are appreciated. Let me know what you think of the model and the paint job!