Hey, yeah neat model.

Since AFV Club makes a nice one, maybe an off-the -wall idea is fun.

ARVN.

Front lawn at Legion Hall.

Playground derelict.

I grabbed a couple for real cheap a while ago, for a project to make up a couple of M59 APC's, 60's Berlin Brigade type.

One thing I always thought was curious- the box art shows the rear end of the tank.

The kit is really old and not well detailed at all.  With a bit of work, it can come out looking nice.  I wouldn't worry about making it accurate though, unless you want to do a major overhaul.  If you are looking for an accurate kit, get either the Skybow/AFV Club M41A3.  It is a great kit.  Light years ahead of the old Tamiya toy.

I figured out that it wasn't the most accurate kit as soon as I opened the box and saw that the entire suspension is moded to the lower hull.

I thought there was more detail to this kit, but that doesn't seem to be the case. So either option I go with will require a lot of little added details.

That's why I'm leaning more towards the movie prop "panzer" at the moment. That way I can validate myself as I rip off all of the sponsons and pull out the sheet styrene.

But I want opinions before I do anything and I'm not starting this build yet. I have to finish what I've started and a complete refab of this kit is a little out of my abilities until I get my desk set back up.

Keep the ideas coming, my friends.  :)

Well Mike, considering how cheap you can find the kit you might consider doing more than one 

Gamera

Well Mike, considering how cheap you can find the kit you might consider doing more than one 

Why?

Why would you want to suffer through more than one crappy, poorly detailed, old kit?  For the price of a couple of these "gems", you could get one of the outstanding Skybow/AFV Club kits and have a very accurate and detailed model when done. 

I take it you were joking w/the wink.  I hope so anyways.  

I don't see why poeple still buy these old Tamiya kits anymore with more modern versions that are much better detailed.  I just don't get it.

Hey Gino, I guess I just assumed Mike was looking for something quick, cheap, and dirty to decompress. I see you point on wasting time on something that's more like toy than a real model. But sometimes I like to just toss something together, sometimes instead of steak and potatoes I just want a cheap greasy hot dog. 

Gino, You've got a dang good point there. But alas, I found this kit at Hobby Lobby for $17. The LHS sells better kits, but for $45+. I had a $40 budget so I snagged this kit and some other supplies I needed with $5 to spare.

Maybe I'll just do my Tank Kun Do on this one as I did with my M-48.

Gamera, I follow ya, buddy. I did a pretty decent job on that "Combat Crushers" M-48 and that was far more toy-like than this kit.

I guess we'll just have to see how I feel about it later lol. It needs some love, that's for sure.

Mike,make this old T C happy.  build it oob. From what I have seem of your skills, it will be fantastic           73     dt

The M41 was made by Cadillac.  Elvis Presley loved Cadillacs.  Elvis was in the 3rd Armored Division, 32nd Armored Regiment.  Would you consider an "Elvis" armored assault Cadillac?  Maybe pink with a heavy dose of chrome.   

HeavyArty

 

 

Gamera

Well Mike, considering how cheap you can find the kit you might consider doing more than one 

 

 

 

Why?

Why would you want to suffer through more than one crappy, poorly detailed, old kit?  For the price of a couple of these "gems", you could get one of the outstanding Skybow/AFV Club kits and have a very accurate and detailed model when done. 

I take it you were joking w/the wink.  I hope so anyways.  

I don't see why poeple still buy these old Tamiya kits anymore with more modern versions that are much better detailed.  I just don't get it.

 

 

 

M. Brindos

Gino, You've got a dang good point there. But alas, I found this kit at Hobby Lobby for $17. The LHS sells better kits, but for $45+. I had a $40 budget so I snagged this kit and some other supplies I needed with $5 to spare.

Dude, $ 9.97 on Amazon...

I am at this time thinking of just going OOB. But not entirely out of box. I've already started the usual Tamiya fixes, such as filling in the sponsons, covering the motorization holes, and generally fixing a few shape issues.

I plan on giving her a some love with sprue and card stock. And I'll replace as many things as I can from the spare's supply - those water cans are rubbish and the .50cal looks like block of garbage. I have a spare from the M-48 I can use.

Yeah, basically my usual Tank Kun Do, lol.

Keeping the kit tracks for now, but I'll see about replacing them later on if they just look too crappy.

The figs that come with thte kit are pretty nice actually. Nothing a bit of undercutting a seamwork can't bring up to date.

.

Hello Mike!

Good to see you building! I was just going to suggest "OD with white stars" - but I see you figured it out yourself! :-) Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

Well they do look good with an Iron Cross...

but of course in the original OD w/white stars...

Rob, Good thoughts, good advice, and good info! Glad to have you along.

Pawel, I think I figured it out too. lol. I think the popular concensus thus far is that I should go ARMY. Besides, as you will see, I'm having fun adding some detail with simple card stock and stretched sprue lol.

I added the box reinforcement creases with some sprue. I'll give this a light sanding later just to make sure its all even.

I cut the box off the back of the turret. After detailing this I will reattach it with a more realistic system.

I gave a scribe to the Infantry Phone box so It won't be such a lump.

After the glue had dried this part looks pretty good.

So that's as far as I've gotten. I have the gun tube glued and set aside and I'm waiting til tomorrow to start shaping the turret and adding the details to that as well.

Looking good...I was wondering why you covered the motorization holes on the bottom the way you did...why didn't you cover the holes from the inside with sheet styrene and then putty them from the outside and sand flush?  I suppose the 'plates' won't be easily seen but just curious...

Oh that's simple. First, this was easier. And second, this adds more visual interest than a flat featurless surface. Not that anyone will be looking underneath it besides me. lol.

That's all. :)

.

That is obviously far more accurate than the Tamiya kit. I'll have to look up if AFVC makes an M-47. That's also on my wishlist of tanks for my collection.

Yes, my "plates" are not accurate, but I'm not going for complete accuracy when that would require a completely different kit to start with. I'm just making due with what is in front of me.

Thank you, Rob. That does make me drool for a better kit, that's for sure!  lol  :)

M. Brindos

I'll have to look up if AFVC makes an M-47. That's also on my wishlist of tanks for my collection.

They do not.  The only 1/35 M47 is the Italeri kit, which is very nice, even though it is over 30 years old.  It is probably one of (if not the) best kit that Italeri has done.  The only bad part to the kit is the tracks, which are thick, stiff vinyl.  There are replacement tracks for it though.

Recently, Academy has reboxed it with some extra parts to build a ROK (S. Korean) Marines M47 as well.

You can see how it looks in these pics from the Academy website.

I had the Italeri kit when I was a boy. Dad needed some parts for one of his M-60 builds. I got what was left and it was a pretty well detailed kit. I'll have to get my hands on another one! Thank you, Gino. That's the kit that made me fall in love with that tank.

For tonights updates (for which I have no excuse as I said I wouldn't even start this build anytime soon. Armor... when you got the bug, you got it hard.) I've been doing a little scratch building and some welding beads. Not sure why I love doing my own welds, but I do. I really, really do.  :D

First up, I built some front fender brackets based on the pictures in the instructions. These, and the front lifting rings have been omitted by Tamiya. I'll be scratching up the lifting rings later.

I clumbsily dug out this little opening. I don't know what its for, but I know it's not a solid structure. Some kind of cover.

Welding time! I started with the welds that should go around the headlight mounts.

I then moved on to the hull plate welds. :) fun.

And lastly, I almost forgot the welds around the turret ring base.

I love the way these look when they have paint on them. Inconsistant and rough. Just the way Armor should look (IMHO).

That's it for tonights updates. I'll probably be on it tomorrow after work, so you can probably expect more tomorrow evening.  :)

Okay, one last update. I did a careful disection and reconfiguration of the gun travel lock.

Have a good one!

M. Brindos

I clumbsily dug out this little opening. I don't know what its for, but I know it's not a solid structure. Some kind of cover.

It's a shroud for the APU exhaust pipe. Depending on the period, an exhaust pipe extends from the shroud either back to a small muffler over the right main muffler, or forward to a muffler mounted over the tool rack.

Huh. I don't have any pictures that show that. Not that I have a lot of them yet, anyways. Would this also be somewhat dependant, not only of the time period, but also of the model (A1, A2, A3) ?

Now I have to go research this. :) Thanks for the info, Phil.

.

That thread is pretty informative. Makes me wonder if this kit is an M-41 or an M-41A1, or somewhere in-between.

Well, I just got home from work and If I get anything done on this today, you guys will know later.

Tonight's update;

I started to hollow out the headlights. I'll leave the blackout lights alone this time and just paint them later.

I've got a neat trick up my sleeve for later to make them light up and I hope it works.

I even assembed the wheels and tracks. I haven't sanded the wheels yet, but I wanted to see it sitting on its wheels, rather than its axles.

That's all fellas! Look forward to tomorrow night's next exciting episode!