The tank looks excellent to me. First armor? Dang.Just the right amount of weathering. And it's 1:48 scale which is very impressive. The commander figure needs help. That model's way too good looking for that figure to be on there. But like you said you're still working on him. Or just throw him in the parts bin. Great job bud!

I think you nailed it! Looks awesome.

I am no one to give criticism and I think it looks great.

I am not in a position to be critical, having completed all of 3 tanks.  I think you did a very good job on this kit.  The build is solid, the painting is excellent, and the weathering look pretty good as well.  I like the choice of color for the dust and dirt.  Pretty darn good as far as I am concerned for a first armor kit.

I will leave it to some of the more experienced armor guys to provide guidance.

Guys, I'm sorry I wrote the wrong scale in my thread's title. I'm so used to writing 1/48 which is the size I build in aircraft that it just came out that way. I've just now corrected that mistake.

Thanks for the ecouragement even though I know the commander needs work - a lot of work. I may just leave him off the tank although I thought about making a small diorama for the model with some tracks behind the Patton in Vietnamese dirt and grass. I'll ponder that.

Very well done sir, great attention to weathering the tracks under the road wheels, some of us seasoned armor guys forget to do that. The tank looks the part and I like the pose of the TC don't give up on him.

Really great job, very nice subtle weathering. Well done all round.

Hello!

Good job, try another one!

As for the figure - it's not bad neither, but you should try a resin figure here - that would give you a chance to learn even more! Or try a simple head swap - that could give you a much better look for less money. Good luck with your modelling projects and have a nice day

Paweł

Figure isn't even your fault. I have the same kit I'm looking at the figure. It's a crap mold has no detail on the uniform or the helmet. Alpine Miniatures makes a great Vietnam tank crew set. Look it up on eBay. The tank itself is outstanding you did a great job. 

Griffin25,

Thanks for the kind words. Thanks also for the tip regarding the Alpine Miniatures set .. I just ordered it from BNA Model World. A little pricey but it's resin and had good reviews in addition to your recommendation.

Denny, Steve (modelcrazy), Dwayne, Armornut, captfue, Bish, and Pawel ... Thank you all for your having chimed in. I appreciate the encouragement.

Hey Mike,

I see your M48 came out very nicely. I'm glad you took care of that track problem. Very good weathering and shading. Please post the pics when you put the new resin figures.

Straight out of box build are my favorite. First armor model, very good, but a few things since you asked for CC.

The tracks are installed backwards but they are painted and weathered very well.

I don't think that's an antenna mount behind the loaders? hatch, however your antennas look good as antennas, what are they made from?

Some of those seams can be addressed but on your next armor build, which I hope there will be more from you. You got most of them though.

Now a couple Props:

What are those tow cables made from? They look great because I can't see any fibers. If they are the string from the kit then you are a, Kit Provided String Handling Jedi.

Nice detail touch on the search lamp cover.

Like others said, the figure in this kit is not your fault but I'm looking forward to see how you solve that problem with the skills you've presented here with the tank kit.

Nice job for your first tank. Like the paint and weathering.

Hey Mike.... I love it. I'd be really proud of that if I were you. It looks excellent! Fantastic weathering...

Steve

Mike you did quite a fine job here, and like everyone else sez that commander figure is beyond help. I did scrutinize the pics to see if I could advise you on anything and here's the few things I found...

There are some visible mold lines on the towing hooks. Having built this kit about five times over the years I know these are difficult to scrape off. In places there are mold lines visible on the turret rails as well. The headlight guards could have been thinned with a scraping knife and a fine file, they are way overscale. In front of the fume extractor and the muzzle brake the join lines of the barrel halves are somewhat visible and could have used a bit of putty and a sanding, and that's all I could see.

I think you've done a bang up job here sir

Regards,

Mark

SprueOne,

I very much appreciate your heads up regarding the tracks . I'm working on fixing that as I type this. 

You said:

"I don't think that's an antenna mount behind the loaders? hatch, however your antennas look good as antennas, what are they made from?"

Well, I just tried to follow the box art but I really could be wrong where I placed them. They're made from .41mm (28 gauge) steel wire. I'd planned on using that wire on some ship and aircraft models but it seemed about right for this application.

You asked:

"What are those tow cables made from? They look great because I can't see any fibers. If they are the string from the kit then you are a, Kit Provided String Handling Jedi."

No, I'm not a Kit Provided String Handling Jedi .   I didn't like the way the string that was supplied in the kit looked when I painted it. I just delved into my rigging stash for sailing ship models and used some black rigging rope (I think it is 1.14mm) from Syren Ship Model Company and painted it metallic gray:

https://www.syrenshipmodelcompany.com/

They make absolutely the best standing and running rigging rope for modelers. A bit pricey compared to Model Expo et. al. but well worth it IMHO.

The search lamp cover is just aluminum foil from the kitchen.

I'll post some pictures when I've completed the small diorama for this tank. Thanks for the very helpful observations and kind remarks.

Mark,

Thank you! I can see the mold lines and should have done a better job on the turret rails also. I guess the headlight guards is an issue I'd not recognized - so thanks for that info. I now see (why I didn't catch it before I have no clue) the join lines near the muzzle brake/fume extractor - next time!!

TigerII,

Thank you.

I just rebroke the same wheel trying to get the track on forward instead of backward. It's now clamped up so I'll wait until tomorrow before attempting to reverse the other side. Hopefully I'll get this tank together in the next few weeks and be able to start a new project. So many kits in my stash, so little time....

• A bit of silvering on the decals - apply gloss coat first. 
• Seams on the jerry cans, seams in general on small details
• Bit of inconsistency in sheen here and there
• Looks like a bit of touchup paint here and there - maybe blend/sand/coat
• Treat the figure like a small model - seams on the leg, fingers etc.  Give him a wash and similar color palette. 
• Someone once told me regarding ordinance on aircraft - everything you put on the model is a model itself.  Great advice.

The only criticism I have is stop being so modest.Great 1st armor.

She looks pretty darn good to me, love the mud and dirt on the fenders- I always have trouble getting that the way I want it. 

A simple diorama should be easy, just a plaque, add some plaster, and press the model in the plaster while still wet to create tracks. Then paint it with cheap craft store paint, coat with glue and add some static grass and other greenery. 

Great first armor build, Mike!

I see a lot of technical errors in the build, but nothing wrong with your skills in painting and finishing.

A little TET will rid the decal silvering, so that's an easy fix. As far as touch ups go, the Army did a lot of that as routine maintenence, so that's authentic. 

Tracks backwards? Everyone makes that mistake lol.

The searchlight covers had plywood in the face to keep anything from contacting the lense. The cover should be flat in front.

The front drivers periscope would be down if his head was out of the hatch. Otherwise it blocks his vision.

The spare track links were attached to the turret rails with the center guide tooth. Yours is upside down - tie it on with some string and you'll be okay.

The radio antennae is in the righ place. There is a second one behind the TC's cupola for the second radio set that talks to command. Only the lead tank would have one.

You have the tank marked with Army markings but as far as I know only Marine units has the -A3's. The Army had -A2's A2C's and a few old converted -A1's. The main differences being the addition of the cupola riser and the two extra return rollers on the -A3's. The few converted -A1's had five rollers as well, but the -A2's only had three per side.

Lile I stated above, mostly just technical errors. Nothing but hours and hours of research would've prepared you for all of that lol. Those are just the things that an Armor Nut can see and the Tamiya instructions don't point any of that out. Not your fault in the least.

Overall I think you have a solid display piece and I don't recommend you changing anything but the decal silvering. 99% of those who view this model won't know what's technically wrong with it and won't care anyways.

Your painting and weathering are solid! I really hope you'll try another armor kit, and soon! :D

Just for the record, this is a very good build, Mike. Don't let the technical stuff bother you. You did great!

It looks great for a first effort.  The others have given you good pointers to improve it or the next one.  Keep up the good work.

You have the tank marked with Army markings but as far as I know only Marine units has the -A3's. The Army had -A2's A2C's and a few old converted -A1's. 

The model is marked correctly.  The US Army used M48A3s as well.  

Great first tank!!   I’m looking forward to seeing the next one. 

Don't post here very often; but as a former tank commander on M48's and M60's, maybe I can clear up the problem with antannas. Only time you would have two antannas would be if you were on the platoon leaders or platoon sargents tank. The second antanna that was mounted behind the loaders hatch was receive only. It was used to monitor the company frequency. It was the loaders responsiblity to monitor. Battalion and higher would have had three. One to transmit, ( behind TC location) , two to receive. One more thing. The bumper numbers you have are for the 9th Infantry Division. As far as I know, they never have an organic tank battalion in Vietnam. The only 77Th tank battalion in Vietnam was the 1/77 which served with the 5th Infantry Division. On a ligher note, the bumper numbers are for my old tank when I served with the 9th Division stationed at Ft. Lewis in the early 70"s. We had M60A1's.

Keavdog,

I did shoot Future on the whole hull before applying decals but I also saw the silvering after the fact. I used some Solvaset on at least one of them but I think I should have been more meticulous in my decaling prep.

I did do some touchup painting on the rear fenders after I'd already decaled them. I didn't want to take the chance at sanding on that area any more since I didn't believe I'd get it right without damaging the decals ... I should have been more attentive to the little, but important, details. I also noticed the difference in sheen here and there and told myself (any excuse to not have strip the whole paint job) that the real tank might have had some differences in reflective properties of the exterior :).

You're absolutely right on with respect to the seams on jerry cans and other small details. Again, I should have inspected all the small areas more closely.

Templar1099,

Thank you sir!

Gamera,

Thanks much!

And, yes, the diorama part, with the exception of painting the figures for the patrol along side the tank, should be relatively easy.

Mike Brindos, HeavyArty, Chad, and M60_tanker,

Thank you all!

Mike B. and M60_tanker,

I'm a little confused as to which antenna should be left in place. I guess not being familiar with terminology regarding armor, I get confused easily. I've removed the antenna behind the  cupola and left the one between the two hatches on the turret. Is this correct? The one behind the cupola blocks the cupola, with the hatch open, from turning -  so I thought something must be amiss anyway.

1943Mike

I'm a little confused as to which antenna should be left in place. I guess not being familiar with terminology regarding armor, I get confused easily. I've removed the antenna behind the cupola and left the one between the two hatches on the turret. Is this correct? The one behind the cupola blocks the cupola, with the hatch open, from turning - so I thought something must be amiss anyway.

The main antanna for all US M48 and M60 tanks was located behind the tank commandeers cupola. The other two locations(behind and in front of the loaders hatch) were only used on command tanks. Hopes this helps.