Here’s another addition to that 1/144 carrier deck diorama/vignette you’ve wanted to do. This is the fire fighter version of the MD-3 Carrier Tow Tractor.

The Kit

You get two of everything except decals. And since you’re probably not going to do the same vehicle twice, that’s OK.

Pre-Assembly

You have to cut the tractor body and the fire-fighting gear off of the pour blocks. Fortunately, Brengun engineered this nicely, so the cut is squarely across the bottom of the parts, so even if you make a minor error, it’s not readily visible. I know this. The wheels came off the pour block quite easily. I used a #10 blade, which is curved and larger, making the cuts clean and fairly easy. The parts are cleanly molded and don’t have those bubbles or voids which are such a pain in a resin kit. Brengun’s method is superior for molding these parts. I had to use a sanding stick on the bottom of all of the resin assemblies, but this only took a few minutes, as the resin is fairly soft and workable.

With the resin parts off the pour blocks, I started by painting these subassemblies. I sprayed the tractor yellow. I brush painted the yellow hubs on the wheels. I used Testors paints on everything except the tires. For that I used Floquil Grimy Black. I still have some left, and I use it for small jobs like this which need good coverage.

I painted the top of the tractor with 36118 Gunship Gray, and the chemical tanks flat red. The hoses and the instrument panel got 36176 gray.

I put some Future on the top and sides for the decals.

Decals

The decals were very good, nicely printed. I had no problems with the decals as far as coming off the backing sheet nicely and going where I wanted them to. The problem I had is that some of the decals are so small that when applied, they just kind of floated out of place, and I had to work with them to get them aligned.

I have a working theory about decal quality. The less time they take to be ready to apply, the better they are. These are right up there with Cartograf, if you use that to judge them.

Assembly

I took the painted and decaled tractor body and installed the wheels. I then put on the PE parts around the fire tanks. I figured that I’d probably ruin them if I didn’t wait until after decals. The instrument panel and steering wheel were next. And I was finished.

The assembly wasn’t completely trouble free. I had a problem getting the steering wheel in place, and the “fence” around the tanks on the back needed some convincing to fit, but otherwise this was a pretty easy build.

Overall Assessment

Highly recommended. These little tractors will add so much to a carrier deck, either as part of the model base or a diorama.

Many thanks to Brengun for the review kit, and to IPMS/USA for the chance to add some more character to my carrier deck.