Hasegawa 1/72 M-24 Chaffee

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Perfect! Thanks for the info Rob! I didn't realize there was a difference in tracks- I'm okay with them being post WW2 thought because I'd like to deck my Chaffee out as a Korean War tank. I've even got some 1/72 Korean War infantry kicking around in my kit stash so I'm thinking of making a nice little diorama for it.

Don't forget to post pics of the finished project.

Oh I totally won't forget- in fact I'll post some "in progress" shots once I get going on it! I'm almost set with a Corsair right now, and as soon as it's done that Chaffee will be on my work table ready to go!

Well I finished up my Corsair last night before I went out for New Year's eve, and this morning I woke up (reluctantly) and washed off the parts in the Chaffee kit! Looks like a pretty simple build- not a whole heck of a lot of parts. I also dug a pack of "Korean War" plastic soldiers in 1/72 scale. I think I may make a nifty diorama with this Chaffee when all is said and done! I'm hoping to get some work done on it tonight.

Will you be doing any mods. or O.O.B.

So far, I think the only mod I'll be doing is moving the .50 mount forward on the turret - many of the photos I have seen of Chaffees in the Korean War have the MG mount in front of the crew hatches.

Here's some photos of the Chaffee- life's been getting in the way quite a bit these past few weeks, but I made a promise to myself that I'd get some serious work done on this tank ESPECIALLY because I have a three day weekend starting tomorrow! I moved the .50 mount to the front of the turret: a lot of the photographs of Korean War Chaffees I found showed the mount in this position and not in the position of those that served in WWII. The windows surrounding the hatch were just grooves in the plastic when I opened the kit- I fired up my dremel and made actual holes that I'll fill with clear parts cement when all is said and done. I've painted the insides of the bogies, and I've removed the major parts from the sprues. This kit has the same feel that the Italeri M4A1 I built had: it's simple work (so far)!

Wow, it's been quite a long time since I've provided you folks with some updates. The Chaffee is going along quite well, in fact it's all put together and has received it's first coat of paint! Next I'll be applying decals and then weathering it. I've also started painting some figures for the diorama that the tank will be sitting on. I'm not sure what the meticulous part of my brain enjoys working on more: the tank or the paint job on the figures!

The tank is finished! Here are some progress shots, and even some ones with critters who decided to barge in on my build sessions. I'm working on the diorama currently.

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Thanks for the tip, Rob! Should I go with an olive drab green?

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Hope everyone had a great Easter! I finished up the diorama this evening. I even added some lighting to it...my first foray into the realm of electronics since my high school days. Thanks for checking out my Chaffee, and thanks for the helpful tips! I'll be back to the armor forum in a few months once I knock out some more aircraft kits I have.

This is so bad Aspirin!  

Well it seems I missed this update. Nice finish and really cool to see the LED lighting effect again. Bravo!

Wow, that came out pretty nice! Very imaginative and cool lighting effects! The soldiers look well=painted too!

Love the special effects. Great job overall .

RX7850... LOVE your avatar! What a Great Movie that was, Had to dig it out again the other day to watch! Take care!

Doug

Thanks for the kind words, folks! It turned out better than I thought it would!!